Always and Forever (81 page)

 There was a knock on the door shortly after I ended
my phone call with Callum. I froze, afraid and clueless as to whom it could be.
Jake wouldn’t knock on the door, he would just let himself in and no one else
knew we were here. I was so relieved we had a peephole and I was able to check
to see who it was. I saw Jake’s sister Carla on the other side of the door and
let her in straight away.

“Carla, what are you doing here?” I was really surprised to
see her and had no idea she had planned to come over.

“Well, I knew Jake was working tonight and I felt bad for
you stuck at home all by yourself, so I thought I’d come over and keep you
company.” She had a bunch of DVD’s and chocolates bars in her hands, clearly prepared
for a night of movie watching and junk food.

“That’s so nice of you, come on in.” I opened the door for
her before making my way into the kitchen to get us a drink.

“Wow, this place looks so nice now. You’ve made it into such
a nice home, all cosy and welcoming.”

“It was Jake who got everything fixed up but I agree with
you, it’s really homey.” I admit, handing her a glass of orange juice.

“Thanks. I’ve actually been meaning to come over for a
while but I wanted to make sure I gave you and Jake some time to settle in.”

“Feel free to pop by whenever you want. I spend most of my
evenings on my own whilst Jake is at work so don’t even hesitate next time you
want to come over.” I said sincerely, sitting down beside her on the sofa.

“Do you get lonely?” She asked, expertly reading my mind.

“Sometimes, I’m also a little curious.” I revealed, playing
with the tassels of the cushion on my lap.

“About what?”

“About downstairs and what it’s really like in the bar
where Jake works.”

“We can check it out if you want?” She offered, placing her
empty glass on the coffee table.

“We can’t do that.” I said firmly.

“Why not?”

“Jake wouldn’t like it.”

“He wouldn’t have to know. It gets so busy in there, he
wouldn’t even notice.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Carla had me ready to go thirty minutes later. I was still
really uncertain about what we were going to do, it just didn’t feel right to
go sneaking into the bar downstairs without Jake knowing about it.

“I’m not sure about this, Carla. I feel like we’re spying
on Jake.”

“We’re not spying; you just want to see where your man
works. It’s not a crime to be curious, Bethany.”

At first I was worried that I wouldn’t have anything to
wear but Carla browsed through my new closet and easily picked out an outfit
for me. She chose a dark pair of jeans and a black halter neck top. Thank
goodness I allowed Jake to take me on that shopping trip or I wouldn’t have
anything to wear at all.

“Do I really look ok?” I asked her, glancing at my
reflection in the mirror.

“You look great, drop dead gorgeous.”

 Carla winked at me and carried on straightening the
rest of my hair. I’d bought a pair of GHD’s as soon as I left home but hadn’t
used them yet. I’d been hesistant because I didn’t really know how to
straighten my hair properly. I’d finally consented to let Carla do it for me
and I couldn’t believe the difference it made to my hair. My chocolate waves
now looked sleek and glossy; I could hardly believe the girl I saw in the
mirror was really me.

“Carla, how are we going to get into the club downstairs?
Are you even eighteen?” I enquired as soon as she’d finished with my hair.

“Just. I turned eighteen last month.”

“What about me? I’m twenty but I look about sixteen.
They’re never going to let me in without any ID.” I mumbled miserably.

“I know the guy on the door, he and Jake are old friends
and he’s sure to believe us if I promise him that you’re over eighteen.” She
convinced me, handing me her lip-gloss.

I was still unsure about the
whole make-up thing. I only tended to wear a little bit of mascara and some lip
balm but Carla persuaded me to try bronzing pearls and a more mascara to
enhance the length of my eyelashes. I couldn’t believe the transformation and
had to admit that Carla knew what she was doing.

I traipsed downstairs with Carla, struggling to walk in the
high heels she’d coaxed me into wearing. I was only used to flat shoes and the
my new boots took a bit of getting used to, they made me so much taller and I
enjoyed the feeling that came alongside me making an effort to look more
sophisticated.

The doorman let us both straight in, he didn’t even give me
a second glance and I didn’t know whether I should be flattered he didn’t
question my age or insulted that he didn’t give me any sort of appraisal
whatsoever.

 The noise inside the club was crazy. ‘Freaks’ by
French Montana and Nicki Minaj was blaring out of the speakers and I could feel
the vibrations from the music through the floor. I grabbed hold of Carla’s hand
as she led the way towards a booth at the back of the club. We had a perfect
view of the bar from where we were sitting and I liked the fact that we weren’t
in the middle of the dance floor or the entrance. There was no sign of Jake and
I wondered where he could be, I could hardly believe he spent every single
night in that environment, surrounded by beautiful girls and their partying.
The place was full of them and they were all gorgeous, it made me sick with
jealousy and I wasn’t sure how to handle it.

“Wow, I never thought it would be like this!” I yelled over
the music, hoping Carla would be able to hear me.

“It’s like this most nights, especially on the weekends.”
She answered, nodding her head towards the dance floor.

It was when I followed her gaze that I first saw Jake. I
spotted him make his way behind the bar and watched as a surge of women
suddenly started to clamour for his attention, waving their money at him and
making a beeline for his section of the bar. They certainly seemed to notice
him and the way they looked at him made my blood boil. I watched in fascination
as a stunning girl appeared beside him, she had long blonde hair and wore a
tiny black T-shirt which was similar to the much larger one that Jake had on. I
realised it was their work uniform and it didn’t take me long to despise her
for being so breathtaking.

They were so busy trying to serve their huge amount of
customers, there was no chance that Jake would get a chance to look up at
notice me in the corner. I glowered at the girl working in such close proximity
to Jake and narrowed my eyes every time she squeezed past him and or brushed
against his body. It seemed like she was deliberately trying to touch me and I
can’t even begin to explain the fury it caused me to feel. At one point she
actually whispered something in his ear, standing on her tip toes so she could
reach him. He gave her a dazzling smile and laughed at whatever it is she said.

 I couldn’t stand to watch them anymore. I couldn’t
stand it and knew I had to leave. The nauseating image of her flirting with the
man I loved was impossible to erase and I was desperate to get out of there
before I made a complete show of myself by bursting into tears.

 “Carla, who is that?” I pointed towards the girl
behind the bar, powerless against the need I had to find out who she was to
Jake and if I should be worried.

“That’s Melissa; she’s been working here for a long time.”

She was so evasive; it made me even more paranoid and
concerned. Jake had never mentioned Melissa to me before and I started to feel
really stupid. Why had I never considered the possibility of Jake working
alongside an irresistible female before? Why did I never question the type of
girls he’d be surrounded by when working behind a bar?

“This isn’t really my scene; I think I might go soon.” I
told Carla, leaning in towards her so she could hear me.

“You can’t go yet! We haven’t even had time to dance.” She
grinned at me, her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“I’m not going up there! I can’t dance to save my life!” I
wailed, mortified by the very idea.

“No would even notice, there’s so many people up there.
We’ll just blend into the background and no one will even see us.” She assured,
me, grabbing me by the hand as she dragged me out of the booth.

I protested all the way to the dance floor, especially when
Shakira’s ‘Can’t Remember to Forget You’ came on. I had no idea how to dance to
that sort of music and was terrified I’d make an idiot of myself. It turned out
Carla was a pretty good dancer and I just followed her lead. There was a huge
crowd around us so I didn’t feel too self conscious and I felt so much more
relaxed by the time the song had finished.

Beyonce’s ‘Partition’ was soon to follow and I tried to
make my way back over to where we had been sitting. Carla grabbed hold of my
arm and shook her head, forcing me to dance to a second song. It felt far too
sexual for me to feel comfortable but decided to be bold and copy the girls
around me. I closed my eyes and immersed myself in the music; it was incredible
how quickly I seemed to forget everything and everyone around me. I banished
the picture of Jake with that girl every time it entered my head and a part of
me really wanted him to see me. I wanted him to know that I could have a good
time without him and I didn’t need him to take care of me every damn second of
the day. If he could leave me alone every night, come here and have a good time
then so could I.

“It’s so warm in here!” I shouted over the music, fanning
myself to try and keep cool

“I’ll go get us something to drink in a minute. It will
help cool us down.”

“I can come with you?” I offered, not liking the idea of
being left alone.

“Its fine, I won’t be long. Besides, you’ve got some moves,
girl! I can’t imagine Jake’s face if he were to see you right now.” She
playfully stuck her tongue out at me and made her way back through the crowd
towards the heaving bar area.

I though I’d feel a tad conspicuous by myself but it only
took me a few seconds to get back into the moment. I heard a cry when I
accidentally stood on a guy’s foot that was close by me and turned around to
apologise to him, I knew it must have hurt him because of the pointy stilettos
I was wearing and wanted to make sure that he was ok.

“I’m so sorry!” I told him, pointing to his foot.

I could hardly hear myself think, it was so loud and I
didn’t know if he could hear me.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it!” He turned to look at me
and his eyes sparkled with appreciation when he saw my face.

“I’ll try to be more careful!” I assured him, turning the
other way.

“Wait! I didn’t catch your name.”

“It’s Bethany.” I smiled at him as I tried to remain
friendly, at least until Carla got back.

“I’m Chris.” He held his hand out for me to shake and I
took it, making sure the contact between us was brief.

 Carla had not yet returned and I kept looking over
towards the bar to see if I could see her or Jake. I’d catch a glimpse of him
every couple of minutes, still grappling with the idea of him working in such
close proximity to that girl Melissa. Every time I saw them together she had
her hand on his arm or was brushing against him. Squeezing past him to get to
the other side of the bar and ‘accidentally’ rubbing her ass against him. I
knew I wasn’t imagining it, she was clearly attracted to him and I wanted to
tear her hair out for it.

“It’s nice to meet you, Chris.” I smiled at him, turning my
back on Jake.

“So where’s your friend gone?” Chris asked, leaning in
towards me.

There was barely any distance between us and I found myself
wanting Jake to turn around and see us. Jealousy was coursing through my veins.
I had no right to be angry with him, especially after my secret phone call with
Callum but couldn’t help how envious I felt when I saw him being so familiar
with such a sexy girl. She was everything I wasn’t, beautiful, blonde, tall and
vivacious. I’d never have the sort of confidence it would take to work behind a
bar and it made me hate her even more.

“She’s gone to go and get us a drink; she’ll be back in a
minute.”

“Mind if I keep you company until then?” His gaze perused
my body, it made me uncomfortable and I took a step back, putting some space
between us.