Page 22 of The Layover
Francesca lets out a laugh, though she claps a hand over her mouth and coughs to try to hide it, and Gemma glances her way with an appraising look, cool and curious. The slight smile that curves her mouth is something I can only describe as sly.
That hatred burns a little hotter in my chest.
Chapter Twelve
Francesca
Leon pushes away from the table abruptly, his chair knocking into someone behind him. He mutters that he needs some air and trudges away, his thick legs and broad shoulders making him clumsy as he manoeuvres between people. I feel my whole face burning, my palms turning clammy, a wave of panic rising – is he going to call Kayleigh? Tell her about me, about …? It was only a text, but he clearly doesn’t think very much of me or how Marcus calls me his ‘work wife’ …
Maybe it would be agoodthing if he told Kayleigh something was going on between me and Marcus? She might call off the wedding. But then what if Marcus thought I’d lied, and never heard me out, and we lost our chance all over again?
For all my excited, romantic notions leading up to this weekend, I’m starting to think it won’t be as painless as it looks in the movies after all.
Gemma pushes her bag into Leon’s empty chair to keep it reserved, though she’s pulling a face as she watches him go.
‘What crawled up his arse and died?’
Me, I think. But I say, ‘He’s not always like this?’
Gemma scoffs. ‘Are you kidding me? That guy wouldn’t say boo to a goose.’
‘I’m not sureanybodywould choose to say boo to a goose. Aren’t they quite aggressive?’
Gemma ponders it for a moment, then bats it away with a sharp flick of her hand. ‘Whatever. He’s a softie, is my point. I don’t knowwhatthis whole … this Jon Snow act is about.’ She glances at me, then adds quickly, ‘All broody bastard. It was a joke.’
‘I got that.’
‘Likehe’sgot anything to stress about.’ Gemma snorts. She reaches for her cup, then clicks her tongue when she remembers it’s empty. ‘Like Kayleigh’s going to be blaminghimif anything goes tits up because he wasn’t there. He’ll miss out on a pint with some of the cousins, ohno. Meanwhile, I’ve got an entire to-do list of things the bride is expecting me to see to because she justloooovesthe drama and acts like everything is going to go wrong …’
She trails off with a testy sigh, glowering into the distance.
‘That sounds tough. But I guess it’s very stressful, planning a wedding. Anybody would get a bit worked up about it,’ I say carefully, although I’m thinking that sounds an awful lot like the person Marcus talks about. I shouldn’t badmouth the bride to her best friend; but Gemma is entitled to vent, isn’t she?
She seems to realise she might have spoken a bit out of turn, giving me the impression that she wasn’t saying it to me, so much as getting it off her chest. Gemma plonks an elbow on the table, resting her cheek on her fist to pin me with a look.
But then she says thelastthing I’m expecting, and tells me, ‘Fran, I’m gonna level with you – this hasnothing to do with the wedding. This isn’t a bridezilla situation. She’s just a pill. Do people say that anymore? Either way, she is.’
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anybody called a ‘pill’, but it doesn’t sound very nice.
‘But you know,’ she adds then, ‘Marcus is too, so they’re great together.’
‘Marcus isn’t … He’s … I mean …’
One of her eyebrows quirks up slightly behind her glasses frames, and her gaze sharpens.
‘I don’t really know Kayleigh that well,’ I say, ‘we’ve only met a few times. I just mean that he’s … I’m surprised you think that of Marcus, is all I’m trying to say.’
She gives a crisp laugh. ‘Well, you know him. You know what he’s like. Hardly a saint, is he? Mr Goody Two-Shoes, like Leon over there.’ She jerks her head in the direction he left, grin widening as she rolls her eyes with affection.
But I can’t join in, can’t say anything. That’s not the Marcus I know, not at all.
Does Kayleigh bring out a worse side of him?
Or is it … is it me, bringing out something better in him?
My heart gives a little flutter inside my chest, like a hummingbird.See?It seems to say.You are meant to be. Whatever the two of you have, it is special, because he doesn’t have it with her.
Gemma is waiting for me to say something, but I’m not sure that defending Marcus is the right move. It’ll sound like I’m agreeing that Kayleigh is awful, and I don’t want to do that.
