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Forty-Four
Alex struggled to catch a breath, this emotional wallop sucking all the air from her lungs as time slowed to a crawl. “Wh-Wh-What?” Her eyes bore into her phone.
Lucy’s smile ran riot across her face. “Simon overheard Fallon and Wink last night at the TV thing. It’s true—Mark didn’t cheat on you.”
Mark didn’t cheat.Lucy’s words echoed in Alex’s mind, overtaking the heart-pounding thump-thump-thump tormenting her ears. Mark didn’t cheat. Three words she never imagined could be spoken, least of all by Lucy. A shaky hand rose to her mouth. “But how?”
Simon nodded. “The dancer I was wrangling last night was in makeup for ages. I was waiting in the hallway just across from a small greenroom, so, I did a Freddie—”
“Hey!” His fiancé scowled.
“And aren’t you glad I did?” Simon squeezed Freddie’s knee. “I’ve never been around so many celebs before, so I earwigged. I wanted to hand out a business card or two for the boutique and thought maybe—”
“Si, get on with it!” Freddie jittered like he had downed a dozen espressos.
“Anyway, I hear a girl with an Irish accent, and thought, Shit, is that Fallon? She’s talking to a guy, loud voice, definitely American. I hear her laughing, glasses clinking—sounds like they’re celebrating. The Yank congratulated her on a wonderful job—he used her name then, so I knew it was definitely Fallon. I thought he was talking about her movie or something, but then I heard him say ‘Alex’ and ‘New Year’s’ so I moved closer to the door. Fallon thanked him—for everything—and called him Wink.”
Simon caught his breath. “Wink then said something like, ‘I told you, didn’t I—you’d get it ALL doing things my way? I never expected losing the deadweight writer to be THAT easy…”’
Alex sat open-mouthed.
Simon continued. “He said you getting wasted did them a huge favour, and I remember this part clear as day: ‘Mousetrap snaps, girlfriend out of the picture.’ I couldn’t believe my ears.”
Wide-eyed, Alex slowly rocked back and forth. “Fuck! I got the feeling Wink resented me but…” Her voice faltered.
“I could strangle the bastard.” Lucy’s nostrils flared.
Simon scratched his beard. “It went on from there. Wink laughed about plying Mark with booze and offering him an E just gone midnight. Apparently by one-thirty in the morning, Mark was so trashed, he was barely standing—”
“Putty in Wink’s hands,” interrupted Freddie.
Alex stared at the screen, dazed. “But how…do you know that Mark didn’t…”
“Fallon’s rugby bloke left after you did, so she was free to ‘look after’ Mark.” Simon shook his head. “I’ll never forget what Fallon said: ‘It was the best sex I’ve NEVER had.’ I didn’t catch anything after that as my dancer came out of makeup and I had to escort her to the stage area.”
Alex slumped in her chair. “It was all a lie…?”
“A complete setup by the sound of it,” said Simon.
“Wait—does Mark know?” she asked.
“He does now!” said Freddie, his face filling the small screen once more. “I couldn’t tell him last night because his mum was staying over, but when he came back from taking her to the airport, I sat him down with a full English and told him. Lex, he wept like a lost little boy. It broke my heart.” Freddie sat back.
Simon shook his head. “I feel bad. I totally misjudged the guy.”
“Me too,” said Lucy.
Tears began to pool in Alex’s eyes. She blinked quickly, halting their progress. “Where is he now?” Her voice broke.
“It took him a while to compose himself,” said Freddie. “Then, he got PISSED. I’m talking, Irish-temper-I’ll-skin-you-alive furious. He was pacing, swearing, muttering under his breath. Around nine tonight, he reached Fallon on her cell and told her he was coming over. I said to text when he was on his way back, but I haven’t heard a peep since.”
Simon tilted his head. “You okay, Lex? You look shaken. Aren’t you…happy? Maybe now there’s a chance…”
She dabbed at her eyes. “I’m relieved he didn’t cheat, but it doesn’t fix what was broken between Mark and me. He’d changed a lot. Besides, it’s too late, anyway.”
“Too late? Whatcha on about?” Freddie frowned.
“They’re engaged.”
