Love Simmers (7 page)

I had never heard her say
vagina before. Under any other circumstances I would have
laughed.

Before I could stop her, Maddie
picked up the glass of red wine the bartender had put in front of
the woman and poured it over her blonde head. The woman screamed in
outrage.

“
My hair,” she
grabbed a napkin, “my dress!”

The dress wasn’t really a loss
in my opinion.

“
I couldn’t
control myself,” Maddie laughed quite wickedly, her actions seizing
the attention of the entire bar. It was like watching a scene from
a movie. Stuff like this just didn’t happen in Chester.

“
You’re going
down, butterball!” The woman shoved Maddie hard enough to send her
backwards against the barstool. I tried to pull Maddie back,
lifting a leg to try and keep the other woman at a distance. Of
course, like shell-shocked buffoons the bar patrons just stared in
disbelief that two woman were now fighting and a celebrity chef
with a broken arm was trying to keep them apart. Maddie flew past
me, lunging towards the woman. I had no idea what she would do
next. I couldn’t imagine her hitting someone.

“
Can someone
please help?” I shouted at the men and women who just watched with
open mouths.

“
Sure,” a
female voice said calmly behind us. “You three. You’re under
arrest.”

We all stopped instantly,
turning around to see a police officer standing a few feet away
watching us with an amused expression.

“
Shit,” I
groaned, knowing we were in for a long night. How was I ever going
to explain this to my publicist?

“
I’m so sorry,
Logan,” Maddie said as she sat beside me in the local police
station cell. “Is this going to damage your career?”

I laughed wearily, my head and
arm pounding. I was in dire need of another painkiller now.

“
Who doesn’t
want to watch a chef who gets into a bar fight on holiday?” I tried
to make her feel better, wondering whether Ollie would make it here
soon. I’d called him half an hour ago. He was probably making sure
his phone was charged. He’d want pictures.

“
Are you going
to apologise to me?” Kate asked from the far side of the cell. “I
could sue you for like, emotional distress and the cost of my
dress.”

We’d learnt after getting
arrested together that the blonde from the bar was called Kate.

“
You paid for
that dress?” I asked incredulously, glad to see Maddie
smile.

“
There are my
two little criminals,” Ollie said as he, Nate and the female
officer who arrested us walked into the room. “Which one of you is
Thelma?”

His voice was brimming with
laughter. I’d never hear the end of it, the time I came to town,
got his business trashed, got attacked and then got thrown in
prison for a bar fight. Come to think of it I was on a rampage
these days, a crime spree really.

“
You shouldn’t
tease me. I’ve learnt how to make a shank. Pris has taught me a lot
of things,” I told him mockingly. He laughed, definitely amused by
the situation. If I didn’t make a joke of it, I would likely start
crying soon.

“
I had to come
see this for myself.” Nate leaned against the cell bars to stare at
us like animals in the zoo.

“
They were
causing quite the public disruption,” the officer smiled, standing
awfully close to Nate. I tried not to stare. “It seems Logan’s
brought trouble to town as usual.”

I stared at the Officer. Her
comment seemed personal.

“
Do I know
you?” I asked her.

From the familiar body language
between her and Nate I was guessing she was an ex.

“
Third period
English,” she offered. Her hint was not in the least bit helpful.
My face must have been blank because she turned to Nate and rolled
her eyes. He smiled, obviously a private little joke between them.
I wanted to chunder.

“
Did you bring
my pain killers?” I ignored the officer and turned to Ollie,
walking over to the cell gate stiffly. I’d be amused about the
events of tonight when my arm no longer hurt so much I was tempted
to self-amputate.

“
Sorry, of
course.” My brother pulled them from his satchel. Officer Third
Period English unlocked the door and let Maddie and me out. I
swallowed the pills without water.

“
I’m sorry
Logan. You’re so hurt. I shouldn’t have dragged you out tonight.”
Maddie looked upset at my discomfort. I put a hand on her
shoulder.

“
You couldn’t
drag me somewhere if you tried. I wanted to go.”

I turned to look at Nate. He
was standing talking to the officer, their bodies barely an inch
apart. I was over today. Actually, I was over this week.

Charlie walked into the room as
we headed to the exit, his face wrought with tension as he caught
sight of Maddie.

“
You attacked
my girlfriend?” He shouted at her.

Ollie wrapped an arm around her
shoulder in support.

“
Attacks a
strong word,” I snapped, already angry from sitting in jail for two
hours and then seeing Nate interact with a woman who was obviously
an ex and had arrested me. “More like, she engaged in a
conversation with your girlfriend that took a turn for the
worst.”

“
Shut up,
Logan,” he growled, staring at Maddie as he waited for an
answer.

“
Let’s go,”
Maddie said as she and Ollie pushed past Charlie. I followed
behind. I turned to tell Nate we were leaving when I saw the
officer wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him invitingly on
the cheek. I walked out before I could see what his reaction was.
What we’d been doing was silly. I was going home next week. He was
staying here. It was essentially a fling. And a fling shouldn’t
make you feel so deeply. It should be fun and light-hearted and not
make you want to burst into tears at the sight of that person being
kissed by another.

Ollie dropped us both at
Maddie’s house. I figured she shouldn’t be alone after the night’s
events. I didn’t want to be in a house with Nate so it worked out
well anyway.

I stepped inside the house
while she and Ollie remained on the doorstep. I could hear them
from the living room. It was hard not to eavesdrop.

“
Thank you for
bailing us out,” she said to him. She seemed awkward for some
reason, her arms folded tightly in front of her.

“
Charlie’s an
idiot if he can’t see you’re worth a hundred Kate’s.” I’d never
head that tone in my brother’s voice before. I’d seen him speak to
countless girlfriends but never with that tone. He seemed,
uncomfortable.

I couldn’t help but spy on them
from the window when I could no longer hear them talk.

I watched as Maddie leaned in
towards Ollie. I saw him take a step back from her. An uneasy
silence settled between them. Neither of them seemed to know what
to say now.

I was about to go out there to
break up the moment for them when Ollie finally spoke.

“
When you’re
fully sober and no longer hurting or looking to hurt Charlie, I’d
like to take you out to dinner,” He took control of the situation
with a smile. I wanted to squeal. He would treat her much better
than Charlie ever had.

“
I- I mean I
guess if you want,” her hesitation wiped the smile off his face. I
wanted to go out there and give him a comforting hug. He said a
quick goodbye, hurrying to his car without looking back. I left the
window before Maddie came in, heading to the kitchen to pull out a
tub of ice creams. I figured we both deserved it after the night
we’d had. Prison had been rough.

“
So, who was
the Officer?” I asked as we binged. Maddie seemed unsettled,
whether it was over her actions at the bar or Ollie I wasn’t sure.
I had never seen her behave so aggressively. It was nice that she
was willing to stand up for herself, hopefully next time just not
to the point that she ended up in jail. As for Ollie, well I don't
think she was even nearly ready to handle that.

“
Lia Morrison,”
she said, her mind obviously not focused on the
conversation.

The name triggered a hazy
memory of a shy, studious girl with a cute face and a bad wardrobe.
I was surprised she had become a cop. If she was who I was thinking
of, I always remembered her talking about becoming a psychologist.
Lia and I had never really been friends. We’d sat together for a
term in English and had barely exchanged five sentences. We’d had
little in common back then.

“
Lia and Nate?”
I asked, wondering what they were doing now and then kicking myself
for bringing that mental picture into my mind. I lost my
appetite.

“
They dated for
about eight months. Broke up about a year ago. I think Lia’s always
wanted him back.” It finally dawned on her what we were discussing.
She gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry but I really don’t think
he’s into her. ”

“
Stop
apologising, you’re losing your recently earned street cred.” We
both laughed. Even a bar fight and two hours in lockdown didn’t
give Maddie a dangerous vibe.

“
We are
pathetic. I mean, you’re literally bruised and broken and I’m a hot
mess,” she let out an uneasy breath. It’s hard to handle where your
life was sometimes. I didn’t ask her how she felt about Ollie. I
figured she’d confide when she was ready. She needed time to
process all the changes in her life.

“
Hey, we are
both hot messes. Don’t hog that title!”

We spent a few more minutes
together in the kitchen before we went our separate ways. Her house
was a cute one-bedroom cottage so I took the couch much to her
objections. If she’d had her way I’d be in her room and she’d have
the couch.

My phone rang as I was drifting
off to sleep. I saw Nate’s name on the screen. I choose not to pick
up.

It was the day before Sail’s
opening and I’d managed to successfully avoid Nate for 24 hours.
After three unanswered calls and four ignored texts he’d given up.
No doubt after figuring out Lia was a much easier option than me.
I’d stayed at Maddie’s the last two nights, enjoying the peace and
quiet of her home and spending time with my best friend. Especially
after footage of me being arrested hit the web. Between my assault
and my arrest my name was everywhere. I blamed social media for
this. Everyone just had to have a smartphone at the ready to
capture others humiliation and then upload it.

“
Nate wants to
know why you’re pissed,” Ollie said the words without any interest
as he diced potatoes in the kitchen. He’d asked me yesterday if I
would make the breads for the opening night. Breads were sort of my
speciality so I’d been more than happy to help. Since my arm was in
cast though, I was preparing to teach Ollie the art of bread
making. I had little faith in his abilities. Making bread was a
lesson in patience, which was not my brother’s strong suit. I
thought back to his actions towards Maddie, maybe I was wrong.
Maybe I hadn’t seen the patient side of him.

“
You were
right. I thought about what happens when I leave on Monday. We
shouldn’t start anything. He should be with someone like Lia,
someone who actually lives here.”

My brother gave me a knowing
look, his eyes consoling.

“
He was
wondering whether you saw Lia kiss him.”

“
It doesn’t
matter,” I dismissed the comment with a lie. Of course it fucking
mattered but I didn’t want Nate to know that. I didn’t want him to
know that I hadn’t slept well the last two nights because I missed
him beside me. One night together and I missed him.

“
Seeing someone
you love with someone else is never easy but Nate broke up with Lia
ages ago. They’re not back together.” His words were like water
after a long run. I wanted to smile in relief until I thought about
what happened when I left and Lia was there for Nate and I wasn’t.
They would get back together in time. There weren’t that many
eligible young single people in town after all.

“
Is that how
you felt about Maddie and Charlie?” I saw my brother flinch, as if
my comment had hit a nerve.

“
It doesn’t
matter,” he threw my words back at me and I laughed. What a pair we
were. He laughed after a few seconds, walking over to where I sat
preparing the dough to give me a hug. I held onto him tightly,
letting go when I heard someone clear their throat.

I looked over to see Nate
standing at the door watching our little display of family love.
Ollie went back to dicing potatoes, shooting a pitying look my way
as Nate headed in my direction.

“
Can we talk?”
It was a question but Nate’s tone didn’t make it sound like
one.

“
I’m really
busy making bread.” I turned my back on him to focus on my task at
hand, wondering how I was ever going to explain the concept of
kneading to my brother.

“
Fine, then
we’ll do this in front of Ollie,” he challenged.

“
I’m out.”
Ollie left the kitchen, ignoring my calls of ‘traitor’ and
‘Judas’,

I put on my best intimidating
glare and turned to face Nate. His glare was far superior.

“
So you saw Lia
kiss me on the cheek and your reaction was to ignore me till you
left town?” I wasn’t sure if I was meant to answer the question, it
sounded rhetorical.