Betrayal Page 5
“I don’t know why I’m so hungry. I’m not, normally.”
His smile widened.
“Too much exercise, maybe?”
My cheeks started to get hotter, so I changed the subject.
“Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat?” I asked Jason.
“I wouldn’t mind a coffee. It’s OK; I’ll do it. You finish your breakfast.”
Placing my bowl into the sink, I headed off to get ready for work. When I came back downstairs, Jason was sat on the sofa, watching telly.
“Right… um… I’ve got to go now. You can stay here if you want.”
“Nah, I’ve got a few things to do today. I’ll see you tonight?” He got up and followed me to the front door.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be home at six, so come ’round at seven if you want?”
“OK, what do you want to do?”
“I don’t mind. We can get in a DVD.”
“Good, see you tonight then.”
He moved in until our noses were almost touching and kissed me on the lips. This was starting to get good. I could see myself with this guy.
I watched him walk away, then shut the door. Grabbing my coat and keys, I walked out and got in my car. After I finished work, I sat down at home and waited for Jason to knock. My mind started wandering. If this did go the distance, then I will have to introduce Jason to Mum, Dad, Sam and Russell.
Then, I started to think about Russell. I wondered what he was doing right now. I snapped out of it when the doorbell rang. Standing up, I walked to the front door.
“Hi honey, I’m home,” I smile at him. I liked the fact that Jason had a sense of humour. That was nice. He cheered me up when I was down. He walked over and gave me a kiss. “Hmm. You smell nice.” He kissed me again, this time harder than before. “So what are we watchin’ tonight?”
“Well, how about Vampires of the Night? I’ve wanted to watch that, since it was in the cinema.”
“That sounds great!”
I put the popcorn in the microwave and Jason put the DVD in the machine. Then we sat down on the sofa. It was a good way to spend an evening.
When the film was over, it was 11 o’clock. I started to yawn.
“Are you tired?”
“A little.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No.”
He smiled in relief.
“Good. So, do you want to go upstairs?”
He took hold of my hand and started to lead me up the stairs. That night, I woke up after having another dream about Russell. This time, Russell was leaving again but he wasn’t coming back. No matter where I looked, I just couldn’t find him. In the end, no one had even heard of him. I hoped this didn’t continue. I had a hard enough time not thinking about him. I sighed and went back to sleep.
Again, I woke up not feeling too good. Jason thought I was coming down with a cold. Thank God he couldn’t read minds. I let him take care of me by making cups of teas and my dinner. It made him feel better and I liked being waited on.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Yes, thanks.”
“I’m going to go; I’ve got some things to do at home. Will you be OK?”
“Yeah. Thanks for taking care of me today. I feel much better.”
“You’re very welcome, your majesty.”
I giggled. “You’re a nutter!” I walked over and kissed him goodbye on the mouth. “Look, do you want to meet my family on Friday? Just say if you don’t; I won’t mind.”
“I’d love to. Say about six-ish?”
“OK, brill’! I’ll pick you up from your’s.”
“See you then.” He blew me a kiss and was gone.
I closed the door and sat down to vegetate in front of the telly.
When Friday came, I suddenly started to get nervous and wished that I hadn’t said anything. But after work, I got ready and drove to Jason’s. As I knocked on his door, I noticed my hands were clammy. Jason answered and he didn’t look nervous at all. I hated it when people took things in their stride. I never could. He smiled warmly at me.
“Ready to go?” I asked hoping that he had changed his mind.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes. Nerves never hurt anybody.” He walked over to kiss me and I reciprocated.
It didn’t take us long to reach Mum and Dad’s house. I got out of the car and headed towards Jason. He grabbed hold of my hand, and together we went to the front door.
When the door opened, there stood Mum.
“Hello, come on in.”
She ushered us through and into the living room. Once in there I looked round the room. It was only Mum and Dad. I smiled to myself.
“Aren’t Sam and Russell coming tonight?” I asked hoping beyond hope that they weren’t.
“Yes, love. They’ll be here in a bit.”
“Oh, right.” I replied rather glumly.
“So, aren’t you going to do the introductions then, Bethenny?” Jason said.
Mum spun round to look at Jason.
“Sorry. Mum, this is Jason.”
Mum held her hand out and Jason shook it. She said, “Nice to meet you, love.”
“You too.” Jason looked round the room. “You have a lovely home, Mrs. Dempsey”
“Call me Gabby, and thank you, Jason.”
Dad sat in the corner reading yet another book.
I said, “This is my dad.” They both smiled and shook hands. I couldn’t wait for this to be over.
Eventually, we all sat down and talked. After about 10 minutes, Jason excused himself to the toilet. The doorbell rang. Mum got up to answer it.
Walking back in with her was Sam and Russell, who still looked good enough to eat. I had to put that out of my mind. Sam was happy and smiling as usual.
“Hi, Beth. Where is he? He didn’t chicken out, did he?”
“No, he’s in the bathroom. Hi, Russell.” Russell looked at me and raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment.
They sat down. Sam talked endlessly to Mum and Dad. Russell looked out of the window and I stared into my cup. Then, Jason walked back in.
“Sam, Russell. This is Jason.”
Sam jumped up. Russell stayed in his seat.
“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Jason. Its about time Beth got herself a boyfriend.”
They started talking. I looked at Russell, he had got himself in a conversation with Dad.
I suddenly went very hot to the point of passing out. Mum looked over at me.
“Beth, are you OK? You look very pale.”
“I’m fine, but I’m going to go outside for some fresh air. OK?”
“Yes, love, of course. But are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine; it’s just a bit stuffy, that’s all.” I turned to Jason. “Do you mind, Jase? Will you be all right?”
“Yes, no problem. You carry on.”
I walked out of the living room and out the back garden. I sat down and took a deep breath. That was better. On my own at last. I didn’t have to make conversation.
“So, that’s Jason, is it?”
I jumped at hearing a voice I hadn’t been expecting. When I moved ’round, Russell stood there.
“Oh, hi. You startled me.”
“Sorry, Beth. He your boyfriend now?”
“Yes, I guess so. That’s what everyone is saying.”
“You have to want that, too, y’know.”
“I do.”
He looked at me, puzzled.
“You don’t sound like it,” Russell said
“Well, I’m sorry, but I do and I don’t have to prove it to you!” I retorted.
“Look, that came out wrong. What I’m trying to say is, don’t go for the first guy you see. There are loads of dudes out there. Go and fish first before you settle.”
“It has absolutely nothing to do with you, Russell. So go away and mind your own business.”
Wi
th that, I got up and walked back into the house. Russell followed soon after.
I took a big gulp of air, walked back in the living room and sat down.
“You OK now, Beth?” Jason asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just too hot, that’s all.”
The rest of the evening went without a hitch. I just didn’t look at Russell again. It was easy.
At about 10 o’clock I stood up and looked at Jason.
“Do you want to go now?” he asked looking in my direction.
“Do you mind? I’m really tired.”
“No, of course I don’t.”
We said our goodbyes, got in the car and drove off.
“Well, I think that went well. Don’t you?” Jason asked almost timidly. I glanced at him as I drove.
“Yes, it went very well.” I smiled at him.
“I didn’t get to say much to Russell, though. He was mainly talking to your Dad.”
As he said Russell’s name, my blood froze. I went back to what he had said to me. How dare Russell say what he said to me? What did he know? He knew nothing about me, that’s for sure.
“Beth?”
“Sorry. What did you say? My mind trailed off then.”
“I was just saying that your mum and sister were nice.”
“Yes, they are. They’re my best friends.”
“Good. That’s the way it should be.”
I looked at him again and smiled.
“So, where can I drop you off tonight?”
He placed his hand gently on my knee.
“Yours, if you want.” He had that naughty look about him again. We went back to mine.
The next day I awoke to my phone ringing. I got up and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Beth. It’s me, Sam.”
“Oh, hi.”
“Did I wake you?” she asked. I must have sounded groggy.
“No, you’re fine. What do you want?”
“Well, I was wondering seeing as I’m with someone and you’re with someone, how about we have a double date today?”
“Where were you thinking?”
“I was thinking the cinema and dinner?”
“I’ll get back to you, all right?”
“OK, hear from you later.”
I finished the call and put the phone down. I got out of bed and put my dressing gown on. There, standing in the doorway, was Jason with two cups of tea in his hands.
“Who was that?” he asked. He walked over and handed me a cup.
“Oh, it was Sam.”
“What did she want?”
“Nothing, she just wondered if we wanted to go to the cinema.”
“That’ll be OK.”
“I don’t know if I want to go.”
He looked at me puzzled.
“Why not? It’ll be a good day out.”
“I just don’t feel like it.”
“Well, we’ve got nothing else planned. Go on; it’ll be fun.”
“For God’s sake. OK, I’ll ring and tell her.”
Unhappily, I picked up the phone and dialled Sam’s number. It rang a couple of times, and then Sam answered.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Sam; it’s me. Yeah, we’ll come to the cinema today.”
“Great. We’ll meet at three OK? Outside the ’plex.”
“OK, see you there.”
I put the phone down and said, “All done.”
I walked off to the shower. This was going to be a terrible day. Russell had better not say anything to me today. I still hadn’t forgotten the last thing he’d said!
In the cinema theatre, I could relax a little, as I wasn’t sitting near Russell. I sat between Sam and Jason. Russell was on the other side of Sam. We had all voted for a thriller of some kind. I didn’t have much interest in watching a film; I was just trying to avoid Russell. He frequently glanced towards me. I don’t know how Sam and Jason didn’t notice how quiet we were being.
Halfway through, I stood up to go to the toilet.
Walking back, I saw Russell was leaning against the wall of the theatre we were in. I tried to walk straight past him.
“Beth, please let me talk to you.”
“Why can’t you just leave me alone? What if one of them walks out now? We’d be screwed!”
“I just wanted to apologise to you, after what I said yesterday. It came out wrong. I shouldn’t have said anything at all.”
“You’re right, you shouldn’t have!”
“Please, can you forgive me? I don’t want us to be upset with each other.”
I thought about it for a second.
“I guess so, but keep your thoughts to yourself from now on. OK?”
“Sure.”
“Well, I’m going back in.”
“See you in there. I’m just going to go to the bathroom.”
I walked in first and sat down. Russell came back in after five minutes.
When the film was over, we all got up and walked out.
“That wasn’t a bad film. Did you enjoy it, Beth?”
“It was OK. I’ve seen better.”
“Well, I liked it,” Jason smiled at everyone “Now, I’m hungry. Anybody else?”
So we all went for a meal. It was nice to get out, but I still had an uneasy feeling. At the end of the evening we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. It was a clear, still night. You could hear the birds tweeting and the air was warm.
“Would you go for a walk with me, Beth?”
I looked at him and laughed.
“Why, yes; I’d love to.”
Holding hands, we started to walk along the path.
“It’s such a nice night, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, not bad,” I replied.
It was a nice night and a lovely, romantic thing to do. These things were making me like him more and more. After we had been walking for about 10 minutes I noticed that there were some clouds in the sky.
“Do you think that we should be getting back to the car?” I asked looking up to the sky. “It’s getting a bit cloudy.”
“No, not yet. I’m really enjoying it here. Besides, what’s the possibility that it will rain?”
“I suppose.” I smiled at him and we carried on. Then the rain came! A drizzle at first, then within two minutes, it poured down! We ran as fast as we could back to the car.
When we were in the car, I didn’t want to say it, but I had to. “I told you so!”
The rain was hammering on the car. Jason looked at me through a soaking-wet fringe of hair, water dripping off the end of his nose. We both burst out laughing.
“Yes, Bethenny; yes, you did.” He grinned at me. He looked so adorable that an urge took me and I leaned over and kissed him.
“You look so cute when you’re all wet.” I said, with a smile on my face.
He grabbed my face gently between his hands, pulled me close in to him and kissed me again. This time it went longer. His dripping hair tickled my face.
“Come on then, let’s get home. I need a shower and some clean clothes.”
I put the key in the ignition and started the engine.
After stopping outside Jason’s house, I turned my head to look at him. “Here we are, then.”
He began to open the door, then stopped and turned to speak. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“OK.”
He kissed me goodbye, got out of the car and shut the door. I watched him walk to his front door. As soon as he was inside, I left.
At home, I was suddenly aware that my clothes were sticking to me. It felt horrible! I was glad to have a shower and get into my pyjamas. Going to bed that night, I thought of no-one but Jason.
The next day, I didn’t have any work on, so I just stayed home and relaxed. It felt good to think only of myself for a change.
It was mid-afternoon and I was making some dinner, when the phone rang. I walked over and lifted the receiver.
“Hello?”
“Oh. Hi, Russell. What do you want?”
“Look, I know you told me to keep my opinions to myself. Sam didn’t want me to tell you, but the thing is, I think you need to know something about Jason and his whereabouts.”
My heart was pounding as I waited to hear what Russell had to say.
“Well, Russell? What?”
He took a deep breath on the other end of the phone.
“I’ve just seen him with a blonde girl.”
“Yes, and…”
“And they were kissing!”
CHAPTER 5
Just as in a cartoon, my mouth dropped open. My whole body started shaking. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt like crying and screaming at the same time. It was too much emotion at once, so I just stayed quiet. I had no choice; shock seized my brain.
“Hello? Beth? Are you still there?” He sounded worried but I couldn’t speak. My head was still spinning. My throat was dry.
“Beth, please say something. You’re scaring me.” I opened my mouth to try and say something; anything. Nothing came out.
“Look, that’s it,” he said. “I’m coming over.”
“I’m... fine,” I croaked out. I was trying not to let him hear the tears in my voice. They were falling down my face, like a cascading waterfall. He sighed heavily.
“Are you sure, Beth? I don’t mind at all.”
“Yes. Please let me sort this out. I promise I’ll be fine.”
“OK. If you need me, then just call. I mean it, Beth.”
“I will.” Before he could say goodbye, the phone was down and I had my coat on. I slammed my front door shut and ran to the car.
As I drove to Jason’s house, I suddenly realised my blood was boiling. I was furious! How dare he kiss anyone else? What was he playing at? I knew that this was going to happen, though. It had been going too well. Jason was too nice to be real.
Well, rather now than later. When I arrived at Jason’s place, I stayed in the car for a few minutes to try and calm down. Everyone in the street outside the car was calmly getting on with their lives. However, the sun wasn’t shining anymore. That was some consolation. Eventually, I walked up to the front door. I knocked loudly and stood waiting. I heard footsteps on the other side of the door, then it opened.
“Bethenny. I wasn’t expecting you.” He leaned out to hug me. I moved away.
“No, I bet you weren’t,” I spat.