Broken Truth (30 page)

“Wearing what?” Xavier shook his head confused. “What have I done?”

He stepped forward to comfort her, but Charlie backed away. “You smell like him,” she whispered.

Xavier’s jaw dropped a little before he recovered himself. Lifting his hand, he slapped his forehead hard. “Shit!” he muttered, realising his mistake. “Have I bought the same aftershave as Callum?” He knew that he didn’t need an answer to that question as he looked at Charlie’s crumpled face. “I can’t do anything right at the moment can I? I’d better pop to the men’s and see if there is any aftershave in there.” He offered her an apologetic smile before he headed along the hallway towards the toilets.

“Where’s Avi?” Amelia called out as Charlie slid herself back into her seat.

“Toilets,” she shrugged.

Crossing her legs, Charlie placed her hands in her lap and looked over the side of the balcony at the masses of dancing people below.

“Everything alright?” Lucy raised a questioning eyebrow as she observed Charlie’s sudden stiffness. “You look like something is bothering you,” she said, noting her standoffish body language and vacant expression.

“Something is,” she admitted, flicking her eyes briefly in Lucy’s direction before she turned towards the dancing masses once again. “I need to get some stuff from the apartment before my flight on Saturday and I am absolutely terrified.”

Visions of being ambushed by Callum filled her thoughts, dreams and nightmares. She couldn’t think properly without some form of memory or image being conjured in her mind. She knew that as far as actually getting over their break up... she was a long way off.

“What time is your flight?”

“Around one in the afternoon,” she confirmed.

“Okay, how about we both go with you and then we drop you off at the airport?” Lucy suggested.

“I’m not gonna let that fucker near you,” Amelia promised with a wink.

Charlie acknowledged their offer with a small nod. Her brain was too busy to form words at that current moment as she was battling fiercely with her inner feelings. She knew that it was wrong, but a small part of her actually hoped they would run into Callum.

Twenty Eight

“Does he even know that you’re going to Milan... today... for twelve months?” she heard Amelia ask from behind as they walked into the lift that would take them straight up to the penthouse.

“No.” Charlie punched the code into the keypad and felt a shiver run the entire length of her spine as the doors smoothly slid closed. The floor of the lift rumbled softly under her feet as it slowly started its climb. “He doesn’t know that I’m here and he doesn’t know that I’m leaving,” she replied, leaning back against the mirrored surface of the lift. She was nervous, but she didn’t want to let it show.

“Well we know that he isn’t here at the moment, so you have nothing to worry about.” Lucy offered her a barely there smile which Charlie noticed held a hint of worry.

Her friends knew just as much as she did about how unpredictable Callum could be. She knew that they were not out of the woods just because he wasn’t home. As was the same with everything that Callum did, Charlie had suspicions that there would be something planned in the event she did return to the penthouse.

“Are you ready?” Amelia nudged her shoulder lightly as the lift came to a stop and the doors slid open before them.

Stepping into the foyer, Charlie’s eyes locked instantly to the table positioned in the centre and noticed the usual vase of flowers missing. Casting her eyes down to the floor, she searched the immediate area until she found what she was looking for.

“Someone has lost their temper,” she scolded, walking over to the other side of the room where the vase lay in shattered pieces on the floor. Picking out the flowers from the breakage, she placed them delicately in the centre of the foyer table.

“Shouldn’t that have been cleaned up?” Amelia asked as they followed her through into the open plan living room and kitchen. “Okay... maybe not,” she muttered as the three of them took in the state before them.

Charlie’s jaw dropped as she observed the sight of the living room in front of her. Multiple pieces of the sectional sofa had been tossed and left awkwardly in various places around the room, along with a littering of takeaway boxes and cans of beer. If she had to guess, she would easily estimate a good few weeks worth of half eaten food and rubbish lay scattered around the usually pristine room.

As they stepped further forward into the centre, Charlie wrinkled her nose unpleasantly. “It fucking stinks in here,” she said, doing nothing to hide the disgust from her voice.

She couldn’t believe that Callum had taken it upon himself to completely destroy their home and leave it in such a state for so long. She flicked her eyes towards the smashed picture frames and the broken shards that lay scattered on the floor. Bending down, Charlie picked the picture out of the shattered frame. A small lump caught in her throat as she stared at the smiling couple looking back at her.

 “Wow...” Lucy sucked in a hard breath and placed her hands on her hips. “What the fuck is he playing at,” she shrieked. “This place looks like an absolute shit hole. Surely to God he hasn’t just sat and lived like this?”

Charlie looked up as Amelia walked up to an overturned sofa and flipped open a discarded pizza box that lay on the floor beside it.

“Gross!” Amelia jumped away from the box and retched. “It’s fucking green!” she heaved, kicking it away with her foot.

“Let’s just get my shit and get out of here,” Charlie said, cocking her head towards the sweeping staircases in the middle of the room.

As they entered the master suite upstairs, Charlie wasn’t surprised to see that the mess had made its way up into the bedroom. Dirty clothes littered the floor while empty cans of fizzy pop and beer covered the bedside tables and the space beside Callum’s side of the bed.

“I bet the dirty bastard hasn’t even changed the sheets since you left.” Lucy casually walked over to Charlie’s side of the bed and yanked the covers from the mattress. “They absolutely stink,” she grimaced as the smell lingered in a haze around her.

“I’ll call in the cleaning crew after we leave,” Charlie explained, heading straight for her walk-in wardrobe. “Right now, we need to hurry up and get the stuff so we can get out of here. John wasn’t sure where he went earlier and he doesn’t know when he is coming back. We need to hurry up.”

As she started to pull various items of clothing from the rails, Charlie felt a flutter of nervous energy pumping in the pit of her stomach. There was a part of her that wanted to see Callum. She wanted him to see her here, today, packing up her belongings. She wanted him to know that she wasn’t weak anymore and that he had made her stronger.

On the other hand, there was still a part of her that didn’t want to see him. It was the secret part of her that she had locked away from the prying eyes of everyone else. It was the part of her that still held all of the hurt and the pain that Callum caused. It was the one place that she tried not to allow her mind to wander to, knowing that once she ventured in there was no way out. She knew that allowing herself into the space would create hurtful want and need. A need to be with the only man in the world who ever made her feel truly complete.

“Calm down,” Lucy soothed, placing a reassuring arm around her shoulder. “You will end up forgetting something if you start rushing around the place like a mad woman. Let us sort out the clothes while you go and get your passport and stuff.”

“Thank you.” Charlie smiled appreciatively as she scuttled past both Amelia and Lucy. She plonked herself on the edge of the bed and pulled open the drawer to her bedside table. Picking up the various envelopes and documents, she discarded the unopened bank and credit card statements for the time being. She didn’t need those in Milan. Right now, all she needed to get her hands on were her passport and savings book. “Aha!” she whooped as her eyes fixed firmly on the documents at the bottom of the pile.

“Did you find them?” she heard Amelia call from the walk-in-wardrobe.

“Yeah,” she replied, placing her passport and savings book into her handbag. “I have everything I need now, so let’s just pack up the rest of the stuff I need and get out of here.” She grabbed her weekend bag off of the bed and headed into the wardrobe to help both of the girls.

“I think we have packed most of what you will need. Of course you will be able to get more stuff while you are out there.” Amelia stood with her hands on her hips checking the remaining clothes left in the wardrobe. “You have the rest of your necessities that we didn’t pack a couple of weeks ago along with the things you can’t live without, but what about the other sixty percent of your wardrobe? You aren’t seriously going to leave all of this here?”

“I didn’t realise how much stuff you had,” Lucy said as she lightly wiped the thin sheen of sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. “I agree with Mia on this though, Charlie. I don’t think that you should leave all of this. I mean, I thought you were brave leaving it here up until now anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Charlie asked.

“Well... You didn’t know until the other day that Callum and Claire weren’t properly married. For all you knew, she could have come up after that night in London and thrown all of your stuff out without you even knowing!” Lucy gestured towards the multiple rails still filled with clothes. “What would you have done then, hey? You would have been royally fucked.”

“I know Callum,” she replied. “There is
no way
on this earth that he would let her up here and anywhere near my stuff.

“You might say that, but I think you dropped lucky,” Lucy replied.

 “Let’s get off this topic now so we can get out of here,” Charlie said, dropping to her knees to zip the cases up. Securely fastening the locks closed, she pushed one towards each of the girls. “I think we are done. I have my jewellery, my clothes and my documents... I think we can roll!” She got to her feet and pulled the handle up on her case.   

Amelia held up her hands to block Charlie from leaving. “Hold up,” she paused. “What are you doing with your car?”

Charlie pursed her lips. She already knew the answer to the question as it had been playing on her mind for a few weeks. “I’m leaving it here,” she confirmed. “It was a gift from Callum at the end of the day which I no longer want. I can’t see the point of having a car when I don’t need it.”

“You are just leaving it?” Lucy looked at her with surprise. “Are you sure you want to do that? You could always keep it on our drive or something?” she offered.

Charlie shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m going to leave it here. I don’t want to have the guilt of driving a car he bought for me.”

“I understand,” Amelia said with a nod. “But what are we doing with your clothes? I’m not going to just walk out of here and leave all of this, even if
you
don’t want it.”

“I’m taking a few suitcases with me to Milan, but the rest I have no idea what to do with,” she shrugged.

Amelia bit her lip as she flicked her gaze around the still packed rails of clothes. “We’ll come back,” she suggested, gesturing towards Lucy. “We will drop you off at the airport today and then come back in a few days or something to box the rest of it up. I’ll keep it in my garage until you decide what you want to do with it all. Does that sound alright?”

“Perfect,” Charlie replied with thanks. “I will mention it to John when we pass through the lobby on the way out, so he can arrange for you to have access. Now, let’s get out of here. I’ve got a plane to catch,” she smiled.

Charlie wheeled her luggage case across the floor towards the foyer. Pressing the call button on the lift, she turned around to look at the penthouse she had once called home. Previously filled with happy and loving memories, she now felt an overwhelming sadness at seeing the place in such a rundown and destroyed state.

“Everything will be okay.” Lucy clutched her hand and squeezed gently in reassurance. “It’s just the repercussions of his guilt and anger,” she said, gesturing towards the mess. “He obviously came home and decided to take it out on whatever it was that he could lay his hands on. They are only material possessions, Charlie.”

“I know,” she sighed. “But why has he just left everything like this? I mean, that night at the club was weeks ago. I just don’t get why he hasn’t let any of the housekeepers in to tidy up since?”

“He wanted you to see it,” Amelia said, placing an arm around her shoulder. “It’s obvious isn’t it? He wanted you to see what he has done because he knew that you would come back at some point. This was just his way to show you his anger and pain.”

“He relieved his pain by destroying our home?” She shook her head not wanting to believe it. “I can’t believe he has done this. I feel like he is trying to prove something to me, but he is just going about it all wrong. You don’t do this,” she said, her voice wavering with unshed emotions.

Charlie heard the lift doors ping open behind her. Slowly backing into the enclosed space, she felt her gut clench vigorously as she took in her surroundings for what she knew would be the final time. A single tear leaked out of the corner of her left eye and rolled down her cheek.

This was it.

This was finally goodbye.