How to Catch Butterflies (10 page)

“I can’t it’s a Monday night. We have work tomorrow. No Lucy, we can’t. No.” Lucy was nodding her head yes.

“Not taking NO for answer anyway it will give you some distance from this Jason and David complicated thing. Come to mine straight from work and we will put a plan of action together TTFN (ta-ta for now) as she disappeared out of Rebecca’s Office.

‘Oh bloody hell, what am I doing
‘ she thought as her phone started to ring jolting her back to reality, she felt dizzy from the Sake momentarily and picked up the phone.

“Rebecca Keane”.

Later that evening Rebecca was sitting on the tube, Jason flashing still through her mind; her tummy lurched every time she thought about them together. His best friend of all the people in the world she had to hook up with. She wondered what Jason was thinking about all of this?

They had been so caught up in each other, in their own bubble that weekend. She felt so helpless, so stupid she didn’t even know when she would be seeing him again.
Oh man, I so don’t feel like going out tonight.
She sat there as the tube doors opened at her stop.

She found herself at Lucy’s apartment in no time and hit the buzzer. “It’s me
,
” she said. Lucy buzzed her in, through the security doors.

Lucy had the door open already. The music was blaring from the apartment. Rebecca walked in and threw her bag down, slumping in Lucy’s oversized sofa as the tiredness consumed her.

“Lucy, I feel bloody rotten. I can’t face going out tonight…” before Rebecca could finish Lucy interrupted.

“No worries, I got us some Kiri Royal’s on the way home, so we can stay in and you can tell me all about your dirty weekend. So, was he good? .... Oh ....Oh..... I have to ask.....IS he bigger than David?” As they both howled with laughter.

It was much later when Lucy turned the second empty bottle of Kiri Royal down into the brushed silver wine bucket. They had been dancing around the loft style living room horsing around.

“What you need Rebecca is a mental list in your head. If they tick all…well that decision is up to you,” she laughed. “I end up sleeping with them.”

“Ooohh. How many ticks has George got?” Rebecca teased Lucy.

“Not saying,” said Lucy pulling a sulky face crossing her arms jokingly.

Lucy liked George a lot. If she couldn’t let herself think it, she wasn’t going to say it to Rebecca. So she quickly changed the conversation.

”Anyway, tonight’s about you and
not George
. What are you going to do about Jason?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” answered Rebecca as she sipped her drink. And she really didn’t.

She got up the following morning showered, raiding Lucy’s wardrobe and set off for work. She checked her phone for any missed calls. She had hoped that Jason had called. There were none,
damn
she thought annoyed with herself for looking.

‘None yep she felt like a tramp’. She was surprised at how quick the day had flown; she had tried NOT to think of Jason and his perfect pecks.

It had been a busy day indeed. Rebecca had only just signed a huge deal for sole suppliers to an important client, it was a great day. She caught her usual train home and popped into the local supermarket to pick up some bits and bobs. She knew she had to shop; she hadn’t got even a bean in her cupboards they were like ‘Old Mother Hubbard’s’.

She flew around the aisles; in no time, she had finished. She paid at the checkout and headed homeward.

Rebecca opened the gate and walked up the footpath like she had done a hundred times before. She was transferring one of the two shopping bags into her other hand to fish for her keys in her pocket. When he stepped out from the shadows of the alcove in the doorway....

.....It was David...

She froze to the spot. The bags dropping to the ground with the shock, her heart pounding in her ears she could feel herself starting to shake.

“I’m sorry B, didn’t mean to frighten you. I had to see you. Oh B, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe what I’ve done,” he walked towards her.

“Oh god please forgive me B. Being without you, I...I...I can’t!” He broke down in front of her covering his eyes with his hands, he was a sniveling wreck.

She felt for him. How could she not. They had been together for so long, she knew him inside out. David had
never
broke down like this except for when they were told the news of his dad’s illness, her heart bled for him.

It was a pitiful scene. She wanted to comfort him. It was heartbreaking for her to watch; her hot tears burned her eyes.

David saw this and crumpled more, he walked towards her placing his hands either side of her face. He pulled her to him. Rebecca could smell the drink off his breath. Immediately it took her back to that Saturday night. It made her feel sick to her stomach.

“Take me back please” he begged. “You know I love you. It’s always been you. Marry me. I’ve booked Marylebone Registers office on Friday, marry me B....Marry me....” His hands still held her face.

David had been pleading so hard, he hadn’t realized he had been shaking Rebecca as he still pleaded with all his might. He leaned in to kiss her.

Rebecca had started trying to push him away from her, he still tried.

“No...No.... No...No” recoiling, the idea of kissing him and then ‘
him presuming she was that stupid to actually marry him NOW’
. The idea horrified her. She still fought to break free of his hold.

The next thing she saw out of the corner of her eye, it was Jason leaping over the gate and making a rush for David landing a punch on his chin shouting at David.

“GET OFF HER!”

Jason had just got out of his car after parking up. He had seen David grabbing Rebecca and his natural instincts for her protection took over.

David hadn’t seen Jason coming and all he saw now were stars. The punch had completely taken him off guard and he had fallen to the ground in a heap. Jason leaned into him pulling him to his feet by the scruff of his jacket. As Jason landed a few more upper cuts to David stomach and eye, “You fucking hit her David!” Jason landed a few more blows on David.

“You didn’t just hit her you fucking BEAT her!” The punches made contact with his ribs as he punched like a prize fighter in training on a punching bag.

“Mate, stop!” David protested, as he grabbed Jason by his shoulders trying to reason with him.

“Stop?! Did you stop when you beat the shit out of her last week ?” Jason roared into David’s face.

The two men were now up against the front door. Both men now threw punches at one another scuffling.

Rebecca stood there frozen to the spot.

“You’re fucking scum, David. You’re a woman basher, and your NO mate of mine,” said Jason.

He had David pinned against the front door.

“Where’s your Karate now?” He held a dazed David who wasn’t so steady on his feet now.

“Now fuck off,” he said while throwing David in the direction of the gate.

Jason stood in front of Rebecca as a sort of human shield in case David doubled back.

“Wait till the rest of the lads hear about this David. Wait till they hear what you’ve done. How many mates will you have left then?” The venom was apparent in his voice.

“This isn’t over,” snarled David as he made his way to his parked car. He jumped in and sped off.

Jason turned to Rebecca brushing the hair from her face, he could see she was shaking. He embraced her, holding her close to him. Jason was glad he was there as she melted into his chest. He wished he’d been there last week to have protected her.

He picked up her bags that were still on the ground, picking up the few tins that had rolled out placing them back into the bags.

“Come on let’s get you in doors,” he said taking the keys from her hand with a smile. He could see she was still trembling. Jason put his arm around her, guiding her through the doors until they were in her sitting room and he sat her down.

He made his way to the kitchen with the shopping bags thinking of the fight; David’s punches. A few of them had made contact and they hurt as he felt his ribs. He must have really hurt Rebecca with each blow he made. Jason shook his head.
And the fucker does Karate, so he knew where to hit
? He shook his head in disgust.

How he hated David. He walked back into the living room Rebecca was still on the couch sitting where he’d left her. He sat beside her and just held her stroking her hair gently.

It was half an hour later when the silent phone calls started.

“It has to be David?” She whimpered.

“Why won’t he just leave me alone? Hasn’t he done enough? Just living with him nearly damn right killed me. Oh God, what am I going to do?” She cried her hands covered her face.

Jason didn’t know what to say or do; all he could do was to keep her safe. He wanted to reassure her. Tell her everything would be okay. But he knew David all too well; David wouldn’t give up that easy..... And that worried him greatly.

Chapter 8

‘Brothers In Arms’

Jason lay in bed with Rebecca; she had cried herself to sleep in his arms. He kept going over and over the altercation with David in his head. He was furious with David. He hadn’t seen him since last Monday when he had driven them to Rebecca’s. He had only done so because David had only told him that ‘
he had smashed up the flat after one too many’.

Jason lay there thinking about that Monday. When he had left Rebecca’s that night, he had wanted to beat the shit out of David. If he had done that, Jason would have hospitalized him. And it wasn’t the first time he had felt like that about him. He drove David back to his mother’s in silence; fists gripping the steering wheel tightly. He had to suppress the anger that was building up with every word that fell out of David’s mouth. It was a hard drive home for him that night.

He looked down at the sleeping Rebecca as she lay next to him. He shook his head. It was always left to him to clean up after David’s mess. He should have fought harder for her that night many years ago.

He had never crossed the line with Rebecca. She had made her choice, and was with David and he lived with that. The guilt flowed through him. Even when David had cheated in front of him, he had never crossed that line.