The Ties that Bind (Kingdom) (6 page)

Pulling herself back to the present, Destiny took one last look at the pouting blonde and then put her out of her mind. It was time to go and get her inebriated friend and leave.

Extricating Hope from the club turned out to be more difficult than Destiny had thought. The silly cow was so drunk she didn’t even realize that she was about an inch away from the bitch brawl of their lives.

Destiny had exhausted persuasion, so she resorted to a tactic she knew would work with Hope. “There are about four women in here who look as though all they want to do is kick your arse, and I’m ready to let them. You have exactly until I count to one to start heading for the door or I’m leaving you to find out how these London women handle themselves in a fight!”

At the mention of fighting, Hope’s head snapped around, and her eyes popped. If a person could sober up in an instant, Hope accomplished just that at the mention of violence.

It always amused Destiny that a woman who could get herself into so much trouble had no idea how to defend herself. That was until she was caught in the middle of having to pull Hope’s skinny arse out of trouble.

Tonight, Destiny wasn’t in the mood. Tonight, Hope was going to listen and hear everything she had to say. She was sick and tired of listening to all her bloody griping. If Hope wanted Steve, it was time for her to work out how that was going to happen.

“One,” Destiny, started counting.

“Let’s go,” was Hope’s rejoinder as she did an about turn and began to push her way through the crowd, her dance partner forgotten in an instant.

Shaking her blonde head, Destiny followed behind a rapidly departing, Hope.

**********

The black cab pulled up outside the apartment Hope and Destiny shared while they were in London. Destiny looked over at her friend who was slumped over in her seat. Her look of instant sobriety in the club had only, Destiny realized, been Hope’s reflex action to the thought of getting her face punched in by an angry mob.

“Come on, Mrs., let’s get your drunk arse upstairs.” Destiny paid the driver before taking Hope by the arm as she pulled her out of the cab. Feeling the weight of Hope’s slumped over body, Destiny’s frustration once again began to mount.

“If you think I’m supporting your bag of bones all the way up those stairs you better think again!” When she got no reaction, Destiny realized she was wasting her breath. Using all her strength, she half pulled, half carried, Hope to the front door.

Inside the apartment, Destiny gave Hope a none too gentle push, and she watched her fall back onto the couch. Watching her for a few more moments, she shook her head in exasperation at the mess Hope had managed to make of her perfectly happy life. Without a doubt, Destiny thought, Hope had some serious issues.

Rolling her eyes, she made her way to the kitchen and turned on the kettle and arranged the necessary coffee paraphernalia. Instant it was going to be, because there was no way, after the night she’d had that she had any intention of making freshly brewed coffee. Pulling out the biggest mug she could find, she added two spoons of coffee and filled the cup with boiling water. Bringing the mug into the lounge, Destiny placed it on an end table and sat down beside a sleeping Hope.

Taking pity on her friend, she removed Hope’s high heels, and stood as she swung her legs onto the couch. Taking a seat beside the prostrate woman, she repeatedly tapped Hope on the cheek in an attempt to rouse her. She got nothing, not even the slightest movement to pull away from her persistent touch.

The devil in her whispered for her to give Hope a slap she couldn’t ignore, but she understood why her friend was in such a state. If she had allowed a man like Steve to slip through her fingers, she’d probably also be acting out.

Destiny shook her head in exasperation as she once again rose to her feet. This time her destination was the bathroom. Returning with a wet towel, she placed it against her friend’s forehead. While she couldn’t bring herself to smack Hope hard enough to rouse her, she had no compunction at draping the over-saturated, cold towel on her face.

Hope came awake not as she had expected with a sputter at the wet cloth against her face. Rather, her arrival to consciousness was more akin to a feline awakening from a nap in the sun; and it drove Destiny crazy. Here she was, fighting Hope’s battle in the club, getting her drunk behind home while she looked as though she hadn’t a care in the world.

“Sit ya arse up, right now and drink this bloody coffee. You and I need to talk!”

“Why are you shouting at me?” Hope asked, seemingly oblivious to Destiny’s feelings.

“Shut up, Hope. All you need to do is keep quiet and listen to what I have to say!”

“Why are you so angry, did something happen?”

“Did something happen? You nearly provoked a situation that would have landed us in a bitch fight, that’s what happened. Not to mention that any altercation we were involved in would undoubtedly have been all over the gutter press by sunrise!”

Destiny had grown up in south London, so she knew how to fight. She also had four older brothers, each more worthless than the one that came before them. But she had left that way of life behind years ago. That Hope’s behavior had nearly pulled her back into it infuriated her. That fact, coupled with Hope’s seeming lack of recall sent Destiny over the edge.

“I told ya, shut ya gob and just listen!” By now Destiny’s cockney accent was in full evidence and was yet another cause for vexation. It wasn’t that she minded her cockney accent. It had more to do with the fact that she sounded exactly like her mother when she was angry with her useless sons.

Taking a deep breath, Destiny held out the cup of steaming coffee to Hope, and stared her down, waiting for another comment so she could let rip. Hope accepted the cup in silence, and Destiny nodded her head.

“Careful, the coffee’s...” she only just managed to move out of the way before Hope spurted out the boiling liquid. “...hot!”

“What the hell are you trying to do to me? You could have warned me this stuff was so hot!”

“I did, didn’t you hear me?” Destiny said with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

Chapter 7

Hope hadn’t actually been asleep. Nor was she as drunk as she would have Destiny believe. She’d long ago become a deft hand at giving the appearance of inebriation, and could play the part to conviction. After all, she had learned from the best.

What alcohol she had imbibed, the chilly night air had almost blown away. The pretense of drunkenness was preferable to her current reality. Her thoughts were of Steve. They always came back to Steve and the mess she had created.

Hope had many regrets in life, and her actions on her wedding day were the biggest to date. How to repair her misjudgment was at the forefront of her every waking moment.

Regarding Destiny through barely opened eyes, Hope was reminded of Aviva. The two women were so very different in outward appearance, but the core of them was the same. They were both strong, loyal friends, and they loved her even though she was a monumental mess. They didn’t judge her, hold her flaws against her, and they saw beyond her outward façade. They saw
her
and still they loved her.

Hope couldn’t help thinking of Aviva. She missed her sister-friend. Throughout what was turning out to be one of the most difficult periods of her adult life, her most fervent regret was that she didn’t have Aviva to talk to. While she loved and appreciated Destiny, it wasn’t the same. She and Aviva shared a special bond. They knew each other’s every flaw, every indiscretion, every incorrect comment they had ever uttered, and still they loved each other. At least Aviva used to love her.

Hope couldn’t help mourning the loss of her friend, and how her single most asinine act to date had torn apart her life with Steve.

“Okay, that’s it. I’ve had enough of you feeling sorry for yourself! You’re the cause of this mess, and you’re the only one who can set it right, so sit up and drink that coffee. Then you and I are going to plan on how to get your man back. You do want him back don’t you, Hope?”

“Of course I do, don’t be so stupid.”

“I’m going to let you get away with that comment this one time because I know, you know, you are in no position to call anyone stupid!”

“Sorry.”

Destiny snorted at Hope’s apology. “That’s right, mate. You get real used to that word. It’s going to be running out of your mouth so much before you get finished that you’re gonna think about tagging it on your last name.”

Sucking her teeth, Hope sat up and took a cautious sip of her drink. Meeting Destiny’s regard, Hope blinked away her tears. “What am I going to do, Des?”

Hope saw a series of expressions pass over Destiny’s visage, one of them being amusement. That look was soon replaced by sympathy, probably due to the pathetic look that she wore.

Destiny’s intense regard soon began to agitate Hope, and she was unsure of why her friend was looking at her in that particular way. Hope then realized that she knew the look. It was the one she wore when running through scenarios in her head.

“Okay, the way I see it is that you need a way to get him here. That way you guys will at least have some distance from your normal reality.”

Tapping Hope on her legs, she pulled them up, and Destiny scooted back to rest her head against the couch.

Hope watched her friend as the same look of moments before returned. She was more than willing to allow Destiny the attempt of coming up with some form of plan. Heaven knows she had thought of so many way of approaching Steve it made her mind boggle.

Each time she thought she had a plan or a concrete way that would get him to listen to her, he had either hung up or not answered her call. She had only gone to his office once. When she had seen him leave the elevator, his long strides eating up the ground on his way out of the building, she had attempted to intercept him. Steve had just continued walking as though she hadn’t called his name. That had hurt, but she knew she had deserved it. Each time he rejected her advances at opening their means of communication, she would recall her behavior and retreat.

“Pass me my bag.”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to call Steve and ask him to come to London.”

“Oh please, that’s your master plan? Forget it, he’s not going to listen. Do you think I haven’t tried to get in touch with him? He doesn’t answer my calls, and when I went to see him he acted as though I wasn’t there. It was humiliating.”

“Well what did you expect? That he was going to fall at your flipping feet because you decided that you were sorry that you humiliated him and treated him like a piece of shit because you are so high and mighty?”

Hope felt every lash of the words Destiny threw at her although they were laced with nothing but the truth. Reaching for the purse that sat on the couch beside her, she handed it over in silence.

Using her own cell, after Hope had given her Steve’s number, Destiny made the call and waited. It was around 6pm in LA, and she hoped Steve would answer an unknown number.

“Hello.”

“Steve?”

“Speaking, who is this?”

“It’s Destiny, Hope’s friend.”

“If you’ve called to speak to me about Hope then you’ve wasted your time–”

Destiny cut him off sensing he was about to hang up on her. “Please, Steve. I’m so worried about her. She’s drinking too much,” Destiny lowered her voice as though imparting a secret, “and she’s talking about wanting it all to be over. I’m so worried, and I have to leave tomorrow. I’m scared to leave her alone.”

“Call her parents.”

Destiny gave Hope a dirty look as she pulled up yet another lie in an attempt to get him to come to London. “I tried them before I called you. They didn’t answer.”

“Then call her manager. Hope is no longer my responsibility!”

“Please, Steve. I’m begging you. Please come. If anything happens to her, I don’t think I could live with myself.”

“Then don’t leave her. If you’re so worried, stay with her or have her committed. Do whatever you think is best. As I said at the beginning of this conversation, Hope is no longer my concern. Goodbye, Destiny.”

Destiny was in shock at the abrupt end to the conversation. This wasn’t the same man she remembered. The coldness that emanated from his voice came as a shock. Unwilling to give up so easily, Destiny dialed the number again. Steve didn’t pick up.

Leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Peace.

Pleading on Hope’s behalf once more, Destiny left a message before she hung up. “You lied to me!” She said pointing a finger at Hope.

“I didn’t. I just didn’t tell you everything.” Hope replied, shame washing over her yet again. Knowing that she had no recourse other than to disclose the full extent of her behavior.

“What did you do, Hope?”

When she was finished, Destiny sat with her mouth hanging open in utter shock and disgust. “I’m leaving later today, so I need to pack and get some shut eye. I can’t afford to look like a hag for this shoot. I also have no idea what to say to you right now. I’m not one to judge, you know that, but that was probably one of the lowest things I’ve ever heard. Honestly, I can’t begin to imagine how you’re going to pull your arse out of this one.”

“Do you hate me too?”

“I don’t hate ya, luv. You’re not all bad. I’ll just have to remember to keep my fellas away from ya.”

“Don’t say that!”

“It’s the bloody truth. When is enough for you? You need to stop this. No more, Hope. Find a way to make this right because it’s time to stop punishing the people you love and who love you. I don’t want ya to wake up one day to find that you’ve burnt all your bridges and have no way to cross the chasm.”

Whatever Destiny saw on Hope’s face led her to pull her into her arms. Her act of kindness was more than Hope could stand. Her friend’s words had come too late. She was already looking over the chasm. As Hope cried, Destiny stroked her back but offered no words of comfort.

As her tears subsided, Destiny moved back. “Still feel like crap, right?”