Where did your heart go? (The Heart Trilogy Book 1) (23 page)

“It’s ok” I stammered, still in shock from the confrontation.

“She’s a bitch” Graham said “You are so lucky to be leaving” he finished, looking at James who was still standing there holding a tray of drinks.

“Can we go home” I asked, quietly as James looked down at me.

“Sure” he replied, as he took my hand and we headed for the door after saying goodbye to the rest of them.

Just feeling James’ arms around me was a comfort as we headed the short walk home.

“Why does she hate me so much?” I asked, as we walked.

“She hates everyone, but when I first started at the pool she asked me out and I said no as even though we weren’t together then I had strong feelings for you” James replied, as he hugged me tighter to him “She’s been awful ever since” he finished.

Once home we headed to the safety of James room as his parents had already gone to bed, gently he peeled my dress off me and then my underwear followed. It seemed we were both keen to rid ourselves of the unpleasant scene as we headed for the comfort of the duvet and just held each other tight, each lost in our own thoughts but our bodies together as one.

All of a sudden her phone beeped and
Charlotte grabbed it to find a message from Mitchell.

“Thanks for a wonderful weekend, I am home safe and sound but missing someone to hold me tonight. Wish you were here as when I am with you I have the time of my life as I’ve never felt this way before. Sleep well my baby and keep in touch, Mitchell x”

Charlie smiled at the reference to the lyrics from the main theme of the Dirty Dancing movie and then responded with

“Mitchell, you’re like the wind, you’ve taken my heart and you don’t know what you’ve done, missing you too and can’t wait until we are dancing together again, Your Charlie x x”

Charlie already knew that she was hopelessly falling in love with Mitchell and there was nothing that could stop her falling for him more and more. She was definitely the luckiest girl alive, as she put the diary aside and fell asleep, her dreams a muddle of wishes and desires, held together by music and dance.

Chapter 27

School seemed to pass so slowly for Charlie as she finished lessons and then headed for the hall for more rehearsals with the group. Every time they danced their way through the routine she missed Mitch for the fall at the end. Mitchell could not get away this weekend but had invited her to stay the following weekend so although it seemed an age away they continued to text and chat to each other almost as constantly as they could depending on college.

While Charlie was out and about for the week I noticed that my diary was missing from her room, however I found my old pink photo album stuffed under the bed and noticed that it was open at the last page which showed a photograph of me and James at the school dance. It was a beautiful photo the only one I possessed of the two of us, all that was left of our wonderful year together. Except it wasn’t even a year as I remembered back to that day in November and I wondered if Charlotte had reached that part yet, now that Mitchell had become such a big part of her life.

Charlie spent the weekend practising her dancing and in between texts from Mitch; reading the diaries so that she could let Mitchell know what had happened twenty four years ago that was as much a part of his life as hers.

Friday 2
nd
September, 1988

I can’t wait, James is coming over and I’m cleaning my room as I dance along to Rick Astley. I was so lost in the music that I failed to hear James’ car pull onto the driveway and the first thing I knew was a clapping from the doorway as I spun round and saw a smile that lit up my day.

“Nice moves” he said “Now get over here and give me a kiss, it’s been a long haul”

I needed no further prompting as I ran the short distance into his arms and felt my body curve into his, like a final piece of a jigsaw, we were complete again.

The first kiss we shared was always the best but as our lips came together I sensed a small moment of hesitation from James. It was so slight that I soon forgot as he responded to my touch in the usual way and we staggered over to the bed and fell together onto the softness of the duvet. When we eventually parted we were both hot and breathless.

“Shall we go and grab some cold drinks” I said.

Sitting in the kitchen he told me about his last few days at work and his leaving party, looking into his eyes I noticed a strange sadness lurking there beneath the calm blue

“Do you miss working at the pool?” I asked

“Nah, will miss the guys, you know Ian and Graham but definitely not Felicity” he responded.

“So big day on Monday when you start at the Fire Station” I responded, a smile creeping over my features as I imagined what James looked like in his uniform.

“What’s the smile for?” he asked

“Just thinking about how good you will look in your uniform”

“You can see it next time you come over and visit”

“Mmmmm that sounds like an offer I can’t refuse” I replied, fluttering my eyelashes and going into a fake swoon.

“You can do more than see it, you can remove it if you want” he suggested. James was enjoying the flirting and the undercurrent of sexual tension running through our conversation.

James lent across the table and kissed me again, before my Mum walked into the room and interrupted us.

“So what are you two planning for this weekend?” Mum asked.

“We’re meeting Chris and Sarah at the pool in an hour and going for a swim then bowling later at the new alley that has opened in Gloucester” I replied.

“Would you like some sandwiches before you head off” Mum finished

“That would be great Mrs M” James replied, as I nodded to and jumped up to grab us some crisps and another drink.

We drove down to the pool and spotted Sarah and Chris immediately as they were locked in a passionate embrace just to the side of the entrance. James tooted the horn of the car and we laughed as they jumped and then realised it was us. Once in the pool it felt like old times as we swam, laughed and mucked around. Then in a quiet moment James motioned for me to go under the water and close my eyes so I did. He gently pulled me close and kissed me, recreating our first ever kiss in exactly the same spot, it was beautiful. As we broke the surface together I mouthed “I love you” to him, James responded with “Till the end of time” back at me.

“Race you” he said, as he kicked away from the side and sped off down the pool. I tried to keep up but he still beat me and was waiting for me at the other end.

After we had got out and dried off the four of us piled into James’ car, I let Chris sit in the passenger seat as there was more leg room and I didn’t mind having the chance of a gossip with my best friend Sarah in the back.

Bowling was good fun even though the guys wanted to make it a competition it was fun when they decided to do boys against girls and Sarah and myself so
me how managed to beat them by two points.

On the drive home Chris let me sit in the front but I think this had more to do with the fact that he could sit in the back with Sarah as I tried not to over hear their whispers. After we had dropped them off we headed back to my place and as my parents had already gone to bed we were both able to creep up the stairs to my room. Silently we peeled off each other’s clothes and made love before falling asleep, tightly together due to the lack of space in a single bed.

Saturday 3
rd
September, 1988

I forgot to set my alarm and woke in a panic as I heard footsteps on the landing and realised that it was my parents moving around. Carefully I extricated myself from James arms and grabbing my dressing gown I put that on and headed silently down the stairs to where my stairs met the openness of the landing. Waiting in silence I decided it was safe but just as I stepped round the corner onto the landing my Mum appeared from her bedroom doorway.

“Hi Mum” I stammered, knowing there was no way I was going to be able to lie and say I was on my way to the bathroom.

“I’ll talk to you later once James has left” Mum replied, before she headed downstairs.

In the safety of the spare bedroom I took some deep breaths. I was definitely in trouble and I just hoped she wouldn’t tell Dad as I would be grounded for years. I had just finished getting dressed when I heard James’ footsteps on the stairs and I was able to catch him on the landing and pull him into the spare room.

“Mum caught me coming down the stairs this morning as I forgot to set the alarm, she’s going to talk to me once you leave on Sunday” I said.

“Do you want me to talk to her” James said.

“No its ok but I just wanted to let you know as I might get grounded and not be able to come
to yours when you next have a weekend off” I responded, glumly considering the possibility of a complete ban on seeing James.

He put his arms around me and hugged me close
.

“It’ll be alright” he said.

“I wish my Mum was more like Pam” I replied, hugging James back and suddenly finding a smile now I was in his arms.

We headed downstairs for breakfast and I realised that Mum had not said anything to my Dad as he greeted us both and we sat down.

“What would you like to do today?” I asked James.

“Not sure” he replied.

“You can always
help me in the garage as I’m going to sort through all the records and disco equipment and weed some of them out that we don’t need anymore”

“Sounds like a plan” I replied “Are the decks still set up in there?” I finished
.

“Yes, why don’t you go ahead and do the music and I’ll head to the shed and do the lights” Dad responded.

Once we were in the garage I switched the decks on and s
tarted to open all the cases as James soon had his head buried in the different sections, lifting out singles as I gave them a spin on the decks.

“I love this song” he replied, pulling out ‘You’ve lost that loving feeling’ which I imme
diately recognised from Top Gun. Pulling me away from behind the deck the empty garage acted like our very own dance floor as he pulled me into his arms.

“Since we never got to slow dance
in the club when you were up at mine” he murmured as I laid my head on his chest and we slowly moved together before he spun me round and we started to waltz like we had been taught in Blackpool. As the music faded I heard some clapping in the background and turned round to see my Dad standing in the doorway

“I liked your Waltz” he said “Who taught you?”

“My Dad taught me” James quickly replied, knowing that my parents had no idea about our long weekend in Lytham St Anne’s.

“Well they did a good job” Dad finished “I’ll leave you to finish off”

When he had gone I turned and started to giggle

“That was a close one” I said “Nearly got in trouble for two things instead of just the bedroom this morning” I breathed, relief washing over me.

“How about we put on something a bit faster? I have some sexual energy I need to release and it won’t wait until later” James said, as he found an album of dance music and put it on the turntable.

Although we started out with good intentions the dancing slipped into an extended foreplay session that soon had my blood boiling as James slipped his hands beneath my loose top and realised with a start that I had not put a bra on. His fingers stroked my nipples and I felt my body start to soar. Pushing up my top I stood there as James lips and tongue took over from his fingers. I hardly dared to breathe at the sheer wickedness of doing this in the garage when only moments before my Dad had appeared at the door. It had only served to heighten my senses.

Running his hands over the outside of my skirt he reached the hem and then explored beneath. I heard him gasp even louder when he realised that I also wore no knickers as his warm hands touched my burning skin and ran down to my feet and then back up my legs to the centre of all my nerve endings. His fingers felt my wetness and then kneeling down his tongue tasted me, drinking me in like I was a fine wine to be enjoyed slowly and with care. I grabbed his shoulders and hung on as suddenly he pulled up and released himself from his jeans before he lifted me up and pushed me against the rough garage wall so that he could plunge into me without a moment’s hesitation.

My body exploded in his strong arms as I came with such abandon that I cried out and had to smoother the sound into his chest as he came too. Our bodies felt like one shimmering, shining sun at the centre of our own private universe. I think if the wall hadn’t been behind us we would have fallen to the floor in happy exhaustion, instead with shaking hands James lowered me to my feet and we both just stood there, overwhelmed by the experience.

We heard a shout from outside

“Lunch is ready” followed by my Mum’s footsteps. I quickly s
traightened up my clothes just in time for Mum to appear through the garage door as she pulled it open.

“I wasn’t sure you could hear me over the music” she finished, looking slightly bemused at the sight of the two of us stood in the centre of the garage and no doubt looking slightly dishevelled.

“Thanks Mum, we’ll be in shortly” I replied, feeling the heat of my blush and also the remnants of our activity just moments before still on my skin.

“Thanks Mrs M” James replied “all this work has made me hungry
” he finished, looking over at the pile of records we had sorted. As he did this he glanced back at me and we exchanged a smile that said it all.

After lunch we headed into town and to the video shop and rented a couple of films for the evening as my Mum and Dad were going out. We ended up with Ferris Buellers Day Off and Mannequin to watch, both were good but in the end we finished up with another viewing of Top Gun as we made out on the sofa to the soundtrack that had pretty much made up our whole relationship to date.

“Do you know if I ever had a daughter I would call her
Charlotte” I sighed. “Yes Charlotte Cooke has a great ring to it” I finished.

“Hey that’s a bit far ahead of you” James responded “I’m too young to think about responsibilities like that just yet…I have a life to live”

“Yes and Fires to put out, people to save and cats to rescue from trees” I replied breathing deeply as I thought of him rescuing me in the pool.

“I can’t wait to get started on Monday, they are even training me to drive the Fire Engine…now that will be a buzz” he grinned, as I could tell that this was his most important dream at the moment. I hoped that this would not create a distance or barrier between us, I just needed him to give me another year so I could do my course and learn to drive and then our relationship would move forward in the direction I wanted. The direction I
had dreamt about for the last eight months; that I would be his forever.