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“You two know each other?” Marcus questions.
“Oh yes, very well,” Vicki says, and you’d have be deaf, dumb and blind not to hear the hidden meaning behind her words.
Feeling like I need to break some of the tension between Seb and Vicki, I say, “What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were back, Marcus.”
“Well, you know me, always on the move and looking for the next big thing. How’s your mum and dad?”
My smile drops a little at that, but it’s not for me to tell Marcus. “Yeah, they are fine. Working hard as usual.”
“That’s good. Some things never change, and others change in the blink of an eye. Guess it just depends on who fate and fortune are shining on. So, are you going to introduce me to your friends, Jamie?”
“Oh shit, yeah. Well, this is Jason.” They shake hands. “And this is Seb,” I say, hesitant to label us as we haven’t really talked about what we are. Marcus and Seb seem to eye each other before they too shake hands.
“It’s good to meet you both,” Marcus says as a small frown appears in his brow. Shaking it off, he turns to Vicki. “This is Vicki, but it seems you already know each other. What are the chances of that.”
Seb slips a hand around my waist, and I watch as Vicki’s face turns up in a sneer.
“No Chantelle tonight?” I ask Vicki, and then I watch the sneer turn to blatant loathing as she finally realises who I am.
“You’re that bitch from her work,” she blurts out. And I get a little kick of satisfaction as Seb and Marcus tell her to watch it, which has her blanching.
“Actually, I’m the bitch whose father pays her wages, so maybe you should watch your mouth.” I see a flash of anger cross Marcus’ face as he checks his watch. Whatever Vicki’s reply was going to be is cut off by him.
“Jamie, it’s been lovely to see you, but it would be good to have a proper catch up. I think we should all have dinner at mine next weekend, what do you say? I’ll talk to Dom and Louise. It will be just like old times.”
“That sounds great. It’s been too long, and I want to hear all about your travels.”
“Fantastic. I’ll send you the details. Good evening to you all.” And with that he disappears into the crowd with Vicki tagging along behind, and I can hear her whining in his ear.
“Well, that was fucking weird and awkward,” I say turning in Seb’s arms.
“I get the awkward, but why weird?” Jay asks as Seb throws him a vicious glare. “Unless you mean the fact that Vicki was on the arm of a man old enough to be her father? But even that’s not that weird. Looks like Marcus has shit loads of money, something Vicki is drawn to like a moth to a flame.”
“I get the impression Vicki isn’t short of money herself,” I retort, unable to hide my dislike for the girl.
“You’d be right. Her dad and Seb’s father are old friends, even wanted the—”
“Shut the fuck up, Jay!” Seb says through gritted teeth and with a look that tells me he’d like to knock him out right about now. “What did you mean weird?”
I ignore my need to ask what Jay was going to say and instead tell them about my dad and Marcus. “I don’t know. It’s just that as far as I know him and my dad fell out about a couple of years ago, then Marcus just upped and left. He came to see me before he left, to say goodbye. When I asked what was going on, he just said it was time for a change,” I say with a shrug.
“They been friends a long time?” Seb asks as we go to sit back down.
“Yeah, like since college. Apparently, Marcus was a ‘troubled teen’, always in trouble with the police and in and out of foster care. When dad went off to the army, Marcus did a stint inside, but I don’t remember what for, and when dad came back, Marcus had just got out and needed a job. Dad took him under his wing at the newspaper, helped him build it up. I have no idea what they fell out over, but let’s hope they can put their differences aside. Guess we’ll find out next weekend.” I take a huge mouthful of my drink, needing to rid myself of the uneasy feeling that’s sitting there like a dead weight.
Conversation moves to lighter topics, feeling like any other night out, and I almost forget why we are here. The only outward sign, if anyone was really paying attention, would be the fact we aren’t downing drinks like the majority of the crowd, which has grown considerably since we arrived.
Just before midnight, the atmosphere changes, becoming energised with anticipation. Conscious we are going to be moving upstairs soon, and not wanting to have any reason to be too far from Seb and Jay, I nip to the toilet.
I’m just drying my hands when the door opens, music and chatter drifts in from outside as Vicki steps into the room. Fucking wonderful.
She steps up beside me, certain she thinks it’s intimidating, but I don’t even acknowledge her presence. Not happy she’s being ignored, she pokes me with her bony little finger, and I slowly turn my head her way.
“Can I help you?” I say sweetly.
“You can’t have him. He’s mine,” she says with a sneer.
“I’m sorry, did I miss the part where we are still at school? And as for Seb, assuming that’s who you’re referring to, I don’t make his decisions for him. Hold on, did I misunderstand, were you talking about Marcus?”
