The Heartbroker (23 page)

“I know. I’m getting there.” Those pesky tears sting my eyes again at her sweetness. Not for the first time, I regret the loss of the hard shell exterior I used to be pretty proud of: it seems to have completely deserted me. Along with my career and love life.

After Laura’s gone, I return to my bedroom, pull off my comfy clothes and put on the lacy dress Laura chose. I stare at my reflection and barely recognize the woman staring back. Despite the amount of uncharacteristic junk food I’ve been downing and lack of my usual exercise regime, I’m looking gaunt, my eyes almost sunken into my skull.

My skin has taken on a greyish tinge, making me look older than my years, and my hair appears frazzled, like I’ve put my finger in an electricity socket on one of those kids’ cartoons.

I smooth my hair down to its ends. In some small, symbolic way, changing my hair colour would mean bidding goodbye to the Brooke I’ve been for years. The Brooke who built up
Live It
from a struggling start up to a successful business; the Brooke who loved Scott; the Brooke who fell for Logan and lost her company.

My mind made up I slip the dress off, leaving it on the floor in a heap as I climb under the covers and submit myself to the temporary relief that comes with blessed sleep.

“WOW, BABE. YOU LOOK amazing! I hardly recognized you,” Laura gushes as she takes my coat, making me wonder how bad I must have looked before.

Yes, I know: pretty bloody awful.

I’m feeling more positive than I have in days. That’s not to say I’m about to do cartwheels in the street or anything—especially not in the dress I’m wearing tonight—but I do feel as though the fog I’ve been floundering in has begun to lift.

She takes one of my newly light brunette curls in her hand. “I know it’s a total cliché, but it softens you. Why were you ever blonde? You totally rock as a brunette.”

Gone is the poker-straight, high maintenance,
un
natural blonde, replaced by something much closer to the real me. And it feels pretty darn good.

It didn’t take me long to talk Rico—my long-standing, long-suffering hairdresser—into making the change.

“With those amazing eyes of yours you’re going to look sensational,” he cooed to my reflection in the mirror of his upmarket city salon. “So, so sexy. Every man will want to eat you up for their breakfast.”

I laughed. “That might be a little ambitious, don’t you think?” I replied, annoyed with myself my mind—and my heart—instantly turned to Logan.

Since my transformation at Rico’s expert hands, it’s taken me a while to get used to it, but changing my look is symbolic of the new me. I’m trying to face the world with fresh eyes.

And hair.

“Brooke? Is that you?” I turn to see Alexis peering at me incredulously. “You look so good!” She hugs me and I breathe in her Dior perfume. “Just like Jennifer Garner. Right, Laura?”

“I was thinking Megan Fox.”

I laugh, buoyed by their compliments. “Either way you’re saying I look like a beautiful famous actress, so I’m happy.”

“Is this a new dress? I don’t remember seeing it in your wardrobe,” Laura comments.

“It is.” I beam as I give them a twirl.

In an attempt to become a new, better version of me, I felt a new party dress was in order. Despite having no income I splashed out on a stunning red dress I saw in a boutique in the city. It’s floaty, romantic, and makes me feel incredible, cut into a deep V in the front, fitting my slim, athletic physique to perfection.

I turn to Laura, giving her a peck on the cheek. “Happy birthday, gorgeous.” I hand her the present I’d bought the previous day. It’s a beautiful piece of blown glass she had admired on a shopping trip we’d been on months ago. Another expensive purchase, but friends like Laura are hard to come by. In the scheme of things, it was well worth the investment.

“Thanks, Brooke,” she gushes with pleasure, giving me a squeeze.

“Come with me and get a drink,” Alexis commands, slipping her arm around my waist and walking me into the living room.

The room is full to the brim of partygoers, lively music blaring. Alexis hands me a shot glass filled with tequila and a slice of lime.

“Down in one.”

I grin at her. “Down in one,” I confirm, tossing the liquid back before sucking on the wedge of lime.

“Hey, I feel bad I haven’t asked about your wedding lately.” She hands me another shot.

We knock them back. Wow, this woman’s on a mission tonight.

“That’s okay. I knew you were going through some stuff. Talking about my wedding was probably the last thing you wanted to do.”

“Hi there, I’m Tim,” Alexis’s fiancée says as he wraps his arms around Alexis from behind. “Wow. Brooke? I didn’t recognize you. You look like you did years ago.”

“Thanks. I think.” I assume that’s a good thing? “Hey, and congratulations on getting engaged too, Tim.”

He unravels himself from his fiancée to give me a quick hug.

“It was about time, don’t you think?” They grin at one another and I have to force a fresh wave of misery down.

Dammit! I thought I was doing so much better.

“I’m really happy for you.”

“Here,” Alexis says, handing me another shot. “I think you could do with one more one of these.”

I chug it back, taking a mental note to stop drinking now: the last thing I need is to end up making alcohol-soaked decisions like I almost did that night with Scott.

I notice Lucinda walking into the room, laughing and preening like she’s some kind of Hollywood starlet we all adore. “What’s
she
doing here?”

“Oh, you know Laura: friends with everyone.” She shoots Lucinda daggers.

“That really is an annoying habit of hers,” I comment.

Lucinda waves at us, as though we’re her good friends, as she hands Laura a present and gives her a hug. She slips her jacket off and hands it to Kyle, Laura’s husband.

Oh. My. God. She’s wearing my dress!

But whereas it looks slim-fitting and classy with a hint of sex appeal on me, on Lucinda’s hourglass frame it’s extremely figure hugging, her breasts popping out of it all over the place. With her platinum locks and full red lips she looks positively pornographic as she wiggles her way towards us.

She looks more like she should be the guest of honour at the Playboy Mansion than at Kyle and Laura’s suburban birthday bash.

She makes a B-line for us and I shrink into my dress. She walks over and stands next to me, creating a ‘who-wore-it-best’ moment.

She wins hands down—or tits up.

She looks me up and down. “Nice dress,” she murmurs with a crooked smile.

She smooths her own dress down across her belly, pumping her ample assets out as she does so. I swear every man’s eyes in the room follow her hands’ slow, deliberate progress. She revels in the attention.

“Err, thanks. You too.” I know as certain as the sun will rise tomorrow every pair of eyes in the room will be comparing me with this sex siren next to me. And I’m not likely to be the victor.

“Hey, Lu,” Tim says, smiling at her like an idiot.

Alexis shoots him a look that says ‘put-it-back-in-your-pants-if-you-still-want-to-be-my-fiancée’ and Tim does just that.

“Is the dress perhaps a little too small for you?” Alexis asks.

“I suppose some of us just fill it out better than others, that’s all.” She shoots me a smug sideways glance that makes me want to pull her hair extensions out. One by one.

Lucinda studies my face, recognition dawning. “Is that you, Brooke? My, my. Don’t you look like a schoolgirl. What’s with the new locks?”

I open my mouth to speak, looking like a fish out of water, unable to think of an appropriately bitchy comment to shoot back at her.

“I think she looks amazing,” Alexis jumps in. “So young and fresh and
natural
,” she adds with extra emphasis. It goes over Lucinda’s head.

“She does,” Lucinda replies genuinely. I nearly fall off my heels at the unexpected compliment.

Then I spot a nasty grin spreading across her pretty face. Isn’t it funny the way good-looking people can suddenly appear ugly when they’re full of anger and spite?

“And I see you got the memo,” she adds.

“The memo?” I inadvertently fall straight into her trap.

“To give the field its straw back.” She smiles sweetly at me, catching one of my curls in her hand.

“People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, Lucinda,” Alexis states, nodding at Lucinda’s platinum locks while crossing her arms.

“Oh, I’m just kidding around. You know that, don’t you, hon?”

“Sure.” I purse my lips.

“Now, tell me, Brooke. Do you make it a habit of only dating cute American men?” Lucinda asks.

My heart skips a beat as an image of Logan pushes its way into my head.

“Err, no.” I laugh nervously. “Why?” I ask before I can stop myself. You’re a prize idiot, Brooke Mortimer.

She shrugs, smiling sweetly. As sweetly as a she-devil intent on destruction can smile, that is. “I was at Ancestral not that long ago. Been there lately?”

My throat seizes. I know what’s coming next.

“I always thought you and Scott made a cute couple. By the looks of you two together, I assume you’re back on?”

I let out a puff of air, trying to conjure up a genie to get me out of here at lightning speed.

Needless to say, no genie appears and Lucinda’s casual reference to Scott is greeted by an ear-splitting screech from Alexis. “
Scott
? What were you doing with
him
?”

I haven’t told anyone about my nearly-sex encounter with Scott—or his unexpected profession of love for me—deciding it’s an embarrassment I just don’t need to relive.

“I, err—” I begin, blushing every shade of red imaginable. Thank god the lights are low in here.

I take Alexis by the arm, glaring at Lucinda’s smug face as I do, walking her away to a quiet spot.

“We had a drink. I had a bit too much and we nearly ended up in bed together.”

“
Nearly
? What does ‘nearly’ mean?” She raises her eyebrows at me.

I’m a naughty schoolgirl who has to justify her behaviour to the principal.

Deciding there’s nothing for it but to come clean now, I tell her about how he had told me he was still in love with me and wanted me back; how I had felt flattered; how he had looked so hot in his jeans; and how I had come to my senses once we were back at his apartment.

“Thank god for that. Why didn’t you tell me, babe?”

“I was embarrassed. I’ve screwed my life up beyond recognition. Almost sleeping with my ex just felt like a step too far.” I hang my head.

“Oh, sweetie.” She rubs my arm.

The music stops and we both turn to see Kyle standing by the fireplace, a smiling Laura looking cute in a ‘Fifties-inspired navy dress, by his side.

“As you know, I’m not one for making speeches.” There’s a general murmur of agreement and a sprinkling of laughter from the partygoers.

“Since it’s my wife’s thirtieth birthday I thought I’d share a few words with you all.” He pulls a battered piece of paper out of his back pocket to whoops from several of his friends.

He turns to face Laura, who looks at her husband with such love in her eyes it almost makes me cry. Again.

He clears his throat, looking at his notes. “Laura,” he begins.

“Glad you got the name right!” someone calls out. It’s funny because Kyle is terrible with names, often giving his friends nicknames. Which, surprisingly, he seems quite capable of remembering.

I smile as I turn to see who is heckling him with the in-joke. It’s one of his good buddies, Ben, a nice guy I knew a little at university.

Hmmm. If Ben’s here, then of course his girlfriend, Jessica, will be too. She’s the woman Scott had an affair with, the reason I kicked him out. Seeing her would
really
make my night.

I scan the room, oblivious to the speech everyone seems to be finding so entertaining. I spot her standing next to her friend, Morgan. She’s wearing a strapless floral dress, her long dark brown hair falling over her shoulders.

Our eyes meet and she gives me a friendly, if tentative, wave. I respond in kind, trying my best to look like I don’t have a care in the world. A bit of a tall order right now.

“So, to wrap up. Laura. Babe. You are the love of my life, and I wish you the happiest of thirtieth birthdays.”

She beams at him as he looks at her through embarrassed eyes.

“And that’s all there is. You can clap now.” We all burst into spontaneous applause, some people cheering.

“Oh, one other thing I forgot,” Kyle says.

“Good one, mate,” another one of his friends calls out.

“Yeah, yeah,” he replies good-humouredly.

We all turn as Jessica walks back into the room, holding a cake blazing with candles. We break into song, Laura flushing with happiness.

Once she’s blown out the candles she turns to face us all again. “I just want to say a huge thank you to all of you for coming. And to Kyle’s mum, who has our three little treasures tonight. I’m having the best time, and I want you all to stay and drink and have fun. I sure as hell am.”

People cheer. She holds her hand up and everyone falls silent once more. “I also want Kyle, my wonderful husband, to know how lucky I am to have him and our three amazing children in my life. I don’t know where I would be without you.”

You would be where I am, Laura. And you wouldn’t like it, not one little bit.

There’s a series of ‘ahh’s' from the crowd followed by applause as Kyle and Laura kiss.

She turns to face us and everyone falls silent once again. “This is the final thing I want to say tonight, I promise. Now, I know this night is all about me, as it should be,” she says to laughter, “but I’m bursting to share some news with you. Ben? Come over here.”

Laura takes Jessica’s hand as Ben makes his way across the room, smiling so much he looks like his face might crack, his eyes trained on Jessica. When he reaches her he wraps his arm around her waist, and they share a smile.