Tripping on Love (3 page)

CHAPTER SIX

'Do you think they’re already here?' I asked, glancing sideways at Mel. We’d only just arrived at Carl’s house, but the party was well under way. I watched as Mel immediately helped herself to a large glass of wine. She was a woman on a drinking mission. If she carried on then tonight would end in a very drunken state, and that meant two things: tears and doner meat. I would have to keep my eye on her; my heels were definitely not made for walking around in the early hours, searching for a takeaway joint.

'Who are you referring to?' she asked confused, her eyes starting to glaze over. Her attention shifted towards the makeshift bar area, where a scruffy bearded man was impressing a handful of onlookers with cocktail shaking skills. He had an air of University Professor about him. Very much Mel’s type. She groaned suddenly.

'Please do not utter the names Will or Amanda again, or I will refuse to talk to you for the rest of the evening.'

'Will and who?' I did my best to look innocent. Five minutes of talking on any one topic, and Mel's butterfly mind was already floating off to a new horizon. The ten minute Taxi journey discussing my emotions about the pair had clearly pushed the butterfly boundary.

'Would you like a cocktail?' she asked, snatching my near full glass from my hand. 'We need re-fills' she said, indiscreetly pouring the remainder of the wine I'd been enjoying into a nearby pot plant.

'That guy over there by the bar – he’s looking just the person to fill me up tonight' and with a smirk, off she sauntered to the bar.

I watched in amusement, looking around casually and hoping to catch sight of someone I knew. It was less than a few moments of standing alone when I became aware that the person with their back to me had a very familiar shake of his head. Will. 

Breathing in sharply, my heart thudded, threatening to burst from my chest in shock. Spinning around in the opposite direction, I raised my hand to my forehead in a hope to conceal myself and walked away quickly, almost colliding into someone coming towards me.

'Sorry' I lowered my hand from my face and looked up with an apologetic smile. Amanda stood smirking at me.

I gasped, wide eyed as I took in her new appearance. The blunt haircut, a thick razored fringe flicking randomly, where she evidently hadn’t yet figured how to style it properly, made her face appear more rounded. Her make-up was applied thicker and more garish than I remembered her to wear it. Eye liner clogged in the corners of her eyes, and luminous orange lipstick accentuated lips, if they could be called that, which had seen copious amounts of Collagen. She vaguely resembled a trout.

It seemed that Will's entry into her life had created as much of an impact on her appearance, as it had his departure from my life.

Shaking with nerves, I tried to keep my voice in a calm and even tone of surprise.

'Amanda?' I said, pausing for effect and furrowing my forehead ever so slightly in disbelief.

She eyed
me coolly and self consciously, my new image not lost on her.

'Hello
Elizabeth.'

It appeared she also found it harder to talk through her absurd monstrous lips.
 

Ignoring my racing pulse
I smiled warmly, momentarily catching her off-guard. Judging by her upturned lip she was preparing for a showdown - unless the Collagen had suddenly taken retreat into one corner of her mouth.

'Goodness
, I almost didn’t recognise you for a moment there' I allowed my gaze to gently float up and down her body, fully aware she was unsure how to react. I stopped as my eyes met her face again.

'Love the lips. Did you get them on special offer?' She blushed furiously as I continued with my condescending tone. 'Buy one procedure, get one procedure free? I wouldn’t have gone back for seconds though
, if I were you. They’re rather too pronounced now, unfortunately.’ I watched as her cheeks continued to deepen in their crimson hue.

'And let me guess - your hairdresser told you that a thick fringe would accentuate your high cheekbones?'

Seizing the opportunity, I leaned in closer to her ear. 'I think she was trying to subtly draw attention away from your lips. Doesn’t work though, but bless her for trying.'

Amanda stood open mouthed and speechless as I turned in victory, and slowly sashayed away, with as much sassiness as I could muster. Aware that my back was turned to her, I hunched my shoulders slightly, bracing myself for a possible outburst of attack. None came.

The months of daydreaming what I would say if I had the chance of meeting Amanda filtered into my mind. I'd screamed endlessly at mirrors; furiously scribbled out faces on photos of resembling figures, and on one occasion shamefully decapitated my nephew's teddy bear, after Stella had offered it as an Amanda voodoo doll.

I felt like I was on an emotional high.
  Thanks to her inspiring lips and hair, I’d been able to make as clear a dent in her pride, as she had in mine by stealing my fiancé. Admittedly without her new appearance to pick fault with, I would have struggled with knowing how best to react to the situation. But things had planned out perfectly. I couldn’t wait to tell Mel.

I found Mel in the large kitchen, talking with friends. All ears pricked to attention as I excitedly relayed my confrontation with Amanda.

Three consecutive, celebratory alcoholic shots later, news on the grapevine travelled back to us that both Amanda and Will had made an early exit from the party. Much to my relief.

Mel had taken the celebratory shots for my Amanda victory a little too far. It wasn't long before she was rounding up those in the kitchen to dance the Conga. Too polite and perhaps a little too drunken ourselves to dec
line the rambling, crazy Latino, we formed a wobbly line and took cue as Mel pelted out song lyrics, laughing hysterically.

It was somewhere between kicking out my left leg and bringing it back towards me, that I locked eyes with the man standing in the kitchen doorway, looking amused. I quickly scrambled out of my position behind Mel, to straighten my dress and act as if I had been caught in intelligent conversation, as opposed to making a tit of myself dancing.

The man moved towards me and grabbed my waist without warning. I tried to resist as his firm hands fixed securely on my hips, but as I looked over my shoulder into his eyes I knew I’d never stand a chance.

I blushed with embarrassment as he gaily proceeded to Conga with me around the kitchen, Mel and the others taking the opportunity to attach themselves to our newly formed 'train'. After much consci
ous laughter and three more leg kicks, we collapsed against the nearby counter top. His hands disconnected from my body and my palms began to feel sweaty at the sudden awareness that he was moving around, to stand directly facing me.

'Well well, you certainly know how to move those hips don’t you' he said in a voice deep and sexy, with a hint of playfulness. I felt myself flush as I looked properly at his face for the first time.

Sparkling deep blue eyes bore intently into my own, as if able to read my soul. A pronounced strong jaw gave him a rugged edge; yet the soft laughter lines around his mouth and eyes told me that he wasn't the moody, dark, stranger his looks depicted. Dressed in jeans and a white collarless shirt, baring a hint of a broad, tanned chest; he was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. Very much husband material. I held his gaze.

'I guess that's because it’s not every day I get to dance around with
a gorgeous man attached to me.' I bit down on my lip.

Where had that quick and witty retort come from? Usually I was a tongue tied mess around any man remotely handsome and flirtatious. Even Mel looked impressed and raised a discreet eyebrow in encouragement.

Laughing, he propped his elbow against the counter and angled himself in closer towards me, our sides almost touching.

'I'm Edward, a business acquaintance of Carl's
.' He reached out to take a sip of the glass of wine set down on the work surface. Wine. Not beer. A man with a finer taste for life.

'Carl and I were in a business meeting earlier and he mentioned he was hosting a party this evening, so I thought I’d check it out. More so out of politeness than pleasure' he admitted with a small shrug of his shoulders. Good manners too, I noted.
 

Teasing,
he reached out to poke my arm. 'It's lucky I did though, huh. Or else I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of meeting such a lovely a woman as yourself.' Very smooth. He certainly knew how to charm. Perhaps a little too much so? I smiled despite myself. 

'Of course. Who wouldn't want to meet a catch like me?' I joked.

Will's face flashed before my eyes, reminding me that there was certainly one person who didn't think I was first prize. I felt my happiness cloud over. Edward's intense eyes narrowed, catching my expression. A questioning look passed across his face.

‘So miss wiggly hips, where is your boyfriend tonight?’

Unable to meet his gaze, I lowered my eyes. His intense stare was making me nervous. My aloof, quirky resolve was rapidly beginning to evade me, leaving me feeling vulnerable and exposed. Forcefully plastering a smile across my face, I was aware that it didn’t quite reach my eyes.

'You mean the ex fiancé that traded me in for a more surgically enhanced model a few months back?' I said with as light and humorous a tone as I could manage.

'He left already. So I'm here on my lonesome' I winked at him and took a large gulp of my wine. More so to calm the bitterness that had arisen in my throat, and was threatening to make an ugly appearance.

Edward'
s eyes twinkled in my direction, unnerving me. He could see straight through me, not buying into my blasé comment. I blushed taking another gulp of wine.

'Oh and whilst miss wiggly hips may have been intended as a compliment, I can’t help visualizing images of a baby elephant, so I would prefer if you called me Lizzie' I tried lightening the tone. 'Or
Elizabeth, if you'd prefer to be formal.'

'Lizzie it is then' he said running his hand up towards his wavy dark hair. Clean, manicured nails. One trait that most men overlooked. Time and again my mother had insisted that clean nails bore an insight to the person. For once I was willing to agree with her.

He looked down towards his wrist watch, an understated Cartier, his jaw tightening in dismay.

'Listen Lizzie, I know this is short and sweet but I only popped in for a quick look. I really hadn’t planned on meeting anyone and regrettably I’ve made other plans for this evening.'

Regrettably? He certainly was a smooth talker. My heart began to dance inside my chest. I couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or disappointment.

He lowered his voice a little, his eyes shifting in the direction of Mel and the others, aware that they were indiscreetly lending one ear to our conversation.

'If you'd be willing, I'd very much like to take your number so I can call you sometime to arrange dinner or drinks?'

His question hung between us and my heart dance sped up by ten paces in my chest.
  He was asking for my number. Mr charming but gorgeous was asking for my number.

Thankfully in my speechless, shell-shocked moment, Mel stepped in, her hand already fishing in her bag for a business card. Edward caught my eye and an unsaid look of acknowledgement, that Mel had overhead, passed between us.

'I have a spare card here' she finished writing and thrust a brightly coloured card towards Edward. 'Take this, I’ve jotted Lizzie's mobile on the reverse.'

I smiled gratefully in her direction, amazed at how quickly she had managed to sober herself, discreetly using eye movements to suggest leaving us to speak alone.

Mel got my hint and turned to walk away, before changing her mind.

'Oh and I’d just like to point out that not only is Lizzie stunning, but she’s in high demand.' She looked squarely into Edward's eyes. 'Take that as your cue not to delay calling'. With a girly giggle and notably flirtatious flick of her hair, she grinned in my direction and headed towards the conservatory door.
 

Edward looked on amused, placing the card in his wallet. I couldn’t help noticing the black Amex card also accommodated in the sleeve. Surely he wasn’t able to also tick the extremely wealthy box on my wish list. There had to be a catch.

'Right, I’d best head off then' he said, closing his wallet and returning it to his pocket. 'It was a pleasure meeting you' he leaned in awkwardly to kiss me briefly on the cheek. Strangely he smelt familiar and my heart skipped a beat as a jolt of electric seemed to pass between us.

He backed away quickly – almost too quickly, picking up his glass and draining the remainder of his wine. Lifting his hand, his intense gaze once again met my eyes.

'I'll be in touch.' And with that, he was already walking out of the door and out of my life, before I could say another word.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Monday morning came around sooner than I had anticipated. The excited high that I had felt since the impromptu exchange with Edward had vast deserted me.  Sleepily reaching across to turn off my alarm clock, I envisioned Edward’s face and felt myself stir far quicker than any cup of coffee could encourage.

I had spent the previous week on tenterhooks circling my mobile like a bird of prey, waiting for him to make contact. There had been nothing. I picked up my mobile now, illuminating the screen to check for any missed calls or messages. A drunken background image of Mel and I greeted me. I sighed sad
ly.  For the eighth day running, no blinking icons or notifications from Edward had materialised.

Setting about my morning routine and grateful for distraction, the previous week of conversation with Mel began to float into my thoughts. She had taken great delight in thinking up daily scenario’s and reasons for Edward's evasiveness.
  I smiled to myself as I recalled her top four theories on the matter; 

1. Edward had lost the business card with my details after removing it too many times from his wallet to re-live the moment he had met me. Strong winds had subsequently snatched it from his grasp and flew it into the nearest drain. Lost forever.

2. He had been involved in a near fatal accident after leaving the party and was now in hospital in a semi conscious state calling out ‘Lizzie’. The nurses had no idea who Lizzie was or how to make contact with her.

3. He had been called away on urgent business to a small village, in an area where mobile coverage didn’t exist. However, he was spending every moment thinking about how he would make it up to me when he returned.

4. His psycho ex had threatened to kill me and he was now involved in a government mission to protect me from gruesome death, whilst being under strict instruction by head of operations, not to contact me and put me in further danger.

As much as I wanted to believe her and I
had spent time encouraging her, I knew within my heart that the reality was simply that Edward couldn’t have been as interested in me as the impression he had given. Like many men before him that had shown me interest, I was a distant memory once out of their sight.

----------

Ronnie was quick to pick up on my mood as soon as I walked into the office.

'Good weekend Lizzie? Any special dates?' he asked smiling at me, causing his chubby cheeks to become more pronounced. He was referring to Edward.
 

I had hoped I wouldn’t come to regret informing both Ronnie and Samantha of the events at Carl's party, but I had been carried away in the moment, telling them all about Edward. Except now it had backfired. Edward still hadn't been in contact and I was fast losing patience with both my work life and my love life.

Walking straight past him, I headed towards the small kitchenette area.

'No Ronnie, not a good weekend. Unless you classify a good weekend, as sitting at home alone for forty eight hours with nowhere to go, and no one to share it with?' My voice quivered. I was on the verge of bursting into tears. I desperately bit down on my lip, trying to pull myself together.
 

My weekend had been hideous. Mel had been working for the majority of it and the remainder she had spent shacked up with the university professor type that she had met at Carl's party. Unlike Edward, he had had the manners to call and ask her out.
 

I sat down at my desk and eyed up the double chocolate chip brownie Ronnie had left on a napkin. Even the sight of the gooey, warm centre wasn’t giving me its usual rush of lusciousness.

Samantha set down a coffee in front of me and perched herself on the end of my desk. Dressed head to toe in black – perhaps it was a Goth day – she looked fiercely at Ronnie and shook her head in a desperate bid to stop him pursuing the matter further. I made a mental note to thank her later for her unusual display of female solidarity.

I took a sip of the lukewarm coffee, trying to hide a grimace 'Mmm nice, thanks' I lied
, nodding gratefully.

Samantha stood up and grinned at Ronnie.

'Tell Lizzie your news. That’s sure to put a smile on her face.'

I couldn’t help but shoot daggers at Samantha who was now rubbing her arms excitedly in anticipation. It wasn’t natural to be so upbeat all of the time and it certainly didn’t work well with her morbid outfit.

'What’s this news then?' I said turning to Ronnie and trying not to sound as uninterested as I felt.

Ronnie's eyes lit up and suddenly I was intrigued. I picked up the chocolate brownie in preparation for some juicy gossip and took a bite.

'Well, you know I have a son, Teddy' he began.

'Yes?'
  I sighed. My spark of interest instantaneously diminished. I was bored of hearing about Teddy. It was enough that I had to be subjected to a photo of fourteen year old Teddy on a regular basis.  He was the image of his father. Dark hair, a chunky build and not so fortunate looking. Poor boy. Although I would guess that judging by the aged, dog eared photo that Ronnie carried in his wallet, Teddy would be some unfortunate woman’s husband by now.

The mystery and tragedy of the father and son estrangement had been dispelled a few weeks beforehand when Samantha had told me that the death of Teddy's mother had caused the great rift. No further details had been imparted, despite my subtle prodding and I'd eventually given up on the soap drama of it all.

Ronnie took on a serious tone. 'Sources have confirmed that Teddy is involved in a new hotel development in Marbella, Southern Spain. Apparently it’s been under construction for the last two years but there'll be a grand opening in three months time' he stopped to scratch his upper lip.

'My thoughts are that it would be a good idea for RJ Travel to do a feature in Time & Travel magazine putting forward Marbella as this summer’s top destination and incorporating the hotel as our recommendation and main focus' he was looking at me expectantly.

'What do you think?'

I nodded slowly.
If I understood correctly, Ronnie was proposing spending a large sum of the marketing budget bribing the Travel Industry's largest publication to focus on a destination and hotel, purely because it had links to his estranged son. Undoubtedly he hoped it would bridge the gap in some small way.

I swallowed my last piece of chocolate brownie and washed it down with a sip of cold coffee.

'If you'd like it to be something RJ Travel is involved in, then I don’t see why we shouldn’t go ahead with the idea' I said tactfully.

I knew only too well that mixing both personal life and business was a risky strategy. Mine had got me fired. Ronnie's could potentially lose him his son forever.

Ronnie smiled encouraged. 'Actually Lizzie, I was hoping that as your mother already lives in Marbella, you might be interested in combining a visit with work, courtesy of the company?'

My ears pricked up. As much as I loathed visiting my mother on a regular basis, it was something I couldn’t avoid. Given the chance to reflect on my travel expenditure over the years, I would likely come to the conclusion that I could have owned my dream sports car outright. Ronnie's proposal was more than generous. It would allow me to kill two birds with one stone and for the first time I wouldn’t be footing the expenses.

'Yes, I'd happily combine a visit. It'll be a good opportunity.'

'Brilliant' Ronnie said
, pleased with himself. 'We can discuss details later today.'

Samantha grinned at me and walked back towards her own desk. I smiled to myself; there could also be a possibility of convincing Ronnie to allow me to write the review for submission. I had always had a secret desire to become an aspiring writer and what better way to harness my creativity than getting a suntan thrown in for free? Already things were looking up and it was only nine o’clock.

I spent much of the morning and afternoon using free time to surf the internet for suitable business and sunbathing attire. My new pinched waist khaki suit certainly wouldn’t be making the To Take list.  From experience, I knew that late spring in Marbella meant tight white jeans and oversized sunglasses. It was time to invest in myself. After all, I had to blend into my surroundings if I was now to be an international business traveller.

It was as I was shutting down my computer and getting ready to leave, that I heard the unmistakable sound of my mobile text service. Rummaging through my bag, my heart was pounding with excitement as I hastily opened the text.

'Hun, just to let you know I won’t be home tonight - unexpected date with HUGO! Mel x'

My heart sank in disappointment.
  Mel had been hankering after our next door neighbour Hugo since he’d moved into the area two months prior.

We knew he was a keen guitar player, often hearing him strumming at obscene hours. What Mel saw in him I didn’t understand, but the flirtation between the pair had been building over the past week. He’d obviously worked up the courage to finally ask her out. Although knowing Mel, she’d probably knocked on his door and invited herself in.
 

If
only I knew where Edward lived, I could have tried the same strategy myself.