I look at him very intensely, wondering why does he want me to lead on Ash as he is so jealous of him already. I question myself on my morals. Should I do it? I won't see Ash in weeks, maybe that could be a bit of excitement for him on tour, a gift to remember me by... At the same time, why does Marcel think it will have an effect on Ash, maybe he doesn't see me that way. Why would he want a curvy redheaded woman when he can have any girl he wants on tour?
I look at Marcel again. I am doing this for him, not Ash. I just need to do it. It's thrilling and that's exactly what I wanted to feel, why would I back down now that the opportunity is there?
"Are you serious?" I step back and frown very hard.
"Make me proud." I question his intentions, but he seems really serious.
Alright, I'm going to make him pay for asking me that. It's exciting for me to do, let's make him excited too.
"Be prepared to be jealous."
I smirk to him and lean in for a very tempting peck before I open my door and leave the car. I walk around the car, putting my panties into the pocket of my jeans as I walk to my friends.
I smile to them as I hear them talk. They are synonym of pure fun to me, I can't help but feel happy when I am with them. I still get a bit scared of how they'll react to my night away with Marcel. I hate to lie, but I somehow convince myself I am not lying, but as Marcel put it, I'm acting.
"Hey guys! How are you?" I ask them with a genuine smile on my lips.
"Good." Ash only answers a bit coldly.
"Not too hungover today?" I try to bring back the mood.
"Wouldn't you know?!" Ash lets out and it surprises me how arrogant he is. Marcel...
"What is that supposed to mean?" I let out but Sophie speaks over me, taking a last puff of her boyfriend's cigarette before handing it back to Lucas.
"Where were you last night?"
"Eddy told me to sort things out with Marcel."
"And you did?"
"It was the professional thing to do. He has my career in his hands."
"So you slept with him?" Ash asks and takes a big puff of his cigarette before throwing it on the ground and stepping on it.
"This wouldn't be the 'professional thing to do', Ash. I agreed to work with him on my story, that's it."
"Why is he here with you, then?"
"Ash?! Can we please talk about it in private? Please?" I plead and with a deep sigh, he accepts.
He walks me to the end of the tour bus and stops to face me.
"So?" He lets out coldly. Maybe he does care about me...
"I played with fire getting involved with Marcel and I got burnt." And addicted, I think to myself. "I don't want to put my dream in jeopardy. This means so much to me. I am sure you can understand that..."
"I do. I just wanted to have more time with you last night."
"I'm so sorry. After dealing with him, I didn't feel like partying. I should have texted you..."
He looks at me and sighs again. He steps closer and finally looks at me.
"Alright... Anyway." He only says and looks away. I panic thinking about the task I have to do. I don't want to hurt Ash. I like him very much, he is such a nice man, but I feel like he is ending this conversation.
"Hey..." I coo him and sneak myself closer to him, taking his hand in mine. "You can text me when you want. I will miss you. And I thought that you would, maybe, like something to remember me by on tour."
I take my panties from my pocket and slide them into the hand I am holding. He takes it out of mine to look at what I gave him. He smirks but that's before he realises what it actually is. There's a spark in his eyes as he looks at me. He steps closer to me again, making his expression very clear.
"You are such a naughty girl." He groans slightly as he puts his hands on my hips and pulls me to him. Hard. "How I wish I could have had you to myself last night..." He tells me with a lusty look in his eyes, which I know too well from Marcel.
"I'm sorry everything got ruined last night. I didn't plan for anything to happen. I can't believe this is the last time I see you in a long while..." I tell him honestly, but I don't know if the whole Marcel thing didn't happened last night I would have slept with Ash. I seem to be jumping from a man to another and I hate even the thought of it. But Ash is nothing but kind and loving with me as it is the contrary with Marcel. It's entirely different.
"I wish it didn't have to be this way."
"Me neither." I mean that for more than he intends, I really do. The last thing I want is to hurt him. "I'll miss you." I tell him again as I see the good memories we have together, the video games we played, the sex we had, the laughs we shared.
"I'll miss you too." He sighs again, very deeply and changes his sad grin for a smirk. "I'll have to find somebody else to sing my songs to."
"Whoa! Don't forget me too quickly either." I joke and smile genuinely back at him.
He looks down at my black laced underwear and smile wide, putting it in his pocket. He looks up at me and takes my cheeks with both his hands.
"We both know I won't." He whispers and leans to press his lips on mine. I seem to have forgotten what his kisses taste like. It isn't messy and passionate like Mace's, it's romantic and cute, juvenile a bit, but there's beauty to that simplicity. He steps back and looks at me with a proud and satisfied smile. "I hope you won't forget me when you'll get famous. I'll make sure to buy my copy of your book."
"I'll even sign it for you." I smile and joke, but what he just said means a lot to me. It makes me very happy.
"Hey Ash! We need to go now!" We hear Lucas yell.
Ash takes my hand and walks us back to our friends by the door of their bus. The men offer to walk us to Marcel's car where the goodbyes are being very hard for Sophie to leave her boyfriend again.
"Call me when you get there." She tells Lucas and gets on the tip of her toes to hug her man.
"I will." He whispers tenderly and holds her strongly. "I love you, Sophie." He lets her go and looks quickly at me. "Thank you, Grace. This was a great idea to come and see us."
"It was my pleasure. I needed to let loose and have some fun. And you guys never disappoint."
"I noticed you knew most of our lyrics." Ash looks at me with a proud smirk as he leans nonchalantly on Marcel's car.
"Your album has been on repeat on my phone since I first saw you perform. I sure hope I would have learned some of them by now. I don't guarantee that I sing exactly the lyrics you wrote, but yeah..."
The boys let out soft chuckles and look at each other, sighing in sync. They need to leave.
"Have fun on tour."
"But not too much fun!" Sophie warns her man by pointing at him with a hard and playful look.
"I'll drink my tequila thinking of you." He smiles and steps forward to peck her one last time, which I see Ash do practically the same towards me, but I hug him instead to avoid any problems with Marcel.
"You know exactly why I'll think of you." Ash whispers to my ear and winks at me once he lets go.
We look at them leave regretfully and I turn my attention to Sophie. She sighs and looks around until her eyes set on Marcel inside of the car. Her mood drops to be cold and I don't know why I feel the same. Am I really bummed for the boys to leave again or I am acting too well? I follow my friend and I get inside of the car to sit on the back seat next to Sophie.
I look up at the rear view mirror and catch the cold glance Marcel gives me. I roll my eyes. He doesn't get to be mad, he wanted this to happen.
"Why don't you sit up front, Grace?"
"No, I'm good here."
"You need to guide me the way to your house." He insists very intensely which in no way I can refuse him.
I concede and get out of the car to sit next to him.
"Can we go, now? Ronnie is waiting." I tell him on the same tone, I can see he disagrees with the way I am talking to him, but he can't do anything about it. He put us in this situation.
-
We get home in silence. Not a word was said for neither of us. He takes our bag of food and follows us inside. Ronnie practically jumps in my arms as soon as I get inside.
"Thank God you are here. Do you know how bored I was being alone here?!" She lets out and then I realise that I need to drag her into my lie. She needs to make believe I slept here last night.
I point Marcel the way to the kitchen to set the groceries and I take Ronnie's hand to bring her to my room.
She gets a bit theatrical, but even though I told Mace I wouldn't tell somebody about us, she needs to know if she is going to be a part of the lie.
"What is going on, Grace?" She exclaims as she gives me all her attention.
"You need to lie for me. You need to believe I spent the night here if it comes to the subject."
"Oh my God, why?"
"Marcel wants us to be a secret so that it doesn't affect our professional life."
"That's weird considering he told everybody he is in love with you last night. Which I found really cute by the way..." She smiles and frowns at the same time, her eyes looking at me, but not into my eyes.
"He gave me the most romantic letter I've ever had. It was perfect really. I am so happy we can put our drama behind us." I confess to her as I find back the loving bubble he was making me feel earlier.
"It seems to me that this secret you will hide behind is full of drama on its own. But if he makes you happy, I can't ask for more."
"Thank you, Ronnie! You have no idea how I have missed you."
"So that means you fucked him, right?"
"Oh my God, let's talk about it." I exclaim very loudly with pure joy.
"'Oh my God' are the right words." She smirks at me and winks. She takes me in her arms and holds me tight to her body. "I have missed you too, Gracy."
There's a knock at the door and we welcome Sophie inside. She came to get changed and take clean clothes from her overnight bag. It reminds me to do the same. She leaves for the bathroom and Ronnie joins Mace in the kitchen.
I put another shirt on and with a bit of deodorant and perfume and join back my friends in the kitchen. I find Marcel putting stuff randomly in the fridge and making himself at home. I find it adorable.
I join his side and take out everything we'll need with the brunch we had discussed to do earlier.
"You better be a good cook, Marcel. I have waited a long time for this brunch." Ronnie lets out, teasing him with a grin. I don't think she holds the grudge over his head like she did a few weeks ago.
"Well, you better say that to Grace, here. She took a hell of a long shower." Marcel smirks as he takes the vegetables out of their wrapping and, as he says that, he realises that Ronnie knows.
"I told her the truth, Mace. I had no choice. She already knew we spent the night together when you decided to answer her call this morning." He glances at me, horrified to have betrayed himself, but I put a hand on his to calm him down. "It's OK, don't worry. There's nothing she can do from Manchester. She will tell know one, I made sure of it."
"You better, because it's Grace's reputation in the company that is on the line."
"I understand that, but what would be the worst case scenario if it were to be known?" She gets more comfortable on the counter stool and leans her weight to rest her head on her hands.
"They would think it's a conflict of interest. I wouldn't be seen fit and professional to work with her, risking my position as editor. I don't want to risk it. We are officiant together and I wouldn't want anyone else working on her story."
"What if it comes to it? If someone knew about you two, what would happen?"
"It depends who finds out. Mum would be hard on me, because she went through the same with Dad. They went through hell and back to stay together. Dad had a saying 'don't dip your quill in the company ink', he broke that and warned me to never do the same. And now I've broken it too..." He confesses very genuinely and it surprises me for him to talk so openly about that in Ronnie's presence. "If anyone at work want my job, that would be the easy way to do it. But I didn't earn my job, Grace kind of blackmailed Mum so that she had no other choice but to make me editor."
"Grace is a badass woman. She's not afraid to get her way." Ronnie gets really excited and her pride makes me proud of myself. She looks at me and nods of approval. "Girl, you made your man an editor."
"I don't think his Mum likes me a lot now, though." I let out as it worries me a lot.
"Don't worry about that now, Gracy. To everyone, you are a secret, which means she won't know a damn thing until everything is over." Ronnie makes me realise and it immediately calms me down.
I look over at Marcel and I sneak myself behind him to hug his back. I kiss his shirt repeatedly, but leave him as soon as I hear the bathroom door open. I part from him and give him the knife to start cutting the vegetables. I take the eggs out of the fridge.
"You know what is missing?" I let out and look at my guests as Sophie joins us silently. "Music. What are you in the mood for?"
I walk to my collection of vinyls and run my fingers through them quickly to find an artist that might please everybody.
"The Best of Sinatra? Stevie Nick's Bella Notte? Fleetwood Mac?-"
"Which album?" Marcel asks.
"Rumours."
"Great." He responds and I take it as his vote. I look at the other two ladies and they don't object or say anything, so I smile at Mace widely despite of myself.
"Great." I repeat and put it on.
Once it starts to play, I join Marcel and help him more actively to cook the brunch we promised everyone a long time ago.
Nobody speaks a word and the music is all that is keeping us from getting stunned by the awkwardness floating in the room. So I decide to play the curious card and question the ladies.
"Did you have fun last night? What did you think of the show?"
Ronnie is the first to answer with all her enthusiasm. It makes me smile just by the tone of her voice.
"Yeah. It was my first show ever and I loved it. I wouldn't mind going to another show. They were really cool guys. They have the sexiest accent." Ronnie brightly smiles at me and looks at Sophie. "Your boyfriend is smoking hot, do you know that? How did you guys meet?"
Ronnie gives her attention to my friend and I see this as a window of opportunity to spend some time alone with Marcel.
"That's a long story. It's quite hilarious actually."
"Sorry to interrupt, but do you want coffee or tea?" Ronnie looks at me and I point her the living room with my eyes.
"Yes, coffee please. And I wouldn't mind hearing that story. We can go in the living room, the music is a bit too loud for me and we would be better seated. I want to know every detail." Ronnie says as she stands up and follows me to the coffee machine.
"You are the best, Ronnie." I whisper to her as I get the coffee in the pot and let it brew as I start boiling some water for Marcel and I.
I get the cups out the cupboard and serve them their hot beverages. They leave us shortly and notice just how quickly Marcel cut all his vegetables. I look through the cupboards to find pans to start the omelettes and the sausages for us ladies. We made sure to buy Marcel's favourite kind of vegetarian baked beans. We don't say anything to each other until the water is ready and I pour it over our tea bags. I take his cup and offer it to him.
"Thank you." He accepts it with a smile and takes a sip. He rests his eyes on me and stares until he puts his mug down. "For a second there, you really had me believe you were mad at me again."
"I gave it to him. Why did you ask me to do that?" I frown at him, hiding myself behind my cup of tea that I am currently blowing on.
"It contained both your and my cum. I was marking my territory." He lets out with an intense gaze piercing my eyes.
I get so surprised by his motivation that I almost drop my cup, but ultimately don't.
"You didn't if he doesn't know. It kind of led him on actually."
"I think you did that on purpose when you hugged him."
"I'm not the one who asked to lie about us. It would have been less friendly if you didn't ask me to lie about us."
"At the end of the day, we both know to whom you belong."
"And I wouldn't want it any other way." I take his shirt in my hand and tug it to me so that the gap tightens between us for me to kiss him more easily.
"Mmmh... You have no idea how bad I want to fuck you right now." He whispers against my lips and holds me tighter to him by my hips. "The counter is at the perfect height."
"Didn't you mention my childhood bedroom earlier?"
"What about your parents's?"
"If only we were alone..."
He puts his hand on my cheek and rubs his thumb before he parts his lips from mine to look towards the living room. Nobody has seen us. We part and keep on cooking.
"You'll have to be kinder towards Ronnie. She is being super supportive to our cause." I don't look at him as I speak, but I hear a soft growl of protest which automatically gets my attention. It makes me laugh.
I see him scrape his onions in his hand to put them in my greasy pan. He does the same with the mushrooms and washes his hands.
"I could definitely get used to this." I tell him the smile bright on my lips.
"To what?" He looks at me quickly but looks for a towel to dry his hands on.
"To you, me, cooking together, Fleetwood Mac playing. I'm very happy, Mace." I admit to him as I sway my spatula in the pan to cook the vegetable evenly.
"If you are happy, then it's all I need."
"I wish it could be like this everyday." I let myself dream of this utopia where there's no problems between Marcel and I.
"In an ideal world, you would love me back." He whispers to my ear as he sneaks behind to embrace me. He runs his hands over my every curve.
"Maybe Go Your Own Way isn't the perfect song for this cute moment..."
"What if we played Scrabble after brunch? Would it make it more perfect?" He suggests and it awakes my heart entirely. He remembered!!
I turn around to look at him face to face. My heart is pounding, not only with excitement but with a love he makes me want to wish again. I don't doubt him in this instant, and it feels wonderful to let go.
I grab his shirt again and pull him closer to me. I slide my hands upwards to take his beautifully defined jaw into my hands. I dive my eyes deep into his and I see the sincerity of his happiness. He might not say it, but I feel it.
"Yes! Of course it would!! I don't know if the girls will be up to it, but that's definitely something we'll keep in mind for another date."
"Another date?"
"Yes, we have Dunkirk to watch together and now we have a game to play. Oh my God, I can't wait!" I exclaim with pure joy, and I can't help but to bounce up and down in front of him a little.
He laughs at my childishness and I love that he embraces it. He embraces who I am and it's the most wonderful feeling to feel accepted for all my quirkiness. It makes him even more beautiful to my eyes. I really like him. Really like him.
His eyes drop to my lips and he pecks me quick before taking charge of the pan again. It's sizzling louder and I step away cautiously to watch him with a growing adoration. I take my cup and drink cautiously my burning tea, staring at the man who proudly made me his.
I start preparing something else and we listen to the music in silence. Neither of us talk and I get lost into my own thoughts. I clean and set the table. When I come back, the girls are in the kitchen. Ronnie is looking at Marcel, but the second she hears me, she gives me her attention.
"Did someone die? It's crazy silent here." She chuckles and it makes me realise that the disc is over and I didn't think to flip it on the other side.
"I don't mind it." I tell her and Marcel looks up at me, his face clear of expression. It comforts me somehow.
"Me neither." He lets out and breaks our gaze to look at Ronnie walking to the table turner.
"I'm in the mood for some Elvis. What do you say?" Nobody answers her questions, but it wouldn't have stopped her. Nothing can stop Ronnie when she sets her mind on something.
Once brunch is ready, we take our plate and sit in silence. Marcel and I take place on each end of the table and don't speak to each other at all except for exchanging a few glances throughout brunch.
Sophie either doesn't say a word as she eats. Thankfully, Ronnie speaks enough to always keep the conversation alive. Marcel is the target of her interrogations at first. He answers nothing that I don't know if he doesn't "duck and dive" to avoid responding to her questions. It's actually funny to see him turn every question about himself on her. One thing Ronnie loves, it is to talk about herself. Right now, both Marcel and I are thankful for it. We are actually enjoying ourselves until I notice Sophie looking back and forth between Marcel and I, her eyes narrowed.
"What about we play a game of truth or dare? What do you say?" She suggests and scrutinises Marcel's reaction. I get very surprised how he handles this situation, he seems to even embrace it.
"I'm in. There are loads of answers I am dying to have." Marcel smirks back at her, but I get chills covering my back, they both seem to have an agenda.
"Alright, then. Why don't you start?" She tells him and he straightens his position on his chair, leaning back to be comfortable.
"As you wish... Why do you work for me?" He says looking at her with the same thorough gaze she gives him. He leans on the table clearly being the arrogant Marcel everybody thinks he is, because he kind of is. "I mean, a brilliant lady such as yourself must aspire to more than to be working at the front office of the company of a man she clearly despises."
His look is firm and his confidence is unshakeable. I feel very awkward to be witnessing their feud, but at the same time, I want to get to the bottom of this. I want for them to get along and maybe if they face their issues right away, it will all be better once truth will be out. I would really want them to get along. Ronnie seems to have settled her issues towards him. I'm so thankful she has been so understanding.
This question seems to be very unexpected for Sophie. I don't think she even expected the question to be asked to her. She is clearly taken aback and tunes down her attitude towards him to adjust herself on her chair. She thinks and I find myself very curious to have the answer.
"You live very far from the office. You must have a hell of a good reason to travel all this way everyday." Marcel continues, bringing really good points to the table.
"Just to make something clear..." She mirrors his position and finds back a bit of the confidence she had before. Ronnie looks at me quickly, amused by the drama in front of her eyes. "I don't work for you, I work for your mum. I read one of her books with my best friend and we fell in love. When we heard there was an opening, we applied for the jobs and got them. We loved the idea of working together. After that, we worked our way up. She ended up falling in love with you, 'the Handsome Ghost' she was calling you. You were always walking in and out of the building never saying a word. All we knew were the gossips running around from the higher floors of the building. She eventually got into your bed because she heard you were lonely. Now she is gone, and here we both are. I won't let you ruin another of my best friends."
Her intensity scared me a moment, I don't know how Marcel feels to hear all that. He stays cold, looking at her right in her eyes, not moving a muscle until he speaks.
"From who did you hear it from?"
"Paul, I think. He was always down to our desk flirting with anything that moves, sick pervert."
"It wasn't true. Your friend got played by Paul, not me."
"Ha. I should have known you would just put the blame on somebody else instead of owning your shit."
"I could have guessed it was him if you would have wanted me to. He hates my guts, because I am more deserving than he is. He blames my success on the luck of the blood I have in my veins and the name my father gave me. The truth is, Sophie, I've been going to school full time to get my PhD AND I have worked full time to get where I am now. Sorry if I don't have time to fake being friendly with everyone at the office, because half of my time there is wasted by always having to prove myself to everyone. Your friend Paul makes sure of that. So I didn't have time for your friend, but she insisted. I'm sorry if her feelings weren't reciprocated, but she was fully aware of my terms." He stops looking at her and calms down to look at me a second and goes on with a softer tone. "If Grace wouldn't have been my writer, I would never have made the time for her. But her presence is part of my everyday work. It's different. I'm just lucky she agreed to keep working with me and keep things civil between us. I would have lost everything if she wouldn't have been as kind as to give me another chance."
I look at him with a very big heart and keep myself from reaching for his hand to hold. It's hard already to keep us a secret when the temptation to be physical with him is always present.
"Well!" Ronnie exclaims and puts both of her hands on the table, claiming everyone's attention. "Now that has been answered, Sophie, it's your turn to ask a question."
Sophie turns to me.
"Truth or dare, Grace?"
I don't know what to answer for a moment. I look around me with a feeling of discomfort. I am scared of what she will ask me. I don't want to lie to her. She is a dear friend and my roommate, I don't know how I will succeed to avoid the inevitable. So I decide to choose the option that will imply less problems.
"Dare." I smile gently to her, trying to convince everyone including myself that I have nothing to be scared about.
"Alright..." She lingers on the word, her eyes running wild on the table, trying to find something to ask me. "Take the bus with me back to London."
"What?" I let out and keep myself from looking at Marcel again.
"I'm not driving back with him and we have lots to talk about." She is being insistent and I need to stay true to my act, so I shake it off.
"Yeah, why not?! It will be lot more fun. I need to know all about your reunion with Lucas. You guys were so cute." I try to make it about her, so that she forgets her desire to question me and all the lies Marcel forced me to tell.
"Looks like it's your turn now, Gracy." Ronnie exclaims as I'm happy she does so. I look at her, but glance quickly at Marcel on her side before returning my attention on her.
"Ronnie, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
I am surprised by her answer, Ronnie is the dare kind of gal, but I must admit the circumstances aren't making the alternative exciting.
"Tell us what the fuck is going on with your love life. You had your rich old man and now you are banging my brother." I lean towards her and get ready to listen to her act. She loves to give a performance.
"Oh Grace, it's completely different. Simon is young and exciting. He understands me and we have fun because it's simple. With the 'old man', as you called him, it's more than that. He makes me feel cherished. He spoils me. The sex is unbelievable. He makes me feel like a woman." She is being very expressive, but I just can't shake something out of my mind.
"But if my brother understands your personality and fancies you for it, because he does, isn't that what truly matters? That's what will last longer, that's how a bond gets stronger between two people." She smiles to me as I tell her that. "Am I wrong?"
"No, you are cute. Maybe love would come quicker with your brother. Maybe we would share something incredible. But I'm not a romantic like you, Grace. I aspire to more than love in a partnership."
"I don't understand..." I whisper to her, frowning slightly and she takes my hand, still smiling.
"What should really matter is that I am happy, shouldn't it?"
"Yes, of course, but understand that I am not impartial on this. Everything screams that you would be happier with my brother. I know you like him and I know for a fact that he is crazy about you. He is just too fucking proud to do something about it."
"Let me explain this in a language you will understand." She fully smirks and leans towards me. "My relation with your brother can be compared to your relationship with Ashley. It's fun. It's easy. It feels good, but Marcel gives you what you want, what you crave for. You don't settle for what's easy, but for what excites you and that is what makes you happy."
She couldn't have spoken truer words. I completely understand her point of view, but unfortunately for everyone, she did not whisper that silently enough.
I look up in a hurry, my sight crosses Marcel first, noticing the fat smirk on his lips. I turn my head to Sophie and get genuinely terrified.
She knows we have been lying to her.
.