Authors: Rhoda Baxter
Tags: #Romance, #England, #Patents, #Contemporary Romance
"Well, I'd love to, but I really want to meet this guy...the boyfriend, I mean. I think
he's...well, he's my sister's boyfriend. I should meet him." He sighed. "Jane, I'm really sorry
to mess you about like this. Would you mind if we met up tomorrow instead? Stevie assures
me they'll clear off by lunchtime, so we'd have the flat to ourselves for the rest of the
weekend."
"Um..." Jane stared at the shelves in the kitchen. He didn't want to see her that night.
Perhaps he was having second thoughts. What should she say now? She didn't want to sound
like she didn't care, but at the same time she didn't want to seem needy. She thought of the
night before and tears started to threaten. She blinked them back.
"Jane?" Marsh sounded anxious. "Are you still there?"
Jane cleared her throat. "Uh-huh."
"Jane, I promise you, I'm not playing mind games with you. I really truly do want to
see you, but Stevie just dropped this on me with no notice."
"Right."
"So, tomorrow...?"
Jane turned around. Polly was sitting on the sofa, watching. If she said no to Marsh,
she would have to put up with Polly's questions all weekend. "Sure," she said, almost a sigh.
"Why not."
"Brilliant! Shall I meet you in Covent Garden? At about eleven?"
"Okay," said Jane. She listened while he described the place to meet.
"Sounds good," she said, trying not to let her disappointment show. "I'll see you
tomorrow."
"Yes. I'm looking forward to it."
"Me too." Her voice came out too soft. "I'd better go. Bye."
"Bye."
She hung up and stood still, staring at the phone, not sure how she felt.
"Jane?" Polly came up behind her. "What was that all about?"
"He postponed until tomorrow lunchtime. His sister's introducing him to her
boyfriend or something."
"And?"
Jane sighed. "And nothing, I guess. I'd just mentally prepared myself for seeing him
tonight, that's all."
Polly took her arm and propelled her towards the sofa. She thrust the glass of wine
into Jane's hand. "That's not it, is it?" She sat beside Jane and picked up her own glass.
Jane took a sip of wine. She closed her eyes and savoured the warmth of the alcohol
going down her throat. Why was she so upset? It was just a cancelled date, with a perfectly
plausible explanation. But then Ashby had always had plausible explanations for his sudden
absences. A jam session with the guys, a meeting with their manager, going out for a drink
after a recording. All very good reasons for his not coming home when he should. But only
half of them had been true.
"This is about Ashby, isn't it?"
Jane opened her eyes. "What?"
"Just because Ashby lied to you doesn't mean that everyone else is going to lie to you
too."
"I know that."
"So, why is the fact that Marsh postponed your date bothering you so much? It's not
like he cancelled on you."
"I don't know. I just can't shake this feeling that something's not right."
Polly leaned forward and took Jane's hand. "Jane, we've been friends since we were
ten. I know you. Before this stuff with Ashby, you wouldn't have had a problem with
someone moving a date. You were such a trusting person."
"Yes, and look where that got me. Not only did he cheat on me, he publicly
humiliated me. I don't know which is worse."
"Honey, I know he hurt you, but you really do have to let it go."
"How can I? I loved Ashby. I thought he loved me too. Then I find out that for
months I've been living a lie. How can I just forget that and move on like it never happened? I
let it happen once, how do I know it's not going to happen again? Maybe I've got 'use me, I'm
a sap' written on my forehead. Maybe I'm just terrible at judging character." Tears welled and
she squashed them away with her palm.
Polly squeezed her arm. "You're a nice person, Jane. It doesn't mean you're a sap.
When you first met Ashby, he was basically a nice person too. You guys were well suited. It's
just that when he suddenly became famous, it went to his head a bit. He changed. It's not your
fault."
"But how did I not see it coming?"
"Who would? You were happy for him and as supportive as it was humanly possible
to be. There's no way you could have known that he was going to be seduced by a tart from
Hollyoaks."
Jane stared into her drink. A tear rolled down her cheek. "She wasn't the only one,"
she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "There were others. One night stands, mostly. Pete
from the band told me. He felt bad for covering for Ash. Everyone knew, Pol. Everyone but
me."
"Oh Jane." Polly scooted close and hugged her. "Oh Jane, I'm so sorry."
Jane buried her face in Polly's shoulder. "I feel so...used." She had kept this extra
news to herself for months, not wanting to add to the evidence of just how gullible she had
been. Now that she had told Polly, she felt an odd sense of release. Tears flowed, but she did
nothing to stop them. Polly held her, as always, a source of comfort.
"You can't let him poison everything else for you too," said Polly, after some time.
"You've met someone new now. You like this Marsh guy, right?"
Jane nodded.
"Well, you have to give him a chance then. You can't let Ashby ruin this for
you."
Jane leaned back and stared at Polly's earnest face.
"From what I can tell," said Polly. "All Marsh's done is postpone a date. That's hardly
a crime. Did he say he really wanted to see you?"
Jane nodded.
"And you still want to see him?"
"Yes."
"Well then." Polly spread her hands. "Why don't you give it a chance?"
Polly was right. She thought of Marsh's shy smile. Could she really compare that to
Ashby's confident grin? Everything she knew about Marsh made him the polar opposite of
Ashby. He was analytical, where Ashby was creative; he was caring, where Ashby was
self-centred; and he was a thoughtful lover where Ashby had relied on youthful enthusiasm.
Surely, it wasn't so hard to believe that he would be honest where Ashby was not.
She wiped the tears off her face. "You're right. I'm just being silly."
Polly gave her a fond smile. "That's my girl." She returned to her own chair. Picking
up the bottle of wine, she topped up both glasses. She raised hers. "Besides, you're not such a
bad judge of character. You picked me for a best friend."
Jane smiled back and clinked her glass against Polly's.
"Since neither of us has any plans tonight," said Polly. "How about we get a DVD
and some chocolate and have a girly night in?"
* * * *
Jane woke up the next morning feeling strangely light headed. So much so, she
wondered if she was still drunk from the night before. Rather than making things worse,
sharing her sorrow about Ashby's betrayal had somehow loosened the grip he had on her. She
wished she had told Polly sooner. She hummed to herself as she brushed her teeth.
Back in her room, she pulled out her suitcase and surveyed her clothes. She needed
something that was casual, but sexy. It was inconvenient, having only her work clothes and a
few pairs of jeans at Polly's. She could hardly wait to move into her own place, so she could
bring the rest of her clothes down from her mum's attic.
She made a mental note to contact Ashby again and try to get the deposit cheque
from him. And then it occurred to her that she had just thought about Ashby without the
familiar ache stirring in her stomach. Perhaps it was a good thing she had spent the previous
evening with Polly and not Marsh.
After trying on several outfits, she settled on jeans, t shirt and a cowl necked jumper
that hugged her slim figure, whilst making her breasts look larger than they were. She packed
a spare top and some underwear into a small bag and went into the kitchen, still humming.
She was half way through her breakfast when Polly shuffled in, wearing her dressing
gown.
"Morning," said Jane.
Polly waved in her direction and poured herself a cup of coffee. "You look nice. And
cheerful." She popped some bread into the toaster. "Looking forward to the rest of weekend?"
she said, with a wicked grin.
Jane grinned back. "Yes, you could say that."
"I'm almost jealous," Polly said. "What have I got to look forward to? A trip to the
cinema, if I'm lucky. He's not a great romantic, my Andy."
"Oh, stop moaning. You'll have the flat to yourselves for the weekend. And don't
pretend you'll spend it watching DVDs."
Polly laughed. "I'm glad you're in a better mood."
"Thank you. I think I really needed to get things out of my system."
"I'm glad you did," said Polly. "Any time you need to talk to someone, I'm here for
you. You know that."
"I know." She gave Polly a quick hug. "And I really appreciate it."
"It was nothing." Polly gave her a little push. "Now get going. You're making me feel
all frumpy with your long legs and nice jumper. Shoo."