Page 44 of Wish You Knew
Not waiting to hear what would come from her mouth, I cut her off. “Come on, Rosie, why are you really here? We’re not in a relationship. You’re not my girlfriend. You’re not my anything.” I echoed the words she’d said to me the first time I rescued her from Mark, wanting to see if she recognised them.
An uncomfortable silence descended over the table. Both Vivian and Bas looked between me and Rosie. I could tell Vivian was itching to say something, but was holding herself back, drumming her fingers on the tabletop instead.
Rosie’s blue eyes filled with tears, as she sucked in her bottom lip. “I… you… I,” she stuttered, unable to string a coherent sentence together. Without another sound, she pushed her chair back from the table and dashed for the bathrooms.
Vivian glared at me and went after Rosie, leaving Bas and me alone.
I tried to drink some more, but the glass was empty. I struggled to get up. The amount of gin I’d drunk in a short amount of time on an empty stomach, having pushed my dinner around my plate unable to eat, was affecting me more than usual. I knew there was a reason I hated the drink.
“Shit,” said Bas, breathing out a long exhalation. “What the hell have you done?”
“What do you care? Oh, wait. Are you going to step in and comfort Rosie after Big Bad Scott told her the truth?” Unable to get the attention of anyone to get me another drink, I reached for Rosie’s half empty glass and downed the rest of hers.
“What is the truth though?” His frown deepened. “I know you aren’t in a relationship, but it’s fucking obvious you both want to be. I can see it, Mum can see it, hell, even the barman can see it!” Bas glanced over in the direction of the Ladies. “You should go and put things right, buddy. Before you fuck everything up for good this time.”
“Ha!” I let out a harsh laugh. “Do you think I deserve Rosie after the way I’ve treated her.”
“Maybe you’re right and you don’t, but if you don’t ever take that risk and find out, you’ll never know.”
Fuck. I hated it when my cousin was right.
But I couldn’t talk to her now. I was drunk and angry, the combining state not the best to declare my feelings. Even if I told her the truth now, would she even believe me?
22
Rosie
Sobbing on the shoulder of Vivian Woods in the toilets of the Kings Arms wasn’t exactly how I’d expected the evening to pan out.
Watching Scott down drink after drink, descending into the evil version of himself, hearing his cruel words, broke me into a million pieces. I’d thought we’d made some progress, that we were going in the direction of a real relationship. Clearly, I’d got it totally wrong.
“I can’t stay.” I sniffled into a tissue and pulled away. I couldn’t risk ruining Vivian’s blouse.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Where are you going to go at this time of night?”
“I’ll get a train back to London.”
Vivian let out a small laugh. “Oh, Rosie, transport links here aren’t that good. There won’t be a service until the morning.”
“I can’t go back to the house if he’s going to be there.”
Right now, the thought of even being in the same postcode as Scott Lincoln made me feel sick. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
“You can stay in my room, there’s a sofa bed I can make up.” Vivian rubbed my arm. “You won’t have to see him.”
My tears started again at her kindness. She’d known me all of a day and was demonstrating more kindness than her nephew, who I had a long history with. A history which apparently meant nothing.
Grateful I’d remembered to bring my handbag, I rifled through the contents to find another tissue to clean my face with. “Can we go home now?”
“Of course, let me go and get my keys.” She caught my eye in the mirror. “I won’t say anything to Scott.”
While I waited, I took several deep breaths, cleaning the streaked mascara from under my eyes. I wanted to get away from here, wanted to get back home.
Back to real life.
These past few days had been like a holiday, a suspended reality; a bubble.
But that bubble had well and truly burst.
