Page 75 of Promise Me Ever After
But after all the stress of the wedding: seeing Russ and Eliza, watching Alex and Russ fighting, had me craving a nicotine fix. I ran a hand through my hair, knowing I must be an odd-looking sight in my bridesmaid’s dress, leather coat and Converse, but I didn’t care. At least I wasn’t in a white meringue frock doing a great impersonation of a runaway bride.
While I waited in the queue, I tried Alex again, only for it to go straight to voicemail.
Alex’s last words to me ran over and over in my head.
I’m not going to fight over you, but I will fight for you.
If he wanted to fight for me, why had he walked away?
Why the hell had Russ come to the wedding?
Why the fuck did he bringElizawith him?
Why did Russ feature in all the shit stuff that had happened to me over the past few months?
I blew out a breath. Perhaps this was fate’s way of telling me to slow down.
Once I’d got my cigarettes, I got back into the taxi.
“Where to now, love?” the driver asked.
Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I told him Alex’s address. If I could find him and talk to him, perhaps I could understand why he’d run off again. When we got to the Kane’s house, it was in darkness. Did I want to risk waking up Sonya and incur her wrath? Fuck it. Everything else today had turned sour, so why should my relationship with her be any different? I asked the taxi driver to wait again and stepped up to the front door. After I’d knocked, I waited, dialling Alex’s number, only to hear his voicemail message once more. No one came to the door after a good five minutes, so I gave up.
“No one home?” The taxi driver sighed. “Back to the hotel?”
I could go back to the hotel, find Curtis to see if he knew where Alex was. But I ran the risk of coming face-to-face with Russ and Eliza. And honestly, I couldn’t deal with that right now.
“No, Victoria Road, please. About halfway along.”
“You got it.”
Once he’d pulled up outside my house, I give him thirty pounds which was about double what the fare should have been. The guy deserved a tip for driving me all over Ealynn Sands on what appeared to be a wild goose chase.
Exhaustion creeping over me, I let myself in. I dumped my coat on the peg in the hallway and kicked off my Converse, heading straight upstairs. It took me ages to undo the fucking buttons on the back of my dress — Alex should have been here doing it for me. Eventually, I pulled the damn thing off, balling it up and throwing it in one corner of my room. I grabbed a hoodie and a pair of leggings and pulled them on, wrapping my dressing gown around me for good measure. The house was freezing. I went back downstairs, found a bottle of wine and a glass, then settled down on the sofa, lighting up a cigarette.
I tried Alex one more time, leaving a vague ‘call me’ message on this occasion.
As I drank and smoked, I put the TV on. Anything to distract my brain from whirling over the events of the evening. From watching news on a loop to streaming episode after episode of comedy shows I’d seen a million times before; the familiarity making my own life much less like a soap opera.
Eventually, I drifted off on the sofa, dreams full of Alex walking away from me, Russ laughing in my face and everyone telling meI told you so.
A loud knocking on the front door jolted me out of an unpleasant slumber.
Alex. It had to be Alex.
I jumped up and ran to the door, not caring I probably looked like I’d been dragged through a hedge.
“Mum! What are you doing here?” Disappointment flowed through my veins.
She stood there with two takeaway coffees and a paper bag from the local bakery. “I thought you could do with these.”
I ushered her inside, poking my head out of the front door just in case Alex happened to be heading this way. There was no sign of him, so I shut the door behind me and went into the living room, where Mum had made herself comfortable on the sofa.
She handed me one of the cups. “I know what happened last night, Georgie. With you and Russ.”
I wondered who had told her. Darcy hadn’t witnessed it and I’d left the hotel as soon as I could.
“Your friend Emily filled me in.”
