A Twist Of Fate [3]

Chapter 7

'Yeah, and I told you yesterday to stay until the delivery came but somehow deep down I knew I shouldn't have relied on you with one tiny, simple task, Tor!' Cal slammed the apartment door shut behind him as he returned home from the store. He dropped the bag of groceries on the counter and leaned against it with a heavy sigh, his cellphone pressed to his ear. 'Yes, I said that to you twice - anytime up to 2pm; all you had to do was wait in the shop until 2pm!'

I sniggered and returned my attention to my textbook as Cal's scolding continued in the background.

'Tori, please tell me you understand why it was idiotic to go out to grab lunch at 12 o' clock when you knew a delivery was coming to the shop before 2pm, please, tell me you get why that was fucking stupid?!' He barked into the phone and paused for her response. 'Okay then, so why the fuck did you go out and get lunch if you knew it was fucking idiotic?! Jesus, I can't even have one day off without something going to shit! Now we have to pay a bounce-back fee plus a delivery fee all over again to have them bring it all back!'

I glanced over my shoulder and pouted at him. Tori and I had had our fair share of moments, but she'd grown on me a lot and I felt bad that Cal was giving her an earful over one silly mistake. He saw my pouty face and rolled his eyes.

'No, Tor, don't be stupid, no, I'm not taking it out of your earnings; why would you even suggest such a thing?' Cal sighed, my pouty face seeming to have worked. 'Well, I appreciate you offering to pay it but no, it's fine. I'll figure it out.'

I smiled victoriously. She had me to thank for his sudden u-turn.

'Yeah, I'm home with Bethan now, why?' he said, into the phone. 'Oh, okay...' He walked over to the sofa where I was cosily curled up doing some studying. 'Bethan, Tori says the spring break thing is all booked up.'

My mouth dropped open a little but I couldn't help but feel excited already. I was so glad this was still going ahead. 'Awesome! But, I was hoping to invite two friends from college?'

Cal opened his mouth to repeat to Tori but clamped it shut again and nodded as she spoke. He turned to me and offered a forced smile. 'She heard you, she said that's fine. There's plenty room.'

Plenty room because Felix and Sarah were out - thank god!

'Yeah, Tor, whatever. Bye!' He hung up the phone and dropped into the armchair.

'Something tells me you're not so excited about spring break...' I murmured, studying him for his reaction.

He squeezed the bridge of his nose and let out a heavy breath. 'I'm...I am excited, Bethan. It'll be fun.'

I chuckled softly. 'Your idea of fun isn't spring break in a cabin full of people who will be getting drunk and wild, is it now?'

'No,' he answered, honestly. 'I'll do it for you. But it is a chance to get a break from work and you to get a break from your studies so we can just spend some time together.'

'I'm glad you're finding a positive in there somewhere,' I stated, grinning as I realised it had been a while since we'd had some quality time.

'Who did you invite from college?' Cal asked me. 'I'm guessing this is someone besides Penny and Georgie?'

'Yeah,' I replied, nodding. 'Brodie and Olivia.'

'Brodie?' he reiterated. I saw the reaction in his eyes but he willed it away very promptly. 'Okay, that's cool.'

'It is cool,' I told him. 'They are very much in love and he's fun to be around. Maybe it's a chance for you to get to know him. He could become a friend.'

He laughed with genuine amusement. 'Yeah, Bethan, don't push it.'

I shrugged, knowing that was never going to happen anyway.

'So...' I started as a thought popped into my head and nerves took over as I began to bring it up with him. 'Remember when I came by the shop on Tuesday but you were busy doing that big chest piece so I just ran across the street to grab you some food, brought it back and then left-.'

'Bethan.' He interrupted me as his expression turned serious. 'You babble when you're anxious about something - don't be. We can talk about anything.'

I nodded, feeling slightly better and reminding myself that my Cal was not the man I'd very first met back in Leiper Falls. 'Well, I didn't get a chance to talk to you about it then but...I saw Felix out in the street before I came into the shop.'

Cal glanced away from me, something he did when he felt too ashamed to look me in the eye. 'You're talking about his face.'

'Yeah,' I replied. 'You kicked his ass over the kiss?'

He took a slow breath in and let it out fast. 'I didn't intend to. I talked to him about it as professionally as I could but...he tried to deny it. He tried to call you a liar and there was no question about which one of you I believed. So, I grabbed his things and threw them over to him and demanded he get the fuck out. He began cursing me out and then he called you...a name. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Willing to hear him out and consider things maturely. I didn't want to fire him; I wanted him to be sorry and explain himself the way you did and everything be okay. But he called you-.'

'What did he call me? It's okay, just tell me.'

'A trashy, little whorebag.'

'Wow...original.' I was amused and not nearly offended by the opinion of a bastard like Felix Fender.

Cal frowned at the amusement on my face but continued. 'Had he not gone down that route, we could have reached forgiveness and moved past it. He has no respect for you, or me. Obviously, after he decided to speak about you like that, I hit him. More than once. Then I fired his ass and sent him on his way and returned to my client. That's why I barely spoke to you when you came in. I was just rattled.'

'It's okay,' I told him, moving across the room and taking a seat in his lap. I laced my arms around his neck and kissed his forehead. 'Thank you for defending my honour.'

'Always,' he whispered, and he kissed my jawline.

'Anyway, I think it's time for us to forget about that asshole and move forward,' I sighed, resting my cheek on top of his head.

'Already fucking forgotten, baby,' he replied, squeezing me tightly. 'So, just got over and done with Felix, next stop - Brodie.'

'Shut up,' I laughed, swatting him on the chest. 'Brodie is a good guy! He's nothing like Felix.

'I believe you,' Cal said, softly. 'Let's just hope this spring break shit goes smoothly without any drama.'

'Pfft sure, you wanna' place a bet on that one?' I chuckled, looking down at him.

He looked back up at me and immediately shook his head. 'Nah, I'll definitely lose.'