Page 15 of Commitment Issues
“What do you mean?” he says, all hint of upper-class drawl replaced by short, clipped tones. “But you’ve already agreed. Freddie told Cosmo, and Cosmo told me. It’d be a rather shabby trick to let down the boy at this stage.”
“The shabby trick was yours. And yes,” I say on a heavy sigh, “I did agree. But I’d lost sight of my sense, and now I’m seeing it again. I’m going to contact him to explain and no doubt he’ll be relieved.” Will he? My shoulders slump.
“So, you’re going to let down the poor boy?” I don’t miss the emphasis on poor. “You do know that he won’t be able to pay his bills? He’ll be forced out of his lodgings, with no other recourse but to sell himself on the streets of London. And it will all be your fault.”
I snort, and my eyes water as the beer I’ve just taken a mouthful of goes up my nose.
“I think that’s very unlikely,” I rasp, as I wipe the tears away. “Aren’t you forgetting that Cosmo, your cousin, is his landlord? I know Freddie has financial worries—”
“That you’ll be making worse by not having him accompany you. Picking up crumbs of work stacking rat poison, or haemorrhoid cream, or corn plasters or something equally as vile in a grubby corner shop—”
“It’s one of the country’s largest supermarkets, and besides,” I say, keeping my voice deadpan and even, which isn’t so easy after four beers, “he’s not going to lose out. In fact, he’s going to benefit by rather more than the paltry five hundred you promised. You, my friend, will be arranging to pay him double.”
“What?”
I whip the phone away from my ear just in time to prevent permanent damage to my eardrum.
“It serves you right for meddling. Whatever you may think, I have no qualms about being with Gavin and his new partner.” My grip tightens on my phone.
Silence stretches along the airwaves, like a gob of virtual chewing gum.
“I don’t believe you.” James’ quiet words, so simple and direct, reach into my stomach and twist my guts. “This strength of character, or whatever you wish to call it, is misplaced. It won’t do you any favours, not this time.”
“It’s got nothing to do with strength of character. I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”
James answers with a heavy sigh. “I know what I’m talking about because I know you, better sometimes than you know yourself. I’ve no doubt you’ll act like the mature, reasonable adult you are. But you’re going to be thrust back into Gavin’s company, and he most definitely is not mature and reasonable. The man is vain and shallow, and will take great delight in flaunting—”
“Thank you, I think I’ve got the message.”
“Then heed it. Please, Elliot, don’t go alone. Just think about it, at least for tonight, before you make any hasty decision.”
“Thought that was what I’d already done.” I stare down at the beer I’m holding. My fourth, when I’m not much of a drinker. No wonder I have the first pinch of a headache. I need a clear head if I’m going to let Freddie down.
“Okay, I’ll leave it for tonight. But my decision won’t have changed in the morning. I’m still going to tell him I’ve reconsidered, and that you’re still going to pay him.”
“Of course I will,” James says, with no trace of his earlier outraged surprise.
“A thousand,” I say, and smile. He doesn’t argue. It’s small change to James, but a fortune to Freddie.
We end the call soon after, and I slump back into the sofa’s soft cushions and close my eyes. I must have dozed off, because suddenly I’m jerking upright, my heart hammering in my chest, as my mobile, which I’m still clutching, vibrates and buzzes in my hand, followed by a sharp ping before it goes quiet.
I stare down at the message, and groan, because whatever promise I made to James, the decision’s just been made for me.
