Page 79 of Kiss Me Ever After
I couldn’t promise her. Instead, with my fingers crossed behind my back, I said, “I’ll check the train times and let you know.”
“You don’t know how happy he’ll be to hear you’re coming.” There was a noise in the background at her end. “Gotta go, Alex is back. He’ll tell me the latest. I’ll message you later. Love you, Lennon.”
“You too,” I said, but Amber had already ended the call.
With a heavy heart, I went back inside the pub. The band had finished and were packing up their stuff. Carly and the others were still at the table, and I went back to finish my drink. God, I needed it.
“You okay? You look a bit pale?” Carly reached over and touched my arm.
“Had a bit of bad news.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “My, um, a friend is in hospital.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry! Are they okay?”
“He will be, I think.” I grabbed my glass and drained the rest of my wine.
“Let me get you another drink.” Carly jumped up and headed to the bar.
While she was gone, I wrestled with myself over the best thing to do. By the time she came back, I hadn’t reached any sensible decision. That being the case, the only sensible option seemed to be to have another drink. After the pub closed, Carly and I went to a bar a few doors down, which stayed open late. We talked and talked about anything and everything without me mentioning what the real problem was. Before I knew it, we were being kicked out at closing time and another couple of bottles of wine had disappeared.
It ended up being after two in the morning when I finally got back to the apartment. There seemed to be three locks for me to put my key in, so it took me longer than usual to get inside. Because I was trying to be quiet, so as not to wake Lucas, Lisa and Toby, every noise I made appeared magnified. The struggle to walk down the hallway to my bedroom without bouncing off the walls was real.
Finally, inside the sanctuary of my room, I flopped down onto the bed. I closed my eyes to stop the room spinning, although it didn’t seem to work. It seemed to mirror my thoughts, everything whirling around with no sign of abating. Drunk dialling never helped a situation, so why I pulled out my phone and called Justin, I’d never know.
Unsurprisingly, it went straight to voicemail. Without thinking about what I wanted to say, I started talking.
“Justin, it’s me, Lennon. I know I ran off without letting you explain about Candace, but you didn’t try to either. When you came into the cafe the day after she’d dropped her bombshell, I couldn’t deal with it. I just had to leave. This summer meant everything to me, you meant everything… hell, youmeaneverything. It’s been so hard trying to be without you, and I know I brought it on myself, but… I miss you.” Tears choked my throat, and I had to stop for breath. “Maybe we’re too different to make this work, maybe I should go to New York now, give up on us, give up on whatever we could become… but…” I stopped again, the thought of never seeing Justin too hard to bear.
Being by Candace’s side was obviously a sign he chose her over me.
Clarity flooded through me.
Why was I wasting my time when he’d made his decision?
Without saying another word, I ended the call and switched my phone off.
35
Justin
Whatever drugsthey’d given me for the pain worked wonders. I slept for hours with no hint of dreams. When my eyes fluttered open, I blinked several times trying to work out where I was.
“Morning, Justin, how are you feeling?” One of the healthcare assistants placed a tray of breakfast in front of me.
I shifted myself into an upright position, tears pricking my eyes as the pain seared through my ribs. “I think better than last night? Although my ribs are still fucking killing me.”
She didn’t bat an eyelid at my language, no doubt she’d have heard worse. “The doctor will come and see you shortly, then you should be able to go home.”
Instantly, I stiffened. I couldn’t go back to the flat. I didn’t want to face Ted or my mum. But I had nowhere else to go. My appetite disappeared, and I pushed the tray away.
Sensing my change in mood, the HCA frowned. “Not hungry? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, the pills are making me feel a bit woozy,” I lied.
“Make sure you mention that to the doctor. If you’re not well enough, you’ll have to stay here.” She left, pushing her trolley in front of her.
I turned on my side and stared at the wall. Where could I go? I couldn’t impose on the Kane’s again.
Lennon had come to my rescue when this happened before, but she wasn’t going to this time.
