Always Something There to Remind Me (18 page)

‘It’s been really great talking to you, Josh. At this point, I had planned to ask you to introduce us to your date for this evening, but I’m just getting a message through my earpiece that she’s been called away to take an urgent phone call.’

Josh looked surprised – so did the floor manager who was trying to catch Alice’s attention.

I realised straight away that her ad-lib had saved me from the embarrassment of being paraded in front of Des and Tess as Josh’s latest girlfriend.

Alice presented Josh with his champagne and a bunch of roses. ‘Perhaps you’d like to give these to your partner with our best wishes … unless you’d rather keep them.’

‘I may just do that,’ he said, laughing. ‘I’ve never been stood up so publicly before.’

‘Laugh! Laugh! Laugh!’
flashed the sign.

Alice made her closing comments and the show ended. The set lights went down and the house lights came up. Des and Tess made a speedy exit without looking around and I stayed put to give them a head start. I fully intended to sneak away and call a cab to go home. My world was falling apart. Josh Greenwood, rock god and superstar, had been so kind to me. He was gorgeous, talented, witty and sexy as hell. I knew that if I saw it through to the end of the evening he might have ‘expectations’. After all, I’d been a fan for thirty years and I’d shown little resistance to his charms so far. But it was all wrong. He could have any woman he wanted and he deserved better than a screwball like me whose heart was set on someone else. If I disappeared now, he’d only have to pick up the phone to get another date for dinner. Des and Tess could live happily ever after and I could go home and lick my wounds, order a Chinese and maybe, in a week or two, get a dog to keep me company in my old age.

The studio was almost empty now – time to make my escape. I bent to retrieve my handbag from under the seat and, as I stood up, I saw Des standing in the aisle, waiting for me.

‘What’s it to be, Lyd?’ he asked. ‘A fancy dinner with your own personal rock star or sharing a doner kebab with Mr Nobody while he tells you what an idiot he’s been.’

I walked towards him and took the hand he offered in both of mine. ‘Bet my idiot story’s longer than yours,’ I said. ‘I’m so sorry, Des …’ He cut off the rest of my apology with a lingering kiss.

‘God! I’ve missed you,’ he said at last, coming up for air. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

‘What will we tell our dates?’ I asked as we ran out of the building.

‘Don’t worry, Alice will take care of the explanations and I’m sure Tess will take care of Josh.’

Chapter 32: The Best Part of Breaking Up

We picked up our kebab supper and drove to my house. After dinner, we settled on the sofa and cuddled, not saying anything for quite a while. After all, not saying anything was what we did best. Eventually, Des broke the silence.

‘You made a great job of the interview report. Very professional, I thought.’

‘Thanks. Josh was really laid-back. He saw straight through me, but went along with it anyway.’

‘And then he asked you to join him tonight? No one can ever say you didn’t get a real date with him now, can they? I mean … it was meant to be a real date, wasn’t it?’ He was ‘fishing’. I decided honesty would be best.

‘Yes, I suppose so. He rang and invited me. I didn’t know where we were going or anything, but it was meant to be a real date.’

‘Then I showed up and spoiled it all?’

‘No. It was already spoiled. I should never have agreed to go. When you appeared I was just about to call a cab and run away.’

‘Really? Why? Did you think he’d be mad at you for not going on camera as his date? Or were you worried about being alone with him later?’

‘Neither, as it happens.’
The truth is, I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there with Tess and I’m afraid to think about it.
‘Anyway, don’t you feel a little guilty about abandoning Tess?’

Des laughed out loud. ‘Guilty? Not at all! Tess knew the score all along.’

‘What do you mean, she knew the score?’

He hesitated briefly. ‘Well, er … ours definitely wasn’t a real date.’ He looked sheepish and was avoiding eye contact.

‘Would you care to elaborate?’ I teased, sensing his discomfort.

‘Not really,’ he replied, ‘but I don’t suppose you’re going to let me get away without explaining … are you?’

‘No way!’ I laughed. ‘Explain yourself.’

He sighed. ‘I know you talked to Alice this morning – she called me afterwards. I was coming to see you this afternoon to try to sort things out. I watched you leave with Josh and thought I might as well give up. I rang Alice and told her I’d go to the studio tonight after all as you were with Josh. That was when she told me Josh was on the show, so I guessed you’d be there too. I almost cried off, but then I thought about it and called Tess. She agreed to come with me and said if I managed to clear the air with you she’d be only too pleased to leave us to it.’

‘So, Alice and Tess helped you to set me up, huh?’ I couldn’t help smiling at the thought that the two women I’d feared most as rivals wanted to make sure Des and I stayed together.

‘I suppose they did, but they meant well and it was all my idea. Can you forgive me?’

‘On one condition – I want to know all about your other women from now on, preferably before they show up and I jump to all the wrong conclusions.’

Des let out a sigh of relief. ‘I’ll write you a list, but you may have to wait a while.’

‘Why’s that?’

He took my hands and smiled. ‘Because I can’t think of anyone else when I’m looking at you and right now that’s all I want to do.’

After everything that had happened between us in the last three months, I couldn’t believe I could still blush like a schoolgirl at a compliment, but I did. I leaned forward and kissed him softly, feeling the heat mounting in my body as he held me closer and the kiss intensified. I’d never known such desire before and I sensed that he felt the same as I unbuttoned his shirt and stroked his chest, my hands travelling in slow circles down to his waist as I planted gentle kisses on his face and neck. He unzipped my dress and eased it off my shoulders, teasing the top of my breasts with his tongue as I lay back on the sofa and raised my hips, helping him to remove it completely.

‘I want you so much,’ he said.

‘I want you too. I can’t wait another minute.’

I joined him on the carpet and we discarded the remainder of our clothes and completed our reconciliation, coming together at last with laughter and tears.

Much later, Des turned on the computer.

‘I’ve just found our song,’ he said. ‘Listen to this.’

He clicked ‘play’ and the YouTube track sprang to life:

‘The best part of breaking up, is when we’re making up.’

Chapter 33: The Moon and New York City

The next few weeks were fairly uneventful. The most significant thing was that Des and I were officially a couple and, as such, we did ‘couple stuff’ together. I arrived at his place one Thursday evening while he was making a Skype call to his sister in New York. Despite my protests he pulled me onto his lap in front of the webcam and handed me a spare headset so I could join in the conversation.

‘Janie, this is my girlfriend, Lydia. She’s coming to New York with me next month.’

The jerky image of his sister on the monitor waved at me.

‘Hi, Lydia. It’s good to meet you. I was beginning to think he’d invented his mystery woman to get me off his case. I’ve been telling him for ages he should start dating before he forgot how to.’

I laughed. ‘I think we’re both relearning at the moment. It’s good to meet you too, Janie.’

Des clicked ‘capture’ and the webcam saved a still image of the two of us. The first photo we’d taken together.

‘I’ll send that to you, sis, he said. ‘We have to go now. Talk soon.’

‘Take care, Des and Lydia, ‘bye!’

As the connection closed, I turned from the screen and put my arms around Des’s neck.

‘That’s the first time you’ve introduced me as your girlfriend,’ I said. ‘I like it. It makes me feel young again.’

‘We’re only as old as we feel, babe. Besides, what else would I call you?’

What indeed? No longer ‘just friends’ or even ‘friends with benefits’; I’m his girlfriend and he’s my world.

* * * * *

Trudi breezed in on Easter Monday. I was still in my nightie when the doorbell rang.

‘Darling, it’s been ages! How are things?’

‘Wonderful, thanks.’ I hugged her. ‘How about you?’

‘I’m OK. I ditched Emilio. This relationship stuff doesn’t suit me at all. I was born to be single. What are you up to today?’

‘I don’t know yet. We had a late night and Des is still asleep so we haven’t made any plans.’

‘Oh sorry, I forgot about Des for a moment. I gather everything’s still going well?’

‘We’re fine. We’re off to New York next week.’

‘I thought you were going later, for your birthday?’

‘We had a change of plan. We’ll still be there for my birthday, but we’re going earlier. We’ve been invited to Alice’s wedding on the twentieth at The Foundry in Long Island.’

‘She’s one cool customer inviting her ex to her wedding,’ Trudi laughed.

‘We owe her a lot. She was the prime mover in getting us back together.’

‘Of course. I’ll drive you both to the airport if you like.’

‘That would be great.’

* * * * *

On April 18
^th
, I boarded my first ever commercial flight. I was nervous, but no longer terrified at the prospect. After all, I’d survived the helicopter ride with Josh and this time I had Des at my side and the prospect of a fabulous holiday ahead.

We took our seats for the five-hour journey and Des held my hand as we took off. I panicked briefly as I remembered all the news stories I’d ever heard about plane crashes.

I don’t want to die! Please God, don’t let us crash.

Then I looked across at Des who was smiling and squeezing my hand.

‘Are you OK, baby?’ he asked.

‘I think so … don’t let go of me.’

‘I’m right here, you’ll be fine.’

In that moment, I knew it was true – I’d be fine. If anything disastrous happened, at least we’d be together at the end and maybe we’d even have time to say the things we’d never said. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. In no time at all, I fell asleep and dreamt I was Lois Lane flying high in the arms of Superman.

* * * * *

We took a taxi to our hotel and for the first time I really understood the time difference. We’d left the UK at 9 a.m., yet here we were, five hours later, making our way through the Big Apple’s morning rush hour. We checked in and a bellhop took us up to our suite on the tenth floor.

I’d never been anywhere so luxurious before and I couldn’t help wondering how much all this had cost. Des was always rather vague about precisely what he did for a living and I hadn’t really thought about it too much. He didn’t exactly have a flashy lifestyle – nice car, nice flat and ‘good’ clothes, but nothing over the top. Anyway, I’m not usually bothered by that sort of thing and we’d become friends because of who he was, not what he did or what he had.

Now, as I looked around the plush surroundings that would be our base for the next ten days, I felt like a little girl in Disneyland. My handsome prince tipped the bellhop and we were alone at last.

‘Make yourself at home, Lyd. I’ll get room service to bring us some lunch … or breakfast … or whatever; I’m starving.’ He winked and picked up the phone. I unpacked my suitcase, putting my stuff away with uncharacteristic neatness. Des was always organised and, as soon as he’d ordered the food, he unpacked too. It was a fine morning, so when our ‘brunch’ arrived we decided to have it on the balcony, watching the world go by and taking in the bustling atmosphere from a safe distance.

‘Are you happy, Lyd?’ The question came out of the blue. ‘Is it what you expected?’

‘It’s perfect … even better than I imagined. In fact, I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough.’

‘Your being here with me is thanks enough. I couldn’t be happier.’ He yawned. ‘Janie’s expecting us for dinner tonight around seven-thirty, so we have most of the day to ourselves. What would you like to do first?’

It was my turn to yawn. ‘Not wishing to be a party-pooper, I’m shattered. How about taking a nap first? We’ve got ten days to do everything else.’

‘I’m so glad you said that.’ He rose from the table and took my hand. ‘I was afraid you might want to do something energetic. Come on, there’s a king-sized bed in there with our names on it.’

Chapter 34: Happy Days

Janie proved to be great fun. Her husband, Mike, was away on a business trip, but she said we’d meet him later in the week. The family resemblance was remarkable. Des and Janie had the same green eyes and dark hair; even the same laughter lines. We got on like a house on fire and after dinner Janie set about her sisterly obligation of embarrassing her younger sibling by getting out the old family album.

‘I didn’t know you still had these,’ Des said, flicking through the pages.

‘Well, I tried to sell them on eBay but, funnily enough, I had no takers.’ Janie laughed. ‘What would you expect me to do with them? They were good times. Look at this one – you were such a poser!’ She grabbed the album and passed it to me. ‘What do you think, Lyd?’

I couldn’t help laughing at the picture. Des must have been about fifteen when it was taken and seemed to be in fancy dress, wearing black eyeliner, with a white streak across his face. His dark curls framed a moody expression and his lips were pursed.

I glanced at Des who was cringing. ‘I was going to a concert …’

‘Adam Ant? I’d never have guessed you were a fan,’ I said, handing the album back to Janie.

‘Well, it’s never come up in conversation before.’ He was laughing now. ‘It was a great gig, actually, but when I got home I couldn’t get the make-up off for ages. Mum and Janie let me struggle for half an hour before giving me some stuff to do the trick!’

Janie put the album away. ‘I think we’ve made you suffer enough for one night,’ she said, ruffling Des’s hair. ‘Time to plan for the rest of your visit …’