Broken Truth (16 page)

“I just feel terrible because of everything that happened last week as well. I wanted to be there for you this weekend so that we could try and make stuff right.”

“Will I hear from you this weekend then?” she asked anxiously.

She heard his long exhale of breath before he replied.

“I may not be able to tomorrow, but I will certainly call you on Sunday,” he promised.

Charlie remained quiet, not really sure what to make of the situation. She felt deeply saddened that Callum wasn’t going to be home tonight. After their talk last week, she was certain that things were going to change between them and that it was the start of something new and exciting.

She felt a lump in the back of her throat as he continued to apologise and reassure her that he would definitely make up for this. Charlie let his words drift over her as she stared transfixed out of the window.

 “Baby...?”

Charlie mumbled a small acknowledgement.

“I know you’re upset and you have every righ-” He paused and she could tell he had just covered the phone with his hand. She could hear him talking with someone in the background before he uncovered the phone to speak to her again. “Shit... Baby, I gotta go. But I promise you I will make it up to you next weekend. I love you,” he said as the call quickly disconnected.

Charlie pulled the phone away from her ear and set it on the table next to her barely touched sandwich and tea. She just didn’t feel hungry anymore. Her mind was racing at a million miles an hour as it struggled to digest the blow Callum had just landed.

Needing to get some fresh air, Charlie grabbed her belongings and headed straight for the door without saying goodbye to Joseph.

She wasn’t thinking clearly as she joined in with the usual, bustling rush of people around Manchester city centre. Although Charlie still had a good twenty minutes left on her lunch break, she started wandering miserably back to work to finish her day.

Charlie couldn’t wait to finally be out of the door at five thirty. She had worked through one of her worst days in a long time at the shop. With Xavier out on holiday, Charlie had to actually associate with some of her other work colleagues, who after today she decided she loathed. They were young and bone idle lazy which pissed her off immensely. She was always forced to pick up their slack and they didn’t seem to give a shit.

Throwing in the phone call she received from Callum at lunchtime and the hole she ripped in her tights later that afternoon and it was official...

It had been the worst day ever.

“Fuck it,” she mumbled as she headed inside a small shop on her way home.

Thinking that a little alcohol was in order following the nuclear drop of a day she had, Charlie traipsed up and down the various aisles in search of something strong. Stopping in the champagne section, she picked up two bottles of Bollinger, figuring that Callum wouldn’t mind making it up to her with some nice bubbly.

“Is it a special occasion?” the checkout lady asked as she scanned the items through the till.

Packing the two bottles into a carrier bag, Charlie snorted a very unladylike laugh. “Far from it,” she said, handing the lady Callum’s platinum card.

“Sorry,” the checkout lady blushed as she handed her back the credit card.

“Don’t worry about it,” Charlie said, waving her hand in a dismissive manner.

She picked up the bag of champagne and made her way towards the apartment. At least with two bottles of bubbly in hand, she knew that she was going to have a good night.

Although it wasn’t going to end with a long fucking and a string of orgasms as normal, she was somewhat happy that she could guarantee she would be hovering over the toilet in a few hours completely out of her ever loving mind.

She could not fucking wait.

Fifteen

“It smells like shit in here,” Lucy announced as she hit the button on the remote control to open the floor to ceiling blinds in the master suite.

Charlie grumbled as the bright light hit her face. She gripped the covers tightly and pulled them over her head in a protective cocoon. She had no idea why Lucy was here or how she had even managed to get into the building.

“Don’t be going back to sleep,” Lucy scolded, tugging on the bottom of the covers.

“Fuck off,” Charlie protested while holding onto the covers with a death grip. She knew there was no way that Lucy was getting her out of the bed. Regardless of what reason she was here for, Charlie refused to budge.

“Good morning!” Amelia sung loudly as she walked into the master suite.

The high pitched tone of her voice cut straight through Charlie’s head like a cat being strangled. Lifting her free hand to her head, she cursed her friends for their early morning wakeup call.

“What the fuck do you both want?” Charlie complained as she clutched her pounding forehead.

“You are absolutely delightful in the morning,” Amelia teased as she whipped the covers clean from Charlie’s body. “Oh and nice pyjamas,” she smirked, taking in her cartoon character print all in one outfit.

Charlie reached for her glasses and slipped them on. Sitting up in bed, she pulled her knees up and leant back against the headboard to assess the situation. Even with her glasses on the room still looked fuzzy in places. She tried to focus on one spot in the room in an attempt at stopping her head from spinning.  

“Are you going to be sick?” Lucy asked as she took a seat on the edge of her bed. She placed her hand to Charlie’s forehead with concern.

“I’m just hung over,” she grumbled.

“We can see that,” Amelia laughed from the corner of the room. “So anyway... are we getting ready to go or what?”

Charlie flicked her eyes between both of her friends.

“Go where?” she asked.

“We are going to London!” Lucy squealed.

The blood drained from Charlie’s face and a cold sweat broke out across her body.

“W-W-W-What?” she stammered. “Why are we going to London?”

Amelia and Lucy shared a look before they both turned to her with their arms folded.

“Clearly you don’t remember anything about last night, so let me refresh your memory,” Amelia smiled, rubbing her hands together. “Basically, you got yourself absolutely arsehole drunk and called both of us separately to come and sort you out. When I got here you were an absolute crying mess. You were on maybe your fourth or fifth glass of Bollinger and you were slumped over the kitchen counter. You wouldn’t speak, you just carried on crying. Eventually, when Lucy got here, we managed to coax it out of you and you spilled the beans on what Callum had said to you earlier.”

“Let me just jump in at this point, to say that I am beyond pissed off with him right now,” Lucy interrupted.

“So yeah... Anyway, after you told us about him not coming back, Lucy and I immediately suggested that we move the plan forward and get our arses down to London this weekend to pay our Cal a little visit. You completely agreed, so we booked the hotel and train tickets last night. Our luggage is now sitting in your foyer,” Amelia said gesturing in the general direction of the doorway.

“You look nervous?” Lucy laughed, noting Charlie’s pale and sweat dampened face.

“I am...” She gulped quickly and swallowed some saliva down her suddenly dry throat. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. It all sounded like such a good idea last night, but now that I am actually thinking about it I’m not so sure.”

Lucy’s eyes softened for a few moments and she placed her hand reassuringly on Charlie’s knee. “Look, what is the worst thing that is going to happen? We go to London, we buy you some kick arse lingerie, and then you go to your boyfriend’s house and have the most amazing sex ever,” Lucy replied, exaggerating the final ‘ever’ in her sentence. “Piece of cake, hey?”

Charlie brightened up a little bit and gave her friend a weak smile.

“So are you still in?” Amelia asked as a wicked grin started to spread across her face.

“Oh fuck it,” Charlie resigned, knowing that there was no way of backing out of this situation.

She would have to take this as a lesson for future. She would never get drunk and unknowingly plot world domination with her best friends ever again.

Two hours later and Charlie had finally packed her belongings into her overnight bag. Having spent the majority of time perusing her vast wardrobe, she had been completely undecided on what outfits to pack. She wasn’t sure if she would be going out with the girls at night or whether she would still be in Callum’s possession being completely fucked out of her mind.

Secretly, Charlie hoped for the latter.

“You all packed, bitch?” Amelia shouted up the staircase from the living room.

“Yes, I’m on my way down!” she yelled back in response.

Taking a quick glance in her bag, Charlie double checked she had her necessities before she zipped it close. Standing the bag upright on the floor, she pulled up the helpful travel handle and pulled it along behind her as she made her way downstairs.

Stepping off the bottom step, Charlie’s jaw hit the floor as she took in the sight of their luggage. “What the fuck is all that?” she screeched, gesturing animatedly with her right hand towards the multiple suitcases that were piled up by the lift. “And you bitches were shouting at me for packing a couple of outfits?”

“Woah!” Amelia raised her hands in a back off gesture. “You know that we can’t just pack a few outfits. It is all about the costume changes in London. I need an outfit for the train journey, an outfit for shopping, an outfit for dinner and then an outfit for the evening,” she replied defensively.

“Don’t forget another outfit for coming home the next day,” Lucy pointed out.

“You guys take the piss,” Charlie complained, looking at her weekend wheelie case. “Should I pack some more stuff?”

“No!” They both shouted in unison.

“Fine.”

“Don’t worry,” Lucy said with a shrug. “I’m sure you will work that little piece of plastic when we get to Bond Street later.”

“God, I am so happy that Jack doesn’t know about my credit card bills. He would do his fucking nut if he knew how much I shopped every month,” Amelia said slightly amused. “My little plastic gem is going to get seriously worked out this weekend.”