Twelve Days - The Beginning (7 page)

“Cole, come on..that’s not fair, it’s not always like that. We have our good times.” She made her voice deliberately chirpy. She knew that she wasn’t fooling anyone, but maybe if she told herself enough times that everything was going to be OK, perhaps she would eventually start to believe it. Cole remained silent – she knew that he didn’t believe her. He would never believe her.

“Let’s change the subject.” She said, keen to get things back to normal between them. “Fancy a soppy movie?” She jumped up to go and check out the selection.

“How could I resist? What’ve you got?” Cole sounded relieved. His unintentional disclosure of a few moments before had clearly taken him by surprise too and he obviously recognised that they needed to get back onto safe territory.

Elise selected a DVD and poured them both another shot as they snuggled together on the sofa, content with each other’s company and the safety that it gave them both. Many times Elise had wondered what Cole actually got out of their friendship as she seemed to be the one always doing the taking, but whenever she asked him, he just smiled and said he enjoyed being with her and that that was all that he needed.

As the movie reached its conclusion, Elise stretched, yawned and turned her tired blue eyes on Cole. He was watching her with a curious expression on his face, and she could tell that he wanted to say something but seemed unsure how to say it.

“You OK? What’s wrong?” she asked.

“It’s nothing, it’s just.....well something happened today.” Cole turned away from her and

Elise rested her hand on his arm to get him to look back at her.

“What? Besides getting the shit beaten out of you, you mean?” He suddenly seemed really serious and Elise wanted to relax him a bit.

“Yes, Elise. Besides that.” He sighed, clearly seeing little humour in her comment and she suddenly realised that this was something big. His voice had become deep and solemn and Elise felt her heart go cold, fear running through her veins.

“What, Cole? What happened? Why the hell didn’t you say something earlier? Oh Christ, I forgot, you got arrested, didn’t you? Don’t say they are going to press charges! Is that what this is about? Shit!”

“No, Elise,” he said cutting her off “It’s not that. Thankfully, they let us both off with a caution but I need to be more careful in the future – despite how much I may want to beat your husband up again.” He laughed humourlessly.

“What is it then? Come on Cole - you can tell me anything, you know you can.” Elise pressed her hands into his and turned to him, her face earnest and imploring. “Baby, I’ll help you, whatever it is, you know I will.”

“I’m not sure you can help me with this one, sweet-cheeks” Cole turned away from her, hiding his eyes as if afraid of what she might see.

Silence descended and Elise struggled with how to break it. His hands had become clammy where she was holding them and she could feel them shaking slightly. She had no idea what was going on with Cole or why the sudden seriousness and the change in him. He knew that she was always there for him, didn’t he? She just had to hope that that was enough and that he would open up to her eventually. She waited patiently, calmly rubbing his hands as he had done for her so many times; soothing him, reaching out to him.

Just as she had given up all hope of him saying anything further, he shrugged and turned back to face her.

“You know today when I was fighting with Dale?” she nodded, “And you know when Vaughn arrived and he pulled me off him?”

“Yes...” she said carefully, not sure where this was going.

“Well..., when Vaughn pulled me off, something happened. I felt something.”

“OK....” She said, not really understanding. “If he made you angry, I totally get that. Believe me, I’ve known him less than twenty four hours and he is already seriously stretching my boundaries!”

“No, Elise, you don’t understand.” Cole hesitated again and then shook his head. “He didn’t make me angry – far from it. He made me feel something – something that I shouldn’t feel. He made me feel.....” he swallowed. Whatever he was about to say was clearly a big deal for him and Elise just continued to rub his hands while she waited. Eventually he spoke again, quietly this time, and she almost had to strain to hear him.

“It was attraction, Elise. I was, in that instant, attracted to him. And all the while he was holding me back, all I could think of was how good his arms felt around me and how good he felt pressed up against my back. I didn’t want him to let go. It scared the shit out of me.” Cole took a breath and turned to face her, not quite meeting her eyes.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it this afternoon.” He continued, still unable to meet her eyes. “First of all I thought it was a one-off, you know, the adrenalin pumping with Dale and the fight. I told myself that all the way to the hospital, and had nearly got myself convinced that it hadn’t happened at all - until I arrived. They showed me into a small cubicle and I had to wait for an eternity for a doctor to come and see me. When he did it was a young doctor - a registrar I think he said - and all of a sudden, it was like the blinkers came off. Suddenly I was looking at a man and I was attracted to him and, Jesus, Elise, that is seriously fucked up.” He took another breath and this time he did look at her as he finished talking.

“I realised then that it was nothing to do with the fight, nothing to do with the adrenalin and it seriously made me think. I’ve always loved girls, Elise - I know I have. I’ve always chased girls, bedded girls every which way possible and I’ve always loved every sordid minute of it. But today for the first time ever, I began to think about having a man, bedding a man – wondering what it would feel like, and I felt myself getting aroused. I was aroused at the hospital, Elise and shit, I am so scared. I don’t understand this; I don’t understand why I am feeling like this or why it is happening now. I need you to help me, I have to work this out. Christ, Elise, I think I may be bi.”

As Cole’s words sank in Elise struggled to comprehend them and to think of the right thing to say. Hell, he had just landed something on her that she would have sworn she would never hear him say. Cole was renowned for his endless flirting with the women in the office, however harmless it usually was. Never once, in all of their years of friendship, had she ever heard him refer to men in that way at all. It wasn’t an issue for her - she was nothing if not open minded - but the gravity of what Cole had just told her meant that she had to make sure she had well and truly switched her brain on before responding. Damn tequila!

“Say something, Elise...,please. You’re the only person that I can trust with this. I have no idea what it means for me now, let alone tomorrow, but I need to know that you are still here for me and that our relationship won’t change. I love you with all my heart, Elise and if there was ever anyone I was going to be faithful for – it would be you.”

Elise watched as a single tear rolled down his cheek and she reached out to brush it away before kissing her hand and placing it on the side of his face.

“I could never shut you out, Cole - never. You will always be a part of my life, my very best friend and much more. Nothing will ever make me think less of you; in fact what you have discovered today just makes me think that you are one of the bravest people I know.” she swallowed.

“I don’t know what this means either but if you want me to help you figure it out, then you know that I am here for you. I love you too, Cole and you know that that will never change.”

The moment was quickly becoming intense and with the quantity of alcohol they had consumed, neither of them was in a fit state to talk about it any more. Elise reached for Cole and they hugged tightly, silently pouring out their emotions and giving and receiving comfort.

The clock in the hall abruptly chimed and Elise realised that it was gone midnight - getting a taxi back now would be virtually impossible, not to mention expensive.

“Hey baby. You want to stay over tonight?” she asked and gently pulled away from Cole so that she could look at him. “You can take the sofa and I’ve got some spare bedding somewhere.”

Cole nodded, his expression still troubled but more relaxed.

“Thanks. That would be great. I’m just not strong enough to face the inevitable questions right now and I need to get my head straight for a while longer. I need to work everything out and with you is the only place that I can do that. Thank you Elise, I love you.”

“I love you too, Cole Andrews. And thank you for what you did for me today – as for everything else, we’ll work through it together, I promise you.”

Elise rose to go and find the spare bedding, however as she reached the doorway, another thought struck her and she turned back to Cole.

“Cole?” she asked. He looked up from where he had been removing his shoes.

“Yes babe, what is it?”

“I was just wondering – whatever happened to Bobby last night?”

Cole started laughing then; a genuine proper belly-laugh which sounded really good to her ears.

“Oh, Elise,” he said, his eyes watering “only you could ask the most inappropriate question at the most inappropriate time.” She glared at him in mock anger, and grabbed a cushion off one of the dining chairs, aiming it squarely at Cole as he continued to laugh. Finally he composed himself enough to answer and in some ways, Elise was sorry – it had been good to hear him laugh.

“Bobby went home after he went to call Helen, when he left the table. She went into labour a couple of days early but everything was fine. They had a baby girl; Rose, they’re going to
call her. Last I heard mother and baby were doing good.” He grinned and then started laughing again. “Thank god for Bobby and his extremely
normal
life!”

Elise chuckled. Amen to that! “I’ll just go and get you that bedding. Night, Cole. Sleep well.”

“Night, babe. Love you.”

Chapter Nine

Elise woke to her alarm clock after a fitful night. She kept dreaming about Dale and Vaughn. In one dream, she was with Dale and in the other she was with Vaughn. Eventually, both dreams merged into one and both men realised that she was cheating on each of them and all hell had broken loose. The end result hadn’t been pretty and Elise was infinitely grateful when she woke up to normal life.

Well, as normal as her life got these days.

Trudging downstairs, she checked in on Cole who was still asleep. She needed to wake him up and get him home before she went to meet Celeste at the precinct. Not that she had a problem with him being here but it wouldn’t be long before one of her neighbours noticed his car and although she wasn’t especially friendly with any of them, she wouldn’t put it past one particular neighbour to mention the
strange
car to Dale ‘in passing’.

Making two cups of strong coffee, she headed into the lounge and gently began to shake Cole. She couldn’t believe how beautiful this man was even with all the cuts and bruises which looked even angrier now in the light of day. He was totally relaxed in sleep and she revelled in being able to watch him in these moments when his guard was down.

Mentally, she began comparing him to Vaughn; both men were beautiful but in a different way. Vaughn was more striking; darker and definitely more dangerous. Wait, she was sitting here comparing Cole and Vaughn when her husband was recovering in the hospital, for Christ’s sake! Her priorities were seriously screwed.

Shaking herself, she pushed against Cole a bit harder and finally managed to rouse him. She watched as he opened his eyes and took a moment to work out where he was. She saw the instant that clarity hit and he turned to face her, gorgeous chocolate eyes meeting her baby blues.

“Hey, beautiful.” he said, yawning and stretching a little. “Now this is the way to wake up. My seriously hot best friend and a cup of strong coffee. I must have died and gone to heaven.”

Chuckling, she shoved him good-naturedly. “You need to get your lazy ass out of bed, Cole Andrews. Whilst I love having you stay the night, I really don’t want to provide any more gossip fodder for the neighbours. Besides, I have a hot date!”

Cole choked on his mouthful of coffee. “A hot date! What the ........?”

“Ha! Got you there!” she said, “Although if I did have a hot date it would be absolutely none of your business.”

“If
you had a hot date my sweet-cheeked best friend, I can assure you that it
would
be my business and I would find myself siding with your toe-rag of a husband which is something that I didn’t think would happen until hell froze over!”

She laughed at the seriousness of his expression. “Alright, keep your hair on! I was only joking! I’m going to meet Celeste at the precinct to go shopping. She wants to get a killer dress for clubbing tonight and she seems to think that I’m the perfect person to help her.”

“Are you going?” Cole asked.

“Going where? To the precinct? I just said I was.”

“No. Are you going clubbing?”

“No, not that I know of. Hadn’t thought about it to be honest. Dale would never let me go so it’s not really worth thinking about.”

“I thought Dale was in the hospital ‘til tomorrow,” Cole said, “If you didn’t tell him, how would he know that you’d been out? You should go, you deserve a bit of a break and a chance to let your hair down. I would offer to come with you but, what with the state of my face and my recent personal revelation, I’m feeling just a tiny bit fragile.” He looked saddened for a moment and Elise reached over to brush her hand against his cheek.

“That’s OK, baby. I appreciate the thought but I won’t be going anyway. I’m thirty-one now Cole. A bit too old for nightclubs!”

“Hardly.” he said but he dropped the subject anyway and finished his coffee.

Ten minutes later she had managed to shoo him out of the house, promising to call him when she got back. She needed to have a shower but first she needed to phone the hospital to check on Dale.

The nurse that answered the call assured Elise that he’d had a good night and that they were hoping to complete all their tests today so that he could come home in the morning. She said that they had been concerned about the level of alcohol in his bloodstream but that he didn’t seem to be fighting too many withdrawal symptoms today so they were hopeful that he would have a calm and quiet day. Couldn’t be any worse than yesterday, Elise reflected as she thanked the nurse and hung up. She had promised to go and see him later as soon as visitors were permitted and so she found herself in the strange position of having a day completely to herself. No Dale to worry about, moaning and groaning and telling her what she could and couldn’t do. She felt her heart lift and almost skipped around, as she got ready to go and meet Celeste.

Celeste was waiting at the monument at 9.30am as promised and they fell into an easy banter as they ambled around the precinct. Accustomed to spending as little time as possible shopping so as to keep Dale happy, Elise found the whole experience odd but really rather enjoyable and it wasn’t long before she was getting into the spirit of the day.

After leaving yet another dress shop,
still
without a killer dress, they decided to stop for a coffee and take a well earned break. As they sat watching other customers bustling about,
Elise’s eyes fell on a mother and young baby, which reminded her about Bobby and Helen’s news.

“Hey ‘Leste” she said “We should see if we can find something for Bobby and Helen. Cole said they had a girl, isn’t that great?”

“Yeah, I know.” said Celeste “It was buzzing round the office yesterday but I think that with all your dramas, you kind of missed it.”

Elise rolled her eyes, “Don’t remind me!”

Celeste laughed and they continued with their drinks and muffins in silent contemplation.

After a while, Elise spoke again. “So, you definitely going clubbing tonight then, ‘Leste?”

“Abso – freaking – lutely” she said. “Now that I know that
none
of the hotties in the office are interested in me then I need to tout my wares elsewhere.”

“Ha ha, very funny. You know that you only have to say the word and Stephen will come running!”

“Hotties, Elise – I said HOTTIES!” Celeste snorted indignantly, causing Elise to burst into fits of laughter and almost choke on the rest of her coffee.

“Which club are you going to anyway?” she asked when she could finally breathe again. “Cole reckoned that I should go with you but I told him that I am waaaaaay too old for that! Honestly, I wonder about that boy sometimes.”

“Maybe he’s got a point.” Celeste said and Elise found herself rolling her eyes again. This was getting to be a seriously bad habit. She needed to have words with the eye-rolling part of her brain.

“We’re going to Indigo,” Celeste continued, “just outside Eastwood on the coast road. It’s new; not long opened and they are doing free entry for ladies tonight. You should come, it’ll be a laugh! And don’t worry about the age thing; it’s an over-25’s night.”

“I don’t know, ‘Leste,” Elise said hesitantly, “it’s not really my thing. I don’t tend to go out other than to work functions. I would feel totally out of place.”

“How can you possibly know you’ll feel out of place when you’ve never been before? Look, I’ve asked Annabel and Amelia and I think Olivia said she would come too so that’s already four people that you know...”

Elise refrained from pointing out that she didn’t consider any of those girls to be her friend. Instead, she asked something else as another thought struck her.

“Hang on....Aren’t they too young if it’s an over-25’s night?”

Celeste shrugged “Amelia is 25, I think, and Annabel and Olivia reckon they’ll have no trouble. I think they are planning on finding themselves some older men. So, are you coming or not?”

That sounded about right. Amelia was still trying to make Cole jealous despite her performance with Stephen the other night and, from what Elise knew of Annabel and Olivia, getting their claws into an older man would fit right into their style. Did she really want to go and witness that?

Elise thought for a moment and suddenly realised that she hadn’t done anything even remotely reckless for a very long time. As annoying as the others could be, it would be entertaining watching them and the thought of losing herself completely in the music was really starting to appeal. She was a free agent tonight so she supposed that she could go. Dale would still be in the hospital and need never know. Perhaps a girlie night out would be just what was needed. She could have some fun, have a few drinks and forget all about the men in her life for one whole evening. Particularly one man with a killer body and the darkest eyes she had ever seen. She had a feeling though that forgetting about him, would take a hell of a lot more than a nightclub and a few drinks. Suddenly though, going out tonight seemed like the perfect plan and smiling her acceptance, she turned to Celeste.

“’Leste, we are now looking for
two
killer dresses. Count me in!”