never let me down | a. wilder (depeche mode)

18 - It's No Good

Alan
I shouldn't have kissed Charlie. What kind of a friend am I? I look around the hotel room and see Martin. Maybe I can talk to him about this. I sit on my bed and drink a beer and eat some chips.

"So, I know I've been mysterious all day about my surprise guest, and they are with me right now. Everyone, meet Joanne, my girlfriend!" Dave announces.

I turn around to see Dave standing in the doorway, and a short-haired brunette appears next to him.

She blushes. "Hello guys, you can call me Jo. I wasn't expecting Dave to hype me up so much."

I try to look calm, but now I'm mad. Why did Dave say that he liked Charlie, when he had Joanne?

The rest of the party is a blur, and I couldn't wait for Joanne to leave so I could just go to bed.

Charlie never reappeared after the kiss, so I knew I offended her.

"Goodnight guys, it was a pleasure to meet you all!" Joanne says, "Call me, Dave."

She leaves, closing the door behind her.

Andy and I start to clear away the bottles of wine and chip bags, while Dave and Martin talk.

"I'm proud of you Martin, you didn't get shit-faced tonight." Dave says, patting Martin on the back.

"I didn't want to scare Joanne away." Martin laughs.

"Alan, you've been awfully quiet. What did you think of Joanne. I want you all to be on board with her, we are starting to get serious."

"She's great." I say curtly.

I see Martin and Andy give each other a look.

"Well, I'm beat. I'll see you all in the morning. I think we have more publicity things to do in the morning." Andy says and fakes a yawn.

"Me too. Good night guys." Martin says, and follows Andy into their room. They close the conjoining door behind them.

"Alan, what is your issue?" Dave asks me.

I look at him. "My issue. What is my issue? You told me you liked Charlie. So we both decided not to go after her. I kissed her tonight, and I beat myself up about it for a better part of an hour, then you come waltzing in with Jo!"

"Charlie? You kissed Charlie? That's fantastic!" Dave says.

"Well what am I supposed to do now? I haven't seen her since, she's been in her room the whole night. I told her I was betraying a friend."

"Betraying me? I fancied her, but I had Joanne and I was going to use her as a backup plan in case it didn't work out with Jo." Dave explains.

"Backup plan? That's charming, Dave." I say.

"It wasn't like that! I-"

"What's done is done. You don't need to explain yourself to me." I quickly take off my shirt and jeans, so I'm just in my T-shirt and boxers. I climb into bed and turn out the light on my bedside table. I pretend to be asleep, and hear Dave get ready for bed. He climbs into his bed and turns out his light. The room falls into darkness, and all I can think of as I drift off to sleep is Charlie.