Lola's House (Lola Series) (16 page)

Robert
spots him too and looks over to me.  ‘James?’

‘Yes,’ I repl
y, ‘I’m not sure what he’s doing here this early though - he knew I was going away this weekend.’

Robert unlock
s his door.  ‘I’ll get the bags.’

Harley dashe
s out of the car straight over to where James stands and sniffs excitedly round his legs, his tail wagging furiously.  James looks down and impatiently nudges him away with his foot before ending his call.

I g
et out of the car and walk over to him smiling.  ‘This is a nice surprise, James.  I wasn’t expecting you.’  I lean forward to give him a kiss and he pulls away from me.

‘I’ve been trying to call you, Lola.  Where have you been?’

‘You knew I was in Brighton for the weekend, I told you.’

‘What, with him?’  He nod
s over to Robert who has closed the boot of the car and is now approaching us.

‘No, I was with Chrissie at a he
n party,’ I say, feeling myself colouring up at his accusations.

Robert c
omes and stands under the portico with us and holds his hand out to James.  ‘Hey, James.  We meet at last.’

James ignore
s him and turns back to me again.  ‘I need to speak to you in private, Lola.’

I look
at Robert, my cheeks now flaming with embarrassment. 

‘Don’t mind me, I’ll get out of your way,’ he says, shrugging his shoulders as he c
arries on into the house. 

I turn
back to James.  ‘That was so rude, James.’

‘
Bollocks to that, I’ve been stood here waiting for you, looking forward to seeing you and then you tip up with him.  Looking very cosy together too.  What the fuck is going on, Lola?’

‘Nothing’s going on.  I was in a bit of a tight spot and Robert just helped me out, that’s all.’

‘Well what was so dire that I couldn’t have helped you out, your own boyfriend?  Why didn’t you call me?’ he says, gritting his teeth angrily.

‘I did call you, twice.  And it went straight to voicemail both times.’

‘I’ve been working all weekend, you know, trying to earn as much money as possible for our future together.  You could have left me a voicemail and I would have called you straight back as soon as I could.  There was no need to call him,’ he says, nodding his head towards the house.  ‘Anyway, he’ll have to move out soon when I move in.  I’m not having him getting his feet comfortable under my table.’

I bristle with annoyance. 
‘Can I remind you that it’s my table and as far as I’m aware, we haven’t discussed us living together.’ 

He knows he
has gone too far and softens slightly.  ‘Come on, Lola.  Work with me here.  I’m trying to move things along between us and you keep putting up barriers.  You say you want to be with me and yet you hold me at a distance.  You won’t make a commitment to me and every time I mention us living together, you change the subject.’  He puts his arms around me and looks deep into my eyes.   ‘What’s really going on in your head, Lola?’

‘I’m sorry,’ I say, feeling
myself deflate.  I can’t argue with what he has said, it’s all true.  ‘I have been holding you back.  I just feel afraid that if I let you back into my life fully then it will all fall apart like it did last time.’

‘Trust me, it won’t.  Now I have you back I’m not going to do anyt
hing to jeopardize what we have,’ he says, holding me tighter to his chest.  ‘But I really want to move things on, so I can see you more often.  I want to see you every morning when I wake up, and every evening when I get home, like old times.  I’ve gotten over the things that put a wedge between us last time.  I’ve grown up a lot in the last year, you must have realised that, Lola.  Come on, you know it’s the right thing to do.’

My eyes search
his face for any clue of what I have been dreading and all I find is his sincerity.  I pull myself into his body.  How would I ever know if it was going to work unless I gave it a proper chance?  ‘I guess you’re right, James.  Why don’t we discuss it properly inside and I’ll make us some tea.’

‘Fuck the tea.  I’m taking you upstairs right now to remind you what you’ll be getting every night.’  He put
s his lips on mine and kisses me passionately, his hand round my waist pulling me firmly into his body.  As ever with James, there is no doubt in my mind what I will be getting.

Chapter Sixteen

‘I hope you don’t mind, I had a good look at the website over the weekend and I have moved some things around and changed some of the text
,’ she says, leaning back in her chair so I can take a closer look at the page displayed on the laptop.  ‘What do you think?’

‘That looks really good, Muriel.  I didn’t realise you were so nifty with this kind of thing.’

‘Neither did I,’ she smiles, and clicks through to another page.  ‘My nephew showed me how to do some more things after you had left on Friday, I’ll show you later when we get a quiet half hour.  But in the meantime we’ve already had a few emails, and we’ve sold the black dress we featured on the main page.’

‘That is excellent,
so what happens next?’  I peer over her shoulder studying the website.

‘Now, I’m going to box up the dress and take it to the post office.  Katherine will be here shortly with the first of our order.  She’s already photographed the items so we can put them on the website too.’

‘Wow, you really do have everything in hand,’ I say, giving her shoulders a squeeze.  ‘I’ll make some tea then shall I?’

Muriel g
ets out of the chair and presses me into it.  ‘I’ll make the tea while you have a good look round the website and get your brain into gear, we need to start planning for this re-launch.’

‘I’ve done some thinking in that department
and I’ve already made some notes and written down a few names.  I’m going to ring the papers this morning.’  I pull a notepad out of my bag. 

Muriel t
akes the notepad from me and flicks through the pages nodding her head.  ‘This looks pretty comprehensive, although I can add a couple of things and get cracking with organising the food and drinks.  I think we ought to get flowers too, what do you think?’

I look
through the emails that have come in since the website went live last week.  ‘Definitely, I’m just kicking myself we didn’t do this sooner.  Look at all these emails just from one weekend.’

‘Speaking of
weekends, how was the hen do?’

I grimace at Muriel.  ‘It was m
ore a hen
don’t
actually.’ 

I proceed
to explain to Muriel the events of the weekend, from Chrissie’s meltdown and then getting back together with Cal, me getting lost and being rescued by Robert (although I don’t mention the spooning incident) and then James’ jealous outburst on Sunday.  When I have finished her eyebrows have almost made it into her hairline.

‘So how are things between you and James now?’

‘Oh he had calmed down considerably by the time he left this morning.’  I pause briefly.  ‘We’ve decided to live together again.’

Muriel’s forehead crinkle
s as she frowns at me.  ‘I didn’t think you were ready for that?’

‘To be honest with you, Muriel, I would have preferred to wait a while just
until we get used to each other again, but James was putting so much pressure on me it was easier to just agree.  But, it’s not like we haven’t lived together before and he is housetrained,’ I say, trying to make light of it and justify it to myself.  ‘He will be away mostly anyway over the next few weeks so he is going to stay over at mine more when he can and move in fully in a few weeks time so that should all work out perfectly.’

Muriel manoeuvre
s herself so she can see my face.  ‘Perfectly for whom, Lola, you or James?’

I blush
deeply feeling the heat creep down my neck.  ‘He has changed, Muriel, honestly, and I’m sure it’s the right thing to do if we are to move on.’  I bite on my lip.  ‘I just don’t know what to do about Robert.’

‘Why, what has Robert got to do with it?’

‘I don’t want to throw him out, I really like him but James keeps saying he should leave.  You know how jealous he gets.’

‘It’s a big house, couldn’t they just keep out of each other’s way, after all wasn’t Robert supposed to be staying short term?’

‘That was the plan, until he found his own place,’ I say with a sigh.  ‘Oh I don’t know, Muriel, let’s have some tea, it’s making my head hurt just thinking about it.’

She smile
s and gives my back a little rub, picking up the kettle to fill with water.  The bell clangs noisily above the door, so I leave Muriel making the tea while I go into the shop.  When Muriel comes out a few minutes later I am in the changing room with a customer.

‘I don’t understand it, I’m definitely a size twelve
,’ she says, turning side on to view her stomach.

I examine
the zip on the purple suede A-line mini skirt which is now stuck halfway up her hips.  ‘Vintage clothing is sized slightly smaller,’ I say, as I wiggle the toggle on the zipper, but it’s stuck fast.

‘But I haven’t put on any weight so why won’t it fasten up.’  She wiggle
s her hips trying to get the skirt upwards.

‘You need to select a larger size with these pieces,’ I sa
y, trying to keep her still while being as tactful as I can, she doesn’t look as if she will take criticism very well.

She tosse
s her long chestnut hair over her shoulder slightly indignantly.  ‘But I love this skirt, it has to fit.  I’m going to a sixties night at the weekend and I’ve got purple platform shoes and everything.’

‘Give me a second, I think I may have something in the stock room,’ I sa
y, as I leave her wiggling around in the changing room.  The bell clangs again above the door as I walk through the shop, and I turn automatically, to see Robert filling the doorway.

‘Robert?’  I stop in my tracks, surprised to see him standing there.

Muriel’s face lights up as she looks from Robert to me and back to Robert.

‘I just wanted to drop this off, I thought you might need it
,’ he says, holding out my purse.  ‘I found it in the footwell of the car this morning.’

I hesitate
for a second and Muriel shoots me another look, then a voice comes from the changing room.  ‘I can’t bloody budge it.’ 

Muriel spr
ings into action.  ‘Do you want me to finish serving your customer?’

‘Yes please, Muriel.  She’s got the zip stuck, oh and I was going to fetch the green suede mini from the stock room for her.’

She disappears into the back of the shop and I turn to Robert.  I take my purse from his hands and tingle with pleasure as my skin brushes his.  ‘Thanks, I didn’t realise I had lost it.’

‘That’s okay, it was more an excuse to pop in and see how you were after last night.’

‘Oh, I’m okay thanks.  Don’t mind James, he runs hot and cold but he is a good sort underneath it all.’  I feel lately I am spending most of my time making excuses for him.

‘I was more concerned about you, Lola.  You left pretty early this morning and I wanted to check things were good with you?’

I turn as I hear Muriel come out of the stock room and then disappear into the changing rooms.  I turn back to Robert.  ‘I’m okay honestly.  I’m glad you dropped in actually, I wanted to say thank you for everything you did for me at the weekend.’

He pull
s himself up straight and shrugs his shoulders.  ‘No need to thank me.’

‘Well I do need to, you dropped everything for me and came out of your way, and lots of people wouldn’t have gone to that much trouble.’  The statement h
angs in the air as I think again about James and his strop yesterday.

‘Like I said, it was no
bother, in fact I really enjoyed it.’

I blush
a little remembering the spooning on Sunday morning and Robert quickly jumps in to spare my embarrassment.  ‘I meant I enjoyed Saturday night, sitting by the sea, eating chips with you and Harley.’

I smile
.  ‘Me too, in fact, if you were free, I’d like to cook a meal to say thank you, maybe Wednesday.  I’m a bit short on spare time at the moment what with the re-launch but I’m sure I could fix something up.’

‘I’d love to, but I’ve got a date on Wednesday.’

The statement hangs in the air and I feel my whole body deflate, why have I assumed he would be free.  I bet women were queuing up to get a piece of him.  ‘Oh right, sorry, maybe another time then.’

Muriel c
omes back out of the changing room followed closely by chestnut haired wiggle hips whose face lights up as soon as she spots Robert.  She tosses her long glossy hair over her shoulder, and thrusts her chest out in front of her as she wiggles past us.  Muriel takes the green skirt and wraps it carefully in tissue paper.

‘Anyway, I guess I’ll catch you at home later then,’ Robert sa
ys, as he backs towards the door.  I was conscious of Muriel’s eyes on me as she wraps the skirt.

‘See you later,’ I reply
, as he leaves and the bell clangs again above the door.

Chestnut haired wiggle hips watche
s him leave then shoots me a look of pure contempt.  She pays for her purchase, spins on her heel and leaves the shop without a further word.

Muriel
is still staring at the door so I turn and head towards the back of the shop.  ‘I had better sort out some space in the stock room ready for the delivery.’

She
catches up with me and grabs my arm.  ‘No you don’t, I tidied the stock room at the weekend.’  She turns me round to face her.  ‘What is going on between you two?’

‘You two, who?’
I ask, full of innocence.

‘You and Robert, you could cut the tension with a knife.’

‘I didn’t notice anything,’ I lie.  ‘Anyway, we’re just friends.’

‘Seems to me he wants to be more than just friends,’ she sa
ys, examining my face.  ‘And he’s not the only one by the guilty expression you’re wearing.’

I pull myself from her grasp.  ‘That’s ridiculous.  He’s just told me he has a date on Wednesday so he’s clearly not interested in
me, you’re reading it all wrong. Besides, I’m taken as you well know.’

‘I know you, Lola, and something is going on between the two of you.  Perhaps you haven’t admitted it to yourself yet, but it’s definitely there.’

‘That’s just preposterous, Muriel.  I thought of all people I could rely on you not to go all Bridget Jones on me.  Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do.’ 

I march
off into the stock room and close the door behind me.  I sit down on a box and fan myself with my hand.  My skin feels like its on fire yet I have goose bumps on my arms.  I need to pull myself together and stop acting like a silly schoolgirl or I am in danger of making myself look really foolish.  Muriel has noticed it, so other people were bound to see how I act in front of Robert.  But I just can’t help myself, I go to pieces every time he’s near me.  It’s ridiculous and I have to get control of this situation before it escalates further.   I take a few deep breaths to calm myself and think logically.  There is no other choice, I will have to ask Robert to leave or risk what I have with James.

I stay at the shop with Muriel until eight, planning, making lists and phoning contacts.  The delivery from Katherine has arrived and we have put some of the dresses out on display and have sold two of them already.  The pencil skirts and lace blouses I put in the stock room as I want to make a feature on forties office wear for the re-launch night. 

By the time Muriel le
aves for the evening my head is buzzing with ideas.  I lock up the shop and go next door to collect the takeaway I have phoned through earlier.  Sandip’s restaurant is decorated in a contemporary style with modern furniture and blue fairy lights dotted across the walls.  My shoes clip across the wooden floor as I walk towards the counter.  The restaurant is already busy and only a couple of tables remain empty.  The waiters are rushing backwards and forwards to the kitchen.

Sandip greet
s me at the bar.  ‘Hi, Lola, I haven’t seen you in here for a while.’

‘Hi
, Sandip, no I’ve been a bit busy,’ I say, looking around the restaurant.  ‘You’re doing quite well yourself I see.’

‘Yes, always busy on Monday night when we do specials.  How is it in your shop, is business picking up?’

‘Not too bad.’  I nod my head.  ‘We’ve just got a new line in, vintage inspired.  In fact we’re having a re-launch party a week on Thursday if you want to pop in for an hour.’

He thinks for a few seconds. 
‘Yes, I could bring my wife, she loves clothes, oh so many clothes.’

I laugh.  ‘That would be lovely
Sandip, I’ll look forward to seeing you both.’  A waiter emerges from the kitchen and places my takeaway bag on the counter.  The smell of spices immediately hits my nostrils and I my stomach rumbles in response.  I pay for the food and pick up the bag.  ‘See you next week, Sandip.’

He wave
s goodbye and I leave the restaurant, bag in hand.  All I can think about now is eating, followed by a quick bath, and then bed.