“Georgia! Whatever’s wrong, is someone hurt?” Is someone hurt, is someone fucking hurt? Hurt like you have no idea mother! My finger nails are digging into the palm of my hand so much it’s painful.
“Yes Mum, someone is hurt. I don’t want you to panic but I need you to get here as quick as you can.”
I end the call before she can say any more and put the phone back on its base and stand and stare at it; Sean’s arms wrap around me and he kisses me in that perfect spot right below my ear, my head swims and I can’t help but give a little sigh and lean back into him. “We have so much to talk about, so much we need to sort out but I swear to God Georgia, I promise you here and now, I will spend the rest of my life making up these last four years to you, regardless what’s happened since. It all started with me, me and my own stupidity, I will never put you through anything like that again, I want you back G, I want you with me, and I want it how it should have been all these years, Sean and Georgia.”
I turn around and look at him, He looks down at my hand, it’s at my throat, and he reaches out and moves my hand out of the way and brushes his fingers over my G. “You still wear it?”
He brushes his knuckles, gently over my cheek and smirks. “Are you blushing Georgia Rae?” He licks his index finger and runs it over my face, making a sizzling noise, like my face is frying him.
“Yes, I still wear it; it was the only piece of you I’ve allowed into my life these past four years. I wanted you near, I wanted to feel you but I didn’t want to look at you and be reminded of what I had lost.” He closes his eyes as if what I am saying is painful, he nods his head slightly.
“This is so fucked up G, you won’t believe this.” He pulls his t-shirt over his head, he’s so much bigger than I remember him but he was only just eighteen then, he’s a grown man of twenty-two now and ripped and toned to fuck; he lifts my chin with his finger. “Eyes up here G, this is what I wanted to show ya, not my abs, although I’m happy to show them later too.”
He winks at me as he speaks. “But look, look at this.” He points to the tattoo on his chest; it’s the exact replica of my necklace, the letter G, being held up by angel’s wings. “I wanted a piece of you, a piece of you to always be with me but I couldn’t have it where I could see it all the time, it hurt, every time I looked at it, every time I caught a glimpse it served as a reminder of how badly I’d fucked up and how much I had lost.”
I cover my mouth with my hand while trying to hold in a sob, it’s pointless, I’ve held them in for far too long, four years in fact, he pulls me into his arms. “Hey, hey hey, it’s okay, we’re here G, we found our way back to each other, we’re meant to be G. They won’t break us, not now. I’m never losing you again.”
I kiss his bare chest and lick my tears off of him, he looks down at me. “This one’s for you too.” He tilts his head so that I can see the tattoo he has around his neck, it curls from his throat, around the top of his shoulder.
I read it out loud. “There’s no one else. There never was. It’s still only ever you.” I touch it ever so gently with the fingers of my right hand and look up at him.
“It’s from ‘With Me’.” I draw my eyebrows in together.
“What’s that?” He frowns at me and smiles, and then shakes his head.
“Our biggest seller, the one that went platinum.” I swallow hard and look down at the floor.
“I don’t know any of your songs Sean, I couldn’t listen, I couldn’t listen to any music until a couple of months ago, but I’ve never been able to listen to yours. I couldn’t bear to hear your thoughts or your feelings, I stopped reading magazines, I stopped listening to the radio, I used to hide in the toilet if your songs came on in the pub.” I feel like such an idiot now, admitting to all of this. “It just hurt too much to hear or see anything related to you.” I swipe at my running nose.
He grabs at me and pulls me in so tight to him. “Fuck baby girl, fuck, I’m so sorry.”
I stand and let him hold me, my head spinning with everything that has happened so far tonight. I have no idea what to think right now, is that it? Without a word, without any kind of discussion, am I just going back to him? Am I just going to allow him back into my life? Before I get any further with that thought, the front doorbell rings.
He looks down at me. “Sean and Georgia, they’ll never break us again.” He kisses me on the mouth and then pulls his t-shirt back over his head, takes my hand and leads me to sit back down on the sofa.
CHAPTER 17
We all look at each other as Len goes to answer the door. I’m squeezed in to Sean’s side as tight as possible, he has one arm along the back of the sofa behind my head, the other is stretched across his lap and his hand is holding mine, we both have sweaty palms.
I hear them talking in the hallway and I hear my Dad asking what’s going on and if everyone is okay, then I hear Baileys voice as he walks in the room first, he frowns and looks around the room at everyone and then swings his eyes back to rest on my hand in Sean’s. He tilts his head slightly toward me. “You okay,” he asks quietly. I nod. “Maca,” he says quietly to Sean and sits down next to me.
My heart stops, then leaps up to my throat, down to my stomach, then back up to my chest as my parent walk into the room, there is absolute silence. My parents look around at all of us, checking us all over for any sign of injury, my Dad narrows his eyes at me and Sean and tilts his chin up slightly and asks, “What’s going on Princess? What’s happened? You’ve scared your mother half to death.”
“Can I get either of you a drink?” Len asks.
I can’t take my eyes from my Mum, I knew, the instant she looked at me and Sean holding hands that she had an idea of what this was all about and my heart froze, the wall hasn’t gone back up. It hasn’t gone back into hiding from any feelings or emotions, this is something entirely different. I have an anger burning hot in my belly now, what was a little glow earlier, is now a raging bon fire and I’m struggling to contain it, I really want to lash out at someone and I can feel my breathing become erratic.
“Hey,” I hear Sean say next me, I look up at him. “Calm, the fuck, down. We’ve got this okay, we’re Sean and Georgia, remember, they won’t break us again,” he nods as he speaks to me.
My eyes wander back to my parents; they sit on the two seater as Len passes them both what looks like whiskey. I can’t wait any longer. I have to speak before I explode.
“Did you do it?” I ask my Mum. I don’t shout, I keep my voice at a reasonable level and I think I sound pretty calm, my Dad looks at my Mum and then at me, my Mum stares into her lap.
“What’s going on George?” He looks back at my Mum. “Bern?”
“Did. You. Do. It?” I ask louder this time and emphasise every word. My Dad is still looking at my Mum.
“Bern, what the fuck is goin’ on?”
“Shall I tell him?” I ask, finally her eyes swing up to mine.
She knocks back all of her drink and takes a deep breath. “I did what I thought was right.” I fly out of my seat but Sean and Bailey pull me back. “How could you, how fuckin’ could you?” I scream at her.
“That’s enough Georgia, will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on here?” my Dad roars.
I bring my gaze to meet his. “Did you know were you a part of it?’
“No,” my Mum shouts.
“Part of what George? I ain’t got a Scooby what you’re on about love.”
“Did you keep Sean’s calls and letters hidden from me? Did you pack them all in a box and send them back to him with a note, supposedly from me, saying do not contact me again? Did you tell everyone that I had been to Marley’s and tried to smash my way in? Did you, or was it just your lying, deceitful, spiteful wife?”