Life After The Villa

10. Girls Night

I knock on her door, waiting for her to answer. I'm o oh stood there for a couple seconds, then I can hear her running before she opens the door quickly. "Hello stranger!" She squeals, then grabs me by the wrist, pulling me into her house and giving me a big hug. "I haven't seen you in forever."

"I know, tell me about it." I laugh, making my way down the hallway and I to the living room. "Things have been so hectic lately." I spot Jodie sat on the sofa, and we both smile widely when our eyes meet. "Hey Jodie."

She jumps up and gives me a hug. "It's so good to see you again, I've been craving a girly night for so long." God I've missed her, it feels like it's been such a long time since I've seen either of them, but especially Jodie. 

"That's what happens when she goes and signs a contract for the biggest fashion label in England." Asher jokes, sitting down with Jodie and I, making herself comfortable. "Bet you're raking in the money now."

"Not that you need it, James is loaded already." Jodie adds, in proper Jodie style. God I've missed her hilarious side comments, it's one of the few things that kept me going back in the villa.

"It's not all about money, guys." I tell them with a playful smile. "Anyway, I'd much rather have a gossip about all of our love lives. So, who's going to start?"

"Right, time for me to take centre stage." Asher starts, but gets interrupted by Jodie cracking another joke.

"Like always." She smiles, causing all of us to laugh, and Asher gives her a playful push.

"Anyways, Taylor and I were out to dinner the other day and this girl comes up to us and is being a bit overly friendly with him." She starts to explain, and Jodie and I physically lean in, wanting to know how Asher responded to this. I know Asher pretty well, and she's a bit over protective of Taylor, so I can't imagine this ending well. "But long story short, she leaves and I ask Taylor who she is. Turns out it's his ex-girlfriend."

"No way." I say, my jaw dropping.

"Fuck off." Jodie says in shock, staring intently at Asher, waiting for her to continue.

"At this point I'm getting a bit angry, asking him why he didn't send her packing as soon as he saw her approaching. Then he turns it on me, asking why I'm getting annoyed at him." She takes a short break to catch her breath, but then carries on straight away. "I tell him it's because she was quite literally his first love, so of course I'm going to get jealous."

"What happened next?" I ask, desperate to know how all this ended. 

"He said one of the cutest things I've ever been told." She starts, breaking out into a wide smile, not able to contain her happiness. "he tells me that people often confuse first love with true love, but they're completely different things. Then tells me that she might have been his first love but I was his last love, and he could never love anyone other than me for the rest of his life."

"Wait a second," Jodie starts, as over-dramatic as ever. "you're telling me that you, the queen of jealousy, got over this in an instant."

"That's right." Asher smiles, clearly feeling proud of herself.

"She's learning!" Jodie squeals, giving her a hug.

"You finally figured out that it's not the end of the world if he smiles at another girl." I add, causing her to laugh. "How does it feel?"

"Honestly, it feels great. I just trust him so much, I don't think I'd get jealous anymore if he was chatting to another girl all night." She admits, and I can't believe I'm hearing this. Asher has changed so much since I first met her. "But enough about me, what's going on with you and Kyle?"

"Well, he finally asked me to move in with him." She says excitedly. And we all instantly smile as wide as the Cheshire Cat.

"Oh my god, that's amazing." I say, giving her a hug.

"I'm so happy for you." Asher adds, joining our little group hug.

"We were always at each other's house so it just made sense. And we've been together for ten months now, it feels like forever." She explains, "I feel like I've known him my whole life."

"I know what you mean." I say, "when I talk to James, it's like I've known him for years, but it hasn't even been a year."

"Speaking of you and James," Asher starts, "what's all this nonsense in the paper about you being pregnant?"

"Oh my god, that's not true at all." I laugh. "Someone got a photo of us leaving a restaurant, I was literally telling him how full I was but they assumed that cause my hand was on my belly that I was pregnant. It's so stupid."

"I hate how everyone's always jumping to conclusions." Asher sighs, visibly annoyed.

"But are you planning on having a baby any time soon?" Jodie asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Raising one child is enough right now, but one day we'd love to have a new child." I explain, being totally honest with my two best friends. "But we're like a proper little family now, Sofia is calling him dad and everything."

"Oh my God, no way!" Asher exclaims, clearly quite excited by this little revelation.

But just then, right in the middle of our happy little reunion, we all hear a knock on the door. "Who's that?" I ask, "we're all here already."

"I'll go check." Asher says with a smile, jumping up from her seat so she can see who the mystery person is at the door. 

"Someone's trying to crash our evening together." Jodie remarks with a small laugh, "hate to break it to them but this is girls night, and there's only room for three."

"The best three people you'll ever meet." I add, and she raises her glass to my statement before we lightly tap our glasses together, causing them to make a soft clinking sound.

"Vee!" I hear, but it's not Asher saying it, I know that voice instantly. James. I turn to look at him running through the door, a look of concern evident on his face. "You're okay, thank God you're okay."

"What?" I ask as he reaches me, wrapping his big, tree trunk arms around me, holding me tight. Almost as if he thought he'd never have a chance to hug me again. "What happened, you're scaring me."

"It's Evan." He says, which instantly sends a chill down my spine. "He turned up at the house, I think he'd been drinking." He pauses before continuing, taking a deep breath. "He had a gun."

I don't know what to say, I'm just filled with shock, and my jaw drops to the floor. But then my mind turns to the worst thought imaginable, and my eyes starts watering at the thought. "Where's Sofia?"

"I took her to your grandmother's house, I thought she'd be safe there." He explains, breathing heavily. "I got Evan to leave, I told him you and Sofia weren't there, as soon as he left I got her out of the house, she wasn't safe there. Your grandmother said we could stay with her tonight after we go to the police."

"But you're okay, right? He didn't hurt you?" I ask desperately, doing a quick scan of his body to check if he has any injuries. If James got hurt because of this, I'd feel so guilty. He's done nothing wrong, all he's ever done is love and care for me and Sofia, so if he got hurt trying to protect us then I wouldn't know what to do.

"I'm fine." He reassures me, "but we have to go, it's only a matter of time before he finds us again." I get up and leave with him after saying goodbye to the girls, and they tell me to stay safe. 

To think I wasn't with my little neonata tonight when she needed me. But I can't thank James enough for keeping her safe and being there for her when I wasn't.