"I need to see Jack!" My heart is hammering at my chest.
I get up "Jasmin will you stay and look after Mia, you guys can stay too" I look to Ben and Layla.
"Chelsea you need to phone that detective" Ben says
"I will, in the morning! I NEED to SEE Jack" the tears are falling again. I feel awful.
"It'll be like 1.30am by the time you get there!" Ben exclaims
"And you've been drinking!!" Cries Jasmin.
"Oh for Fuck sake!" Ben bangs his head on the table "you girls stay here with Mia, I'll drive you Chels, just please tell me Jack has got a shit load of lucozade in the fridge and can you make me a fucking coffee!"
We drive down to Birmingham in relative silence, Ben keeps fiddling with the windows and stereo and strikes up a random conversation when he's feeling tired.
"You know Layla had a pretty good idea earlier"
I turn to him "really? That's a first"
He laughs. "No, she said about asking lily to send the dick pic over, ask you to say if it was Jack or not" he chuckles.
"I actually had that idea myself......."
"Chelsea I've known Jack for so long, he's going to be most upset about the fact you didn't believe him, he'll shrug everything else off, he'll find a way to get back in Peps good books, and Gareth's for that matter, but you, you should have been able to tell if he was lying or not Chelsea"
"I know, I know that" I do feel awful, because I knew he was being genuine in his reactions and emotions, but I still didn't believe him, but there was proof.... I wipe away the fresh tears that start "you obviously did"
"I knew he'd have faced up to it by now......I've known him years Chelsea, I've travelled the world with him, experienced huge highs and lows with him, but you, you're supposed to be the one that knows everything, he calls you his soulmate"
I blink back the tears.
"The last two days his world has crumpled and you didn't believe him when he needed you - and I'm sorry Chelsea but yet again it comes down to your - "
" - please Ben," I cut him off "I know ok, I know, I don't need you to say it"
A few minutes pass before I speak again.
"Will he forgive me?"
"I honestly don't know"
"Would you forgive me?"
"No" he answers instantly, no thought or consideration.
"You forgave Layla?"
"Bit different, we're no where near you and Jack level and we definitely wheren't then" I turn to him and notice his jaw clenching as he talks.
We arrive in Solihull and drive through the empty streets in silence.
-
Ben stops the car at the end of the road and tells me to ring Jack
"Maybe you should?"
"No you should, he'll assume it's about Mia and answer. Plus your number is excluded from his do not disturb setting"
It strikes me just how deeply Ben and Jack know each other. I didn't even know my number was excluded from his DND list.
Ben's right, Jack answers on the 3rd ring.
"Ello? Wassup?" He's voice is all deep and gravelly.
"Jack, I'm parked down the road, with Ben, can we see you?"
"Why"
"It's important, please....."
"Where ya parked?"
"About 6 doors up from your mum's"
"Whose car ya in?"
"Ben's"
"Wait there" he hangs up.
A few minutes later I see Jack saunter up the street through the wing mirror. Well the top half could be anyone, a dark hoody pulled up over their head.
But the bottom half? Undeniably Jack who else would be walking up the street at 2am on a very cold January morning in shorts, socks and sliders.
Jack gets into the car behind behind me.
"Alright bro' wots goin' on?" He addresses Ben, ignores me.
"Jack we know you didn't send the messages"
Jack sits back, legs spread, resting his head on the headrest he exhales heavily "fuckin' told ya!" He sounds so angry. "They fake messages yeah?"
"Not exactly" I start, I look at him while I talk, but he won't look at me. "They were sent by your phone. But obviously we know, not by you......we can't prove it, but it makes sense"
"Who?" He asks quietly
Ben takes a deep breath "Dayman"
"Ya wot? The kid that's jus' come up from the unders?!"
"Yeah, you shared a room with him, the night the messages were sent, he must have got into your phone"
"But it needs me fingerprint?"
"Bro, not hard you do pass out when you eventually sleep after a match"
I stifle a smile at the thought of how pent up Jack gets after a match, and how I know how to handle him.......but he must be a nightmare for the unlucky teammate that ends up sharing with him.
"But why? Wots he got against me?"
Ben looks down, obviously leaving this one for me.
"He's got mutual friends with Craig" I say meekly "looks like he's linked via a cousin or something" my voice squeaks and my heart breaks as Jack briefly looks at me as he works it all out in his head.
He slams his fist into the headrest between us.
"FUCKING CRAIG!" he cries out, punching at the back of my seat again.
"Jack?" I say softly.
"Nah fuck off, ya didn't believe me an' it comes back to fuckin' Craig! AGAIN! Craig that fuckin' kidnapped our daughter! Craig that you got fuckin' involved with! Nah fuck off, I can't believe ya fuckin' didn't believe me! Ben did! Didn't ya?"
"Yeah, well enough to do some basic asking around.........to be honest I'm surprised a journalist hadn't bothered to look into it a bit more.......it's actually a better story than you sexting some wannabe" Ben talks softly, trying to difuse some of the atmosphere.
Jack starts to get out of the car.
"Hang on, Jack bro, can I sleep at your mum's? I'm fuckin' kanckered!" Ben pleads, he does sound desperately tired, it would be dangerous to expect him to drive anywhere now.
"You can" Jack says "you can't" he points at me.
Before I get a chance to say anything Ben starts.
"Don't be childish Jack, she's been drinking she ain't driving my car, and I don't really think it's fair or right to let the mother of your child sleep in a car when its minus 5 out do you? Plus, makes sense for you to call the detective together in the morning"
"You can sleep in my room" he tells Ben
"You can find a fuckin' blanket an' a couch" I get told.
I start to cry, Ben warned me, but he's being so cold to me.
"Jack, why don't we take the couches, done it plenty of times...."
"Fine you fuckin' take a couch with her, but I'm sleeping in the bed, with fuckin' anyone but her" he stomps off up the street.
Ben puts his arm around me as we head after him. I bite my lip, my body shaking, holding back the sobs that want to break free.
"Told you, you've got some major grovelling to do Chelsea"
***
I end up in the lounge on my own.
As I settle down under some blankets Karen has in the lounge for over the winter I pick up my phone and send a message to Jack.
'Im more sorry than you'll ever know Jack, I love you so much. I'll spend forever making it up to you xxxx'
I've had a message from Layla, wearily I open it.
'we drunk called lily!!! Don't worry didn't say anything about it being u-know-who.....but we asked for the dick pic in the interest of detective work! Wanna see? Cos if that's Jack fuck me I'm guessing you're with him for the money! 😂'
'go on then'
It comes through instantly.
Of course it's not fucking Jack!
I throw my phone on the floor and cry myself to sleep - again.