Page 93 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
He and Jess were standing chatting to a young couple who lived in the apartment opposite, when Robert pulled her away.
“Let’s not stay too late,” he said, slipping his hand behind her neck.
Jess blinked. “Robert, you’ve only been here about a minute. And I’ve helped organise this for Emily. I want to make sure it goes well for her – it’s really important.”
“Come on, Jess, it’s going great. We won’t even be missed if we just slip away early.”
“Except that if everyone did that, it’d be a disaster.” Jess tried to make a joke of it, but she felt herself tensing. “Look, if you need to go early Emily will understand. But I can’t bail!”
He took his hand away and grabbed another beer off the table beside him, snapping open the lid. “I don’t need Emily to understand anything. But I wishyouwould.”
Jess stared at him. “Understand what? What am I missing here?”
“Nothing, okay?” He drank some beer. “I probably just need some fresh air.”
Should she offer to go with him? No, he was a grown man. She wasn’t going to babysit him, especially when he was being selfish and annoying!
As he left, Jess noticed Holly watching her closely. How much had she overheard, she wondered wearily.
“I wasn’t listening or anything, Jess,” Holly began, her words slightly slurred.
Which meant she’d probably heard everything.
“But you totally shouldn’t take what Robert says personally.” She gulped back what looked like a vodka and Coke, before almost missing the countertop as she put down the empty glass.
“I’m not,” Jess said quickly. “You probably took things out of context. If you happened to overhear.”
Holly leaned closer. “Robert doesn’t like Emily so he’s always a total dick to her.” She belched loudly. “Sorry, I feel mank.”
“Yeah, I think we should get you to the bathroom, Holly. Come on.” Jess took her by the arm and steered her back towards the front door. The guest loo in the tiny entrance waywas locked. She banged on the door. “Can you hurry up? It’s an emergency.”
Holly’s eyes were unfocussed as she looked at her. “I’m wasted, aren’t I?”
Jess nodded sympathetically.
“Jess, I don’t think Emily remembers –” Holly belched again.
She’d gone a bit green, Jess thought.
“Holly, don’t try to talk.”
“When she arrived down last year a group of us brought her out to The Tin Whistle, and Robert and some of his mates were there.” Holly took a breath. “He made a move on her and she, like, laughed it off. The way you do, like, because you don’t want to be hurting a lad’s feelings.” She belched again, gagging slightly this time. “Later on in the evening she told me he was way too old for her, and I think he heard.”
The bathroom door opened abruptly and a woman Jess didn’t recognise came out and slipped back to the party.
“Go on.” Jess gave her a gentle push. “Don’t lock the door, I’ll stand here.” She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. If Holly was telling the truth, wouldn’t she have noticed Robert’s behaviour around Emily? Although maybe hehadacted a bit strangely the first time she’d introduced them. Still, as far as she could remember, he’d never said or done anything awful.
Holly emerged a short while later. “I got sick,” she mumbled.
“Do you feel any better?” asked Jess.
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I’m gonna get some water and just veg for a while.”
“Good idea.” Jess wondered if she should try to find Robert but figured he might need some space. Maybe if she’d had a really long day, she mightn’t feel like going to a party either.
The door opened and she looked up, expecting to see him.
Instead, Adam stepped into the hall, holding a bouquet of sunflowers in a flower reservoir.
