“He will. I need to check my friend’s okay.”
Usually I wouldn’t abandon someone I’d asked to go for a drink. I knew how to conduct myself but seeing Lainey look so utterly devasted and trying to plaster a smile on her face wasn’t something I could ignore.
As I got closer to her, the man she was with stopped talking to his friend and stared at me, giving me the once over and smiling.
Firstly, I had to reign in the temptation to grab his tie and twist it round his neck, given that we were in public and I had a journalist who was tracking pretty much my every move. And it wasn’t exactly legal.
Secondly, I had the sense to realise that making a standard comment to highlight what a twat he was would probably embarrass Lainey even more, which I didn’t want.
And finally, Lainey was now grabbing onto my arm and smiling even harder.
She needed an out.
“Hey!” I enveloped her in a big hug and felt her cling a little. “It’s good to see you. Who’s your friend?”
“This is Hugo. He…”
“I work in the City.” Hugo held out a very well moisturised hand.
I immediately thought of Liam and how his hands were rough and calloused from spending so much time playing guitar. A complete contrast.
“I own seven upmarket spas across two continents and was named in the Financial Times’ top businesswomen of the year for the last three consecutive years. Nice to meet you.” I laced my arm through Lainey’s. I knew full well he’d been trying to stop Lainey from telling me that he was her boyfriend and that was a good move. This man should not be anywhere near a woman like Lainey. Or possibly any woman full stop.
“She’s trumped you there.” His friend laughed.
“It’s interesting to meet you. I’m just going to borrow Lainey for a while.” I hoped he could interpret that meant she’d be back with him when hell had frozen over and icicles had formed on his haemorrhoids.
I led her to the back of the bar where Seph had managed to get some seats that were tucked away. Amber was sitting down with him and I figured they were probably talking about me, judging by the eyes Seph gave me when I got near.
He looked angry, then relieved.
“Tell me that’s not the dick you broke up from?”
Lainey sat down and wiped away a tear that had managed to escape.
“Lainey…” Seph’s tone was that one that men get when they want to fix something but have no idea how, so they get cross with the person they think needs something fixing.
“Seph, would you go to the bar and get Lainey a drink, please?”
He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, then closed it.
“Thank you,” Lainey said, then looked at Amber. “I’m sorry. I’ve interrupted you. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine,” Amber actually sounded like it was. “Men can be total shits.”
“You saw that?” Lainey sounded even more tearful.
“Yeah. If you have anything to do with him, you need to stop right now.”
Amber just went up in my estimation.
“I know. I had, but he came round and said that he wanted to give it another go.” Lainey rubbed her face. “And once, you know, we’d slept together, he went back to being horrible.”
“I think you know what you need to do.” I hugged her into my side. “We all make mistakes. Fuck knows I’ve made enough of them.”
Lainey smiled, a genuine one this time. “I’m there with you. I need to look for a job too – since we got back from Iceland I’ve just ended up stuck. Sorry,” she looked at Amber, “I’m Lainey Green. Seph’s cousin – which is how I know Sophie.” She put out a hand for Amber to shake, which she did.
“Amber Morrison. I’m a journalist. I was interviewing Sophie and Liam about their engagement and we decided to grab a drink here.”
