Broken Truth (17 page)

Charlie frowned.

She didn’t like that her friends were still crippling themselves with monthly credit card bills, so that they could continue living a lifestyle that they really couldn’t afford. It was the same sticky mess she had found herself in before Callum came along and relieved her of the problems.

She knew however, that both girls were waiting for the days when Jack and Ollie would finally propose and provide them with the financial security they needed in life.

With the brothers now jointly owning their own accountancy firm, they had managed to setup and plan more than enough for their futures. After quadrupling their less than modest annual turnover within the last five years, the boys were now finally starting to reap the rewards for their many years of hard work.

“Are we ready to go?” Amelia asked, glancing at the time on her mobile phone. “We have to catch the train in like forty five minutes, so we need to get our arses in gear.”

“Oh shit. We need to get the fucking address for London,” Charlie suddenly remembered, slapping her hand to her forehead.

“Well come on then!” Lucy said as she pushed Charlie forwards towards the staircase. “I’ll come with you.”

“Ok.”

Rushing along the downstairs hallway, Charlie stopped abruptly outside of Callum’s office. In all of the time she had been living with Callum, she had only ever been inside the room a handful of times, so many that she could in fact count the amount on one hand.

“Why are we stopping?” Lucy asked, noting Charlie’s sudden frozen stance.

She bit her lip worriedly. “I don’t usually go into his office,” she confessed. “I’ve only ever been in when he has been here and again that is only a few times.”

She reached out to grip the door handle, but didn’t try to turn it.

“It’s not like we are going to find a dead body or anything,” Lucy snorted. “We are just trying to find out where the fuck your boyfriend lives. Because it isn’t like you’ve known him for almost a year and a half and he’s never told you.”

Charlie raised her eyebrows at her bold and honest comments. “You are completely right,” she said with a nod.

Twisting the door handle, she flung the door open quickly and looked around the room. Nothing had really changed since the last time she had been in there. The room was still very cold and clinical looking. In fact, it was the only room in the penthouse that Charlie hadn’t yet been able to smuggle some warmth into.

Callum’s large glass desk and white leather office chair were positioned in the corner of the room by the floor to ceiling windows. Around the room, he had modern and quirky shelving units that were filled to the brim with many business books and self-help guides.

Charlie looked around the room unsure of where to even start.

Lucy clearly sensed her uneasiness and headed over to his desk. “Let’s start over here,” she suggested, taking a seat in his chair and wheeling closer.

Charlie followed her lead and immediately started scanning the various pieces of paper that littered his desk. Usually meticulous with organising his paperwork, she was surprised to see that he had left the room in such a state. Clearly he had left in a bit of a hurry last week and didn’t mind what he was leaving out, which would be her excuse if he ever did find out and question why she was in there.

Spotting many pieces of company headed paper with Callum’s untidy scribble all over, she pushed the documents aside in the hope of finding something that would lead her to his apartment.

“What about this?” Lucy asked, waving an envelope in front of Charlie’s face.

Taking the envelope out of her hands, she turned it over to look at the address. It looked like a utility bill that was clearly addressed to Mr Callum Ellis.

“Bingo,” she smiled, clutching the papers to her chest.

Sixteen

Leaving Manchester Piccadilly train station at roughly nine in the morning, the girls were more than impressed when they pulled into London Euston train station after just over two hours.

Collecting their bags from the various luggage racks they had commandeered in their cabin, the girls exited the train with the usual Saturday bustle of people heading into the capital for the day.

“Are we getting a taxi or did you arrange for some sort of car to pick us up?” Amelia asked curiously towards Lucy.

Lucy gestured her head towards the escalators going underground towards the tube station. “I thought we could just get the tube?” she said with a slight shrug.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not getting on the tube,” Amelia shrieked, dropping her bags to the floor and crossing her arms moodily. 

“You are,” Lucy threatened. “I’m not sitting in a taxi for the next hour trying to get from one side of the town centre to the other.”

Charlie looked at the pure horror on Amelia’s face and tried to stifle her laugh as best as possible. Her face looked a picture with her eyes bulging wide out of their sockets and her jaw fixed open in shock.

Amelia quickly turned towards her. “Please tell me you’ll back me up on getting a taxi?” she pleaded, searching her face for any form of agreement.

Flicking her eyes over to Lucy, Charlie saw her smiling and shaking her head from behind. They both knew that Amelia hated the tube more than anything. There was just something she didn’t like about being crammed into such a confined space with such a variety of people. Long haul trains on the other hand were not so bad in her books because there was always a first class cabin. At least on those trains she was able to distance herself from everyone else.

“I’m cool with the tube,” Charlie answered trying to keep a straight face.

Amelia looked back and forth between both her and Lucy, clearly trying to make sense of the situation. Eventually, she exhaled a large breath in defeat. “Whatever,” she sulked, bending down to pick up her bags.

Charlie shot Lucy a quick grin which was immediately returned with a sly victory dance behind Amelia’s back.

“Come on then,” Lucy said, heading towards the escalators. As she approached the underground entrance, she stopped abruptly and turned towards Amelia. “Gotcha,” she laughed. “Did you really think I would make you get the tube? Of course I ordered us a car!”

Amelia clasped her hand to her heart and closed her eyes in relief. “Oh thank God,” she cried. “I actually thought you were going to make me go through with going down there,” she said, turning her nose up at the many people piling down the escalators to the tube station.

“You are a bit over the top you know,” Charlie said. “There isn’t anything wrong with catching the tube. How many people use it a day?”

Amelia looked as though she was going to retort bitchily, but Lucy stepped in before matters went too far. “Come on,” she said, beckoning them towards the escalators. “We need to go down here to get to the pickup point. I’ve arranged for our driver to take the bags straight to the hotel, after dropping us off on Bond Street.”

Charlie fixed Lucy with a confused stare.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Lucy admonished. “I know what you’re thinking, so stop it. I haven’t paid for any of this, I promise you. I just happened to tell Ollie last night that we were planning a girly weekend in a few weeks, so he decided to give me his card to book everything on. I texted him earlier and told him that the weekend came up a little earlier than expected,” she winked deviously.

Charlie fidgeted with the handle on her weekend bag. “But what if he tells Callum that we’ve gone away for the weekend?” she asked, gnawing sharply on her lip.

“Don’t worry about a thing,” Lucy reassured her. “I told him that we were likely to surprise Callum while we were here, so he promised not to say anything. Ollie loves surprises, so he is usually really good at helping to keep them.”

“Yeah, don’t panic Charlie. Your kinky little sex plan is still going to go ahead alright,” Amelia said, nudging her shoulder.

“Shut up!”

“I want to go in here,” Lucy squealed as she barrelled her way through the doorway into a small boutique.

One look around the shop had Charlie’s pulse increasing and her stomach flickering with nervous excitement. “Perfect,” she said with approval as her eyes began feasting on the racks upon racks of lingerie and nightwear before her.

With shopping bags hanging from both of her wrists, Charlie lifted her hands and rubbed them together eagerly. Her eyes were continuously being assaulted by beautiful garments that were hanging all around the shop floor and she couldn’t wait to let herself loose.

“Good afternoon,” an approaching sales assistant greeted. She took in their shopping laden arms and directed them over to a chaise longue where they could store their purchases while they shopped. “Are we after anything in particular?” she asked, flicking her eyes between the three of them.

“Well my friend here needs something for tonight,” Amelia explained, causing Charlie to blush slightly.

The sales assistant turned her eyes towards Charlie and leisurely analysed her body from head to toe. It was an extremely rude gesture, but rather than cause a scene she bit her tongue. She had been working in the fashion business long enough to know the tricks. This assistant was going to play up and attempt to convince her that she couldn’t pull off some of the more daring pieces. Charlie could almost guarantee that she would direct them towards their highly priced garments that were less exclusive.

“Well...” the sales assistant said clearing her throat. “I’m not sure if somethi-” She paused abruptly as her eyes snapped to the platinum credit card that Charlie was casually flicking backwards and forwards between her fingers.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

“Um...” the sales assistant said as she swallowed hard. There was an odd look on her face that made Charlie smile. It was the look she probably gave most of her clients when they walked through the door. It was the look of money and it was the look of sales figures and commission. “Did you want to see some of our newer pieces?”

Charlie nodded and tucked her credit card into the back pocket of her jeans for later. She wasn’t actually going to use the card that Callum gave her, but what the sales assistant didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. Charlie knew that the instant she used the card, Callum would be onto her like a shot. He had remote instant access to his account and more importantly he was able to see what Charlie was spending his money on. She wanted tonight to be a surprise, a surprise that she wasn’t going to stupidly ruin by buying some sexy lingerie on his platinum card.

“Damn, this stuff is hot,” Amelia whistled as she flicked unhurriedly through a rack of babydolls.

“This way,” the sales assistant called, gesturing them towards the back of the small shop. She stopped in front of a small section that had individual garments hanging neatly from white satin clothing hangers. “These are some of our more exclusive pieces. If there are any of those that you would like to try on then please let me know and we can find you your right size.”

“That’s brilliant,” Charlie thanked as the sales assistant turned and disappeared out of sight.

Turning her attention back to the lingerie, she flicked her eyes to the pieces before her. A few delicate sets of bras and panties that were hung up on the wall in front caught her eye. Moving forwards to examine them further, she spotted something else that attracted her attention. Reaching out, she picked up the sheer mesh and black floral lace basque off of the wall. She held it up to scrutinise when she heard the gasps from behind.

“That is gorgeous!” they both shrieked in unison.

She twirled the garment around on the hanger, taking in the intricately stitched lace and prettily placed black bows that formed the body of the basque. The garment was mainly sheer material, but it was designed in such a way that it was sexually revealing and not slutty.

“I think you should try it on,” Lucy pressured, holding up the ensemble’s matching sheer and lace covered thong. “Match it with a pair of black hold up stockings and you will have him on you before you’ve closed the door to the apartment.”

“Is everything alright over here?” the sales assistant returned and asked. Obviously the scent of a sale had attracted her back like a predator seeking prey. “That is an excellent choice. Would you like to try it on?”