Sanditon Melodies

Chapter 35: Some men suck

Charlotte woke up in her London hotel room with a headache the next day. When she had got back from the party, she had spent a lot of time crying in her room. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she had shed so many tears... Not even the time when she had first watched Moulin Rouge and cried solidly for the last 45 minutes of the movie. But waking up here this morning, Charlotte felt completely numb and she vowed there and then that she was not going to shed another tear over Sidney Parker. She was worth more than that.

Still, despite Charlotte's firm resolve, she couldn't help but reach for her phone and look at it. There were a few texts, mainly from Babington asking if she was OK, even one from James asking her how her first gig went, but none from the person she really wanted to hear from. She took a deep breath as tears pricked in the corners of her eyes. No, she was not going to cry about it! She was going to get up, have breakfast then see if the hotel had any spa appointments. Whatever had happened between them was not going to taint the rest of the day or even the tour for her. Charlotte was going to press on and enjoy herself.

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The light crept through the bedroom curtains in Sidney's London apartment waking him from his slumber. He'd slept fitfully, replaying the argument with Charlotte over and over again in his head. When he had returned to the party after their confrontation, he had had no opportunity to speak to Eliza to know what had passed between them. But even if Eliza had said something to Charlotte, Sidney knew deep down that this was really all on him. The fact he'd made Charlotte cry caused him more pain than anything. God he was a fool! And he had absolutely no idea how to fix this... or even if it could be fixed. Maybe he should just walk away? Perhaps it was better that way, because if they had gone any further, like they had intended to do last night, it would have caused both of them even more pain.

Pain... emotional, raw pain... that's what he felt right now and Charlotte wasn't the only cause of it. Seeing Eliza again had hurt. He had purposely tried to avoid her for the past few years and seeing her again had brought everything back... and just when he thought he was starting to let someone in again. Eliza had left him a broken man, mistrustful of women in general and guarded. But Charlotte... Charlotte had made him feel that maybe he would be able to love again. And now he had blown his chances.

Sidney propped himself up and reached for his phone. There were a few messages, but none from Charlotte... and why would there be? Her goodbye last night sounded final. God this hurt like hell. He flicked through his messages, a couple from Babbers, one from Tom and then an unknown number.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: It was nice to see you last night. If you fancy a coffee sometime, let me know. This is my number. E xx

Sidney groaned and flopped back into bed. When would the torture end? And how did Eliza get his number? Why on earth would she think he wanted to see her after everything that had happened between them? He hastily deleted the message. The two from Babington were checking he was OK after Eliza's surprise appearance. He ought to phone him later... Tom's text was more irritating. He was lamenting his first weekend without Charlotte (or more the money that Charlotte's performances brought it)... Was he never to get away from her? Annoyed, he put his phone back on the bedside table, got out of bed and headed for the shower.

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Charlotte was feeling decidedly better after a massage and a swim in the hotel's pool. Nothing like a bit of pampering to cheer oneself up. She had agreed to meet Babington for a late lunch at a café down the road from the hotel - a chance for a debrief after her performance and EP release yesterday. He was sat at a table waiting for her when she arrived and gave her a nervous smile. Why was he nervous?

"Hi Charlotte."

"Hey John."

"You OK?"

"Yes thanks." Charlotte lied as she sat down. "Thanks for the coffee." She added, noticing that Babington had already ordered her usual coffee and it was a sweet touch. "Are you trying to butter me up?" She said smiling slightly.