The Movies Make It Look Easy

Chapter 18

Shannon’s P.O.V:

I managed a smile, though I didn’t feel like it, when I saw Natalie turning to check on me – again.
She didn’t believe me when I said I was just tired – and she was right not to. I was tired, tired of a lot of things, but I was mainly angry about what had happened at work earlier.
It might be irrational but as the anger within me had simmered as the day went on, I’d laid the blame increasingly on Nick. I mean out of all the girls in London did he have to sleep with one that I worked with?
I still blamed Jenny – she was a conniving bitch – but Nick was at fault too.
Even though he had no idea what had happened and hadn’t done anything on purpose to hurt you? A small voice in the back of my head asked.
I pushed the thought down ruthlessly – I wasn’t in the mood for listening to logic...especially coming from myself.
Natalie paused in front of the doors to the restaurant we were going to eat at and turned to face me,
‘You sure you’re okay?’
I nodded smiling again, this time genuinely. It was nice to know she cared.
I’d told her at her apartment earlier part of why I was in a bad mood – leaving out the part about Jenny being around when I got up this morning.
I didn’t know why I didn’t tell her, she was my best friend – something stopped me though everytime I went to mention Nick as if he was private or something, which was stupid.
I sighed inwardly; I really wished my brother was here, he’d know what to do. Sadly, he was away in Australia and wouldn’t be back for a couple of weeks. I hadn’t even talked to him on the phone in ages and I missed him. I’d see him when I went home for Christmas though; I was already counting down the days. Nat looked searchingly at me before nodding and leading the way into the restaurant.

It was relatively empty and we headed over to a group of people standing talking beside a long table.
I waved at Emma and was about to go over to her where she was chatting with the guys, when I stopped.
My breath caught in my throat as a familiar figure (too familiar) turned around and caught my eyes.
We both stood looking at eachother; he looked as surprised as I felt.
I cursed under my breath as I narrowed my eyes at him. I saw Natalie step up beside me
‘Shan this is - ‘
I cut her off before she could finish.
‘Oh I know who he is’ I said coldly.
Nick stepped towards me, opening his mouth as if to say something. I cut him off with a wave of my hand.
I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. All I could think was how angry I was at him, and forgetting where we were and all the people around us I opened my mouth.
‘Do you have any idea how much trouble I got into at work this morning because of you?’
Ok so, admittedly I hadn’t gotten into that much trouble, but that wasn’t the point; I could have and I would if Jenny did the same again.
He frowned at my words
‘What did I do?’
I glared at him.
‘The stupid skank, or should I say girlfriend’
I said bitterly, ‘that you brought home last night, was two hours late for work this morning thanks to you’
He frowned again ‘she’s not my girlfriend’
‘Well you might want to tell her that because that’s what she told my Boss.’
I went on as if he hadn’t interrupted,
‘The bitch blamed it on me as if I should be responsible for you and your sluts, it’s bad enough having random girls wandering around without actually having to be responsible for them aswell’ I spat the words at him.
I didn’t even notice that everyone else had stopped what they were doing and were openly staring; looking back and forth between Nick and I.
He looked at me through his golden brown eyes,
‘I’m sorry; I didn’t even know you worked together’
I laughed without an ounce of humour.
‘Oh please, is your memory that bad or do you just get with that many girls that you can’t tell them apart anymore?’
He just looked at me and I could see he didn’t remember
‘do you remember the bitch of a waitress who treated me like crap when we went to lunch a couple of weeks ago just for daring to sit with you and talk to you?’
I paused and said my next words very softly,
‘Or am I just another girl in a long line that’s long since blurred together, despite the fact that we see eachother everyday?’
I could see the pain in his eyes as he winced at my words.
‘I’m sorry Shannon’ his voice lowered until I could barely hear him
‘I do remember’ he looked at me pleadingly.
I laughed humourlessly again.
‘The funny thing is that when she gave you her number you threw it away and said, and I quote’ I added “she’s not my type”
I shook my head slowly ‘I guess everyone’s your type’.
He closed his eyes briefly ‘please just – ‘
‘Save it’ I interrupted,
‘I don’t want to hear it. I knew this was going to happen...when you apologised to me yesterday for being downright cruel, I said it wouldn’t be the last time...and look here we are a whole day later’.
I turned my head away.
I had such an urge to curl up on the floor and cry, I felt...broken.
I couldn’t get the image of his face out of my head. It was only then that I noticed everyone else standing silently watching us.
I smiled weakly but it didn’t last long.
I could still feel Nick’s gaze on the side of my head but I wouldn’t let myself turn back to him.

Natalie’s P.O.V:

I think I felt my mouth drop open a little from shock as I watched Shannon and Nick.
My thoughts were racing - as they usually did – as I listened to what was being said.
One word jumped out at me, Shannon had said
“The stupid slut you brought home last night” – “home”, this was her roommate?
I can’t believe it, I thought, how has she managed to keep this from me?
I mean this wasn’t just some regular hottie – this was Nick King!
Everyone knew who Nick King was; he was like the hottest guy in College.
Maybe I should – No! I stopped myself, Shannon would probably find it weird if I started flirting with her roommate, I thought wistfully as I looked at him, especially since they didn’t seem to be on the best of terms.
He was just so hot!
I stopped the thought almost immediately, friends came first and he’d obviously hurt Shannon.
I could see it by the way she was standing and by the way she kept playing with her hair.
Maybe if I talked to her about it first?
I thought hopefully, I mean it was Nick freakin’ King after all.
Some things were more important than friendship.

Shannon’s P.O.V:

I felt someone come up behind me and wrap their arms around my waist.
I relaxed immediately against his chest
‘You ok babe?’ Lee whispered in my ear.
I nodded briefly – how I wish it was just the two of us, unfortunately it wasn’t.
He kissed my cheek, pulling me closer back into him, his breath tickling my ear. Memories from the other night sprang into my mind and I felt myself blush.
I heard a dramatic sigh from in front of me and I looked up to see Mark fighting a grin and trying to keep a suitably heartbroken look on his face.
‘What’s all this then Shannon?’
He paused ‘are you cheating on me with my own roommate? How could you?’ he spoke dramatically and I laughed at him.
‘You’re such an idiot’
He grinned at me ‘well don’t I get a hug? I haven’t seen you in ages’
‘I know but that’s not my fault’
I stepped out of Lee’s embrace and into Mark’s arms.
He picked me up and spun me around as I giggled.
He kissed me on the forehead as he set me down again but he didn’t move his arms from where they rested on my waist.
‘It’s good to see you’
‘You too’ I replied ‘is Jay here?’
‘I am’ I heard Jay’s voice behind me.
I turned to face him ‘long time no see’ he glanced pointedly at Mark’s hands, where they were starting to stray slowly downwards.
I moved them back up and glared reproachfully at him over my shoulder – he just winked.
‘Don’t I get a hug too?’ I returned my attention to Jay
‘Of course’ I smiled ‘if you can get this idiot to let go’
I glanced back at Mark.
‘I don’t want to’ he pouted but let go of me long enough to let Jay hug me briefly before slinging his arm over my shoulders.
I noticed for the first time a girl standing quietly at Jay’s shoulder. I couldn’t tell if her expression was bored or just shy.
Jay, noticing my stare, made the introductions,
‘Shannon this is Nicole, my date and Nicole this is Shannon, my friend’ he glanced at me ‘and Nick’s roommate’ he finished quickly.
I scowled at how he introduced me even though it was true.
She smiled briefly at me before continuing to gaze around the room with that bored/shy look on her face.
Jay wandered away with Nicole, leaving me with Mark.

I glanced around to see who else had come.
I saw Emma, Natalie, Robbie, James, Jay, Nicole, Delilah, Lee and Nick.
There was a random guy standing with Delilah who I presumed was her boyfriend, with a dreamy look on his face to rival her own.
I noticed that while both Lee and Nick were talking to people they kept glancing over to where I was standing with Mark.
Rolling my eyes to myself, I turned my attention back to Mark who was watching me with a twinkle in his eye.
Drawing me close, he leaned in to whisper in my ear,
‘You seem to have attracted a lot of attention’
‘Ye and not all of it good unfortunately’
He studied me.
‘I think there’s a lot here that you don’t know’
I raised an eyebrow questioningly ‘what do you mean?’
He shook his head ‘it’s not really my place to tell’
He hesitated, glancing around him as if to check that nobody else was listening ‘just...don’t be so hard on Nick, he’s a good guy and he has his reasons for acting the way he does’
He hastily continued when he saw my look,
‘I mean, it doesn’t excuse his actions and I know he hasn’t treated you well but...as I said there’s a reason’
‘Ye there always seems to be a reason’ I scoffed.
He was quiet for a while,
‘I know, but still, for me please?’ he grinned ‘do it ‘because you love me’
I rolled my eyes but nodded my head, partly so he’d drop the subject.

I turned my head thoughtfully and met Nick’s eyes.
I wonder what Mark meant when he said Nick had reasons?
It looked as though he was going to come over but he glanced behind me quickly before turning away.
Lee stepped up beside me, looking pointedly at Mark’s arm
‘Mind if I talk to my girlfriend?’
I was surprised when he used the word “girlfriend”.
I thought I saw Mark’s face harden just a little, but it was gone before I could be sure.
He took his arm from around my shoulders.
‘See you later Sweet Cheeks’ he kissed me quickly on the cheek, winking at me before he turned and sauntered over to where Nick was standing.
They began talking in urgent whispers.
Nick seemed angry about something and I was pretty sure I knew what, or more accurately who they were talking about.
Sighing, I turned to face Lee who was also watching the two guys argue.
He grinned at me but it didn’t seem to reach his eyes
‘What was that about?’
I shrugged ‘nothing really’
I wasn’t about to tell him what Mark had said about Nick.
‘You two seem pretty close’
I smiled, shrugging again, I hadn’t seen Mark or Jay in a while but I really liked them both.
‘Tell me if he annoys you, I know what he’s like’
I frowned ‘what’s he like?’
‘Well he’s a bit of a bastard if you ask me and he was acting way too forward with you’
My frown deepened ‘I like Mark and he wasn’t being forward’
‘oh, like I didn’t see where his hands were going, I can’t believe you let him touch you, it’s like that guy at the club all over again’ he sneered.
That hurt, what had happened with Ben at the club was before we’d gotten together, not to mention how drunk I was.
I couldn’t think of anything to say, I’d never seen this side of Lee before and I didn’t like it.
I glanced over at Mark and Nick who were watching us. I suddenly wanted to go over to them and get away from Lee but when I started to turn, he pulled me back into his chest and kissed me forcefully.
I pushed him away and glared at him. He wrapped his arms around and me and started stroking my hair.
I stayed still, I really didn’t want him touching me but I didn’t want to cause a scene by pushing him away, I’d done enough of that earlier by fighting with Nick ‘I’m sorry babe, I just don’t like seeing his hands all over you, you’re mine’
a strange possessive note crept into his voice when he said “you’re mine”...and not the good kind of possessive that showed me that he cared about me but the creepy, stalker kind of possessive.
It freaked me out.
‘As long as you don’t cheat on me with him or anyone else, we’ll be fine, won’t we babe?’
His tone turned almost threatening and my heart sped up.
I glanced over at Nick and Mark again.
Whatever they saw in my eyes made them both start walking over but Natalie beat them to it.
Bouncing over she said happily;
‘Come on guys everyone’s sitting down’
Lee grabbed my hand and we followed Nat over to the long table where everyone was sitting down.
I ended up sitting between Natalie and Lee, with Mark opposite me and Nick opposite Lee.

Conversations around the table drifted over me like a wave.
I wasn’t paying attention to anything, I was too preoccupied with my thoughts – Lee, what Mark had said and unsurprisingly, Nick (he was never far from my thoughts).
I just hoped that I wasn’t attracting more attention by not talking – I didn’t want to be rude.
I was roused from my thoughts, not by a question or an elbow to the ribs to tell me I was being rude, but a hand slowly caressing my knee.
I stared at bafflement at the hand as it made its way slowly up my thigh, pausing halfway before making its way back to my knee.
My gaze traced slowly up an arm, past a shoulder and a neck until I was looking into Lee’s face.
He grinned when he saw me looking, his hand travelling higher and higher up my thigh, making me increasingly uncomfortable.
I squirmed as a cold shiver of revulsion flowed down my spine.
It was so different to the warmth his touch usually inspired in me.
He continued until I grabbed his hand and shoved it off my leg.
He paused for only a second before his hand found its way back, beginning again at my knee, stroking my bare skin. I regretted not wearing tights under my dress. I leaned over to him,
‘Stop it’ I hissed.
He turned to face me, grinning widely
‘Oh come on’ he whispered to me ‘you know you like it’
‘No I don’t, now stop!’
His expression turned ugly, as he leaned in even closer ‘you let random guys touch you but not your own boyfriend?’
I recoiled back away from him.
‘If you’re not careful you won’t be my boyfriend for very long’ I hissed angrily.
He just shrugged, ‘fine’.
He removed his hand, instead wrapping his arm around my shoulders pulling me close to him.
I squirmed, but he wouldn’t loosen his hold. I glanced up to see Nick glaring daggers at Lee, his eyes narrowed until they were just slits.
He looked ready to kill him but Lee was oblivious.
When he noticed me watching, he raised an eyebrow.
I sent him my best “help me!” look, hoping he understood before dropping my eyes back to my plate.

Almost immediately, I felt my phone vibrate against my leg, where I’d laid it on the chair beside me.
I glanced furtively at Lee on my other side but he wasn’t paying attention, he was laughing at a joke somebody had told while he absently stroked my arm.
I opened the message, already knowing who it was from
‘U need help?’
I replied immediately, ‘yes plz!’
My phone buzzed again within seconds, ‘ok, pretend 2 feel sick, I’ll walk u home’.
I glanced up, smiling briefly at him before letting my knife and fork clatter loudly against my plate as I dropped them.
When I had everyone’s attention, I said in a weak voice;
‘I’m sorry; I just really don’t feel well’
‘You ok hun? You look really pale’ Natalie asked, concern evident in her voice
‘Ye, do you need anything?’ Lee asked
‘I think I just need to go home, it’s been a long day’
I paused for effect ‘sorry guys’.
I made to push my chair back but I couldn’t because of Lee’s grip. I glanced at him, his eyes were hard and I knew then that he knew I was faking.
He smiled at me and I averted my eyes at the look on his face. I was amazed that no one else saw the threat hiding behind his smile.
‘I’ll walk you home’
He got up and I was able to push my chair back and stand up. ‘Oh no, its fine, you stay here’
There was a quaver in my voice that wasn’t intentional but to everyone else it would seem like I really was unwell – perhaps I was, I suddenly felt sick and felt like I might throw up.

At that moment, Nick stood up on the opposite side of the table.
‘Its fine, I’ll walk you home’
I nodded and bent to pick up my bag.
When I was standing straight again I noticed that Lee was standing staring at Nick. ‘I’ll walk her home, I’m her boyfriend’
He kept his tone light but I could hear its dangerous undercurrent.
Nick obviously could too and I saw him tense.
‘Fair enough but I’m her roommate and I was planning on leaving soon anyway, I have to be up early in the morning’
I almost snorted at the lie; Nick didn’t get up early unless he absolutely had to.
I realised that they were both – everyone was – looking at me.
‘What do you think Shannon?’
Nick prompted with a glint of a humour in his eyes; he knew I hadn’t been paying attention.
I could almost feel Lee’s hard gaze, burning a hole in the side of my head.
Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I turned to him
‘It makes sense for Nick to walk me home don’t you think?’ I said in a small voice ‘I don’t want you to have to leave and if he was planning on leaving anyway...’ I trailed off nervously.
He opened his mouth but after glancing around the table to see everyone watching us, he closed it again.
‘Fine’ he hissed, slumping back into his seat and staring broodingly at his plate.
I let out the breath I’d been unconsciously holding. I walked around the table to where Nick was waiting and we turned to leave.
He placed one hand lightly on the small of my back to guide me.
As we made our way to the door there was a chorus of ‘Goodbyes’.
I glanced back to see Mark winking at me, he clearly knew what was going on.
Nat had whispered in my ear, before we left the table that she’d call me tomorrow because we - here she’d glanced at Nick - had important things to discuss.
As we stepped out into the cold night, I relaxed for what felt like the first time in ages.

Lee’s P.O.V:

I watched as Shannon left with him.
I clenched my fists beneath the table when I saw him rest his hand on her back. She shouldn’t let him touch her.
Anger and jealousy seethed within me.
She shouldn’t have left with him. It hadn’t escaped my notice, the bitterness in her voice when she talked of whoever he had brought home.
I silently cursed both of them.
Damn it! I thought; she’s my girlfriend!
I’ll just have to remind her of it. My mind settled a bit with that thought but it wasn’t enough.
I ran my hand with frustration through my hair.
I was never calm when I thought of Shannon.
She was nice and funny and more importantly, she was hot!
Right from when I’d met her, I knew I had to have her.
Nick - I felt dirty even thinking the bastard’s name – had better not stand in my way.
I knew that was wishful thinking though, I’d seen the way he looked at her, even when she was clearly angry with him.
He’d looked absolutely devastated when Shannon had said:
“Or am I just another girl in a long line that’s long since blurred together despite the fact that we see eachother everyday”
Though I don’t think she noticed, thank God.
I looked up to see Mark glaring at me.
I struggled not to sneer, I hated him almost as much as I hated Nick; thank God he was almost never home.
The way he’d held Shannon and had talked to her made me hate him even more, she was mine!
Lowering my eyes back to the table, my tangled thoughts went once more Shannon.
I’ll prove to her how much I love her, that she’s mine and no one else’s.
The thought almost made me smile as I began to plan how I’d do it.