‘Yeah. It’s a funny story actually. When we were with Ben and Rachel, the Dictaphone fell out of my bra, so I kind of had to explain why it was there. I’ve probably got some very funny stuff on there with him panicking. Could be used for blackmail purposes at a later date.’ She laughed. ‘But I’m confused. What does that have to do with who you thought it was?’
I lay back on my bed, covering my eyes with my hand.
‘Stephen told me it was Nick.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, on Christmas Day. He made a comment about Nick putting the party in his blog. That it’d be a good angle or something.’
‘That’s…weird.’
‘Yeah.’
‘And you believed him?’
‘Yes,’ I whispered. Of course, I’d believed him. If Peter, my fiancé, had managed to pull the wool over my eyes for a year, then why wouldn’t I believe that Nick could do the same when he was basically a stranger? Plus, Noelle had pointed out how perfectly it fit Nick’s job, seeing as he was constantly staying in hotels…even though I knew from what he said that they were just layovers. The airline was unlikely to put him up in plush five stars, was it? Maybe. I didn’t know what airline he flew for or how they treated their pilots. I didn’t know any of that because I hadn’t asked. Why hadn’t I asked? Because I’d been rushing into things with him blindly like I always did.
‘What happened? Didn’t you talk to him about it?’
‘Yes. Sort of. We argued. He denied it. I didn’t believe him and he left…’
‘Oh, Beth. You didn’t explain that Stephen had told you?’
‘I…don’t think so. No. No – I didn’t.’ I pinched the bridge of my nose hard. ‘What have I done?’ My voice hitched; my throat thick with tears I was determined not to shed.
‘Jeez. Beth. You want the truth, or you want me to make you feel better?’
‘The two are mutually exclusive?’
‘I gotta hunch they are.’
I swore. I knew what the truth was without her telling me. I’d jumped to conclusions and pushed him away, not twenty-four hours after he’d made himself vulnerable to me. I had to tell him I was sorry for thinking the worst.
‘I’ve got to go,’ I told her, launching myself up from my bed and grabbing the clothes I’d just changed out of. ‘I need to find out if he’s still here, so I can apologise.’
‘Oh, hon, he left yesterday. I saw him saying goodbye to his nan in the lobby after breakfast.’
The air immediately escaped my balloon of hope.
‘You can always call him though, right? He must’ve given you his number?’
Hehadgiven me his number. The first day we met, on a business card, which I’d…slipped into the pocket of my jeans. Now I just had to find the jeans. ‘Yeah, yeah I do have it somewhere. I have to go, Noelle. Have a safe flight okay?’
‘Sure thing. Good luck.’
I thanked her and promised to get in touch soon, to let her know how it had gone, then I dropped my phone onto my desk and started ransacking my room for my jeans.
My door opened and my mum came in.
‘Everything okay, Beth? What have you lost?’
Mymind, I wanted to respond but that’d only worry her. I took a deep breath and tried to appear calm. ‘My jeans, the light blue boyfriend-cut ones.’
‘I put them in the wash this morning.’
‘Oh.’
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
