‘He loves you, you know.’ Anita’s tone is low and rushed, trying to find some sort of privacy from the rugby team across the room, all glancing intermittently at us. They’re probably wondering if there’s going to be a cat fight at any second.
‘Is that what he told you on the phone earlier?’ Sarcasm rings in every word.
‘Actually it is. I was looking for advice about Luke. He has a habit of disappearing on me. Sometimes for the entire night.’ She peeps up at me from underneath her thick fringe to check I’m listening. Oh I’m listening alright, with my heart in my mouth waiting for her to get to the point.
‘And you thought Ollie was the best person to give you advice about his brother? You of all people should know that they don’t get on.’ My arms cross against my chest.
‘I rang with the pretence of getting advice about what to do with Luke. Things aren’t going well between us.’ An apologetic wince flashes across her symmetrical face. Her eyes are set a little bit too far apart to make her traditionally beautiful, but she is certainly very attractive. ‘The thing is, I really wanted advice on what to do with myself. Ollie is the only person that knows me well enough to give it.’
‘So you don’t want him back?’ I meet her eyes in a challenging stare.
‘It’s gone too far for that.’ She shrugs, pulling the jacket aside to reveal her huge bump. ‘I’m due in a month.’ Her hand falls to her tummy.
‘One drunken night of stupidity, hence the rushed engagement.’
‘Jeez, I had no idea.’ I’m not sure whether to offer congratulations or commiserations seeing as she is clearly stuck with Luke in her life in one capacity at least.
‘It was a shock. I don’t deal well with change. My life has been turned upside down. I suppose I wanted Ollie to tell me what do.’
‘And did he?’ I wonder if all the late night phone calls were of any use in the end.
‘Not really. But he did make me realise there were options. I think I ended up dishing out more advice than I received though.’ Her eyebrows arch in a wry gesture. ‘He really loves you, you know. Ollie is the most genuine man I have ever met. He will do right by you. He’ll never let you down. I know he mightn’t have told you everything but it was such a shock for all of us to be honest.’
‘I felt like he didn’t trust me enough to tell me. Or worse, maybe he thought I’d judge.’
‘We all have skeletons in our closet. They’re typically not the first thing we reveal when we’re falling in love,’ Anita says wisely. She takes my hand in hers and gives it a squeeze of solidarity. We sit silently immersed in our thoughts waiting for an update.
Anita is nothing like I expected. She’s sweet and shy and completely inoffensive. I can see why Ollie liked her, and Luke for that matter. I’m sorry she’s in a situation she wouldn’t have chosen. But I’m not sorry that it renders it impossible for her and Ollie ever to get back together. Because after today I know more than ever that if he asks me one more time to run off and elope with him, I will hop on the first plane, bus or train – whatever he wants.
Half an hour passes before a guy in a suit enters. He’s shorter than Ollie, not quite as broad and his trendy trousers cling to his leg like drainpipes.
‘Luke.’ Eddie steps away and shakes his hand.
‘He’s awake up there. Three broken ribs and some nasty bruising but apart from that he’s fine. The nurse said they’ll keep him in overnight but all going well he’ll be discharged tomorrow.’
‘Fantastic news.’ Eddie, Marcus, Nathan and James high-five each other, relief clear in their smiles.
‘He’s looking for someone called Amy.’ Luke’s eyes fall to me, the only woman in the room other than his fiancée.
I stand, pushing past the others but Eddie catches my hand. ‘I’m heading home. Give Ollie my best. Tell him I’m sorry for earlier.’
‘Come up. Tell him yourself,’ I plead.
‘No, sis. I’m not ready for that. I need a bit of time to get my head around things, ok?’ He runs a hand through his floppy hair.
I had hoped the events of the evening might have been enough to persuade Eddie to forgive us both for sneaking around behind his back. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Running down the corridor to room 102, I skid across the squeaky flooring through the doorway to find Ollie propped up in a bed attached to masses of machinery.
‘You frightened the fucking life out of me.’ My arms are around him before he can object, running my hands over his neck and breathing in his unique masculine scent. It’s my favourite scent in the whole world. His face is covered in violet bruises, as is his torso beneath my embrace.
A smile curves at his lips despite his wince. ‘Easy tiger. These ribs are a little fragile.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Taking his hand I rub my thumb across the back of it in gentle circular strokes. ‘And not just for squeezing you.’
‘I’m sorry too. I should have told you everything. Does it sound crazy that I thought it would reflect badly on me? Because lying about it obviously looks so much better. I’m such an idiot. I should have just come out with everything.’ He sighs.
‘No. I can sort of understand…’ My eyes avert from his to the ground. ‘I suppose I should have told you earlier that there’s a reason Eddie would lose the plot when he found out about us. You’re not the only one hiding things you’re not proud of.’
