He's the One (28 page)

There was now a definite edge to Eve’s voice. Brooke wondered why she was getting so uptight – she was the one with the boyfriend, and the life in Brighton! She, Brooke, was the newcomer who was suffering.

She shrugged. ‘The browner the better as far as I’m concerned. Bring it on.’ She looked at Flynn. ‘Oh, my mom says thanks for helping to cook last night. I think she was stunned that any guy would ever offer to help. My stepdad never did anything round the house.’

She noticed Eve narrow her exquisite eyes. No doubt she was put out that she hadn’t been there too, to lord it over them with her flawless skin, shiny hair and pale face.

Flynn looked slightly awkward as he turned to Eve and said, ‘A couple of us went to Brooke’s last night for dinner. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.’

Oh, what? He had to justify himself to her! ‘Yeah, don’t worry, Eve, it was just dinner, we had the orgy after he’d left.’ And then, because she’d really had enough of Eve, Brooke muttered something about needing to get to class early and left the beautiful couple to each other. But something about the encounter put her in a bad mood for the rest of the morning.

At lunch Flynn disappeared off somewhere – more snogging with Eve, no doubt – and Brooke went to the beach with Harry and Mila. It was a warm English afternoon, but only like a spring day by Brooke’s standards, even though Mila complained that she was boiling. Brooke glanced at her black leggings and baggy black t-shirt.

‘No wonder you’re hot in all that black,’ she commented.

‘Black is supposed to be slimming. You can see how well that’s working for me,’ Mila said sarcastically.

‘Well, come to the gym! I’m planning to go after class and sign up.’

Mila was usually so upbeat, but definitely not about this. She sounded completely dejected as she said, ‘I just don’t know if I can put myself through all that again. It’s too depressing. I may as well accept that I’ll look like this for ever.’

Brooke decided to go for a different tactic, already knowing how kind-hearted Mila was. ‘Couldn’t you come for my sake? To keep me company? I really hate doing things like that on my own. I’ll feel so lonely and self-conscious.
Please
, it would mean so much to have a friend go with me. Kelly always used to come with me in LA.’

She was laying it on thick and it seemed to be
working as Mila sighed and said, ‘Okay. But if anyone is rude to me, I’m out of there.’

‘If anyone is rude to you, they’ll have me to answer to!’ Brooke exclaimed. ‘And believe me, I can kick ass.’

From behind Mila’s back, Harry gave Brooke the thumbs up. At least there was something she was doing right.

Mila checked her phone. ‘I thought Flynn might be here by now. He said he’d try and meet us.’ She sighed. ‘Unless Eve’s got other plans for him.’

‘So what’s she like?’ Brooke asked as casually as she could. She had been itching to ask all morning, but didn’t want to seem as if she was actually interested in the answer.

Harry rolled his eyes. ‘High-fucking-maintenance! One minute she wants to have a relationship with Flynn and she’s all over him, then she’s pushing him away because she claims she wants her own space. And he’s gutted, and a mess, and the second it looks as if he might be getting his life back together, she calls him and the whole cycle starts over. I can’t fucking stand her. She’s a selfish, heartless, manipulative bitch.’

‘Wow! Don’t sit on the fence, Harry,’ Brooke joked, but really she was intrigued to hear about any girl who had that much control over Flynn. He’d always seemed to act so in control himself, as if he would always be the one with the upper hand in any relationship.

‘He’s right.’ Mila spoke now. ‘She’ll seem like your best friend, but it’s all about her. She was only ever friends with me because she wanted to get to Flynn. I could never say that to him, though. Even when she’s treated him like shit, he can never see it. He’s completely taken in by her.’

‘I don’t even think the sex is that good,’ Harry put in bitchily. ‘She has the look of someone who wouldn’t
really enjoy it, but would be doing it just to prove how much power they had over you.’

Brooke was taken aback to hear how much Mila and Harry seemed to dislike Eve. And okay, maybe this was bad, but she couldn’t help feeling pleased. She hadn’t warmed to Eve at all.

‘I can’t imagine Flynn being like that,’ Brooke mused. ‘Maybe he really loves her.’

‘It’s obsession. Infatuation. It won’t last, and she’ll break his heart. Again,’ Harry muttered. Then he seemed to snap out of it. ‘Sorry, Brooke, we’re all a tiny bit in love with Flynn ourselves and that girl just puts me in a foul mood. I hate what she does to him.’

All a tiny bit in love with him? Well, Harry could speak for himself and possibly Mila …

‘Let’s talk about something else.’ Harry grinned. ‘Something glamorous, something gorgeous!’

Brooke looked blank.

‘Something you’re going to be having really soon,’ he prompted.

She finally twigged. ‘Oh, yeah, my party! I don’t know that many people yet, but I was thinking of having a fancy dress theme. What do you reckon? Would that be cool or what’s the word you use … naff?’

Instantly Harry looked radiant and Mila looked glum.

‘Ooh, I can come as Richard Gere in
An Officer and A Gentleman
, in a white uniform to show off my tan!’ he declared.

How could she
ever
have thought Harry was straight?

‘And I can be Tweedledum,’ Mila muttered. ‘Again. Or Beth Ditto. Again.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ Brooke told her. ‘You’d look fabulous in a fifties-style fitted dress. You know, curves are really in at the moment.’

When Mila still didn’t look convinced, Brooke carried on, ‘And you’re going to come to the gym with me, so that will make you feel better. Plus I’ll help you find the perfect dress, and on the day I’ll get someone to do our make up and hair.’

Fingers crossed. It would be quite a task, but Brooke had great faith in the power of Spanx and cosmetics.

‘You’re like the Party Fairy!’ Harry declared. ‘I love you!’

And even though she knew he was only saying it because actually what he loved was the prospect of getting dressed up for her party, she still smiled.

‘Oh, look, there’s Flynn,’ Mila commented, waving her hand to attract his attention.

‘And Eve,’ Harry muttered. ‘Shit. I was hoping that he wasn’t going to get back with her. Bummer.’

Brooke watched the couple make their way over to them, hand in hand and looking sickeningly loved up. Why didn’t they just go and snog somewhere in private? She was now going to be subjected to their PDAs and she so didn’t want that. It was a reminder of everything that she didn’t have, and she found it unsettling watching Flynn kiss someone. It stirred something in her that she didn’t want to analyse. No, it was nothing she was going to worry about, it was just because her own love life was so non-existent, a desert. A desert with no oasis in sight. It was absolutely not because she fancied him …

However, it seemed that Eve was making more of an effort to be nice to Brooke this time – either Flynn had said something to her or she had realised what a bitch she had sounded. Now she made a point of sitting down next to Brooke and saying how lucky she was to live where she did, and that Flynn had told her how amazing the house was.

Brooke supposed there was no way she could avoid mentioning the party. ‘You’ll get the chance to see it as I’m going to have my eighteenth there and you’re all invited.’

‘It’s fancy dress,’ Harry exclaimed, clapping his hands together in glee.

‘Isn’t every day fancy dress for you?’ Flynn commented.

‘Harsh,’ Harry shot back. ‘Just because I don’t like hiding my light under a bushel, or rather a pair of baggy shorts.’

Flynn shrugged. ‘They’re just clothes, man,’ he exhaled. ‘It’s so hot.’ And then he peeled off his t-shirt.

Suddenly Brooke saw exactly why Harry was so taken with him. Flynn had the most gorgeous body. Muscular, but not in a pumped up, I-love-myself-and-spend-all-my-time-at-the-gym way – like Christian. And while he might have teased Brooke for her LA look, he would have fitted right in as well, once he had an even golden-brown tan. She forced herself to drag her eyes away from the sight of the band of his black Calvin Klein boxers peeping out of the top of his shorts, and his rock-hard abs. She suddenly felt hot all over …

‘D’you want me to put some sun cream on your back?’ Eve asked, playing the part of the perfect if rather annoying girlfriend.

‘No, it’s not that hot, I’ll be fine.’ He didn’t seem to like being fussed over. He looked at Brooke. God, she really hoped he hadn’t noticed her checking him out … that would be too shameful.

‘So what are you going to wear, Brooke, or is it a secret?’

‘Probably a twenties-style dress, I love that look.’

When he seemed surprised, she grinned. ‘What, did
you think I’d be going as someone out of
Baywatch
or some other LA cliché?’

He frowned. ‘Not at all.’

‘I think you should go in an LAPD uniform and go around threatening to arrest people and cuff them. Kinky. I like it!’ Harry, of course. ‘Ooh, and then you could strip it off and parade around in a basque and stockings.’

‘Let me think about that,’ Brooke joked. ‘Oh, yeah, I have. No fucking way! My mom and gran are probably going to be there!’

‘Well, you might have to stay out of the sun before your party – I don’t think girls in the twenties had such deep tans,’ Eve put in.

‘Well, honey, I’d rather look good than historically accurate,’ Brooke drawled. There was something about Eve’s posh voice that brought out the LA girl in her, and she exaggerated her American accent.

‘Absolutely!’ Harry agreed. ‘So what do you think you’ll come as, Flynn?’

‘Oh, Flynn and I will need to discuss it, so we can co-ordinate our outfits,’ Eve spoke up for him.

‘How very Posh and Becks circa 1999.’ Harry smirked. ‘Flynn would look so good in leather. And of course you would too, Eve.’

Neither Flynn nor Eve looked too pleased with that comment, though Brooke guessed that Flynn was more pissed off with Eve for talking for him. It was plain to see who wore the leather trousers in that couple.

Planning the party took up a lot of Brooke’s time that week – she spent several evenings after college discussing arrangements with her mom, giving her an idea of what she wanted in terms of food and music, though Liberty also promised some surprises. She
researched her party dress as well. She saw a drawing of a beautiful gold beaded flapper dress that she thought would be perfect. Her mom was going to get it made for her by a dressmaker she knew in London.

The list of guests wasn’t quite as pitifully short as Brooke had feared – she was going to ask all the people in her drama and English classes, some thirty in total, plus some partners, and several of her mom’s friends, including Em and Nina. So it would be getting close to fifty guests, which seemed reasonable. She tried not to think about the party she might have had in LA, with over a hundred guests at Chateau Marmont. It was best not to.

And true to her word she signed up to her local gym with Mila, and the pair of them went several times. Brooke had joined with Mila solely because she wanted to help her, but in fact it made exercise so much more fun. They worked out in the gym together and then swam and hung out in the Jacuzzi. Mila was incredibly self-conscious about her body and insisted on swimming in a pair of black shorts over her black swimming costume – enough of the black already!

Brooke started to see Mila as a real friend and to feel relaxed in her company. They chatted about their college work, favourite films and TV dramas: Mila was into all the vampire series while Brooke preferred dramas like
Homeland
. They spoke about their families, and spent quite a lot of time discussing Flynn and Eve. Brooke wanted to know the full story of their relationship, and Mila was happy to oblige. Apparently they had got together two years ago. Flynn had been going out with someone at the time, but Eve had managed to break that up.

‘I just wish he wasn’t going out with her again. We never see as much of him when he is, and when we
do she’s nearly always there, looking down her perfect little nose at me and Harry. I bet she didn’t like your arrival on the scene.’

‘What difference would that make to her? It’s not as if Flynn likes me especially.’

‘Eve’s used to being the Queen Bee and lording it over everyone. But you’re easily as good-looking as her, if not more so. She won’t like that. And your mom is really successful, and you live in a big house. That kind of thing would bother her. I reckon underneath the confident act she puts on, she’s pretty insecure.’

‘Yeah, but I bet she doesn’t have to work at an Italian restaurant,’ Brooke replied. Her second shift was the following day and she wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

‘Cheer up, me and Flynn will be there. Just think of what you can get with your wages – I’m putting mine towards buying a dress for your party.’

And now Brooke felt terrible because the money she earned obviously made a real difference to Mila, whereas Brooke just used hers to top up her allowance.

The restaurant was even busier than it had been the previous week, and what made it even worse was that there were several large groups of diners, including a hen party, who had clearly been spending most of the day drinking and were now hitting the pasta in an attempt to soak up some of the alcohol before going on clubbing. It was Brooke’s luck to end up with the hens, who were loud, aggressive and rude.

‘Can’t you go and serve them?’ she begged Flynn when she passed him.

‘They’d probably sexually harass me,’ he replied, looking over at the table where the girls were checking out pictures on someone’s phone and cackling loudly. They made a coven of witches seem shy and retiring
… He smiled at Brooke. ‘You’ll be fine, just use your LA charm.’

‘I don’t know why Marco let them in, all the other diners look really pissed off.’

Then there was no further time to talk as she had to race to the pass to collect the hens’ main courses. It was a nightmare trying to match up the diners with their meals; no one paid her any attention. She ended up with three ravioli, which the hens claimed they hadn’t ordered when she knew perfectly well that they had.