“Yes, actually. We have a show at The Dublin Castle on Saturday. Want to come?”
“I’d love to. I might even try to drag Afric out of her bedroom and away from her game console long enough to come, too,” I said with a grin.
“Who’s talking about me?” came Afric’s voice through the door.
“I was wondering what toppings you want on your pizza?” I called back, winking at Sarita.
“Meat feast, please,” she responded loudly. “I’m starting a live stream in five minutes, so can you bring it in to me when it arrives?”
“When was the last time you actually ate at the table?” Sarita yelled.
“Eating at the table doesn’t pay the bills,” Afric responded cheekily while Sarita and I both shook our heads.
Our friend was going to turn into a shut-in one of these days. I mean, I was partial to a long gaming session myself, but I at least re-entered the land of the living after a day or two. Afric once went an entire month without leaving the flat.
Perhaps I really should convince her to come to Sarita’s gig this weekend. It would be good for her. And perhaps I’d meet someone interesting enough to take my mind off James for once.
***
The following day was Friday. I was running around the city doing errands for the cast, ticking each one off my list as I went. Paul needed me to hook his new flat up with TV and internet. Then I had to pick up some baby things for Trevor, since he and his partner, Reya, were expecting in a couple of weeks. A delivery of energy drinks was arriving at the gym, and Callum’s bike needed to be brought in for repairs.
Days like this were exhausting when you didn’t own a car and had to get everywhere on public transport. My second to last errand was to pick up dry cleaning for James and leave it at his flat. I’d been putting it off all day, mostly because going to his place felt weird, like I was invading his personal space. I knew I wouldn’t feel this way if it weren’t for my crush on him. If I didn’t have feelings for James, then going to his flat would be nothing more than a mundane part of my workday. Instead, it was a maze of emotional angst. And don’t even get me started on my fear of bumping into Diana.
I steeled myself, determined to just bite the bullet and get it over and done with. Then I might just have enough time to go home and take a quick shower before I needed to hurry across the city to Leanne and Callum’s place.
Yes, the work of a personal assistant was never done. Or at least it felt that way sometimes.
It was Leanne’s birthday and Callum was throwing her a small party at their flat. I was in charge of bringing the cake, while my co-assistant, Neil, was arranging the food and drink. The cake currently sat in my fridge at home, and I’d stuck a bright yellow Post-it Note on the box explicitly warning Afric and Sarita not to eat it.
Neil and I had a set of keys that let us into each of the cast members’ homes. It was easier this way since we always had to be letting ourselves in and out. I’d only had cause to enter James’ place a couple of times, and like I said, I always got super antsy about it.
It was just after 6 pm and I hoped Diana would be out. She was an interior designer at one of London’s top firms and I knew she worked long hours because James had mentioned it a few times. Okay, so he mentioned it once, and like the psycho that I was, I remembered.
Just like I remembered every small personal detail he decided to share with me.
I slotted my key in the door and entered the flat, which to my relief, appeared to be empty. So far, so good. I quickly went to hang James’ dry-cleaning on the door to the living area. Then, just as I turned to leave, I heard voices coming from the direction of the bedroom.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
“You’re always putting your friends before me,” Diana cried, her voice thick with emotion.
“I told you about this party weeks ago,” James spoke softly, cajolingly, like he was trying to soothe her.
“I know that, but I had a long day at work. I’m exhausted,” Diana complained. “I just want to stay in tonight.”
“How about I show my face for a little while, give Leanne her birthday gift, then I’ll be back before you know it? I’ll even bring home food from that Italian place you love.”
I heard her scoff. “You want me to eat pasta?! It’s seven weeks until the wedding. I swear sometimes it feels like you don’t even want me to fit into my dress.”
“I’ll get you a salad then, something without carbs.”
“So you think I won’t fit into my dress?”
“What? No, of course not. You just said you didn’t want pasta, so I presumed…”
Realising I definitely shouldn’t be listening to this, I crept as quietly as I could back to the door and left the flat without making a sound. My heart raced as I hurried out, trying not to analyse what I just heard too deeply, but I couldn’t help it. My mind raced a mile a minute. There’d been a viciousness in Diana’s tone that awakened some strange protective instinct in me. I didn’t like how she spoke to James, and I equally didn’t like how he tried to placate her for a situation that wasn’t his fault. Obviously, I hadn’t heard the whole fight, but I wondered if they argued like this a lot. Or was it a once in a blue moon thing? Was their relationship a healthy one, with just a few fights every once in a while, or did Diana talk to him like this all the time? There was something a little emotionally manipulative about what she said to him and it made my chest tighten, my jaw firm.
Ugh! I was such a stalker! The argument was none of my business. I was supposed to be putting my crush on James behind me, and here I was psycho-analysing his relationship like some obsessed bunny boiler. I needed to get back on track. I needed to focus on my job and quit thinking about my boss all the time.
It’s none of your business, I reminded myself again. None. Of. Your. Business. So do your job and get over your crush. With renewed yet grim resolve, I hurried out of the building and headed in the direction of the Tube.
Four
James
When I’d walked into our flat, I’d found Diana in bed wrapped in blankets. We’d been arguing a lot lately, but I put it down to wedding stress. The trouble was, a lot of our arguments seemed to be about her not wanting me to see my friends outside of work. I understood, to a certain extent, since between both of our jobs, we didn’t get a lot of quality time together. But my parkour group was important to me, the same way my fiancée was. I just needed to figure out a way to balance the two.
“I think I might be coming down with a cold,” Diana went on, and I stepped closer to feel her forehead.
“You don’t feel hot at least,” I said, staring down at her in concern.
“Come cuddle me,” she pleaded, tugging on my hand.
“I wish I could, babe, but I have to get ready.”
Her face turned frosty as she sat upright, suddenly looking more angry than sick. “So you still plan on going without me?”
“It’s Leanne’s birthday. I have to be there. After tonight we’ll have the whole weekend to ourselves, I promise,” I said, trying to take hold of her.
She pushed me away. “Oh my God, just go to the fucking party, James. I know you’d rather spend time with your friends than with me.” She threw a pillow at me. It hit me on the shoulder before plopping to the floor.