An Unexpected Love (Complicated Love Series #2) (16 page)

I don’t hear from Karl the day after that horrible date night if you can actually call it a date. I tried texting him a few times, but I get no reply. I still don’t really understand what happened. He knows my boss from a long time ago and that’s pretty much all I know about this thing between Beth and Karl. I don’t know how to feel about Karl having something with Beth, my boss. I haven’t exactly had the best day today either. Work has obviously been troubling. Beth cornered me at break time and asked me loads of questions regarding me and Karl. I asked her why she wanted to know, but she said that she just wanted to make sure he was happy. It made me feel pretty uncomfortable that she was so nosy about our relationship. I’ve never gotten on with Beth at all, and to me she’s always a bitch. I tried to dodge most of the questions as I wasn’t sure of what answer I should give her anyway. I don’t really know where we stand, and I’m not even sure if there is a relationship between me and Karl.

I don’t want a relationship… I don’t.

That night was supposed to be our first date, and we were supposed to be going slow to see if there was something there. I’m really scared. I care about him a lot, but I’m not sure if I’d like something to happen between us or not. I feel like he’s ignoring me. After being grilled by Beth about Karl, I requested a half day and I was completely shocked when she agreed. I went straight home and had a long hot shower before getting into my bright pink pajamas. I hear my phone and I pick it up to hear Lily’s voice.

“Hey, girl. Why aren’t you at work?”

“Mrs. Davies gave me the rest of the day off.” I won’t mention her name being Beth. We have never called her by her first name because none of us has ever known it. It wasn’t something that you would expect at work anyway.

“Whoa girl, she gave you time off? The bitch herself? What have you done to deserve that?” I laugh because she sounds so shocked.

“Uh…it’s a long story.”

“Oh, sounds interesting! Let’s go out tonight and you can tell me all about it.”

It would be good to get out after the drama. I’ve missed Lily, as I haven’t had much time to spend with her. I feel even guiltier for not speaking to Annabelle as much. Since coming to LA I’ve been a bit lax talking to her, but it might have something to do with the lies I’ve been keeping from her. I still haven’t actually told her about what happened with Karl. The last time I spoke to Annabelle, she was ranting and raving about a holiday she’s looking to arranging for us all. She doesn’t know about me and Karl, and so she asked me to invite Brandon and Lily too. I haven’t mentioned that I’m no longer with Brandon, which I’m surprised Joshua hasn’t mentioned, but either way, I would still want Brandon to be there with us. I was hoping to keep our friendship going, but since Karl has been in my life again, he’s practically taken over, that even includes all my thoughts.

“Yep, okay, Lily. Meet you at The Vault at 10:00 p.m.”

“Yeah, girl, sounds fab….laters.” She ends the call and I look at the clock. It’s only 3.30 p.m. so I spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing and checking my phone for texts from Karl. I don’t get anything all afternoon, so with a heavy sigh I make my way to my bedroom to get ready to go out.

I really need a drink.

After checking myself over and making my way to the club, I realize it’s not as packed as I expected it to be. I’m ushered in straight away, leaving my jacket with the coat attendant. I went for a simple outfit of blue skinny jeans and a black sleeveless top. I match it with my black ankle boots and my hair is piled up into a bun. I actually can’t wait to get my hair cut next week, it’s beginning to annoy me.

I spot Lily on a bar stool talking to the bartender. He must be incredibly funny because she keeps slapping the bar while laughing. I smile and know she’s going to cheer me up. I lift my cell out of my pocket and check for any texts from Karl, but there are still none. He only has two more days before he flies back to London, and I feel sick to my stomach that this is how it’s going to end between us. Maybe it’s for the best because I’m not sure I can give him any more than
‘friends with benefits’
anyway. The loud music is drawing me in, and I start doing this dancing jig thing as I make my way to Lily. It doesn’t take her long to see me, and when she does she bursts out laughing. I stop my jig and look at her.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, Tracy, but you looked funny shaking your ass as you walk…so funny.”

“Geez, thanks. Love you, too.” She hooks her arm around me and kisses me on the cheek. She orders my favorite vodka and lemonade, and she orders us both a shot. I don’t ask her what they are, so I just throw them back as quickly as possible. I’m hoping that more of these will cheer me up.

“So…what’s up with you and the boss then?” Rolling my eyes, I haven’t been here very long and she’s already gotten down to the nitty-gritty news. I explain to her about my day out with Karl. Then I told her about our disastrous first date, and meeting Beth and finding out that she has some kind of history with Karl, but he wouldn’t tell me about it. Then I told her about him dropping me off at home.

“Oh my God. What an asshole!”

“No…no, he isn’t. He was upset and I don’t know why. He hasn’t texted me at all today.” I flag the bartender down and order two more shots and then down them before I think twice about it.

“Well, you deserve better than him.” She downs her shots. “I’m so glad you didn’t let him in on the miscarriage thing. How the hell would he cope with that? If he can’t even cope with meeting up with an old flame. He shouldn’t have treated you like that. You didn’t even get to eat your meal.” She takes a gulp of her fruity drink, and I’m hoping that she’s going to stop ranting.

“But I don’t want anyone else…I want Karl,” I mumble. “There’s something about him, Lily. He’s not the same person anymore. When we went to Universal Studios, he was caring, funny, and so much fun to be with. I can’t stop thinking about how happy and excited I was that Karl wanted to take me out on a date.” Lily looks at me and frowns.

“Well, if that’s the case why haven’t you told him about the miscarriage? Don’t you think you should get everything out there before starting anything? What if he finds out?”

“How’s he going to find out? He doesn’t need to know, okay?” Drinking down most of my drink before flagging the bartender down for two more shots, I have a slight buzz going on and I’m starting to relax. Downing the next two shots, I grab Lily and we move out onto the dance floor. I’m getting so caught up in the music that I shut my eyes and sway my body to the beat.

Going out tonight was not on my list of things to do, but Brandon insisted I needed to get out of the apartment and stop wallowing. He reminded me that we only had two days left and that he didn’t want me to immerse myself in self-pity for my remaining days in Los Angeles. So that’s why I’m sitting here in The Vault nursing a beer and listening to Brandon go on and on about the magazine and all the ideas he has for improvement. I can’t believe Brandon talked me into coming here especially when he hates nightclubs. Brandon has been going on and on for about the past twenty minutes and I’m finding it amusing that he hasn’t even wanted any input from me. I occasionally nod and that seems to appease him.

I’m sitting here drinking my beer and thinking about Tracy. My first date with her didn’t go exactly to plan.
What a disaster!
Seeing Beth again messed with my head, and I know how horrible I was to Tracy. Cringing while I think about the way I dragged her out of the restaurant, and even more so the way I never spoke to her at all in the car. I hate myself for letting Beth get to me, and for allowing her to annoy me that much.

After that night, I rang Beth at her offices and we’ve agreed to meet tomorrow for coffee. I just think I need to speak to her properly, and maybe hitting the past head on will stop me feeling the way I did when she broke my heart. I’m all in a spin, and I’m not sure what the hell is wrong with me. After all, I don’t feel anything for Beth apart from anger and I need to say my piece. Maybe then I can move on.

“Karl, are you listening to a word I’ve said?” Oh shit, I’ve been caught.

“Uh…sorry.” Twirling my bottle around on the table. “My mind is preoccupied lately.”

“You still thinking about Beth and Tracy. We’ve come out to get away from your drama. This is the only reason I’m in this place.” He wrinkles his nose and chugs back his beer. He seems to love his beer, though.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” Brandon doesn’t really understand what a conversation really is when he goes straight back to talking about the magazine without waiting for any kind of input from me. I catch sight of a woman on the dance floor with gorgeous blonde hair and loads of beautiful curves, I stop and stare because she’s absolutely stunning. I feel guilty checking this girl out when I’m so hung up over Tracy, but my head is too messed up to care. The woman turns around and I’m shocked to see that it is actually Tracy. My God she’s a knockout and she looks gorgeous swaying to the beat of the music. She has her eyes closed and she moves very seductively. Immediately, I want to go up to her and take her in my arms, feeling drawn to her, and all I want to do is be near to her. I’ve missed her and I know my head is still fucked and that I should leave her alone until I get it sorted, but I can’t. I miss touching her and need to feel her now. I gulp down my beer and stand.

“Where are you going?” I hear Brandon, but I’m not bothering to reply to him. Knowing what I want right at this moment.

Making my way to the dance floor, I get intercepted by a brunette with barely a scrap of clothing on. She tries to grind her body against mine, but I quickly move toward Tracy. She hasn’t spotted me yet, so I stop just behind her smelling her lavender perfume. Gently, I place my hands on her hips. She tenses for a minute before relaxing under my touch. She exaggerates her moves and so I pull her closer to my hard on that’s growing just from this simple touch. She tenses again because she feels it too. Grazing my nose across her shoulder and neck, I smell her clean, fresh skin. Placing gentle kisses on her shoulder, she tilts her head to the side so I have more space. I’m so hard that I’m finding it incredibly difficult not to grab her hand and drag her out of here back to the apartment and fuck her. Having her here in my arms again is pure heaven, and I’ve waited a long time to claim her again with only the images in my head of that night five years ago.

Whoa, wait…what?
Claim her?
I sound like a caveman, but for some reason I have this need to claim her. Before I can think anymore, Tracy abruptly twirls around and her eyes open as wide as saucers.

“Karl?”

“Yeah, baby?” She looks pleased to see me if that smile on her face is anything to go by.

“What are you doing here?” She steps closer and wraps her arms around my neck. She seems a bit off kilter and I think she may be slightly drunk. “I’ve missed you so much my big teddy bear. You were such an asshole to me when you saw bitchy Beth.”

Yep, she’s definitely drunk if she’s calling me her big teddy bear. She pulls back and crosses her arms.

“You like bitchy Beth don’t you? You wanted her and not me. Well, do you know what? I could sleep with any man I wanted in here!”

Okay, she’s not cute now. Picturing her with other men, the images are burning my brain. It makes me pissed that she would even say that because I can’t think of Tracy with any other man. It doesn’t sit well with me.

“Why don’t we get out of here? I think you need to get home and we can talk about all of that tomorrow.” She seems to be thinking about it, but I’m not entirely sure what she’s going to say.

“Okay, take me home, teddy bear!” What’s with this nickname she’s suddenly decided to start calling me, I hate it. She grabs hold of me to steady herself, and she calls over to Lily.

“Lily, I’m heading home.” Lily comes bouncing over all smiles. “This teddy bear…” She pinches my cheeks. “…is taking me home. Isn’t he adorable?” I let Lily know that I can drop her home too, but before I do Brandon comes over.

“There you are…you just left me over there on my own, and you know how much I hate these places.”

“Brandon I’m taking these two home. You coming?” Brandon glances at Tracy and Lily.

“Hey, Tracy,” he mumbles. It’s still quite awkward with these two, but Tracy doesn’t seem to notice in her state.

“Hi, Brandon! I really am sorry for the way I treated you. It was wrong, and I’m so, so, sorry Brandon!”

Oh God, I’m cringing inside. Why did she have to bring anything up about their relationship? “We are great friends, though, aren’t we?” She launches herself into Brandon’s arms and he doesn’t seem to know what to do. Lily is laughing hysterically watching this little drama unfold.

“Okay Tracy, that’s enough. You’re making Brandon uncomfortable.” Grabbing Tracy from Brandon’s arms, I ask her to grab her things. She says she has to go to the
‘little girl’s room’
so I watch her walk away to the restroom. Making my way back to the booth and plonking myself down, Lily has followed me but I can’t see Brandon anywhere. I don’t really know Lily very well, but I know that Tracy adores her. She seems very quirky and upbeat.

“So are you playing Romeo tonight, Karl?” She chuckles but I’m not sure why.

“I don’t even know how to answer that.”

“Well, here you are after being nasty to her yet again just because your ex showed up. You really hurt her you know, and I’m really annoyed with you myself for treating my girl like you have.”

“I know, but you don’t know everything. I’m just trying to get my mind straight.”

“And you don’t know everything that she’s gone through either. This isn’t the first time you’ve hurt her. She was a mess from what she had told me when you slept with her last time and then just left. You went back to Oxford without saying anything to her. How do you think she felt? She had to start a new life here, and it was hard for her especially dealing with the miscarriage and then Brandon came on…”

Sitting up straight, I stare wide eyed at her as she rambles on, but then trails off.

“Hang on…what did you just say?” She stops and looks confused.

“What?” I’m not sure whether she remembers what she’s said.

“Something about a miscarriage.” Her eyes go wide and she clasps her hand over her mouth.

“Oh shit! Pretend you didn’t hear that…I didn’t mean for that to slip out.”

My heart is thundering and I’m confused as to what the hell is going on. Tracy appears beside the table with a smile on her gorgeous face.

“I’m ready…let’s go.” I can’t speak and I’m not sure how I’m feeling. Tracy notices that Lily looks panicked.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m so sorry, girl. I didn’t mean to say anything, it just slipped out.” I see Brandon walking toward us.

“Brandon, will you take Lily home, I need to speak to Tracy alone.” I’m getting angrier by the minute, I’m so confused over this whole thing.

“Sure thing.” Lily stands up and grabs her bag before looking at Tracy.

“I’m sorry, Tracy.” She rushes to Brandon’s side and walks out with him. Tracy turns her back to me with a frown marring her face.

“What was that all about?”

I ask the question that’s playing on my mind. “I don't know, Tracy. Why don’t you tell me about the miscarriage?”