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“Hey!” a brass voice calls out as the door swings open. I rapidly brush away a couple of stray tears and suck in a breath. “Bar girl. Serena, or whatever your name is. You in here?”
My heart hammers rapidly, I don’t know what to do. Do I answer this unfamiliar voice or do I act like I’m not here? I assume it’s the red head which could mean that I’m about to have a very awkward conversation. Then again it might teach me more about the real Ben, not just the one that I’ve built up in my mind. If I’m going to go into this properly, with all the information to hand, then maybe that’s something I need to face.
“Y... yes,” I stammer as I try and clear up my face with a tissue. “I’m here.”
“Oh good.” I hear her body slam up against the bathroom door which makes me automatically take a step back. “Because I have something that I need to say to you. My name is Marie, you might know me I’m quite a famous glamour model around here.”
“Yes,” I lie since I haven’t actually got a clue who she is. “Okay.”
“Right, well I’ve just been speaking to Ben, who by the way I have been dating for years and years.” She’s an ex? I thought he didn’t have any girlfriends. Then again, maybe he’s a liar, I can’t totally rule that out yet. “And we last hooked up a few weeks ago. Probably just before he met you.” That honestly makes me feel sick to my stomach. I wretch over the toilet, but nothing comes out. “And he still wants me. I’m sure you can understand that, I mean you have seen me.” She laughs in a way that suggests she really believes it. “Of course he still wants me. He always comes back to me.”
“I...” I need to say something to defend myself. I can’t just take this lying down. I might be a pathetic weakling, but I don’t want her to know that. “He’s with me now.”
“Oh yeah, he just told me that, but that doesn’t mean anything. He always comes back to me. Always.”
I can’t take it anymore, I need to look her in the eye. I don’t want her to think that she’s totally got me beat. Even if she’s right, which there’s a good chance she might be, I need to come out of this with some for of dignity.
I push the door open, knocking her backwards which shocks her a bit and I stare into her eyes with a fire burning from me. “I don’t know who you are, Marie, but I’m telling you now that I don’t care what you say.”
“Try saying that without a shaky voice,” she laughs nastily. “Then maybe I might believe you.” She steps closer to me, towering over me in her sky high heels, and I have to admit that her overt sexiness has me intimidated. I feel like nothing. “Little girl, you might think that you’re the one to tame Ben, but you aren’t. He will soon get bored of you because you’re drab. He needs someone like me, someone beautiful and willing to let him go to do what he wants. We’re both free to be with other people but we always end up back together. He just can’t resist these lips.”
She stalks away from me, confident and tall leaving me like a deflated balloon. I want to sag right down, to collapse to the ground, my shaky legs almost do, but I just about manage to keep upright.
My eyes flicker over to the mirror and I examine the mess that I’ve become. My dark hair is chucked back into a messy bun that takes no effort, I have no make up on, my body is nothing like that of a glamour models... maybe Ben will get bored of me. Maybe he will go back to Marie, or someone like Marie. Am I kidding myself? Am I really being foolish?
It’s just lucky that I have my nest egg to keep me going if I need to move on. It isn’t much now, but it’s better than nothing. It’s a good job that I kept my position. If I had nothing then I would be really screwed right now.
I just need to get back out there wi
th my head held high. That’s all. Screw Marie. I just need to look like I’m confident... even if I don’t feel it.
I suck in a deep breath and smooth my hair down, then I nod to myself. I have a job to do and it’s a job that I might need to keep more than ever. I need to just face the situation, whatever it might be.
Chapter Seventeen – Ben
Fucking Marie, honestly what a nightmare.
I shake my head as she finally climbs off me and on my command and walks away from me. It’s taken some real time to get her to realise that I’m actually with someone now and I’m not interested in her anymore. Even if something happened to destroy me and Serena I can’t see myself ever going back to her. She’s not attractive to me in any way now. I can’t see past the brashness and over the top nature of her look.
I take a massive swig and scan my eyes up to the bar. I hope Serena didn’t see Marie acting like a slut then, and if she did I want to explain so she doesn’t get freaked out, but she isn’t there. Tia is alone serving drinks. I don’t think too much about that, she could be clearing glasses, out in the cellar, or doing anything else... but then Marie swishes right past me with a smug look on her face.
“I guess I’ll be seeing you real soon then, Ben,” she purrs at me as she races past me in a cloud of overpowering perfume. “Real soon, judging by the conversation I just had.”
“What do you mean?” I call after her. “What conversation...?”
But it’s too late, she’s already gone, leaving me in a state of semi panic. Marie has a manipulative nature, she can twist anything into whatever she wants. I dread to think what she might have said... especially if she’s been talking to Serena who’s disappearance is now worrying me a lot.
I push my chair back and race to the bar to grab Tia’s attention. “Where’s Serena?” I ask. “I need to speak to her right now.”
The disapproving look that Tia gives me suggests that they both saw Marie draped all over me. That makes my heart sink even further. Things have been going so well with me and Serena, too well, the last thing I want is for this to mess things up.
“She’s gone to the bathroom. I think if you want to speak to her you should do so quickly before she gets even more upset. I have control of the bar here for a moment, go and make things right.”
I turn, just about ready to burst into the women’s bathroom without even thinking about it, but before I get anywhere Serena runs past me to the outside area. She doesn’t even look at me as she goes which suggests that Marie has said something terrible. I just hope that it isn’t completely unfixable.
“Shit,” I mutter, almost under my breath. “Fucking Marie.”
“Go,” Tia insists behind me. “Go now and make things right.”
