He's the One (10 page)

‘Oh, bless! He’ll get used to having to budget. You did. And maybe the Wicked Witch of the USA will take pity on the son she claims to love so much and give him the money to go to college.’

Liberty doubted that very much. Melissa seemed like a woman with an iron will, who didn’t change her mind once it was made up.

They managed two more pubs after that and wound up at Cory’s bar, slightly the worse for wear. The place was heaving but Em found them two stools at the bar, so they could be close to Cory. He was rushing around serving people, but still managed a smile for them.

‘Hey, ladies, what can I get you?’ he asked, leaning over the bar and planting a kiss on Liberty’s lips.

‘Well, we’re working through all the drinks we used to be into, so I’ll have a vodka and lime and, Libs, you’ve got to have a Piña Colada.’ By now Em was slightly slurring her words.

Liberty grimaced. She’d been mixing her drinks all night and knew that at this rate she’d end up with an evil hangover – and hangovers and small children, as she knew from bitter experience, did not go well together. ‘Actually, I’ll have a Diet Coke.’

‘Wimp! Lightweight!’ Em declared, nearly falling off her stool.

Cory smiled. ‘Are you sure you haven’t had enough already, Em?’

‘No way. In fact, make mine a double.’

‘Liking your style! Coming right up!’

They watched Cory as he competently mixed their drinks. He seemed perfectly content but Liberty felt a pang of sadness to see him behind the bar. He should be painting. This was such a massive waste of his talent. She glanced across and noticed a familiar blonde girl, sitting at a table with a group of friends. Zara. Liberty had seen her a few times before when she had been out with Cory and some of his friends, and while Zara had been considerably nicer to her than she once had and never given any sign that she wanted to get back with Cory, Liberty still didn’t trust her. She remembered the girl’s attitude the first time they had met, when Zara had looked at her with such disdain and seemed desperate for Cory’s attention. What was she doing here? Was it just coincidence? Or did she know that Cory worked here? Liberty couldn’t help feeling insecure.

He returned with their drinks and Liberty decided to come straight out with it, rather than sit there worrying.

‘Did you know Zara was over there?’

‘Oh, yeah, she often comes in with some of my other friends.’

He seemed completely matter-of-fact about it, no
hint that he particularly cared whether she was there or not. ‘In fact, she’s come up with a great idea for me to save money.’

‘Oh?’ Liberty didn’t like the idea of Zara coming up with anything to do with Cory. She was bound to have an ulterior motive.

‘Yep, there’s a room going in her house – a large double, big enough for me to paint in, and it’s cheap. It’s getting that I can’t afford my flat any more. What do you reckon?’

All she could think of was Cory spending more time with Zara, with beautiful, rich Zara who had no responsibilities and no ties. Who would be there whenever Liberty went round to see Cory, and would still be there with him when Liberty went home.

‘Wouldn’t it be weird, sharing with your ex?’

‘No way! I told you, I don’t see her like that. We’re strictly friends. And this means I’ll be able to save more money and I can be one step closer to going to college.’ He smiled at her, so open and happy that she didn’t feel able to ask him how he would feel if she was sharing with her ex-boyfriend. And then there was no time to talk further as he had to go and serve some more customers.

Em had been silent during the exchange, but she spoke now. ‘He can’t afford that flat, can he? So maybe it is a good idea. And it won’t be for ever, Libs, just until he goes to college.’

Liberty was about to reply when Zara sauntered over, beautiful and stylish as ever in a pair of leather trousers and a black silk shirt that most likely cost as much as a month’s rent on Cory’s flat.

‘Hi, Liberty, how are you?’ she asked, flicking back her long blonde hair, which looked as if it had been freshly blow-dried in a salon.

Liberty forced herself to smile. ‘I’m fine thanks, Zara. This is my friend Em.’

Zara glanced at her, in a way that said she didn’t consider Em to be any competition whatsoever.

‘On a girls’ night out?’

‘Yep, how about you?’ Em asked, clearly not warming to Zara one little bit.

‘Just out with a group of friends. We love this bar, it’s got a good vibe. And, of course, now Cory works here, it’s a great place to hang out.’ She looked at Liberty. ‘So has he told you about moving into my house? It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? I mean, I have so much space. And the light is fantastic for an artist as the house is north-facing.’

Thank God Cory had told her … Liberty could just imagine how happy it would have made Zara to be the first to break the news to her.

‘Yes, he has. I guess it would be good for him to have somewhere cheaper to rent.’
If only it wasn’t with you
.

Cory rejoined them at that moment. Liberty suddenly noticed how tired he looked. There were dark shadows under his eyes and his golden tan seemed to be fading; the late nights were taking their toll on him as well.

‘So, I’m planning to have a party next Friday night, and of course you’re all invited,’ Zara continued.

Friday, the day when Liberty had to work a double shift, followed by a double shift on Saturday.

‘Sure, I’ll see if I can swap shifts with someone,’ Cory replied.

‘Cool. And I hope you’ll be able to get a babysitter, Liberty?’

If anyone else had said that, Liberty would have thought they were being considerate, but she reckoned Zara was just trying to rub her nose in the fact that she
wasn’t as carefree and single as she’d once been. And as Zara was now.

‘I work on Fridays, but maybe I’ll be able to come after work.’

‘Oh, I do hope so,’ Zara replied, then thankfully she swished away to rejoin her friends.

‘See, she’s okay,’ Cory commented, before he rushed off to serve another customer.

‘Bloody hell,’ Em muttered. ‘She’s a nightmare. Don’t worry, Libs, he doesn’t fancy her.’

‘She fancies him though, doesn’t she?’ But Liberty didn’t want to say any more about it. Em was leaving in two days’ time, and this was their night.

Chapter 11

Em’s departure left a gaping hole in Liberty’s life. She missed her at work, after work, all the time. She had other friends, but no one she was as close to as Em. She felt terribly lonely, as if she had no one to confide in. Meanwhile, Cory had moved in with Zara. Liberty had imagined a student-style house, but in fact it was expensively decorated and furnished, with no one else living there apart from Zara and Cory. The other housemate was away travelling for a month.

As Liberty had feared, the move had a negative impact on their relationship. Whenever she went round there she was aware of Zara’s presence. Even if she wasn’t in, the smell of her expensive perfume seemed to linger in the air; her designer clothes would be strewn across the sofas, along with her copies of
Vogue
and
Elle
. Glasses and empty bottles of expensive wine would be left in the living room, all ready for the cleaner to come and tidy away. Liberty felt as if her old precious intimacy with Cory was being chipped away. It was made worse by the fact that he seemed oblivious to it; he was so caught up in work at the bar that he was taking on more and more hours.

By the time Friday came the last thing Liberty wanted to do was to go to Zara’s party. She had already suggested that she and Cory skip it, that he come over to her house instead, as they had hardly seen each other that week, but Cory had insisted he had to go.

‘Zara’s been so good to me,’ he said. ‘She’ll be upset if I don’t show.’

Liberty was exhausted after the double shift. She had changed into her little black dress and put on some more make up when she finished work, but still felt drab compared to the other girls at the party when she walked in. They were all in beautiful designer clothes, their hair freshly washed and blow-dried, the jewels round their necks and on their fingers real rather than the paste ones which were all that she could afford. She found Cory in the living room, chatting to a group of girls that included Zara. For a moment Liberty watched him. He seemed completely at ease with these beautiful, rich, privileged people – hardly surprising, she supposed, as he had been one of them – but it made her feel left out, made her long for the two of them to be alone together, back in his flat, in bed, with the world shut out. Maybe that was the only place their relationship could work …

Cory caught sight of her and immediately made his way over. ‘Hey, I was wondering when you were going to arrive. I’ve missed you, baby.’ He kissed her and she wound her arms around his neck, aware that they were the centre of attention, and not caring. Somehow she wanted to stake her claim on Cory, especially in front of Zara.

‘When did you get here?’ she asked as he led her into the huge, glass-roofed kitchen to get some champagne. It would be champagne for Zara … the last
time Liberty and her mum had held a house party, they’d had a choice of red or white wine or lager.

‘Oh, I bunked off work today so I could help Zara get the house ready. I thought it was the least I could do.’

She felt a stab of jealousy at the thought of Cory spending so much time with his housemate.

‘Doesn’t she have staff to do that?’ Liberty knew she sounded sarcastic, but couldn’t help it.

Cory chose not to pick up on it. ‘They didn’t come until six and there was a heap of stuff to do first.’ He poured them each a glass of champagne, and she noticed that his hand was slightly unsteady.

‘Are you pissed?’ she asked, feeling a little resentful that she’d been stuck at work while he was already knocking back champagne.

He grinned and now she could see that his blue eyes seemed not to be quite focused. ‘A little, I guess. But, hey, you know what they say? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ He slid his arms round her and pulled her close to him. ‘So why don’t we go upstairs?’

The resentment was still there but the desire was stronger …

‘Why not?’ She drained her glass of champagne.

Upstairs Cory wedged a chair under the door handle to stop them being disturbed and then they were falling on to his bed, he was pulling off her dress and she unbuttoned his jeans. And while he lay back, she sucked and licked him, revelling in his groans of pleasure and feeling a flash of satisfaction that Zara was downstairs, wondering what they were doing. And then Cory pulled her on top of him and she was riding him, feeling the pleasure building inside her as he thrust into her and as his fingers expertly caressed
her clit, sending whorls of pleasure through her body. Faster and faster she rode him, teetering on the edge of the most delicious orgasm.

And then someone knocked on the door. ‘Cory, are you in there?’ It was one of Zara’s girlfriends. ‘Zara needs to speak to you about something.’

They were both beyond talking but Liberty thought the rhythmic squeaking of the bed might have given a clue. Eventually the friend gave up.

‘Was that very bad?’ Cory grinned afterwards as they lay in each other’s arms.

‘No, it was very good,’ Liberty teased, reaching out and touching his face. And exactly what she had needed. They stayed there for an hour, talking, catching up, and Liberty half hoped that they could remain up here until the party was over, so she could have him all to herself. But eventually Cory sat up. ‘I guess we’d better go back down.’

Reluctantly Liberty pulled her clothes back on. She stifled a yawn, it was two a.m. and she was bone tired. She had to be at work by eleven the next morning and she knew she couldn’t afford another shift where she acted below par. Marco had already given her a warning. Although she knew he was a kind-hearted man, she didn’t want to push her luck.

Downstairs Zara and her gang of friends were playing a drunken game of Spin the Bottle. Some of the boys had already taken off their shirts, a couple of the girls were down to their underwear. Zara was still in her dress but seemed very drunk, her eyes glittering dangerously as she spotted Cory.

‘There you are! Come on, you two, you have to join in. No chickening out!’

Cory looked at Liberty and shrugged. ‘Shall we?’

No fucking way! Liberty wanted to reply, but she
imagined how that would go down, so reluctantly she followed him over to the circle. They found themselves sitting opposite Zara. The party girl grabbed the bottle. (Of champagne, naturally.)

‘One more round of kissing then it’s Truth or Dare,’ she declared.

‘Well, hurrah for that,’ Liberty muttered, mimicking her voice, causing Cory to nudge her gently and say, ‘
Shush
.’

Zara spun the bottle and it came to a halt pointing at Hugo, one of her stuck-up male friends whom Liberty had never liked after she had overheard him mocking one of their other friends – a girl who was slightly overweight.

‘You’ve got to kiss the two girls opposite you,’ Zara decreed. The power was obviously going to her drunken head. ‘For twenty seconds.’

Liberty curled her lip when she realised that she was sitting directly opposite him.

‘Sorry, baby,’ Cory said under his breath. ‘I’ll get you a glass of champagne to make up for it.’

‘No problemo!’ Hugo replied, and crawled over to the girl next to Liberty. He promptly gave her a full on snog while the circle around them clapped and counted down from twenty. Then he detached himself from the girl and lunged at Liberty. She tried to keep her mouth clamped firmly shut but he thrust his tongue straight in. And twenty seconds might not sound very long, but when it involved a man you didn’t like, sticking his tongue down your throat, boy, it dragged.

‘… seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty!’ yelled the partygoers. Hugo gave a cocky half smile to Liberty, as if to say,
Was that good for you?
Then he staggered back to his place. She wiped her mouth and took a long sip of champagne from the glass Cory handed her.

‘Poor you,’ he whispered. ‘I’ve heard Hugo kisses like a vacuum cleaner.’