It’s never that easy

Chapter Nine

The next morning was so beautiful when I woke up again. The sun was shining through the crack of the curtains and the birds singing away in the trees. I got out of bed to see the stunning sight outside my window. You can see the mountains in the far distance and the lake just down below. Oh, the lake in which I had that encounter with Jamie.

Knock…Knock.

“Keira you awake?”

“Yeah come in.”

The door opened just wide enough for Gemma to squeeze through.

“Good sleep?”

“Yeah. I’ve never slept like that and I do mean never. You have a good sleep with George?” I asked with a wink.

“Maybe,” she replied with the biggest grin I have ever seen on her face before and that’s saying something after the fiasco with the tickets I bought her for her birthday to meet and watch her favourite band. “Anyway, enough about me and George. I saw a certain someone creeping around early this morning. Anything to do with you? He did say he went downstairs for a drink of water, but I don’t believe him. He was still in the clothes he wore the day before and when I interrogated him about it he said he was exhausted and just fell asleep on the bed. But I think he’s hiding something.”

“Who?”

“Jamie of course. Who did you think I was talking about?”

“Well I don’t know. When you just say he without a name it’s a bit difficult to work out as there are four lads here altogether. So, it would only be between three with George being with you. Anyway, maybe we should ask Jamie straight up then. That’s the only way he understands at the moment.”

“Hang on! There’s something you’re not telling me! I can tell from your face. I know when you're hiding something.”

“What? There’s nothing to tell.”

“Ha! That proves it! You wouldn’t have said it like that if there was actually nothing to hide. So spill, what did happen?”

“Honestly nothing did happen. Jamie came into my room to check if I was okay. Then we got talking and we fell asleep. That is all. Luckily, I woke up early enough to get him out of my room before anyone saw him, mainly Mark of course. But that clearly didn’t work if you saw him. I hope no one else did too.”

“Well, I never saw anyone.”

“Hopefully we should be fine then.”

“Yeah but why try and hide it if nothing happened?”

“You know what people are like they’ll get the wrong end of the stick. Plus, if Mark saw, he really would have kicked off.”

“Yeah true. They never have seen eye to eye, have they?”

“Nope they haven’t. So now you know why I wanted to keep it quiet.”

“Yeah I suppose.”

“Right then, let’s go down then. Get some breakfast inside us.”

As we walked down the stairs, I could smell many delicious aromas coming from the kitchen. As we both walked in, all I heard was a big ‘no’ coming from Mark.

“What?”

“Well, you’ve spoiled it now. I was going to bring it up to you in bed and start grovelling from there.”

“Oh, sorry babe. Tomorrow I promise to stay in bed until you say I can leave then. How’s that? This food does smell delicious though.”

“Yeah. Your favourite, pancakes with chocolate sauce.”

“You certainly know the way to my heart,” I laughed giving him a tender thank you kiss on his soft lips.

“Umm, from that I must be getting somewhere?”

“Well, it all depends on what you’ve got planned for today!”

“First, we’re going shopping in the village, then a spot of lunch and finally… Well actually you can wait for this afternoon's festivities.

“Meanie!”

“Oh, how I do love teasing you!”

As promised we did a bit of shopping, got a few things for Christmas, presents and some lovely ornaments. Then we had this lovely meal inside one of the pubs situated in the middle of the village. But the next activity. It just blew my mind away. There were many hot air balloons for a festival the village was having and he booked two balloons so that we could all enjoy the ride. One for me and him, Gemma and George in another and Nick and Jamie had to decide on which balloon they wanted to be in. Unfortunately for Mark, we ended up having Jamie as there was more room in Gemma’s balloon for Nick to put his leg up. But it was so romantic either way and the best of all was we could all experience this together.

“Wow I can’t believe how stunning this view looks from up here. I knew it was gorgeous from the ground but seeing it up here makes what I was saying minimise what was actually around us. Thank you. I’d say you’ve done yourself proud.”

“So, I’m forgiven?”

“Yes,” I answered giving him the most passionate kiss ever. In which I could see Jamie in the corner of my eye look hurt then he suddenly turned away to look at the view again.

We landed back on the ground and we all went back to the cabin. But as soon as we walked in, I just fancied a walk on my own.

“I’m off for a walk.”

“You want me to come with?”

“No, you stay and have fun with George. Just make sure you help Nick whenever he needs it.”

“Sure I will.”

“Thanks. If I’m not back by midnight, call for a search party,” I laughed winking at Mark.

“Don’t laugh about these things!”

“Mark, I’ll be fine. I know these woods like the back of my hand.”

“Yeah I suppose. See you soon then?”

“See you soon.”

At first, I thought Mark would come out to say he would come with me but who am I kidding, so I just started walking towards the lake. But I must have walked about ten feet from the cabin when Jamie came out of nowhere.

“I’ll be fine. Go back to the cabin.”

“I know you’ll be fine, but come on, who lets a lady walk in the woods in the dark on her own. Not this guy,” he said pointing to himself. “Now that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me would it?”

“Well, I guess a little bit of company couldn’t hurt.”

“That settles it then! I’m coming with you,” he declared holding his arm out for me to link to him.

Without me thinking I took his arm and started on our little stroll. We seemed to walk for hours before we decided to sit down on a hill overlooking the lake and, in the distance, you could see the smoke coming out of the cabin’s chimney. I’ve never been this far before, so it was nice to find a new spot. Even better it was with Jamie too. This could be our spot. Jamie put his coat on the ground for me to sit on with the grass being wet from the cold air tonight.

“Thank you. But aren’t you cold without your jacket?”

“No. I have my jumper. That’s enough.”

“Okay if you say so.”

We both sat down looking at the stars above in the clear sky. It must have suddenly started to turn colder as I started to shiver quite badly. The next thing I know Jamie put his arm around me. He must have seen me shivering. It was nice and I couldn’t help myself. I had to lean in to see what he was going to do next. To be fair I thought he’d just leave us how we already were, but he didn’t. He put his other arm around my front and held me in a tight bear hug to make sure I was warm enough.

“You know it will always be you! It’s just not the right time!”

“I know. I can wait.”

As soon as he said that, it started to snow. It was so magical. It was so lovely just sitting here watching the snowfall to the ground, but I felt guilty for sitting on Jamie’s coat when it was so cold and his coat is even wetter than before now because of the snow. So I suggested we should head back before people wonder where we both were. Which he said was a good idea as he didn’t want people to think wrong of me being around him. Mainly Mark though with what’s happened between the two of them. I can’t believe we are going home tomorrow thought. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. I know there were a few disagreements, but that’s a proper road trip. But I suppose we should head back to work sometime.

Heading back towards the cabin was like a fantasy with the snow landing on all of the trees, it looked so magical.

“Did you know of that spot then?”

“No… that’s the first time of seeing it like that. That can be mine and your spot from now on.”

“Deal. So if we need to get away we can say to meet at the spot?”

“Deal.”

I held out my pinkie for a promise. One that I know he will keep.

“We’re getting good at this promising.”

“That we are.”

“What’s the plan for tomorrow then?”

“Well I was thinking that we all have a lie in, especially me, you and Gem with us driving. Then we could go for dinner in the village and head home afterwards.”

“Sounds good to me,” with a long smile on his beautiful face.

“Hey we’re back.”

“Hey babe. Nice walk?”

“Yeah it was actually!” I smiled looking at Jamie.

“Well we’ve been busy and made tea for us all.”

“Oh. What are we having?”

“Chilli con carne.”

“Ooo can’t wait,” I said rubbing my hands together. “I’m just going to freshen up.”

“Okay, I’ll come with you,” he declared chasing me up the stairs.

“I’ve missed you!”

“Why? I’ve only been gone for a couple of hours.”

 “I know, but it seemed longer. Especially George and Gemma all loved up. Me and Nick felt uncomfortable. It was worse when he left me to go for a nap.”

“Aww baby. I won’t leave you again then.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” I said giving him a sympathetic kiss.

I walked into the kitchen to see what they’ve been up to.

“Oh Gem. It’s brill. Can’t believe how much work you’ve all put into it.”

I’ll give it to them, it looks beautiful. There’s candles on the table and they’ve set it up so beautifully. They’ve gone all out by using napkins too. It’s the perfect last meal in the cabin. We all sat down and it was the best meal having all my friends and Nick of course, around the table. I’ve never laughed so hard before and I’ve never enjoyed myself so much. I couldn’t ask for better people to be around. We tidied up the table and we all just chilled around the fire until it was time for bed. We all said goodnight and Mark and I went to my room.

“Thanks for tonight. I really enjoyed it. I’ve had a fab time this weekend. Thank you,” I said giving him a passionate kiss.

“No, I should thank you.”

“Why?”

“For forgiving me after I was such a d**k to you on the first proper night we had together. And of course asking that George and I came with you.”

“My pleasure.”

On that high note, we went to bed. The next morning, we just cuddled in bed until Gemma decided to barge in and jump on us both.

“Okay you two. Less snuggling and more activity. I want to do something fun before we go home after dinner.”

“Okay… Okay. We’re up. What is it you are wanting to do?”

“Let’s go ice skating. I heard they have one of those outdoor ones somewhere in the village.”

“Fine if that’s what you want to do but be warned I’ve not skated in a long while.”

“I’ll hold you.”

“I’ll hold you to that Gem. You wouldn’t want to when I pull you down with me.”

“Never going to happen!”

“Ha. If you say so. Now get out of here so we can get ready.”

“Gone.”

With that she was off. I had a quick look outside and it was still snowing. So I decided to put a t-shirt, a thick jumper and by body warmer on with a hat, scarf and gloves. Don’t want to catch a cold now do I? Especially with Nick’s birthday coming up.

When we got downstairs, everyone was ready. I just felt sorry for Nick. He won’t be able to skate, not with his leg the way it is. We all got our luggage and packed it into the back of the bus. With the village a good half an hour away, it was easier this way than having to come back later.

“Right before we leave, I’m going to double check that everything is in place and that we haven’t left anything. Then I’ll give Wendy a quick ring so she can come down and clean the cabin before the next people come that has booked it with my mum.”

“Want some help?”

“Yes please Jamie. Can you do the upstairs for me?”

“Yeah, sure.”

We both came out and told the guys it’s all done. I quickly gave Wendy a ring, in which she replied that she would be straight down with the family arriving tomorrow for the week. I thanked her and put the phone down.

“Right, let’s go!”

We finally found the ice rink, but not before asking a few of the locals where it was. It was in a nice area. It was behind the church on top of the hill where you could see the whole woods. We skated for at least an hour, with me falling a few times, obviously. But then something happened, and I don’t mean something happened, I mean HAPPENED as in it was the bad kind. I fell badly on my ankle and now it really hurts that I can’t even stand on it. It feels like a sprain; I can still move it so it can’t be broken. But as soon as I fell, both Jamie and Mark came to my rescue, but that’s not the end of it.

“Hey, I’ve got her! You carry on skating!” Mark declared pushing Jamie away.

“Woah, don’t push me. All I was doing was helping her up to a seat!”

“I’ve seen the way you’ve looked at her all weekend, man! I know you have feelings for her!”

“We’re just friends!”

“Boys! Pack it in the both of you. You’re both acting like teenagers,” I shouted trying to stand up, but I was too late. Mark had already punched Jamie in the face, which then started the fist fight.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough of the both of you. I needed help from two strong men, not two idiotic teenagers. You’re both going back home on the back of the bus in silence. Gem can you help me get these skates off and then to the bus?”

“Yeah, of course I can Hun.”

We all got back to the bus in silence.

“Wow sis. I know you love me but no need to sympathise with me and hurt yourself too.”

“Oh ha-ha. You’ve got me in stitches!”

“Thought I might!”

“Get on the bus!”

“Need any help?”

“Yeah actually. Just a help onto the step please.”

“How the tables have turned, eh sis?”

“Yeah but not for long. Mines not as bad as yours. Plus, you’ve worked very hard to get where you are now. I’m so proud of you.”

“True. Thanks sis.”

“Hey! If we’re not here for each other, who are we here for?”

“Nicely said,” he laughed.

“Right. Let’s go. You ready Gem?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be!”

I’ve never been on a bus this quiet before. As they say, you could hear a pin drop it was that quiet. Great holiday. Then again, also many arguments along the way. Jamie and Mark; me and Mark; me and Jamie. But also good memories. Gem and George declaring their love for one another; Mark’s grovelling; the hot air balloons; the ice skating before I hurt my ankle; and I know it shouldn’t be but my favourite time was spending it with Jamie.

I was in such a daydream reminiscing about the weekend, that I didn’t even realise that we had arrived at Jamie’s place.

“I’ll help you Jamie!”

“It’s fine you rest your ankle.”

“It’s fine now I’ve rested it.”

I got out of the bus and helped Jamie unload his bags onto his drive.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

As I turn away, Jamie grabs my arm.

“One sec. I’ve got something I need to say. How do I put this? I was thinking a lot while on the bus and maybe we shouldn’t see each other for a while!”

“Hang on! Nope! You’re one of my best friends. I can’t do that! I am totally against it!”

“Sorry Keira. It’s the only way I can move on for now. But I will always be here when you need me. Anytime!”

He gave me a hug and went inside before I could argue with him. Well I guess that’s it then. If that’s what he wants, then I’ve got to go by his wishes and let him have some space between us both. It might also be good for me too. I’ll be able to concentrate more on my relationship with Mark and not have him blagging my head 24/7.

“Hey you okay?” Gemma asked me as I got back onto the bus.

“Yeah I will be!”