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Chapter Two
Andrea
Andrea’s weekwas not going well.
Not only had her flight been delayed due to high winds, her luggage had been lost and the dickhead at the customer service desk had pissed her off so much that Andrea had been about to reach over the counter and smack his head off the desk when Rhys had shown up to collect her and with one smile from her brother, the starstruck man had offered to track down Andrea’s luggage.
So the time she was meant to be relaxing and preparing for her big meeting had been spent rushing around cork city to try and get some work-appropriate clothes. She even had to borrow Rhys's car to get around because Nicolette had flaked and hadn’t bothered to get her a rental.
And of course the moment she and Rhys were in the same proximity, they reverted to teenagers again, with Andrea commenting on the stink of alcohol when she hugged Rhys and then when Rhys asked her to come out with him and the band, they had argued when Andrea retorted that she was happy to go out with the band if Declan stayed at home.
Rhys hadn’t been happy that Andrea was clinging to her grudge against his best friend, especially when Andrea refused to tell him why she had suddenly started to despise Declan.
As Andrea drove to her meeting at the city centre hotel, she passed the school that they had all gone to and it made her think back to the absolute torture that had made her leave school after she had overheard Declan slating her to her brother all those years ago.
It had been horrible walking into school after she had ghosted Declan at the concert and ignored his messages all weekend. She had managed to avoid him the entire midterm break as well. The calls, the texts, even him showing up at her house and her mam telling the boy who had a key to their front door that Andi wasn’t in, had all come to a sudden stop, and when Andrea returned to school, her torment had begun.
A shoulder collided with hers and Andrea went crashing into her locker with a grunt. Whirling round, Andrea let loose a slew of curses as she turned to see Lauren Smyth smirking at her. She swept her long blonde hair off her shoulder and pursed her glossed lips as she cocked her hip, her gaggle of mindless bimbos behind her.
“You really should watch where you’re going, Andrea.”
“Be careful yourself, Lauren.” Andrea tossed back, looking down at the petite girl. “or next time you’ll end up walking into my fist.”
Lauren snickered, rolling her eyes. “You always were all talk, Andrea. You wouldn’t dare.”
Andrea clenched her fists and tried to rein in her temper. Her and Lauren had been at odds for years, going back to early on in First Year when Andrea beat Lauren to get the main part in the play and Lauren had to settle for a secondary role. It had boosted Andrea’s popularity, even for an outcast like her.
And they used to be on friendly terms...not friends...but not enemies like they were now.
“What’s going on here, babe?”
For one electrifying moment, when Andrea heard the voice, she thought that Declan was talking about her. But no, the object of her affection and the person who had broken her heart into smithereens slung his muscular arm around Lauren’s shoulders and lifted his electric blue eyes to clash with Andrea’s.
Lauren snuggled into his arms, her smirk deepening as she took stock of Andrea’s obvious shock and the way Declan allowed Lauren to slip her fingers into his.
“Andi’s being mean to me.”
“Well, Andi needs to mind her fucking manners.”
Their eyes never moved from one another’s, the tension almost tight enough to snap and then Declan shifted his gaze and brushed his lips over Lauren’s hair.
“Ignore her, babe. She doesn’t matter in the slightest, a few weeks left in this hellhole and no one will even remember her. Let’s go.”
Declan nudged Lauren away and her crew followed after her like the little sheep they were. Andrea sagged against her locker, aware that everyone in the school had gathered to witness the way that the most popular guy in school had publicly shunned her.
Andrea shifted her gaze to where Declan was striding away with Lauren tucked under his arm and then, as if he knew, Declan cast a glance over his shoulder and if looks could kill, Andrea would be a bloody mess on the halls of the school.
A car beeped its horn at her and she realized the light that she had stopped at had changed. Andrea accelerated, driving into the underground car park and took a minute to catch her breath before she got out of the car and reminded herself that she was no longer that Andrea, but Andi Collins - a successful businesswoman who had secured deals with million-euro footballers and called Hollywood heartthrobs her friends.
But this was the major big time...Emerald Records had called her and asked her to exclusively handle all the PR and media for their newest band and that excited Andrea more than she cared to admit. With everything that had happened with Declan, Andrea had pushed aside her love for music and gone down other avenues but now this was her chance to reclaim what Declan’s actions had stripped from her.
When they had planned on going to the concert, Andrea was planning on telling Declan that she had gone to an audition and was about to sign a contract that would make her a star. She had never told Declan she could sing, had been too embarrassed to sing in front of him because it felt too raw, made her feel exposed.
But then everything went to hell and the record company wanted Andrea to be in a girl group and all Andrea could remember was Declan, Rhys, and Jameson taking the piss out of the manufactured pop groups that were suddenly appearing on the TV and how shite they were.
It was what had made Andrea turn down the record deal and decide that she needed an entire ocean between her and Declan. It had been hard, leaving her family and starting over but doing so had sent her directly in the path of Charlie Coyle and their bond was unbreakable.
A small thin man waited at the door of the hotel, his designer suit all sleek and shiny as he ran his gaze over her and Andrea plastered on her best fake smile, ignoring the urge to punch the rich jackass square in the jaw.
