Unforgettable Embrace (35 page)

Holly took the phone from her sister's hands as she kept reading and re-reading the text Batt had just sent her.

"Je t'aime ma cherie. J'ai hate de te revoir," Holly read the text aloud in her stilted French accent.

"It means something about love," Jen translated, desperately trying to remember her school French, "and I think "voir" mean to see."

All the colour had drained from Rachel's face and her hands were trembling slightly.

"It means "I love you, darling and I can't wait to see you again"," Rachel said flatly.

"Well, what's wrong with him saying that?" Holly asked, starting to get impatient with her sister.

"He knows you speak fluent Fre
nch, doesn't he?" Liz said. “I remember you said he lived in France for years too."

"You don
't understand," Rachel said. “We never speak French to each other. It's something we've never done. We've never texted or communicated in French in any way."

"Well, maybe he's trying to be romantic," Jen said.

"No, I doubt it very much," Rachel said, "clearly, that text was meant for someone else and he sent it to me accidentally."

"Oh, Rach, I don't think you should jump to any conclusions," Liz said. "There's no point thinking the worst, until you know the facts."

"I think you should text him back," Holly suggested.

"I most certainly will not," Rachel said vehemently, "I have some self-respect."

"Well, who do you think he was texting in French then?" Jen asked.

"How the hel
l do I know?" Rachel replied. “He could be texting an old girlfriend or anyone."

"I think you should call him," Holly insisted.

"Well, I certainly do not," Rachel said, switching off her mobile phone and flinging it unceremoniously into her handbag. She snatched the charm bracelet off her wrist that Batt had given her and threw it into her bag along with her phone.

Chapter 48

"Well, that's the end of Batt and me," Rachel said, starting to sound a little manic. "Let's not allow that gobshite to ruin our weekend, ladies, another drink anyone?"

"I think you should calm down, Rach," Holly said.

"I am calm, perfectly calm," Rachel insisted, making her way towards the bar to order more drinks.

"Let's get this party started," Rachel said, in a high-pitched voice, slamming the cocktails down on the table in front of her stunned friends, and downing her Cosmopolitan in one long gulp. "What is it they say? The best way to get over one man is to get under another one," she said, helping herself to another drink and finishing that even quicker than the first.

"Get a grip on yourself woman!" Holly hissed at her sister. "You're making a holy show of yourself."

"Well, it's about to get a whole lot unholier around here," Rachel said, wrenching her arm free of her sister's grasp. "I'm off to find that waiter from yesterday, what's his name again, I can't remember. Anyway, he said he'll give us free passes to the nightclub tonight if we want to go. Who's coming with me?"

She looked around at her friends bemused faces.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Liz said evenly, "I really think it would be best if we all went back to the cottage and just chilled out."

"You can be such a bore, sometimes, Liz," Rachel said, giving her friend a withering look. "I'm off to the nightclub, with or without you guys," she said, standing up and wobbling a little in her three inch heels. She stormed off out of the restaurant, almost sending their table flying as she stumbled.

"I suppose we should go after her," Jen said.

"Yeah, she's being a right pain, but we can't leave her alone in the state she's in at the moment, who knows what she might get up to," Holly sighed, getting to her feet and buttoning her coat.

"I wonder what Batt meant by his text message anyway," Liz mused.

"It's probably something with a completely innocent explanation," Jen said, "but you know how
melodramatic Rach can be sometimes and she does love to jump to conclusions."

They trailed behind Rachel, losing her momentarily in the crowds that were queuing for entry to the nightclub. They spotted her at the front of the queue arguing loudly with security, trying to insist that she knew someone who could get her in for free. Jen decided to take charge of the situation and apologised to the security guards for Rachel's behaviour. She lead her friend away forcibly by the arm.

"Don't touch me!" Rachel shouted at her. "I need to find that waiter. Can you remember his name?"

"Scott," Liz piped up. "I think his name is Scott."

"That's it," Rachel's face lit up and with that she was gone again.

"Why did you have to tell her his name, Liz?" Holly admonished.

"Sorry, I didn't think," Liz looked sheepish, "his name just popped out."

"Come on, let's follow her before she gets herself into serious trouble," Holly said, pushing through the weekend revellers.

"Where have all these people suddenly appeared from?" Liz asked, "I can't see Rachel anywhere."

"Let's go back to the pub we were in yesterday, hopefully she'll be in there," Jen suggested.

They found Rachel at the bar, chatting away to the barman. "Hey girlies," she smiled drunkenly at her friends, " I couldn't find Scott, but I found myself a Paul, and he's so much better, don't you think?" She winked at Paul, who smiled embarrassedly back at her.

"Rachel, I think you should call it a night," Holly whispered in her sister's ear, "don't you think you've had enough to drink?"

"What's that old saying? One can never be too rich or too thin, well I'd like to amend it and add one can never have too much to drink either," Rachel said putting her glass in the air dramatically and spilling most of it on her top. "Oh well," she laugh
ed drunkenly, wiping her top with her hand, "a little bit of alcohol never hurt anybody." "Any chance of some free passes to the nightclub?" she asked the barman, "it's my friend's hen weekend and we want to party!"

"I don't think so," he replied.

"Where's Scott, anyway? I've decided you're boring me," she said.

"He should be in later," came the curt response.

"Rachel, you're making a holy show of yourself," Liz hissed at her friend.

"Go home, you big spoil sports, I want to have fun," she slurred.

"Let's just sit down and keep an eye on her," Jen said. "Hopefully she'll get tired of partying alone fairly quickly and we c
an all go back to the hotel."

"We'll be over here, if you want to join us," Holly said.

"Whatever," her sister replied, waving her drink at them dismissively.

"She's being rather obnoxious tonight, to say the least," Liz said.

"She gets like this sometimes, especially if she's been mixing her drinks," Jen said, "remember that time when she poured a pint of lager over some random girl's head years ago, just because she didn't like the look of her."

"Oh, yeah, gosh that was embarrassing," Liz cringed at the memory.

"I can beat that story," Holly said, "I remember she was only about eighteen and she was out at some teeny bopper nightclub, and had way too much to drink, she came rolling home at about three o' clock, banging on the front door, yelling to be let in. Mom and I went downstairs to open the door, and there she was with her hair completely dishevelled, the buttons on her jeans done up the wrong way, and her front tooth smashed off."

"No way!" Jen exclaimed.

"Yes way," Holly replied, "Mom and I were imagining that all sorts had happened to her, of course she was too incoherent to tell us the story at that hour of the morning, so all we could do was help her into bed and wait to hear about her antics when she woke up the next morning. My room was adjoining hers, we only had a thin partition between our bedrooms, and she kept me awake half the night snoring."

"So what had actually happened to her?" Liz asked, intrigued.

"Well, it turned out she'd had a fight with her friends, surprise, who knows what sort of abuse she was hurling at them in the state she was in. She managed to get herself into a taxi home, but the taxi driver through her out cos she kept saying she was going to be sick. Apparently, she fell on the walk home and smashed her tooth and she must have gone to the toilet and just done her buttons up the wrong way. Mom had to pay a fortune to get her tooth fixed. So that's why she tries her best to stick to wine. She can't handle spirits, they drive her a bit bonkers."

"Oh, no," Jen groaned, "she's been mixing her drinks tonight. She had wine at dinner and I'm sure she was drinking a cocktail when we found her at the bar."

"We better keep a close eye on her," Liz said, "or who knows what she might get up to later."

They glanced over at Rachel who was talking animatedly to a group of men at the bar. They were laughing and joking with her and seemed to be taking her slightly inebriated state as quite funny. She looked like she was thoroughly enjoying herself in their company. Eventually, the guys moved on and she wobbled over to her friends.

"Hey girls, those guys I was talking to are on a stag weekend. They're heading on to the nightclub and invited us to come and join them later."

"I don't think so, Rach," Liz said, "we're all starting to feel quite tired."

Suddenly, Rachel jumped up, and almost ran towards a tall, slim young man who'd just entered the bar. "Scott! Scott!" she shouted, waving maniacally at him.

"Rachel, hi," Scott's face lit up when he saw her. "I didn't think you'd be here tonight," he said. "Course I'm here," she replied, "I'm dying for a boogie and my friends are too tired and too boring to come dancing with me."

"I doubt that," Scott said, smiling around at the girls.

"Hi Scott," they said, smiling at him.

"I have free passes if you girls want to come join us in the nightclub," he offered.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Liz said hesitantly.

"We have to be up early in the morning to catch our flight back to Ireland," Jen explained. "Come on then Scott, let's leave these old bores here and we'll go and enjoy ourselves," Rachel said, taking his hand and leading him towards the club.

"You girls go back to the guesthouse," Holly said, "I'll keep an eye on her."

"No way," Liz said, "we came here together so we'll leave here together."

"Definitely," Jen agreed.

"You smell so good," Scott whispered in Rachel's ear, nuzzling her neck gently. She giggled in response. They were dancing together in the nightclub, their bodies pressed tightly against each other. His hands were on her bum and he was dancing very suggestively. Rachel gyrated against him, surprised to feel how hard he felt. He moved his hands up and down her body and started playing with her hair. He kissed her suddenly and purposefully. Rachel was taken aback by the kiss but found herself responding. She closed her eyes as he kissed her deeply. Images of Batt came to her inebriated mind and for a moment she thought she was kissing Batt instead of Scott. She pulled away from Scott slightly.

"What's wrong babe?" he asked, desire written all over his face.

"Nothing," she replied, remembering Batt's text and how he'd been ignoring her for the last few days. She leaned in towards Scott again and kissed him hard on the lips.

He moaned in pleasure, and whispered in her ear, "spend the night with me. My apartment is just a few minutes’ walk from here."

"I can't," she said, "I'd love to but it's my friend's hen weekend."

"Come on," he continued, smacking her on the bum, "you know you want to."

"We'll see," she said, "let's just dance for now."

"'Bye Scott," Rachel said. “C
all me." She waved to him as she tumbled into the taxi.

"Finally," Jen said, jumping into the taxi beside Rachel.

"I thought the night would never end," Liz moaned.

"Best night ever," Rachel said, "where are we going now? I can't believe that nightclub closed so early."

"It's three o' clock in the morning," Holly said, "the only place we are going is bed."

"Best night ever!" her sister yelled again.

"We'll see if you feel the same way in the morning," Jen muttered.

Chapter 49

"Oooh, my head," Rachel groaned from under the duvet. "Have I died and gone to hell?" She cautiously poked her head out from under the duvet and blinked as the daylight pierced her eyes. "Gosh, the sun is bright."

"It's time to get up," Holly said, giving her sister short shrift. "Get in the shower and get dressed fast. You're running late already and you've slept through breakfast."

"Why didn't you wake me?" Rachel asked.

"We tried, several times," Liz said, "but you didn't stir, so we thought we'd leave you to it." "I'm dying for some coffee," Rachel complained, as she sat up in bed. "My head's killing me. I can still feel the thumping music from last night, except it feels like it's decided to take up residence in my brain."