Sequel: Let Your Heart Win ›
Status: Complete - check out the sequel...
The Only One Who Needs to Know
Chapter 23
As Rachel got out of the taxi and straightened her outfit Cali passed the driver enough money to cover the fare before stepping out and straightening her own outfit.
“Cali, before we head in there I need to ask you to do something.” Rachel said taking a hold of her arm to stop her from taking any further steps towards SlideBar.
“Of course Hun, what’s wrong?” Cali asked turning to face her best friend with a smile.
Rachel took a deep breath, slowly raising her gaze to meet Cali’s before she answered.
“Cal, I want you to keep away from Brian tonight.” She said slowly.
Cali’s breath caught in her throat at the sound of these words. It had been a week since Rachel had walked in to find Brian half naked in their living room and worked out that he and Cali had been seeing each other behind everyone’s backs. Nothing had been said about it since Rachel had walked back out of the apartment that night, and if she was honest Cali was happy not to talk about it.
“I mean, I’m not expecting you to ignore each other all night, just please don’t go sneaking off with each other for a quickie, not with Michelle and Andy being here too.” Rachel said pleadingly.
“Rach, I promise, I’ll be on my best behaviour tonight.” Cali replied with a smile.
“Ok, good, now lets go, and please feel free to sneak off for a quickie with Andie, cos I know there’s a strong possibility that I’ll be dragging Johnny off at some point.” she replied as they made their way towards the entrance of SlideBar.
Cali chuckled with a roll of her eyes. “I’ve never met anyone like you Rachie.” She said as she linked elbows with her.
“What? I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning.” She whined as the security guy held open the door for them with a smile. “And it’s his birthday.” She added with a wink.
“Oh God! Please go back to his, if you’re planning anything like Craig’s birthday last year I don’t want to be the one having to explain to the neighbours…”
“That wasn’t my fault…anyway shush, at least I didn’t get cherry dick lick on the sofa like you did with Mark.” She retorted. Cali opened her mouth ready to protest but was stopped when arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to a toned chest.
“Hey beautiful.” Andy whispered into her ear causing her to smile as a shiver ran down her spine.
“Hey you, I wasn’t expecting you to be here for another hour.” She replied, tilting her head back so she could look at him.
“Game got cancelled, the other team couldn’t make it, something about a tornado or something.” He replied, placing a line of kisses along her shoulder and neck as he ushered them through the crowd to where the others were.
“What do you want to drink baby?” he asked as he unwrapped himself from her.
“Um, a bottle of beer would be good thanks.” She replied with a smile. He nodded with a wink as he made his way to the bar. Cali turned; her eyes immediately fell on Brian who was sat on the sofa, his arms wrapped around Michelle’s waist where she was sat in his lap talking to her sister. His eyes met hers with a discreet wink and small smirk and she smiled in return.
“Looking good Miss Hetfield.” Zacky’s voice called over the music, his hand resting on her hip as he placed a brief kiss on her cheek before sitting down next to Jenni.
“Why thank you Mr. Baker.” She replied with a smile as another set of arms placed themselves around her waist. Turning she found Jimmy with a drunken smile on his face. “Hey Jim, how long have you been drinking?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Since three this afternoon; apparently his idea of a birthday present is to take Johnny to a strip club.” Andrea snarled as she brushed past them and took a seat next to Val.
“She’s a little mad at me.” Jimmy replied thinking he was whispering as he blatantly pointed in her direction, swaying slightly.
“You can’t blame her Jim, you’re three sheets to the wind and you’ve been perving on naked women all afternoon.” She replied gently taking hold of his hands and removing them from her waist. “And you better hope that Rachel doesn’t find out or she’ll quite likely render little Jimmy useless for a while.” She said with a smile as her eyes ran down to his crotch. She giggled as she watched his eyes widen in horror, his hands shooting to his crotch in protection and he gulped.
“Help Me.” he whispered pleadingly taking hold of her hands again.
“You just concentrate on making up with Andrea; I’ll have a word with Johnny and the others to make sure they don’t tell Rachie.” She replied with a small giggle as he hugged her.
“Get your hands off my woman Sullivan.” Andy’s voice growled with a clear hint of a laugh causing Jimmy to pull away quickly and make his way over to Andrea.
“Thanks babe, listen I’ve got to help Jimmy out with a problem…” she began as she took the bottle of beer out of his hand and took a sip.
“The strip club? Yeah Rachel would kill him.” he replied with a laugh. “Johnny told me when I was at the bar.”
“So he hasn’t told Rachel yet?” she asked.
“Oh God no, that boy’s not dull. I’m surprised at Jimmy though.” He replied.
“Oh, Jimmy didn’t tell Andrea, Michelle did.” Brian said with a smile as they sat down next to them.
“What? The girl should know. I’d have wanted her to tell me if Brian had spent the afternoon in a strip club.” She replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Cali bit her lip, stealing a quick glance at Brian who smiled back at her.
“Anyway, I’ve promised Jimmy that I won’t let Rachel find out so please don’t mention it in front of her.” she replied getting a collection of nods from the others, including one seemingly begrudging one from Michelle.
After that the alcohol flowed freely although Jimmy tried to sober himself up to get back into Andrea’s good books. They all somehow managed to stop Rachel finding out about the strip club and a lot of the night was spent dancing in the middle of the dance floor, everyone dancing together.
As it got closer to the end of the night, with Cali getting closer to the point where she was pleasantly drunk, along with most of the others, she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes and hands away from Brian. She was adamant that she was going to keep her promise to Rachel and stay away from Brian.
He wasn’t making it easy for her, taking advantage of everyone dancing with each other to place a hand on her hip or move his body close to hers. Every time he touched her, her heart skipped a beat. He was driving her crazy and with each shot that passed her lips she was getting closer to wanting to drag him into one of the bathroom stalls.
Shaking that image from her mind she headed to the bar and ordered a bottle of water. She needed to sober up before she did something that she would undoubtedly regret or that would cause more trouble that it was worth. She paid the bartender and quickly drained the bottle. She placed the empty bottle back onto the counter and turned towards the bathroom.
The corridor was crowded and Cali found herself fighting through the mass of people making their way to and from the bathrooms.
As she pushed her way back out of the bathroom door she gasped as she felt a hand take hold of hers. She looked down at the hand and found that it was attached to an arm covered in familiar tattoos. She looked up into Brian’s dark brown eyes.
“It looked like you may need some help getting out of here.” He whispered with a smirk as he began to lead her through the crowded corridor.
“There you go beautiful.” He said letting go of her hand as they walked back into the bar area.
“Thanks Bri.” She replied with a wide smile as she decided to make her way over to the seated area where Jimmy and Zacky were both sat on opposite sofas, each with a bottle of water.
“Hey guys.” She said as she sat down next to Zack, taking the bottle out of his hand and taking a sip.
“Hey sweetie, decided to take a break?” Jimmy asked. She nodded as she passed the bottle back.
“It’s a bit too crowded out there for me, and I’ve just had to fight my way through the crowd to go to the bathroom. It’s manic for some reason.” She replied as she dropped her head to rest on Zacky’s shoulder.
“Aw honey, don’t worry we’ll keep you safe.” Zack replied turning his head to kiss her forehead.
“Thanks Zacky.” She replied wrapping an arm around his waist. She smiled as she gazed out onto the dance floor watching her friends as they continued to dance. Her smile widened as he eyes met a pair of dark brown ones, the smirk on his lips growing as he winked at her. The smile faltered slightly as her gaze moved to Jimmy who had turned around to see who she was smiling at. He turned back, catching her eyes with a frown on his face. She felt herself gulp as she watched as realisation spread across his face.
The next thing she knew he was getting out of his seat and had taken the few steps over to her and was taking hold of her hand.
“Cali I need to talk to you quickly.” he said urgently, almost dragging her away from Zack as he stared after them with a look of pure confusion.
“Jimmy I –“ she began once they were stood on the quiet terrace outside the bar.
“You’re fucking him again.” he growled quietly.
“Jimmy, no I’m-“
“Don’t lie to me Cali; I saw the looks you were giving each other in there. And that’s not the only thing either, it makes sense now, all the body language, have you two even stopped since London?” Jimmy said quietly as he glared into Cali’s eyes.
Cali was silent for a moment before she closed her eyes. “Shit.” She murmured dragging her hand through her hair. “Jimmy, listen, we did stop after London, I promise you we did. We tried hard to stay away from each other but-“
“How long then?” Jimmy asked.
“About a month.” She replied with a sigh.
“Does anyone else know?”
“Rachel, she caught us last week.” She replied with another sigh.
“Someone’s going to get hurt Cali, and I really hope it isn’t you.” Jimmy said quietly wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into a hug.
“I know Jim, but I’m drawn to him, I can’t explain it.” She replied in a mumble into his chest.
“Yeah, that’s Brian.” Jimmy began with a chuckle. “I wish sometimes I had some of his charms with the ladies. Not that I’m not happy with Andrea, she’s all the woman I need.” He replied with a large grin creeping onto his face.
“Don’t need to know Jim.” Cali replied with a smile as his grin widened, his blue eyes sparkling playfully.
“Come on, I owe you a drink for making sure Rachel didn’t find out.” he said as he took hold of her hand and gently led her back in to the bar.
As she stood at the bar waiting as Jimmy ordered them both a drink she quickly typed a message on her phone “Jimmy knows.” And sent it to Brian.
“Cali, before we head in there I need to ask you to do something.” Rachel said taking a hold of her arm to stop her from taking any further steps towards SlideBar.
“Of course Hun, what’s wrong?” Cali asked turning to face her best friend with a smile.
Rachel took a deep breath, slowly raising her gaze to meet Cali’s before she answered.
“Cal, I want you to keep away from Brian tonight.” She said slowly.
Cali’s breath caught in her throat at the sound of these words. It had been a week since Rachel had walked in to find Brian half naked in their living room and worked out that he and Cali had been seeing each other behind everyone’s backs. Nothing had been said about it since Rachel had walked back out of the apartment that night, and if she was honest Cali was happy not to talk about it.
“I mean, I’m not expecting you to ignore each other all night, just please don’t go sneaking off with each other for a quickie, not with Michelle and Andy being here too.” Rachel said pleadingly.
“Rach, I promise, I’ll be on my best behaviour tonight.” Cali replied with a smile.
“Ok, good, now lets go, and please feel free to sneak off for a quickie with Andie, cos I know there’s a strong possibility that I’ll be dragging Johnny off at some point.” she replied as they made their way towards the entrance of SlideBar.
Cali chuckled with a roll of her eyes. “I’ve never met anyone like you Rachie.” She said as she linked elbows with her.
“What? I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning.” She whined as the security guy held open the door for them with a smile. “And it’s his birthday.” She added with a wink.
“Oh God! Please go back to his, if you’re planning anything like Craig’s birthday last year I don’t want to be the one having to explain to the neighbours…”
“That wasn’t my fault…anyway shush, at least I didn’t get cherry dick lick on the sofa like you did with Mark.” She retorted. Cali opened her mouth ready to protest but was stopped when arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to a toned chest.
“Hey beautiful.” Andy whispered into her ear causing her to smile as a shiver ran down her spine.
“Hey you, I wasn’t expecting you to be here for another hour.” She replied, tilting her head back so she could look at him.
“Game got cancelled, the other team couldn’t make it, something about a tornado or something.” He replied, placing a line of kisses along her shoulder and neck as he ushered them through the crowd to where the others were.
“What do you want to drink baby?” he asked as he unwrapped himself from her.
“Um, a bottle of beer would be good thanks.” She replied with a smile. He nodded with a wink as he made his way to the bar. Cali turned; her eyes immediately fell on Brian who was sat on the sofa, his arms wrapped around Michelle’s waist where she was sat in his lap talking to her sister. His eyes met hers with a discreet wink and small smirk and she smiled in return.
“Looking good Miss Hetfield.” Zacky’s voice called over the music, his hand resting on her hip as he placed a brief kiss on her cheek before sitting down next to Jenni.
“Why thank you Mr. Baker.” She replied with a smile as another set of arms placed themselves around her waist. Turning she found Jimmy with a drunken smile on his face. “Hey Jim, how long have you been drinking?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Since three this afternoon; apparently his idea of a birthday present is to take Johnny to a strip club.” Andrea snarled as she brushed past them and took a seat next to Val.
“She’s a little mad at me.” Jimmy replied thinking he was whispering as he blatantly pointed in her direction, swaying slightly.
“You can’t blame her Jim, you’re three sheets to the wind and you’ve been perving on naked women all afternoon.” She replied gently taking hold of his hands and removing them from her waist. “And you better hope that Rachel doesn’t find out or she’ll quite likely render little Jimmy useless for a while.” She said with a smile as her eyes ran down to his crotch. She giggled as she watched his eyes widen in horror, his hands shooting to his crotch in protection and he gulped.
“Help Me.” he whispered pleadingly taking hold of her hands again.
“You just concentrate on making up with Andrea; I’ll have a word with Johnny and the others to make sure they don’t tell Rachie.” She replied with a small giggle as he hugged her.
“Get your hands off my woman Sullivan.” Andy’s voice growled with a clear hint of a laugh causing Jimmy to pull away quickly and make his way over to Andrea.
“Thanks babe, listen I’ve got to help Jimmy out with a problem…” she began as she took the bottle of beer out of his hand and took a sip.
“The strip club? Yeah Rachel would kill him.” he replied with a laugh. “Johnny told me when I was at the bar.”
“So he hasn’t told Rachel yet?” she asked.
“Oh God no, that boy’s not dull. I’m surprised at Jimmy though.” He replied.
“Oh, Jimmy didn’t tell Andrea, Michelle did.” Brian said with a smile as they sat down next to them.
“What? The girl should know. I’d have wanted her to tell me if Brian had spent the afternoon in a strip club.” She replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Cali bit her lip, stealing a quick glance at Brian who smiled back at her.
“Anyway, I’ve promised Jimmy that I won’t let Rachel find out so please don’t mention it in front of her.” she replied getting a collection of nods from the others, including one seemingly begrudging one from Michelle.
After that the alcohol flowed freely although Jimmy tried to sober himself up to get back into Andrea’s good books. They all somehow managed to stop Rachel finding out about the strip club and a lot of the night was spent dancing in the middle of the dance floor, everyone dancing together.
As it got closer to the end of the night, with Cali getting closer to the point where she was pleasantly drunk, along with most of the others, she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes and hands away from Brian. She was adamant that she was going to keep her promise to Rachel and stay away from Brian.
He wasn’t making it easy for her, taking advantage of everyone dancing with each other to place a hand on her hip or move his body close to hers. Every time he touched her, her heart skipped a beat. He was driving her crazy and with each shot that passed her lips she was getting closer to wanting to drag him into one of the bathroom stalls.
Shaking that image from her mind she headed to the bar and ordered a bottle of water. She needed to sober up before she did something that she would undoubtedly regret or that would cause more trouble that it was worth. She paid the bartender and quickly drained the bottle. She placed the empty bottle back onto the counter and turned towards the bathroom.
The corridor was crowded and Cali found herself fighting through the mass of people making their way to and from the bathrooms.
As she pushed her way back out of the bathroom door she gasped as she felt a hand take hold of hers. She looked down at the hand and found that it was attached to an arm covered in familiar tattoos. She looked up into Brian’s dark brown eyes.
“It looked like you may need some help getting out of here.” He whispered with a smirk as he began to lead her through the crowded corridor.
“There you go beautiful.” He said letting go of her hand as they walked back into the bar area.
“Thanks Bri.” She replied with a wide smile as she decided to make her way over to the seated area where Jimmy and Zacky were both sat on opposite sofas, each with a bottle of water.
“Hey guys.” She said as she sat down next to Zack, taking the bottle out of his hand and taking a sip.
“Hey sweetie, decided to take a break?” Jimmy asked. She nodded as she passed the bottle back.
“It’s a bit too crowded out there for me, and I’ve just had to fight my way through the crowd to go to the bathroom. It’s manic for some reason.” She replied as she dropped her head to rest on Zacky’s shoulder.
“Aw honey, don’t worry we’ll keep you safe.” Zack replied turning his head to kiss her forehead.
“Thanks Zacky.” She replied wrapping an arm around his waist. She smiled as she gazed out onto the dance floor watching her friends as they continued to dance. Her smile widened as he eyes met a pair of dark brown ones, the smirk on his lips growing as he winked at her. The smile faltered slightly as her gaze moved to Jimmy who had turned around to see who she was smiling at. He turned back, catching her eyes with a frown on his face. She felt herself gulp as she watched as realisation spread across his face.
The next thing she knew he was getting out of his seat and had taken the few steps over to her and was taking hold of her hand.
“Cali I need to talk to you quickly.” he said urgently, almost dragging her away from Zack as he stared after them with a look of pure confusion.
“Jimmy I –“ she began once they were stood on the quiet terrace outside the bar.
“You’re fucking him again.” he growled quietly.
“Jimmy, no I’m-“
“Don’t lie to me Cali; I saw the looks you were giving each other in there. And that’s not the only thing either, it makes sense now, all the body language, have you two even stopped since London?” Jimmy said quietly as he glared into Cali’s eyes.
Cali was silent for a moment before she closed her eyes. “Shit.” She murmured dragging her hand through her hair. “Jimmy, listen, we did stop after London, I promise you we did. We tried hard to stay away from each other but-“
“How long then?” Jimmy asked.
“About a month.” She replied with a sigh.
“Does anyone else know?”
“Rachel, she caught us last week.” She replied with another sigh.
“Someone’s going to get hurt Cali, and I really hope it isn’t you.” Jimmy said quietly wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into a hug.
“I know Jim, but I’m drawn to him, I can’t explain it.” She replied in a mumble into his chest.
“Yeah, that’s Brian.” Jimmy began with a chuckle. “I wish sometimes I had some of his charms with the ladies. Not that I’m not happy with Andrea, she’s all the woman I need.” He replied with a large grin creeping onto his face.
“Don’t need to know Jim.” Cali replied with a smile as his grin widened, his blue eyes sparkling playfully.
“Come on, I owe you a drink for making sure Rachel didn’t find out.” he said as he took hold of her hand and gently led her back in to the bar.
As she stood at the bar waiting as Jimmy ordered them both a drink she quickly typed a message on her phone “Jimmy knows.” And sent it to Brian.