Starr Fated (5 page)

Maybe this
would prove to be a valuable learning curve for Jamie. Maybe he
needed to learn the hard way about falling for sob stories, and
dealing with this girl would give him the wakeup call it seemed he
was in severe need of.

“Well, as it
happens, I wanted to ask you about a couple of problems, because
the thing is, I’d forgotten the radiator in that attic room doesn’t
really work, the side window is broken, and the water for the
shower never really gets hot. So do you think you could get Andrew
to sort these things out, please?”

Andrew is my
facilitator – my go-to man, who always sorts out any maintenance
issues I have with any of the properties I own. For a fee, he will
make all the arrangements for a reliable and trustworthy tradesman
to come and fix whatever the issue is, and then ensure the job is
completed satisfactorily.

“I’ll
certainly give you Andrew’s number, and you can call him yourself.
You can also pay his fee, as well that of whoever actually comes
out to fix the problem.”

“But that
could run into hundreds of pounds! I can't afford that on my
allowance, and you’re a fucking millionaire, for Christ's sake!”
Jamie protested.

I just raised
my eyebrows, and gave my brother a cool smile.

Jamie
sighed.

“Okay, I get
it, Liam. You’re happy to spend a small fortune on buying yourself
a brand new Aston Martin Vanquish, but you’re too stingy to help
out a decent, hardworking young woman, who’s been dealt a pretty
shit hand in life. So she’ll have to put up with a freezing room
this winter, as well as cold showers in that crappy little shower
room.”

“That’s about
the size of it, yes,” I agreed. “You made this arrangement, so as
far as I’m concerned, you are now her landlord. I’m handing over
all responsibility to you, because I certainly don’t have any kind
of a contract with her.”

“When did you
get to be such a cold hearted bastard, Liam?”

“When I had to
start living in the real world, Jamie.”

“
No
Jamie this
morning?” I
asked Toby. He’d come and sat with me at the kitchen table as I was
drinking my mid-morning cup of tea while taking a break from my
studies. Sundays were always a good day for me to get on with my
course work. That was why I liked working in the restaurant in the
evenings at the weekend, because it left me free during the day.
Jamie had asked how I could possibly fit in any kind of a social
life working those kind of hours when I kept side stepping his
offers for us to go out somewhere together.

The truth was
I didn't really have any kind of a social life, but that was okay.
I didn't see the point of spending money I didn't really have to go
out and get totally inebriated, and then have to worry about
embarrassing pictures appearing on Facebook or being tweeted to the
world.

“He’s gone to
have lunch with The Big Guy – his brother. He usually does on a
Sunday whenever Liam’s not away on business,” Toby explained.

“Why do you
call him The Big Guy? Is he massively obese or something?” I asked
curiously.

“Hardly,” Toby
laughed. “Liam’s the super fit athletic type who gets up at the
crack of dawn every day to go for a swim and a workout. And he’s
even taller than Jamie.”

I grimaced as
I pictured him. I was far more comfortable mixing with the less
overtly macho type of guys I rubbed shoulders with on my arts
course. Men who are in touch with their feminine side. I was really
not into these big ripped guys.

“But it’s not
just that,” Toby continued. “He has this presence, this manner
about him, that makes everyone sit up and take notice when he walks
into a room. He’s one of those hedge fund financial geniuses –
self-made millionaire and all that. I imagine if you worked for
him, he’d say ‘jump’ and without hesitation, you’d automatically
say ‘how high, sir.’”

“Ugh, he
sounds pretty domineering and unpleasant. Is he married? Does he
have a wife who has to put up with him?” I shuddered.

“Hardly,” Toby
laughed. “You could say he’s not the marrying type.”

“Is he gay
then?” I asked innocently, which made Toby roar with laughter.

“Absolutely
not. Jamie says his big brother doesn’t believe in all that romance
and relationship crap. He goes in for friends with benefits, that’s
more his kind of thing. You know what I’m talking about here?” Toby
asked, clearly trying to be tactful.

“You mean he
has fuck buddies,” I said.

“I was trying
to be polite, but yes. Apparently he likes to spend his weekends
having lots of kinky sex with big busty blondes. According to
Jamie, anyway,” Toby grinned.

“Well, I must
say, this Big Guy man-whore sounds an absolute charmer,” I said
sarcastically. He didn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities as
far as I could tell, apart from being very well off.

“In his
defence, he’s good to Jamie, and they’re very close, despite the
fact that Liam is about ten years older. Maybe that’s because they
don't have any other family, just each other. But he is undoubtedly
a control freak. Liam likes to keep a tight reign over
everything.”

“You said he
interviewed you before he’d agree to you moving in?”

Toby
nodded.

“So, is he
going to want to see me? Could he decide I'm not suitable and throw
me out?”

I’d been in
the house several weeks now, and I felt really settled. It was all
working out so well. I got on fine with the guys, I could walk to
uni, and my job. I could shut myself away at the top of the house
to get on with my studies. This was by far the best place I’d lived
in since I’d been at uni, and I really didn't relish the thought of
having to leave.

“I don't think
it’ll come to that,” Toby reassured me. “Although I do think Liam
will be surprised that Jamie has actually used his own initiative
and done something without seeking his approval first. About bloody
time he stood up to him, actually. He’s not a two year old, for
crying out loud.”

“I hope you’re
right. I can't imagine finding anywhere else to live half as nice
as here, and anyway, I don't have the time to go searching for new
digs. Perhaps he’d be okay about me if I told him that it’s
probably only for a few months anyway, because I've applied for the
exchange program next year.”

“Oh, have you?
How definite is that then?” Toby enquired.

“I've been
told I stand a good chance of being placed on the short list, but
that it would help me greatly if I could get some sort of short
internship or placement here in a creative design or marketing team
first, any decent company would do, to have some actual work place
experience to enhance my application,” I explained. “I’ve already
applied to loads of companies, but there are literally hundreds of
applicants for every place. It’s really hard to get any kind of
placement, especially with the recession. You have to be prepared
to work for nothing; some companies even expect you to pay them for
the privilege, which just wouldn’t be possible for me.”

“Maybe Jamie
could speak to his brother about getting you a placement in his
company, Starr Capital Ventures?” Toby suggested. “It’s not what
you know, it’s who you know that matters in the business
world.”

“Thanks, but I
really don't think that would be the kind of place I’d like to work
by the sounds of things. I can't somehow see me fitting into that
kind of corporate world.”

“You said any
decent company would do, and if it’s only for a month or so, would
it be so bad? SCV would be a really good name to have. Shame my old
man’s a doctor; it means he’s not much use for that kind of
thing.”

“That’s really
sweet of you, Toby, but I’m sure I’ll get something eventually,
don't you worry,” I lied. Truthfully, I was getting worried because
I knew time was running out to get something sorted, and mine was
just one among many hundreds if not thousands of applications. But
getting Jamie to ask a favour from his brother just felt all wrong,
especially as he sounded so awful. “Anyway, tell me, does Adam ever
spend any time here in this house? Have I scared him off or
something?”

Toby
smiled.

“He spends
very little time here of late, but that’s nothing to do with you.
More to do with the charms of Chloe, his girlfriend, although I
don't know what he sees in her to be honest, because she’s such a
stuck up cow. She keeps him on a very short leash anyhow.”

“Right, I
see.”

I had met Adam
several times now, and he seemed nice enough. He was another tall
guy, this time one with jet black curly hair, very dark eyes and
olive skin. I think I heard him say that his mother was Spanish,
which explained his dark good looks. But when I met Chloe, she
threw me a really filthy look after Adam made a joke about spending
more time at the house if I was going to be there. There was
definitely no love lost between us, and clearly we were never going
to be BFF’s.

That’s why I
preferred sharing with guys – at least they were usually pretty
upfront, with no snide remarks or bitching going on all the time.
All you had to remember with blokes was not to give them the
slightest encouragement whatsoever about their chances of getting
you into bed, so there was not the remotest chance of any kind of a
misunderstanding. I often found myself smiling as I studiously
ignored Jamie’s none too subtle efforts to try and impress me. He
kept wandering around the house half naked in his very low slung
track bottoms or pyjamas - he was obviously proud of his body. I
continued to keep him at arm’s length, although I had to admit he
was persistent. I don’t think he was used to getting knocked back,
so maybe I was denting that pride of his by not being overcome by
his manly good looks, and managing to resist the temptation to
throw myself at his impressive body.

“So…um…you and
Jamie? Are you two…?” Toby tried to ask casually, as he took a swig
of his coffee.

“What? Are we
what? Dating, is that what you mean?” I queried. “What’s Jamie been
saying?”

“Nothing,
really. I just wondered that’s all, because I think he’s pretty
keen on you. Jamie has a reputation for being the number one ladies
man, so I just wondered…”

“Let me guess
- you just wondered if I’d succumbed to the charms of God’s gift to
women yet, is that it?” I asked wryly.

“Something
like that, yes,” Toby admitted.

“We’re just
friends, that’s all. Nothing more,” I told him firmly.

“Don't you
fancy him? Girls usually fall over backwards to get it on with him,
but seems it’s the other way around this time. I’ve not seen him
like this before, really keen on a girl and getting nowhere,” Toby
grinned, seeming rather pleased by Jamie’s lack of success,
suggesting there was possibly some kind of rivalry between the two
of them.

“Perhaps I'm
just not like all the other girls who are queuing up and begging
for his favours,” I suggested rather tartly.

Toby’s head
shot up when I said that.

“No, I guess
you're not. So, umm… when you say you’re not like the other
girls…can I just ask, your friend that helped you move in, the one
with the bright red hair?”

“Abbey, you
mean?” She’d helped me bring my things over in her car when I’d
moved here from her place.

“Yeah. Can I
just ask if she’s a
very
close friend of yours? I mean, I
know you lived with her before you came here. And I couldn’t help
noticing she had a LGBT sticker on her car…” he looked at me
expectantly, as he waited for the penny to drop.

Ah, of course.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender sticker. I realised he
wanted to know if I was gay, which if I was would explain why I was
so resistant to Jamie’s charms. What to say? Should I let him think
I was gay, which wasn't true…or at least I didn't think it was
true… was it? I had sometimes wondered if maybe I was, because that
might explain why I’d never felt comfortable in letting guys go
further than kissing me. I’d been kissed by plenty of guys, but I
always froze up as soon as they tried to take things further, when
they started touching me, or trying to undo my clothes. Being gay
might help to explain why I was still a virgin at the grand old age
of twenty one. Or maybe it was just that I’d never met anyone who
really interested me enough in that way. But for now I decided it
was probably best not to open up to Toby, whom I’d only known a
short time. No, it was best to keep these private thoughts of mine
just that - private.

“Abbey’s just
a good friend, Toby, nothing more.”

“So I take it
she is a lesbian? But you're saying you two weren’t a couple?”

“No, we
weren’t. And for the record, I think Abbey would describe herself
more as bisexual.”

“Ah, she’s
greedy – she likes it both ways,” he smirked. “I bet she’d be great
in a threesome.”

“Toby!
Honestly, you blokes are all the same – you have a one track mind,”
I scolded him, not wanting to admit that he was actually right from
some of the stories Abbey had told me about her wilder exploits. I
often felt like a drab, boring little mouse in comparison when I
listened to her tales about exciting adventures with all sorts of
exotic characters, both male and female.

“Sorry, I
forgot I wasn't talking to the guys for a minute there, which is a
compliment really, if you think about it.”

“Hmm, if you
say so. Anyway, tea break over. I’d best get back to my
studies.”

With that, I
headed back to my room, to shut myself away and concentrate on
getting on with my latest project. Hopefully I had set Toby right
about the state of play between Jamie and myself.

I lay in
bed looking up at the ceiling, knowing that
directly above me was Sera’s room. I liked her. Really liked her,
so much in fact that I thought I might actually want her to be my
proper girlfriend, rather than just a girl I sometimes hung around
with and fucked. So this total lack of progress with her was really
getting to me.