Gut Feeling (12 page)

* * *

Gemma took a large gulp of wine, answering no to a question asked by Leon and tried to focus.

‘Are you lot all telling me that you’ve all had threesomes?’

Silence.

‘You’re all slappers or I’m frigid. One or the other.’

‘We’re slappers,’ Leon sighed.

‘Er, speak for yourself.’

‘OK, sorry, Jules is not a slapper but does have slapper tendencies.’ Leon tilted his head and raised one eyebrow at Jules.

‘God…’ Gemma’s eyes reddened as she threw her head into her hands.

‘Gem, babe, honey what’s wrong?’ Rachel put an arm over her shoulders, shooting Leon a concerned look.

He shrugged. ‘Want some more wine?’

Jules giggled.

‘Darling sweetie, listen to Uncle Leon, all men are pigs, trust me. If this is about that ex boyfriend of yours—’

‘Husband,’ Rachel corrected.

‘Husband, boyfriend, whatever. He isn’t worth the tears, just—’

‘He’s probably in bed making love to her right now,’ Gemma spluttered, looking at Leon through glazed eyes.

Leon wondered how an ‘I have never’ question about threesomes had got sidetracked into an emotional vent from a girl he hardly knew. They had all discussed Gemma’s past earlier over pizza and she had seemed relatively fine about the topic, he thought, even joked about the telltale signs she had missed—the fact that he was at the gym every night but still fat, according to Gemma.

Leon’s eyes widened as Gemma let out a soft whimper like a rabbit caught in barbed wire and felt a twinge of sympathy, watching her lower lip quiver. Rachel rubbed her back while Jules lit a cigarette and passed it to her.

‘I don’t smoke.’

‘You do now.’

Gemma took the cigarette in her index finger and thumb then pushed it between her lips. As her mouth tightened around the butt she sucked in, her eyes fixed on the red glow of the ash at the end of the white stick. She coughed and started to laugh. Jules filled her glass with wine.

‘Look, Gemma, we don’t knew each other well, but if you’ve moved to London and you’re a friend of Rachel and Ash’s then I’m pretty damn sure we will become good friends, so don’t you worry about your ex, you’ve got a new life now, with new friends and I’ll see to it that before the year is out you will have had a threesome.’

‘She’s right, Gem,’ Rachel took the cigarette from Gemma and placed it elegantly into the corner of her mouth.

‘Rach, teach me to smoke like you,’ said Gemma, who by this time, needless to say, was more than a little sloshed and slurring her words.

‘What?’

‘Teach me to smoke like you… and Jules, you can teach me to be cool and trendy.’

‘And the both of you could teach her how a threesome works and I’ll film it,’ said Leon.

Gemma slapped him playfully then took the cigarette back from Rachel and walked to the edge of the balcony, looking down at the Thames, the lights from London Bridge reflected in the water.

‘Sod him,’ she said, raising her voice and watching a tugboat pass. She turned back to the others. ‘
Sod
him, sod him. The cheating shit, sod him. I’m a
new
woman
.’

‘That’s the spirit, girl…’ Jules walked over to Gemma and leaned back, resting both elbows against the railing, ‘I think Ibiza is just what you need right now.’

Chapter 9

A
sh had been on a high at work all day. Even talking to Samantha wasn’t a problem as Ash had Dave now, and after last night’s performance in the shower Samantha was welcome to Lee.

Dave was the perfect boyfriend. All she could have wished for and then some. Not too keen but also not too distant. He never let her down and kept his word. He paid for things and bought her small romantic tokens but didn’t lavish her with expensive meaningless gifts—and he was an amazing lover.

So
where’s
the
catch?
she thought, as she hopped on to the bus which proceeded to chug at a pace slower than a walk towards Marble Arch.
Is
he
too
good
to
be
true?
Is
he
just
putting
on
a
Mr
Right
act
so
I’ll
trust
him
and
then
he
can
do
what
he
likes
behind
my
back,
knowing
I
won’t
check
up
on
him,
not
if
I
trust
him?

Ash’s thoughts were interrupted by a low buzzing vibrating in her cardigan pocket.

It was Eliza, calling from the surgery.

‘Hiya, what’s up?’ said Ash. ‘Did I forget something?’

‘No you didn’t forget anything…’ Eliza hesitated. ‘Ash, I just thought I should let you know that Sam has booked a weekend away while you’re in Ibiza.’

‘Yeah…’ Ash struggled to see what this had to do with her.

‘With Lee.’

‘Oh.’

‘She cleared it with Mr Matson this morning but I just overheard her talking to someone and said Lee was taking her to Switzerland to his villa. Isn’t that where he used to take you?’

‘Um, but it’s not his—it’s his father’s.’

Twice a year Lee would whiz Ash out to Switzerland into the mountains where they would spend a long weekend. In the beginning Ash was amazed by the sincerity of his actions, finding rose petals on the bed and champagne on ice ready for when they arrived, but after a while she tired of watching Swiss television while Lee took client calls in the office on the top floor all day. She tired of the same TV shows and the pretentious restaurant they had to eat in as Lee knew the owners from his childhood. The villa was set high up grassy mountains overlooking the town below, their closest neighbour had his own helipad, as did most of the surrounding residents, but the town below was too far to walk and so after seeing the same views Ash felt trapped and often bored during the day.

One weekend after returning from the market, Ash had suggested they try something new. Lee frowned at the suggestion but let her speak. She suggested going to see an amateur play in town that she had read about on a small flyer someone had given her in the marketplace. Lee dismissed it with a wave of his hand and a chuckle. She straightened and tried a different suggestion, knowing that she didn’t have anything to lose. This time she asked if they might try another restaurant, and named a small bistro she had noticed on the edge of town. It wasn’t like the exclusive ones Lee took her to, but it looked traditional and family run. Lee’s face twisted, the corners of his mouth turned upwards and he left the room shaking his head.

‘You OK about it?’ said Eliza.

‘Oh God yeah, I wouldn’t care if I never went to Switzerland ever again. So he’s taking Sam eh? Bet he takes all his conquests there to woo them.’ Ash smiled. ‘Doubt he tells them its Daddy’s though. God he’s such a—’ She stopped herself. ‘Oh, who cares? She’s welcome to him. I’ve got Dave now. Anyway Lee and Sam are like two peas in a pod. Sam only wants him for his money—’

‘And Lee only wants her to make you jealous.’

‘D’you think so?’

‘I
know
so, and Sam is so shallow she can’t even see it. All she wants is what you used to get.’

‘Oh God, she’s welcome to it. In fact I feel sorry for her. All the affection and gifts he’ll give her will come at a price—she’s going to get hurt. Anyway I have Dave now so they can do what they want.’

‘You’re right, I just didn’t want you to find out from Sam. I doubt she would have been tactful.’

Ash said good bye to Eliza and turning her front door key, she was about to walk inside when Mr Schnitzer called up to her from the bottom of her steps. He was holding a bunch of lilies of the valley, Ash’s favourite flowers. He walked up the steps and held them out to her.

‘Mr Schnitzer, er… you shouldn’t have.’

‘Sorry, zay are not from me,’ he said. ‘Delivery.’ He raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Ash didn’t take the flowers but reached into the middle and removed the card to read it:

Have fun in Ibiza. I love you, Ashleigh Lands. Please use this time to think about us. Miss you more than you know, I will see you when you’re home.

My entire love—Lee x

She ripped the card in two and smiled back at Mr Schnitzer. ‘They’re not from who I thought they were from. I’ve no need for flowers but wouldn’t want to waste them. Would you like to have them?’

There was another reason why Ash couldn’t take them and have them on display: Dave was due round in an hour.

‘You seem to be a much desired voman, Ash. Enjoy it vhile you can!’ He chuckled. ‘But I can take de flowers if you vish.’

‘Oh I do, thank you Mr Schnitzer, thank you so much.’

* * *

Within an hour she had washed and dressed and stood in the kitchen preparing dinner for her and Dave. She had chosen a relatively simple dish of chicken in white wine sauce so not to be running in and out of the kitchen all night burning the food. The chicken was almost cooked and Ash had decided it better to buy sauce in a packet than to try and make her own.

The table was set with her best silver and new wine set that she had been given as a moving-in present from Rachel. Candles flickered around the room and the lights had been dimmed to create a subtle ambiance, or so Ash hoped. She was conscious that Dave had no problems with cooking from the dinner he had prepared for her and that he could also set a room to go with it, so she had to impress him—if not with her food at least she could achieve something in terms of effort and atmosphere.

She opened the sauce, tipped the contents of the packet into a pan and set the gas to a low heat underneath it. The doorbell rang and Ash smoothed down the front of her silk dress. Rushing to answer the door she paused and looked at the room for a last check that everything was set correctly. She smiled, quickly readjusting her hairclip and the mirror and ruffled her long brown hair around her shoulders.

‘Hi.’

‘Hi,’ said Dave, holding out a bunch of flowers ‘I didn’t know which ones you liked so I got a mixture. If you don’t like them, blame the girl in the florist not me.’

Ash laughed. ‘They are just perfect.’

She took them inside and fixed Dave a drink.

‘This is nice—you shouldn’t have gone to such trouble for me.’ Dave looked around the dimly lit room.

‘No trouble,’ Ash shouted from the kitchen.

‘Do you need a hand?’ He made for the kitchen then stopped.

‘No no, stay there—it’s all under control,’ she lied, trying to sound calm, stirring the now too thick source and wondering how anyone but her could mess up a packet sauce. ‘Take a seat. I’ll bring it out.’

She ran the goopy white sauce over the chicken and carried two plates out into the living room.

‘Sorry I didn’t do a starter it’s just that—’

‘It’s lovely, babe. Don’t worry—just sit down and eat. It looks really good.’

‘Might not be so good when you taste it though.’

‘Don’t be silly.’ He cut and chewed a piece of chicken. ‘Mmm… it’s good… mmm… try it,’ he said, cutting a larger slice.

Ash smiled. Dave had a way of reading her emotions and could say the right thing at the right time to soothing her fears and anxieties.

After dinner he helped her pack the last of her things ready for Ibiza the day after tomorrow. He wished he could have driven her to the airport but he had taken on a last-minute job in Milton Keynes and would be leaving the day before Ash flew out, staying overnight in a B&B.

After packing, they settled down on the sofa to watch a DVD. The night seemed to fly by and Ash clung to Dave, suddenly regretting booking the holiday—in fact they were both secretly dreading their impending separation.

Finally Ash lead Dave to her bedroom where they made love and slept, curled up close to one another, not wanting to let go.

Chapter 10

‘T
his is the life.’ Jules splashed some more water on to her stomach as she floated around the hotel pool on a blow-up lilo. ‘You seen Gem and Rach?’ lifting her head, she looked over the top of her Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses to see where they had gone.

‘Yeah, over at the floating bar, chatting up some hotties last time I saw them.’

The four girls were staying in a five-star all-inclusive luxury hotel situated in a small town called San Miguel, about thirty minutes’ drive away from Ibiza town. The locals were friendly, and there was a small beach with yachts dotted nearby. San Miguel was a harbour where people would stop as they sailed around the island. One of the locals told Gemma that lots of famous stars stopped overnight in the bay, and if they took a pedalo out past the yachts, sometimes you could see them.

The sun was a brilliant yellow and growing hotter all the time. The girls worked hard on their tans from the first day, lazing around the pool, drinking cocktails of Sex on the Beach and Long Island Iced Teas. Ash and Julie had no interest in chasing hot toned Spanish men with perfect tans but Gemma and Rachel currently had no interest in anything else.

‘So have you spoken to Dave again?’

‘Not since the day we arrived. He had just got home from Milton Keynes and said he missed me.’ Ash beamed, unable to help herself. ‘How’s things with Jon?’

‘Oh Ash, he is everything I’ve ever wanted and to think all this time I’ve been looking in the wrong place at the wrong men. He’s down to earth, funny, good job and won’t sponge off me—’

‘Like you’ve ever been out with a man that would need to sponge off you, Jules.’

‘I know, I know—I’m just saying it’s a plus. Anyway as I was saying—’

‘Jules, Ash, come on,’ Rachel interrupted, much to Jules’s annoyance. ‘Come to the bar. Have a drink, girls. We’re on holiday.’