As Weekends Go (Choc Lit) (34 page)

Instinct took over. Alex opened his arms, folding them tightly around her as she tentatively stepped into his warm embrace.

‘It’s okay,’ he whispered, resting his cheek on top of her head. ‘I’m glad you’re here.’ He saw Theo gently encourage Sally-Anne away from the front desk to give them some privacy. He held Theo’s gaze for a second, returning the older man’s smile.

Clearly, this visitor would not need signing in.

Whatever had caused Rebecca to come all this way to see him tonight, must be serious, Alex knew that. He’d keep her safe and, no matter what had happened, would not let her down.

Other than it being on the seventh floor, extremely spacious and tastefully decorated, with laminate flooring throughout, Rebecca had yet to fully digest the finer details of Alex’s apartment. All that registered with her right now, was that making the snap decision five hours ago to come here felt right.

There had been little said between them so far, yet no awkwardness either, just a genuine look of concern on Alex’s face when he’d led her inside, lent her a blue and white club T-shirt he’d pulled from a wardrobe in what she assumed was his bedroom, and pointed her towards the bathroom so she could change in private.

This gave Rebecca the chance to splash her face and hands and brush through her still-damp hair, leaving it loose around her shoulders. She felt too brain-drained to worry about anything else.

She emerged from the bathroom looking presentable, having draped her blouse round a towel rail, her cut-downs, fortunately, dry enough.

Alex had made her a coffee. ‘I took a chance,’ he said, placing her mug down on a coaster next to his own on the central wooden pedestal table. ‘I think I remembered right. Milk, no sugar?’

Rebecca nodded and smiled at him. ‘Thank you.’

He indicated the sofa; dark grey corner-style with beautiful two-tone grey print cushions – the sort of sofa Rebecca could normally see herself snuggling into, lying full length, with room to spare.

Alex sat next to her, leaving a respectable gap between them. He stretched his arm along the back of the sofa, his hand within touching distance of her hair, as if wanting to preserve the earlier intimacy between them.

He possessed the loveliest smile. He looked exactly as he had the first time she’d chanced upon him in Hawksley Manor – wearing a tracksuit, athletic and gorgeous.

Rebecca could tell he hadn’t quite accepted that she was there. His eyes never left her, as though checking she was real. After all, she’d had several hours to get used to the idea of seeing him.

‘How did you get here?’ he gently probed. ‘How did you know where I lived?’

‘Abi’s fiancé, Nick, drove us up in his Transit van,’ said Rebecca, shamefully realising that she’d yet to text them an update. ‘I’m supposed to let them know I’m okay.’ She reached down by her feet for her handbag. ‘Abi loaned me her Blackberry. My mobile needs charging.’ She took out both phones.

‘Plug it in here. I must have eight chargers. One of them’ll fit. I’ll sort that while you contact them.’ He picked up Rebecca’s phone, walked over to one of the wall units and rifled through a drawer, removing a job lot of wires. ‘Where’s Abi and her boyfriend now?’

‘Parked in a bay downstairs.’

Alex glanced at his watch. ‘It’s twenty to one.’

‘I know. They said they’d wait for me, bless them. I hadn’t assumed you’d react the way you did when you saw me. I did sort of just land on you.’ She looked down, started twiddling her rings. ‘I know you said in your text that you’d be in all night, but you could have changed your mind and gone out. I took a big risk. Please tell me you haven’t got to get up at the crack of dawn for training or anything. I’d feel dreadful.’

‘No. Day off. Ring them and tell them to come up. There’s plenty of room here. As long as you and me can still talk in private, I’m happy. I’ll let Theo know to expect them at the door. They’ll be waiting ages for you, otherwise.’ He left her to it and began testing her phone, successfully connecting it to one of the chargers, which he plugged into a wall socket, before wandering into the hallway to call reception.

Rebecca searched Abi’s contacts list for Nick’s number and called him.

Minutes later an excitable Abi and an unusually bashful Nick stood in Alex’s apartment. Abi greeted him with a massive hug, excusing the glare from her hair, and shooting Rebecca a reassuring smile over his shoulder. Nick, looking slightly awestruck, shook Alex’s hand, congratulated him on his team’s result, and apologised for the mud on his boots.

They spent the next few minutes discussing the journey, how they’d acquired Alex’s address and how Rebecca had remembered vital snippets of info he’d told her. Rebecca could see Abi’s eyes darting round the place, taking in the layout, the panoramic view over York, the big L-shaped balcony.

‘Sunbathers paradise out there, eh, Nick,’ said Abi, receiving a not-so-subtle nudge back from him to remind her why they were there.

Alex told them both to help themselves to whatever drinks they wanted and whichever of the two spare bedrooms they fancied; both already having been made up, courtesy of the apartment block’s in-house cleaner.

The en suite got Abi’s nod.

She took two beers from the fridge, giving the kitchen the thumbs-up to Rebecca behind Alex’s back, as he opened them for her, before Nick ushered her off into their soundproofed room.

How kind of Alex to accommodate them.

Now they were alone again, Rebecca’s nerves had descended. They’d both finished their coffee, so she didn’t even have anything to divert her. She’d
have
to talk. But where to start? It would sound so heavy going and disjointed.

She decided to speak from the heart, praying that she’d get through it without blubbing.

‘I so hope I don’t make a hash of this,’ she whispered, taking an extra deep breath.

‘Don’t worry about how it sounds,’ said Alex, placing his hand under her chin, coaxing her to look at him. ‘Just say it.’

The load on Rebecca’s chest lightened, his voice and presence relaxing her.

Tell him, Rebecca. Tell him exactly how you feel.

‘That day we first met,’ she began. ‘The connection between us shocked me rigid. I’m married and have never had any inclination to stray. I fooled myself into thinking my reactions to you were solely down to feeling very flattered and ridiculously starstruck. Yet inside, I knew that something special had happened. I think the rest of that weekend, seeing you in Battersea and then again in Manchester, proved that.’

Alex didn’t take his eyes off her.

‘Ironically,’ she said, ‘having denied for months what had been obvious to me and to most of our family members and friends about my marriage, I’d planned to pin Greg down to talk about the future on my return from York, once his big sales conference was out of the way. Then I met you and everything sort of exploded.’ She threw her hands up, not gauging anything from his expression. ‘More denial. Plus guilt and shame. The way you looked at me when I entered the bar at Hawksley Manor the night we went to Kenny’s cousin’s restaurant, made me feel so proud,’ she said. ‘I mean, way up
here
, proud.’ She raised her hand as far above her head as it would go. ‘It helped clarify so much in my mind, so many doubts I’d been having about myself. I then found out that Greg very much had his own agenda.’

Alex frowned. ‘The ex-girlfriend at the charity bash?’

‘Yes. Among other things. There’s so much history there, Alex, I don’t think I can bear to go into it all right now.’ She caught her breath. ‘Suffice to say, she features prominently.’

He dropped his hand from the back of the sofa to cover hers.

‘Then Greg found out about you and I already knowing each other before that fundraiser and all hell broke loose.’

‘Does he know you’re here?’

She shook her head. ‘No. Don’t worry.’

‘I’m not,’ he said. ‘My only concern is for you.’

Rebecca smiled at him. ‘You’re such a good person.’

‘Who told you that?’ he said, winking at her.

She linked her fingers through his. ‘I’m more than aware of what this could look like, me seemingly charging up here to see you now things have belly-flopped at home. You have your life, your career, potential girlfriends. I know I messed up by not confessing to Greg that you and I had already met, but I’ve accepted responsibility for it. I’ve told him everything, Alex. My family, too. It was hard and very humbling. Greg’s reaction said it all. That and him feeding me half-truths in return when I knew he was lying to me made me realise how low I had come on his list of priorities. Not that I’m looking for pity. It’s taught me some valuable lessons. However the future turns out, at least I’ll know I was honest with him about everything. As someone close to me advised on the phone earlier on, “Listen to your heart, Rebecca”’. Her voice thickened with emotion. ‘Well, I have,’ she said. ‘All I ask in return is that you tell me what’s on your mind too.’

He looked down at their entwined fingers, rubbed Rebecca’s thumb with his own. This was hard for him, she could tell. The surprise, the sensitivity of the situation, the timing, great chunks of missing backstory. All the strength, presence and frankness in the world couldn’t prepare him for this unexpected emotional wallop.

‘I’ll get us a drink,’ he said, standing up. ‘Glass of wine? I’ve got red and white. Or beer, if you prefer beer?’

‘White wine would be lovely,’ she said, watching him walk into the kitchen.

Open plan had its advantages.

Her gaze panned upwards to the spotlighted ceiling then round the curve of the main room, settling on a large wall rack jam-packed with CDs. Plenty of Paul Weller, she noted, smiling to herself. A letter propped on the shelf next to it caught her attention. It was addressed to Alexander Joseph Heath. She rolled the name over in her mind.
Alexander Joseph
. It suited him.

He brought the open bottle back through, along with two wine glasses, handing Rebecca one before he sat down and poured.

‘Thank you,’ she said, the ice-cold fruitiness of it soothing her throat.

Alex took a sip of his own. Only half a glassful, she noticed. Not a big wine lover? Or didn’t want her to feel bad that he’d opened a whole bottle for her alone? She saw him flinch as he took a bigger sip.

‘Still having trouble with that cracked tooth?’ she cheekily asked, trying to ease some of the jitters she had about his impending reaction to her earlier disclosures. She wondered had her heart entered a hundred-metre sprint?

‘I’ve made an appointment for next week,’ he replied, returning his glass to the table.

He looked so straight-faced when he said it, Rebecca dreaded what might be coming next.

‘Firstly,’ he said, stretching his arm across the back of the sofa again, ‘like I’ve previously said, you owe me nothing. I know the pressure you’ve been under. I feel partly responsible for it. I should have walked away the second I saw your wedding ring, but I couldn’t, because from day one, I’ve felt exactly the same as you.’

Rebecca stared up at him, running her finger round the rim of her glass.

‘And secondly, there is no girlfriend. Singular or plural. I’m not quite sure why you’d think that. The only woman I’m interested in is you.’

Rebecca’s stomach had now entered that hundred-metre sprint, too, her thoughts drifting back to what Alex had said to that magazine interviewer.

‘It was something Kenny told Abi when they met up,’ she said, taking a sizeable swig of wine, ‘about a woman you see in La Manga. I’d also heard about the recent fight outside a Leeds nightclub. I did wonder if Kenny was involved, having witnessed his short fuse for myself. Bit unfair of me to assume that, I know.’

‘No, not Millsy this time. Some fan of a rival club chucked a punch at Scott, my best mate and probably the most placid bloke I know, for supposedly eyeing up his girlfriend.’

‘The stripper?’

‘According to the press she is, yes. Scott didn’t know anything about it until the bloke went for him. Right nutter, he was, shouting abuse at us on and off all night. Football-related, mainly. Happens sometimes. There was no brawl though. I was trying to keep the peace. As for what happened in La Manga, it’s in the past.’ He leaned forward, took her face in his hands. ‘Trust me, I’m single.’ He kissed her softly on the cheek. ‘And I’m really pleased you’re here with me.’

‘Me, too,’ she whispered, savouring the nearness and scent of him.

Alex sat back, refilled her glass and told her about the heart to heart he’d had with his brother about her.

‘He sounds lovely,’ she said. ‘I’m glad you had someone to confide in.’

They both jerked round as Rebecca’s phone beeped.

Who’d be texting her at this hour?

‘Stay there, I’ll fetch it over,’ said Alex.

She knew when he unplugged it and passed it to her, that it could only be one person.

‘Greg,’ she said, ‘asking where I am. Wants me to call him urgently. He stormed off this morning after we argued about a job offer he’s received in Zurich. It wouldn’t be forever, but would involve living there on and off. I hadn’t got round to telling you about that yet.’

‘No worries. If you need to talk to him, use my room or the other spare room if you prefer.’

‘Sorry, Alex. I didn’t expect to hear from him this quickly. I’d better call him.’

‘Sure. Go ahead.’

‘I won’t be long,’ said Rebecca, taking herself off to the third bedroom.

Rebecca sat in silence on the edge of one of the two single beds in the room, barely able to make out the blues and greys of the duvet covers, having dimmed the lights so as not to fully see her reflection in the mirrored wardrobe. She wanted no reminder of how washed-out and drawn she looked. Ten minutes had passed and she still hadn’t called him.

She could put it off no longer.

She called Greg’s mobile, her heart thump, thump, thumping away in anticipation of him answering.

‘At last!’ he cried, all greetings and pleasantries disregarded. ‘Where are you? It’s gone one thirty in the morning. I’ve been back home since ten. What are all those takeaway cartons doing in our bin? You left no note for me or anything. I suppose you’re at Abi’s again?’

It was like being slapped from all sides with a wet trout.

‘If you give me a chance to speak,’ said Rebecca. ‘One: I didn’t think you’d be returning any time soon, and Two: No, I’m not at Abi’s, I’m in—’

‘Well, anyway,’ Greg butted in, ‘about this morning … I think we need to draw a firm line under everything that’s happened and move on, don’t you? I can’t change the fact that Nina works with me, and I’m sure your footballing friend has long since bolted, so I’ve booked us on a flight to Zurich for next Wednesday for a couple of days. That way we can see it for ourselves, see what an amazing opportunity it presents. Any concerns you have about living over there will be compensated by the lifestyle. Once we’re settled, you’ll be able to skip back and forth to the UK as much as you want.’