 |
| OUT OF TIME by Prologue2history PART 1 Louise yawned and rubbed her eyes as she clicked though the junk emails that had arrived over the weekend. Near the bottom of the inbox was a message from a networking site, saying she’d received a message from James Bradfield. Louise’s heart skipped a beat and she was filled with a mixture of excitement, panic and nausea. It’d been three years since the breakup, since he’d left saying that although she was the most beautiful girl and best friend he’d ever met, he just couldn’t cope with a relationship on the level that she wanted. Louise felt angry at the memory… after a year together James’ departure had hit her hard, she’d managed to avoid him since, although they had mutual friends, Louise managed to find out which parties he’d be at and tactfully make excuses not to go. “Er, Hi, I realise this might seem a bit weird, but I saw you were on here and thought I’d find out how you were” began the message, Louise snorted derisively “like you care” she thought to herself as she read on “it’s been a while and I’ll be home at Christmas, just thought I might see you around so thought I’d say Hi. I hope we can be friends again, James” Louise frowned to herself as she tried to figure out how to reply, she knew he was married now, she was single and living alone, but had been perfectly happy with that until now. “Get a grip” she told herself, after all she’d seen other people since, but the memory of what she’d had with James still haunted her, and if she was honest, still hurt. Eventually, she managed a cheerful reply about how nice it was to hear from him and that yes. She’d see him and his wife at a gathering of their friends sometime over the holidays. Three weeks later the message was still playing on Louise’s mind as she and best friend Kirsty stepped out of a taxi at a party. “You’ll be fine, honestly, you look gorgeous and he probably won’t even be here” Said Kirsty taking Louise arm as they entered. “Hope so” muttered Louise as she clutched a bottle of wine she’d brought with her. Seeing the host of the party talking to a man and woman across the room she called out “Hi Nick, brought you some wine, great party” Nick turned and smiled waving to greet Louise and Kirsty, to Louise’s shock, the couple he’d been talking to turned too. It was James. James smiled and despite herself, Louise felt her heart twinge “Hi Louise, Kirsty, how are you? It’s been ages… You’ve not met Mylene” James turned to the woman with him, who had, Louise noted, tightened her grip on his waist. “Louise and I go way back” he explained “You could say that” Louise replied “Lovely to meet you Mylene…” and stopped, unsure of what to say next and suddenly feeling awkward. Kirsty stepped in and made small talk, catching up on family news. Louise nodded and smiled but had stopped listening and was studying James. He’d certainly looked after himself over the last couple of years, his arms looked toned under his tailored black shirt, his hair was neither long nor short and tousled in the just crawled out of bed style that suited him so well. Louise jumped as her eyes met his, for all that James was chatting to Kirsty, with his arm around his wife, he was looking at her intently. Making an excuse to get some drinks, Louise slipped away into the kitchen and poured a large glass of red wine, which she gulped down to steady her nerves. “Red wine still the weapon of choice?” James grinned over the counter and he poured himself a large whisky “You look fantastic by the way, just didn’t want to say so in front of the wife – she can get a little jealous” “Shouldn’t you be getting back to her then?” snapped Louise, a little more harsh than she meant to and immediately saw the hurt in James’ eyes “Fine” he replied “Guess I’ll see you later” “No, I… wait, James…” Louise said helplessly as he took hid drink and left the kitchen. She saw Mylene waiting in the hall to kiss him on the cheek while James took a large gulp from his glass. Louise rested her head in her hands, why couldn’t she just get him out of her system once and for all? Did he really think they could salvage a friendship after so long? “Hey, don’t turn grumpy on me!” Kirsty had come looking for Louise “I’ve found two lovely men, come and say hello, take your mind off other things” Louise poured another glass of wine and followed her friend into another room, not seeing James watching them go. part 2 <<< Prologue2history's stories |