“Yeah, I’ll be back for those. After I’ve buried Sean Kenzie’s body in the Thames.” He sounded grim, a calm anger that had the weird effect of making me feel warm.
“He’s on his way to New York, so you’ve missed your chance. I’m okay, honestly. I suspected what he was up to.”
I was met with silence, only the car noises told me he was still on the line and hadn’t hung up or crashed. That meant he was brooding and too angry to speak.
I sighed. I couldn’t lie; I’d spent the day in tears when I’d had a message off one of my friends telling me to check the news, knowing before I’d even clicked the link she’d sent what it was going to say. I wasn’t that surprised. Sean had a reputation for cheating, but like a fool I’d believed him when he’d told me I was different and he’d never cheat on me.
He had, with a lap dancer, who sold her story, photos and all. There was even a video that I’d decided I didn’t want to see – he wasn’t that good in bed anyway.
“I’m still livid and if you suspected it, why did you keep him around?” Caleb’s words were more like a growl.
It was a good question if you didn’t know Sean. “The fall out would’ve been horrific. He doesn’t like being rejected.” I’d tried to break up with him a month ago and he’d lost his shit big time. I wasn’t telling Caleb about that because instead of the motorway, he’d be on a plane and on his way to hunt Sean down.
I’d seen Caleb in a couple of fights, once when he was nineteen and a bloke had tried to get handsy with me a little outside a club, asking for a photo and then groping my breast. That’d ended with Caleb having a sore fist and the bloke having a bruised jaw. The second time had been when we were at a port and Caleb was on his way off on a research trip, just for a few days, and I’d sneaked over to see him for a night. The man then hadn’t known who I was; he’d been drunk and obnoxious, calling me names, asking to see my tits – or at least he had one minute; the next he’d found himself on his back, Caleb dusting his hands off.
“We need to have a chat about healthy relationships before your next boyfriend.” He exhaled, loud enough for me to hear him over the drawl of the road. “What are you doing for the next week?”
“I have a free week before I start recording.”
“Pack a suitcase and come and stay with me. I’ll be with you in two and a half hours or less.” He was in bossy mode. I didn’t not like it, but at the same time I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Caleb’s bad mood.
“Okay. That’ll be nice but can we save the lectures? I don’t want to feel worse because I made another shitty choice.” I felt bad saying it because that would make him feel guilty, but I didn’t want to spend a week with broody, annoyed Caleb.
There was another sigh. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I just don’t like you being hurt and I don’t like you being all over the media for something like this.”
“I’m not keen on people feeling sorry for me either. I need to get checked out at the doctors too.” Because while I’d never had sex without a condom – thankfully – I needed for my own piece of mind to check that the piece of shit hadn’t passed any little nasties onto me.
“You say things like that and don’t expect me to want to kill the fucker.”
“Probably should’ve kept that as an inside thought. I’ll get revenge on him.”
“How?”
“I’m writing songs for the next album. My fans love analysing my lyrics. Something can definitely be dropped in there.” I was already getting an idea. I’d been hurt before, more than once, because I wanted my life to be a fairytale where a Prince who was just for me was waiting, and after the sting had worn off, it’d become good material for songs.
“My revenge would be different, but I think you know that.” Another sigh. Maybe he had a sighing disease. “Pack what you need for a week. Amelie will love to see you – so will Fleur and the rest of the witches. They’re plotting something for Christmas, maybe you can find out.”
“Tell me more about what you know.” I walked into my bedroom, tidying stuff away as I picked out what I wanted to bring to Puffin Bay. I already had some stuff there – Caleb had allocated me a drawer in his flat – so I didn’t need to pack a ton, and we wouldn’t be going anywhere posh, which felt even nicer. A week with no make-up and no tight clothes apart from comfy leggings.
It was no wonder Caleb wasn’t attracted to me when he only saw the version of me that was a semi-slob. I’d say he wasn’t much better, only he didn’t need makeup and his T-shirts fitted perfectly across his chest.
I had noticed that, and so had Sean, who hadn’t liked me seeing Caleb at all. He couldn’t understand how we were just friends – I never did tell him in the year we were together that I’d lost my virginity to Caleb – and he would become sulky if he knew I was seeing him.
I hadn’t stopped seeing him. There was no one who’d make me do that.
“It’s some sort of surprise party, but we can’t work out what. It’s for New Year, at least we think.”
“What’s it in aid of?” Fleur and co wouldn’t be organising something if there wasn’t a kick behind it.
“Something to do with Thane – I’m not sure but I wouldn’t be surprised if they dressed his lighthouse up like a giant penis.”
We talked for the next half an hour, all the Puffin Bay gossip and speculation, and already my tears and hurt were ebbing away at the thought of being in my safe place.
That safe place would be here as soon as soon as Caleb arrived.
In the hour between our phone call ending and him getting to me, I’d written that song.
A few months later, it became my most downloaded track.
