Page 38 of Retrograde
By the time the credits rolled, Lucie couldn’t have told anyone what the film was about even if she’d been held at gunpoint. For the whole two hours, her mind had been on nothing and nobody except Brett and Sienna.
She was starting to realise that Brett could be her person, and she might be about to lose him all over again. And yet, she couldn’t possibly tell him this. He had vowed to never commit again after Sienna, so why would Lucie’s confession change his mind?
Was he going to bring her back here? Should Lucie extricate herself from Brett’s luxury cotton bedsheets and check into a nearby hotel? Camp out in his childhood bedroom and cry to Maggie and his sisters? No, she belonged here. Brett always made sure she knew that, so why should she start doubting it now?
Still, it didn’t stop Lucie feeling like she should go home to Los Angeles or visit her parents in Europe. Leave Brett to his own devices for a while. Then she remembered the man she’d be leaving behind had a drinking problem. She had to take care of him, even if that meant her own heart had to ache for a while. She’d take her space when she knew he was okay.
Brett sat in a booth at Sydney’s newest bar. It was opening night, and Sienna had told him that if he wanted to see her, this was where she’d be. She wasn’t willing to change her plans to suit him, which made sense considering how wishy-washy he’d been with her.
She looked stunning. Platinum blonde hair down to her waist, piercing blue eyes and heels that made her almost the same height as him. She was a knockout. And yet as she begged him once again to have a vodka coke and loosen up a little, he wished he was at home watching a film with Lucie. He felt sick to his stomach as he sipped his cranberry juice.
‘How’s Lucie?’ Sienna smiled but he knew it was fake. Why was she bringing her up?
‘She’s great.’ Brett’s jaw ticked.
‘Is she in Sydney with you?’ The small talk was beyond painful, but now Brett was here, he didn’t quite know what to say. It felt different to when he’d seen her a few weeks ago.
‘Yeah.’ Lucie was a topic he didn’t want to discuss with her.
‘Why didn’t she come here with you?’ Sienna challenged. She knew why.
‘I wonder,’ he scoffed, recalling how she had treated Lucie in the past.
He had never been Sienna’s best friend, and she had never been his. Their relationship, in truth, had always been surface level. Hisrealbest friend, the one who he loved unconditionally and who he knew with utter confidence would always be by his side, was Lucie.
And he’d fucked up. He’d left her sitting at home by herself in a city she wasn’t overly familiar with while he was out here trying to make amends with someone who should be left in the past.
‘I can’t do this, Sen.’ He shuffled out of the booth.
‘What? B, please. I don’t want you to go. I know you haven’t forgiven me yet, but you will. We can work through it. What we had was special, I realise that now. Breaking your trust is my biggest regret. If I could take it back, I would.’
‘I’m not convinced what we had was even real. I know my lifestyle wasn’t right for you, but you should have just ended it when you knew I wasn’t the one. But no, you got chatting to a random guy on a night out, when you should’ve been at home withme, and next thing I know my whole world is falling apart. You cheated on me, what was it? Eight times? Your friend over there told me all about those other guys.’ He pointed directly at her redheaded friend, who was looking at them in fear.Sorry, Amelia.
‘Just give me one more chance. I won’t hurt you again,’ she pleaded.
‘I’m going to go home to Lucie.’ He held her gaze.
‘It’s always going to be Lucie, isn’t it?’ Sienna sighed.
‘Yeah, it’s always going to be her.’
Lucie woke hours later to the front door opening and closing softly, followed by only one set of footsteps coming down the hallway. ThankGod. Brett appeared, his frame filling the doorway. He looked as exhausted as she felt.
‘Nice night?’ She peered out from the blankets.
‘No.’ Brett disappeared into the bathroom to clean his teeth.
‘Oh, really? I’m surprised,’ she called through.
‘Don’t act all smug, Carolan.’ He walked back into the bedroom, sans clothing, and climbed into bed in his boxers. Although they covered everything, they left very little to the imagination and she wished he’d wear sweatpants to bed when they were sharing.
‘I’m an idiot.’ He let out a bitter laugh.
‘No, you’re hurting and you needed to see her in order to move forward.’ Lucie sat up.
‘It was a waste of time.’
‘I’m sorry, Brett.’
