Promises (12 page)

She
carried on with her marking, no longer paying much attention to what she was doing. Staring in misery at the huge clock, she glared at the hands that moved too slowly, each steady tick slamming into her jumbled thoughts. And she made her decision.

Picking
up her mobile, she booked her taxi then flicked the ‘CLOSED’ sign before heading home to pack.

Solomon
carefully studied Tanya. He’d come across her type many times before. She was like a honeybee, flitting from flower to flower, not stopping, simply sampling. And today she intended to dip her finger in Solomon’s sweet pot.

“Make yourself at home
.” She closed the door behind them. “Do you want a drink?”

“Just water.
Whereabouts do you want these shelves put up?” He was determined to keep it purely work. He knew damn well the game she was playing and he wasn’t about to make matters worse with Alex by agreeing to it. He worried that his ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement was about to come to an abrupt halt. He needed to get back and explain things to Alex, then get her into bed.

“Oh
, never mind that, leave it till later.” She patted the sofa she half-reclined against. “Come and sit down. Tell me all about yourself.”

“N
ot a lot to tell, really. What about you?” He turned the tables and leaned against the door, keeping his distance.

She rose and
sauntered towards him. Stopping scant inches in front of him, she placed her palms on his chest, feeling his muscles. She slid her hands over his body, dropping them lower, when suddenly Sol’s large hands grasped hers in a vice-like grip.

“I do the choosing.
And it’s not you, got it?” His expression was harsh and forbidding.

“I’m only asking for sex
, not a lifetime commitment, trust me.” She continued to sweep her hungry gaze over him. Slowly, she licked her top lip, tracing it with the tip of her tongue.

“I thought you were Alex’s friend
?”

She shrugged her shoulders
. “So, what’s that got to do with anything? She’s got to be over you. Why else do you think she pushed us together?” She curled long fingers over his arm. “Gave us her blessing, really.”

“Sorry
, Tanya, but I’m not available.” He turned and left her standing there, slamming the door furiously behind him. He was worried about the words she’d spoken. He had already learned a great deal about Alex’s lethal, hair-trigger temper.

He was strolling
down the road, deep in thought when he saw Alex leave her house with what looked like a holdall. She paused at the door before walking towards a white taxi parked outside.

P
icking up speed, he sprinted towards her. “Alex wait!” he shouted.

She turned,
barely sparing him a glance before throwing her bag inside and closing the door. “Train station,” she muttered. The taxi surged forward.

“Alex!” he yelled
after her. Standing in the middle of the road, he stared after the taxi disappearing from view and wondered where the hell she was going.

The
more worrying question was, why?

A
lex sat on the train, staring out the window with a vacant gaze, not noticing the landscape whirring past. She ignored the elderly man sitting opposite, whose watery eyes lingered on her breasts. The blouse she wore stretched across her breasts and thrust against the thin material. She tried to cover them with her sweater.

I
f he wasn’t so old she’d slap him.

What was it about men an
d tits? Was it because they were breast fed or because they were denied that luxury, she wondered, thinking back to Sol and how he made her feel. But right now, at this very moment, the thought of him made her feel like shit.

G
laring at the old man adjusting his glasses, she let her sweater fall open and undid the top button on her shirt. Deliberately leaning forward, she gave him an eyeful of cleavage, then glanced up with satisfaction at his red face.
Good
, she thought tetchily,
have a bloody heart attack!
At this moment in time she hated men. All men! Especially the one who could make her melt with one sexy, soft glance.

She checked her mobile and sighed
for the hundredth time, wishing she hadn’t agreed to be maid of honour. She’d rather be told she had six months to live. Then she mentally shook herself, hating the drama she was making of it. She dabbed at the buttons on her mobile and waited until Ruth’s name came up. Holding it up to her ear, she strummed her fingers on the table that separated her from the old pervert sitting opposite. Her eyes widened when she felt his foot running up her leg. She smiled in satisfaction when he winced, the kick she’d sent him finding its target.

“Hello?” mumbled a disembodied voice
.

“Hi Ruth,
it’s me,” she stated the obvious. “You doing anything for the next day or two?”

“Not really
, why?” A loud yawn stretched down the line.

“I’m on my way to you.
I need to talk.” Then she paused. “Where are you now?” she asked, hoping she hadn’t interrupted anything.

“Bed, trying to sleep
.” Her voice was low, but registered no rancour. Glancing at the alarm clock, Ruth raised her brow at the time. She pushed her hair behind her ears and swung her legs out of bed, her feet sliding into a pair of huge fluffy slippers.

“Oh Christ
, I’m sorry.” Alex sent the randy octogenarian another glare, keeping tabs on him out of the corner of her eye. Then she turned sideways, obscuring the view.
Probably bringing back memories
, she reflected bitchily,
because at his age it’s the only thing he is capable of
.

“No worries
,” Ruth said. “What time do you reckon you’ll get here?” Alex heard her friend surrender to another gaping yawn.

“About an hour, but you
know what British rail is like. Anyway, just glad you’re there.” She thought back to the last time she’d visited, and the repercussions of Ruth’s absence. The ripples had travelled into a bigger pond, one that she was in serious danger of drowning in.

The taxi pulled
up outside a tall townhouse. The railings gleamed deep ebony in the late afternoon sunshine, though covered by a fine spray of dust. Alex glanced up at the pillar-box-red door before paying her fare and grabbing her bag. She pushed the buttons on the intercom, a dull metal grey glinting against the pale stonework.

“Come on up
,” echoed Ruth’s voice.

Alex wandered in, throwing
her bag to the floor, and slumped into the oversized settee monopolizing the small room.

Ru
th took one look at her and handed over a glass of wine. “Here. By the sounds of things, you need it.” She left the bottle on the coffee table and studied her. “So come on. Spit it out. What’s up?” she asked as she settled comfortably against a large floppy cushion.

“Remember that night when I came here
to go shopping and was going to stay with you? And you weren’t here?” she added with an accusatory glare.

“Mmm, silly me
, had to work. I was on my feet in air space somewhere between here and America. Most normal people tend to call first,” Ruth said, stating the obvious. She took a sip from her glass.

“Yea
h, whatever,” Alex said before continuing, “and remember the mix-up at the hotel?” She recalled Ruth’s shriek of shock when she’d told her what she’d done.

Despite being friends
all these years, Ruth didn’t know the real Alex, the one who wanted to break free from the shell she’d built around her. As usual she hid behind her fear and uncertainty, unable to shake the lack of confidence that smothered her. But that night she had; she had been another person, the one she craved to be. A sexy woman in the arms of a lover. Secure in the knowledge that he’d soon be gone and therefore a distant memory, she had given into to her sinful desires. But his reappearance had changed all that.

“
Yeah, I remember. You made love to a man without waking up,” Ruth repeated sceptically.

“I thought it was a dream, and then when I realized it wasn’t
… well.” Alex grinned wickedly, thinking back, reliving it.

“You didn’t think of stopping, asking him to leave?”
Ruth asked, shaking her head.

“Not when I saw what he looked like
. I thought,
What the hell! It’s my one and only chance to live out my fantasies
.”

Ruth
shook her head in despair. “Did we really just have that conversation or did I dream it?”

Alex
sighed and ignored her. “Well he’s now my next door neighbour!” She drained her glass.

“Oh shit
!” Ruth followed Alex, knocking her drink back. After she refilled both glasses, she looked at her. “So, what’s happened?”

“So, we hit the sack.
Not straight away,” she admitted. “Honestly, I did try not to. But he’s persistent, I’ll give him that.”

“Yea
h, I bet.” Ruth grinned. “Don’t forget what you told me about how he made you feel. I’ve guessing you didn’t put up much of a fight.”

“Well
, okay, I gave in, and I told him we’d be friends with benefits.” She glanced up as Ruth burst out laughing. “It’s not funny.”

“You couldn’t do that.
One thing I know about you is that you’ve got old-fashioned values,” Ruth said, shaking her head.

“Well I did.
I was determined to keep it purely sex. No emotion.”

“Alex, you get attached to a cold
!”

“Well, anyway,
I guess you’re right because my feelings were getting all jumbled up and I couldn’t remain detached.” She sniffed miserably. “Then it all went wrong. He had to go away, promised me it was only for two days.” She took another gulp of wine, draining the glass yet again, tasting the fruitiness sharp against her taste buds. “He finally turned up over five days later!”

“So?” asked Ruth
, tilting her head in confusion. “Have I missed something here?”

“So
, he lied!” she snapped. “Why didn’t he just tell me it was over instead of putting me through that? I was counting the hours down, and then nothing. Not even a bloody phone call.” She stood and helped herself to the dregs of the bottle.

“There’s another in the fridge
,” Ruth said. She paused, mulling over Alex’s story. “I still don’t get it, your overreaction.” She wagged her finger. “I reckon you’ve fallen for the guy.”

Alex gave her a one
-fingered salute and went in search of more wine. Yet she had a sneaking suspicion Ruth was right. She slammed the fridge door and was annoyed when it closed with a quiet thud, not the dramatic bang she’d aimed for.

“What was his excuse?”
Ruth asked as Alex walked back into the living room.

“Work, and he said he didn’t have my number
,” she mumbled, tearing up again.

“Sounds pl
ausible. What I don’t get is why you thought it was over. I mean, if he’s living next door to you, he didn’t need to stay away to get the message to you.”

Alex
, who didn’t like to admit that Ruth’s explanation made sense, stared miserably into her glass. She hadn’t thought of that.
Shit.

“
Did you tell him you were staying away for a few days?” Ruth leaned back and peered at her friend over the rim of her glass. She observed the way Alex chewed and nibbled on her lip and knocked her wine back with a short snap. The scowl that crossed her features.

Ruth a
lready knew the answer. Alex’s volatile temper was as unpredictable as the weather. She could blow up and overreact over any little imagined slight.

“No, and another
thing. I pushed him at Tanya.” Now she wished she’d kept her mouth shut, praying he wouldn’t fall for Tanya’s charms and into her bed.

“That man
-eater? Well if you ask me, you’re off your head. What the hell made you do that?” cried Ruth.

Alex shrugged
. It was too late now; what would be, would be. “Don’t know what made me do it. I just hope I haven’t made a mistake.”

“
What’s done is done. You’ll find out when you get home,” said Ruth philosophically before deftly changing the subject. “How long did you say you were going to be staying?”

“Till late tomorrow
. I have to call in on Mother,” Alex grimaced. “And that’s another thing. I’ve only gone and agreed to be the bloody maid of honour at my brother’s wedding!”

“How
did you get roped into that?” She paused and raised her glass. “Bet Fiona had a hand in it as well.”

“My brother caught me at a weak moment
.” Alex shook her head. “So I thought I’d just as well call in for the fitting, get it over with.”

“When is the w
edding of the century?” Once met, Fiona could never be forgotten, and Ruth had met her plenty of times. “Has Val managed to stand up to her? I bet Fiona has arranged everything her way.” She gave a chuckle. “No wonder your brother came begging, never mind the weak moment. He wouldn’t have left till you agreed.”

“
It’s in a couple of weeks, and it gets worse.”

“How?”

“She’s only gone and invited Sol,” she said, and smiled, a warm glow coming over her at the way his name rolled off her tongue.

“What
? She’s met him?” asked Ruth, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Her eyes crinkled in laughter. “Oh God, he’s father material.”

“
Actually, she caught us in bed. Well, Sol was. I was trying to get dressed.” She tried not to grin as she recalled the scene.

“You are kidding me
!” screeched Ruth. She slapped a hand over her mouth in a futile attempt to stop the giggles. “What did she say?”

Alex shook her head
with a wry grin. “Three guesses.”

“Babies!” laughed Ruth
. “I bet he was cringing.”

Alex shook her head
. “Strangely enough, he wasn’t. He can handle her all right. The first person I’ve seen do it. And she never even realized.”

“
I’ve got to meet this paragon. He sounds sensational.” She raised a hand and ticked off her fingers. “Great in bed, gorgeous, fantastic body, and can handle your mother?”

“Yep, he’s got the lot
,” agreed Alex, “and that includes a loathing of relationships.”

“Trust me, that can be worked on
.” Ruth gave her a wink. “So what’s happened to your aversion?”

“
I think I can make an exception.”

The remainder of the evening was obscured in a glaze of alcohol, followed by
Chinese take away. The remnants of what they’d ate lay scattered over the coffee table.

The following morning the obligatory white take-away boxes littered the floor along with empty bottles of wine.

“I’m never drinking again
,” swore Ruth, stumbling into the lounge. She stared at Alex, lying on the settee, pressing her fingers to her temples, before heading towards the kitchen and pain relief. She fumbled in the medicine cabinet and tossed some painkillers down her throat, holding her head.

“Don’t shout
,” groaned Alex, rising up onto an elbow. She looked down and realized she hadn’t even undressed. Pushing herself upright, she sat holding her head, remembering her last hangover not so long ago. “I’m turning into a wino!”

“Here
,” Ruth held two tablets in the palm of her hand. She held a glass of water in the other.

Alex grabbed the glass and
tossed back the pills, wincing at the movement of her head. “Thanks.”

“I’m going back to bed
. You do what the hell you like,” said Ruth. She held a hand over her eyes and stumbled into her room.

Alex watched her
go and gingerly lay back down, careful not to aggravate the drumming in her head. She decided to sleep it off. She drifted into a restless slumber, an arm over her eyes in an attempt to block the light. Gradually she felt her eyes close.