Chapter Twenty-Eight
Niall’s POV
“Pulling up to McDonald’s now.” I said. “What are you having for lunch, babe?” The queue at the drive through was eight cars deep.
“Umm. A cup of soup and some crusty bread” Roxy said, her voice over the speakers in my car. “Had to order in today, it’s a busy one.”
The shrill ring of her desk phone echoed in the background. “I’ll let you go, Rox.” I said, my finger on the end call button on the steering wheel. “Love you.”
“Love you, Ni.” She said, placing her phone down without hanging up and taking the other call. This is Roxanne, can I help you? Her tone was so sweet and professional. I clicked the button and moved up one spot in the line. My fingertips drummed along with the radio as my mind wandered.
“You lost the bet, fair and square, Horan.” She said, looking up at me. “Now get down here on the floor.”
“Why can’t you just bet for money like a normal person?” I said, reluctantly easing myself to the carpet and removing my shoes. She stuck her tongue out at me.
“No complaining.” She said. “This one’s called The Lotus.” She lifted her right heel into her lap and crossed her left on the other side. She nodded at me to try it. “Easy, right?”
I felt like a total idiot sitting on the floor doing yoga with her. I was just grateful there would be no photographic evidence. I was already planning what I would do to repay her next time she lost one of our bets.
“Okay, now try this one.” She said, lowering her forearms to the floor and extending one leg behind her. “The Lizard.” She said as she bent her opposite leg and brought it up toward her shoulders. I didn’t move to copy the position, but instead sat back against the couch and admired her ass. Yoga pants truly were God’s gift to men.
“I’m loving the Lizard, babe.” I said, cocking my head to the side in hopes my eyes would soon be able to determine if she was wearing any panties. She glanced over her shoulder, and I didn’t bother trying to make like I wasn’t staring. She flattened out onto her stomach and rolled to her back, the giggles bubbling up out of her lips.
The car behind me honked, and I let my foot off the brake. The song on the radio was interrupted by my phone ringing through again, SyCo Offices CALLING scrolled across the screen. “This is Niall.” I said after pressing the button.
“Niall, it’s John.” I sighed. John was my least favorite of our management team. He was sort of an indirect type of guy, and I had no patience for it. Usually, when he was calling, there wasn’t good news.
“John. Howareya?” I said, not really caring.
“Not so great, I’m afraid.” He said, his tone overly dramatic. “Listen, the reason I am calling is that I just spoke with Angela over at The Sun and she said someone came in today shopping a photo of you with your girlfriend. The Sun offered £5,000, but the person hasn’t yet taken the deal.”
“Fucking paps.” I said. “Excuse me.” I quickly added, knowing I shouldn’t speak so familiarly with John. I was already anticipating the call I was going to have to place to Roxy.
“No Niall, she was very clear that it was a personal photo.” John said. My hands gripped the wheel tightly and I let out a breath. Fuck.
“Right then. Thanks for the heads-up John. I will take care of it.”
“Wait, I’ve been asked to tell you…” John started, but I hung up the call and turned the wheel sharply, cutting out of the line and onto the street. The anger started to well up in my chest, and I felt the heat of it on my face as I weaved through the mid-day traffic.
My phone rang again. “Not now, Lou.” I said aloud, rolling through a stop sign. “I will call you back.”
“All right, man.” He said, getting the hint that I wasn’t up for a chat.
I took the back stairs two at a time and gripped the door frame while catching my breath before leaving three hard knocks on the door. The security chain fell, the bolt clicked and she opened the door.
“Niall! Umm Roxy’s at work.” Penny said.
“Not here to see Roxy.” I said, stepping into the flat and turning to face her. “Just what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
She stuffed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “I don’t know what you mean.” She said.
I started at her, my jaw clenched. “What is wrong with you?” I said. “How could you even consider doing something like this?” She didn’t respond. “I know you tried to sell a picture of me and Roxy to that rag.” I spat. “So open your mouth and explain yourself.”
She crossed her arms coolly. “What makes you think I did that? She said.
She was toying with me, and I didn’t appreciate it. “Come on, Penny. You’ve been acting like a flake for months now.” I said. “Roxy’s been trying everything to get through to you, and you just keep blowing her off. It’s ridiculous. So just admit it. You’re selling our picture to The Sun.”
“Fine.” She said. “I am selling your picture.” She stepped forward, a strange confidence in her eyes. “But it doesn’t have to be to The Sun. I’ll give you the picture right now for £10,000.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. This tiny blonde girl thought she could go toe-to-toe with me? I felt my spine straighten, and I took a few steps toward her. “You think I give two shits about some picture?” I said calmly. “We’re talking about your bestfriend here, and more importantly, we’re talking about the girl that I love, myfamily.” She cowered ever so slightly, only a half a meter of distance between us now. If I could, I would have set fire to her with my stare. I said slowly, “Sell it. See if I give a fuck. You’re not getting a single nicker off me.”
“You’d throw Roxy under the bus like that?” She said, thinking she had a card to play. It was true that this isn’t how I’d like our “coming-out” to go down, but the fact was that it is inevitable that it would happen, and soon. It was only by some miracle that we hadn’t ended up in the papers already. I didn’t give her the pleasure of an answer to her question.
“I want you to go in your room, and pack a bag.” I said. “Go to your boyfriend’s, to your parents’, the steps of a church, I don’t care.”
“You can’t force me to leave, Niall.” She said with a laugh. “I’m on the lease here. This is my home.”
“Not anymore.” I said, grabbing her key ring from the counter and prying loose the only one marked DO NOT DUPLICATE. “You can come back this weekend to get the rest of your shit. Roxy won’t be here, but I will make sure somebody is.”
“I’m not leaving!” She yelled, her fingernails clawing at her key in my hands.
“Maybe we should ask my attorney about that.” I said. “Did you or did you not just attempt to blackmail me?” I spat.
“You couldn’t prove that.” She said, a smile still on her lips.
I smiled wider. “Do you have any idea how much money I have? How many people I know?” A few more inches and we’d be touching noses. “I wouldn’t need to prove a fucking thing. Now pack your goddamned bag, I want you long gone by the time she gets home.”
She sucked a breath in loudly through her teeth. “Fine.” She said, and headed into her room. “I was trying to make this easy on Roxy, but I guess you just don’t care.” I didn’t even acknowledge the comment and sat down on the couch, my head in my hands once she was out of sight.
A few minutes later, she emerged, rolling a small suitcase along the hardwood. I stood. “I hope you know that this is going to break Roxy’s heart. She loves you, Penny, and you’ve betrayed her.”
She turned, her hand on the doorknob. “Then I suggest you keep this all to yourself, Niall. Otherwise, it will be you with the dirty hands, you’ll be the one breaking her heart.”
And with that the door closed behind her, and I sat back down on the couch. It would be an hour before Roxy returned to what was left of her home. I laid back and closed my eyes, trying to find the words to explain.
Roxy’s POV
I put my key into the lock but it didn’t turn over. The door to my apartment was unlocked, and my heart picked up pace as I turned the handle. Penny may be a bit of a slob, but she was definitely OCD about locking doors.
“Oh, Niall.” I said, relieved once I saw the Supras dangling of the edge of the couch. “I was afraid we’d been broken into or something. Penny never leaves…” I realized he’d been sleeping . He rubbed his eyes and glanced at his watch. I lowered my voice. “Sorry. Long day?” I set my bag down on the chair and kicked off my heels. “Hey Pen.” I said as I turned on the tap to fill the kettle. I glanced into Penny’s bedroom. “Where’d she go?” I said. I realized that Niall hadn’t yet said a single word. “Ni?”
He stayed seated on the couch and patted his thigh. “Sit with me.” he said.