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Charlie was about to argue but Amy spoke again, softly yet forcefully.

  ‘I know that it did’ Amy said. She hoped she wasn’t being stupid right now, spilling her guts like this. Never mind that Charlie had said it first. To Amy, her own reveal seemed bigger. But that’s because she was learning how she’d felt as she spoke. It was a lot for Amy to handle, all this honesty. And if Charlie had just kissed her, that would have made her feel like everything was alright.

  But Charlie couldn’t handle the moment. This day had started with her hating this woman. The speed at which things were progressing was suddenly too much for her. It was bizarre. Charlie knew full well she was queen of the instant relationship. For intimacy, just add water. And here she was, fresh from the boudoir, the place where all her dating decisions were made and she was freaking out.

  ‘We should probably get back to the wedding’ Charlie said. She saw Amy’s face fall slightly. But Amy quickly covered it, nodding and smiling in agreement.

  ‘Yes. We should.’

  She’d tried to say something honest to Charlie and it had been hard. And it hadn’t mattered. Charlie didn’t want to hear it.

  Amy was beginning to think that the wounds she’d left in Charlie were deeper than she’d imagined.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Charlie and Amy were riding down in the elevator. It had been a couple of floors of silence.

  When the door popped open, they stepped out into the lobby. Beyond, the doors to the main reception indicated that the party was still in full swing. Charlie looked at her phone.

  ‘It’s nine already.’

  ‘Yes’ replied Amy, for lack of a more interesting response.

  ‘Only a few more hours till you can stop being Lucy.’

  That comment disturbed Amy, but still, all she could say was ‘Yes.’

  Something had switched in Charlie back in the room. One minute they’d been completely in sync, in the bed and out of it. And then she’d seemed to hit a nerve. And now they were out of step again.

  As they walked back to the reception doors, Charlie slipped her hand into Amy’s. But Amy no longer knew in what capacity her hand was being held. Whose hand was Charlie holding right now. Amy’s? Or ‘Lucy’s’? Amy thought about asking, but she didn’t even know how to begin. She decided to leave it alone. She didn’t want to risk looking stupid by asking for some sort of assurance. It was a needy move and Amy was not a fan of appearing needy.

  They opened the doors to see that the half hour that they had spent away from the party had been enough for everyone to get to the point of seeming absolutely hammered. Charlie’s aunt Susan was actually dancing in the middle of a clapping circle on the dance floor as Dead or Alive told her to spin right round. It was quite a sight.

  Charlie put both hands to her face as she watched with horror. She turned to Amy.

  ‘Is your family as bad as this?’

  Amy watched Auntie Susan with a shade more admiration than Charlie did. Susan was surprisingly limber for her age.

  ‘It’s a wedding’ she shrugged. ‘People have been drinking for about eight hours straight. I’m amazed everyone is still fully dressed.’

  Charlie shuddered.

  ‘God help us all.’

  ‘Trust me, I’ve seen a lot worse. Your family knows how to have a good time, that’s all.’

  ‘Easy to say when they’re not yours.’

  Something caught Charlie’s eye. She was being summoned. She turned to see Dawn beckoning her to table one, where she sat with her husband and daughter, and her new son-in-law. Josh’s parents were out on the dance floor and apparently, Charlie and Amy were to fill their seats.

  They went over and sat down with both couples. Everyone was looking at them with strangely expectant expressions. Maddie spoke for the group.

  ‘We were just talking about Sunday dinner when we come back from honeymoon in a couple of weeks. We thought Amy could come along, so we could meet her in bit less chaos?’

  Charlie and Amy exchanged a quick glance. A lot was implicit in that look. There were several key points of understanding. Firstly, they weren’t ready for some intimate family sit down. But of course, no one else realised that because secondly, everyone still believed she was Lucy. Amy’s real name, occupation and the length of her relationship with Charlie weren’t in the public domain.

  It was the first time that Charlie and Amy both realised that they were trying to start something on the back of a lie. And that lie would have to continue for the length of the relationship, whatever that might turn out to be.

  But that’s a lot to figure out in point five of a second with a look alone. So as Charlie gaped, Amy, feeling a pressure to respond to what was really a very kind invitation from people she had managed to get quite fond of in the short space of the wedding, spoke instead.

  ‘I’d love to.’

  Dawn clapped her hands together in glee.

  ‘Well, that’s decided then.’

  Ed filled several glasses from one of the remaining champagne bottles of the night and distributed them to the table.

  ‘I’d like to make a toast.’

  ‘Ed, must you?’ Dawn groaned. But Ed was determined to mark the moment. He stood, the better to address the table.

  ‘I’d like to raise a glass to the happy couple. Or should I say couples. Firstly, Maddie and Josh. You put together a hell of a shindig, well done. We’re so proud of you.

  Josh smiled his thanks and tipped his glass to Ed while Maddie beamed. But Ed wasn’t finished.

  ‘And secondly, Charlie, we want you to know how much we like your new girlfriend.’

  Charlie closed her eyes, as though her ears would follow suit. Just when she thought she’d seen the worst of the embarrassment served up today, someone cracked open a fresh tin of it.

  Ed didn’t notice, ploughing on.

  ‘We’re glad you’re happy. And we don’t say this often enough, but we’re proud of you too, Charlie.’

  Charlie waited for more, but that was it. She glanced from her Dad’s grinning face to her Mum. She was smiling at her too. They both really meant it. Charlie felt a lump in her throat.

  Meanwhile, Amy was receiving her seal of approval with mixed emotions. She’d had no trouble lying to them at the start of the day. But now, it didn’t feel right. It had all suddenly gotten so complicated. With Charlie and with her family. She’d charmed them because it was her job. But what were they to her now? They were Charlie’s family. Charlie, who she’d found herself falling for despite all logical sense.

  Amy didn’t know whether she and Charlie had a shot, whether they could get beyond their past to find some kind of future. Their history counted against them. What had happened in the hotel room had seemed to indicate that. So how the hell were they going to figure anything out under these strange circumstances? Starting under this pressure to maintain a false identity?

  Ed, true to form, missed the complex emotions flying all over the place and simply raised his glass.

  ‘Cheers!’

  Everyone responded to the toast with a group cheer and sipped their champagne. Charlie and Amy clinked their glasses, with a look to each other that was clear enough. ‘We need to have a conversation.’

  Charlie and Amy walked into the toilet and Charlie started looking under stalls. They were all empty. She turned to Amy.

  ‘So, you’re coming to Sunday Dinner?’

  Amy sighed.

  ‘What else was I supposed to say?’

  ‘I’m not blaming you. They sprung that on both of us.’

  Amy leant against a sink.

  ‘You’d rather I didn’t come?’

  That threw Charlie.

  ‘Do you want to come?’

  They both looked at each other for a second, neither willing to be the first to admit the truth, both afraid they’d offend the other.

  Charlie broke first.

  ‘It’s not that I don’t want you to come, it’s just…’

  ‘…It’s
too soon’ Amy finished.

  ‘Yes’ Charlie cried in relief. ‘This is still technically our first date and…’

  Charlie’s voice trailed off. What was the big deal here, really? It was just a Sunday dinner. But something in Charlie thought that it was more than that.

  And then Charlie said six words she’d never said in her whole life.

  ‘…I want to take it slow.’

  Amy had been looking at the floor but at those words, she looked up at Charlie.

  ‘Do you?’

  Charlie nodded. Amy gave her a sceptical look.

  ‘We’ve already had sex. I’m not sure if that counts as slow.’

  ‘If you want to get technical, we had sex eleven years ago, which I could count as our first date. A decade between dates is pretty slow.’

  Amy smiled at that.

  ‘You have a point.’

  Charlie joined Amy at the sink, leaning next to her. Their arms were centimetres other but only their little fingers reached out to touch.

  ‘But you should realise, I’m not waiting another decade for the third date’ Charlie said.

  Amy gave her a sideways look.

  ‘So there’s going to be a third date?’

  Charlie realised with a jolt that she should have waited for Amy to ask. She’d already asked once, perhaps it would have been good manners in this whole ‘taking it slowly’ thing. Charlie realised she was totally out of her element.

  But Amy was simply surprised that she hadn’t blown it in the hotel room. Charlie wanted this and she wanted to take it slow. Amy was relieved.

  ‘I wasn’t sure if you wanted another date’ Amy said. ‘You seemed to shut down earlier. When I said that thing before. In the room.’

  Charlie turned fully to face Amy.

  ‘Yeah, I guess I did.’

  They looked at each other for a silent, searching second while Amy died from the suspense.

  ‘Well?!’

  Charlie’s realised it had happened again. She’d thought she was explaining herself, but she was just doing a goldfish impression while she disappeared into her own head.

  ‘I don’t know, I just got a little freaked out. It felt big to admit that to each other. Even if it was a million years ago.’

  ‘You were scared?’

  ‘Yeah’ Charlie shrugged. ‘You scare me, Amy.’

  Amy wasn’t sure if she should be pleased by that. But she was. Because she was scared too. There was something about Charlie that made her think there was a lot at risk here. That was why they were both scared. It was just because they really liked each other.

  It was funny, Charlie had said ‘You scare me, Amy’ and Amy knew somehow that what she really meant was ‘I like you, Amy.’

  Amy smiled slowly at Charlie and said ‘You scare me, too’ and kissed her. It wasn’t their first kiss of the night, but it might as well have been, so new did it feel. It was less nerve wracking than the one of the dance floor, less lust filled than the one in the hotel room, but it was more exciting than either of them. It was quite simply, intimate.

  But as they pulled apart, a niggling thought that had been with Amy since the dinner invitation pushed its way into her mind. Kissing had dampened it for a moment. But she couldn’t put it out of her mind any longer.

  ‘Look, what are we going to do about this whole ‘Lucy’ situation?’

  Charlie let out a deep, existential sigh of utter misery and said ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘They think I’m a vet for Christ’s sakes.’

  Charlie thought for a second.

  ‘I suppose it’s asking a bit much if you change your name and actually become a vet?’

  Amy rolled her eyes.

  ‘Be serious for a second. We need to figure this out.’

  ‘I am being serious, it’s only five years of training-’

  Amy swatted Charlie’s hand. Charlie laughed at her annoyance but then tried to put a serious expression on her face. It was hard. This was a serious topic and being around Amy made her want to be the opposite of serious. But Amy was all business.

  ‘What do you think about coming clean?’

  Charlie’s mouth went down at the corners, a cartoon expression of unhappiness.

  ‘I’d rather not, if we can avoid it. They think you’re awesome. And they think I’m awesome for snagging you.’

  ‘They love you, Charlie. They’ll understand.’

  ‘I know they love me. But they kind of think I’m a…’

  Charlie looked away as she spoke the word.

  ‘…Joke.’

  Amy realised she’d wandered into a hot button issue. People and their families were always complicated and Charlie was clearly no different. But Amy happened to be an expert in this particular type of complicated.

  ‘Charlie, what I do for a living… It’s for people who think other people will think badly of them if they don’t have everything perfectly together. That’s what Rent-a-Date is supposed to do, support those people. But I can’t tell you from experience, all we really do is provide a confidence boost. We can’t give you anything you don’t already have. Whoever they think you are with me, it’s still only you. It has been all along. If they think you’re awesome today, then that’s what they really think. Because you are awesome.’

  Charlie smiled self-consciously. Amy thought her final comment could easily descend into some hard core kissing, but she didn’t want this moment to be about that. This was about Charlie.

  ‘If you want your family to respect you, you have to start by showing them some respect. Just be honest with them. Give them a chance.’

  Charlie sighed.

  ‘What about you? Aren’t you worried about how you’re going to look in all this?’

  Truthfully, Amy was worried about that. But she couldn’t in good conscience put that above Charlie’s chance to heal some wounds within her family. She was going to have to come clean with them too and accept the consequences of that. She just hoped they’d be able to get past the way this had started out. That in time, they’d be able to trust that she wasn’t some liar that had tricked her way into their hearts. Because she wanted to be in Charlie’s life for real. She wasn’t counting her chickens, but she was proceeding from a position of hope. And it had been a long time since she’d been able to do that. It had to be worth the risk.

  ‘I’ll have to take my lumps on that one, I guess. But this has to be your choice.’

  Charlie nodded and her head dropped to look at the tile while she contemplated the dilemma she was in.

  Three seconds later, her head came back up. It had been three seconds of note for Charlie. She had decided to face up to things. She didn’t know if she would have done that if not for the developing situation with Amy, but she wasn’t going to give herself a tough time over that. This was one occasion where necessity was indeed the mother of invention. She was re-inventing herself as a person who was willing to go the hard route. Even if it was in part for Amy, then so be it. Because the other part was just for her.

  ‘You’re right. Today’s not the day, but I will tell them the truth. I’m just gonna tell them you’re not really Lucy and that you were a Rent-a-Date.’

  At the moment Charlie said that, the door sung wide open and they both turned, knowing that whoever it was had heard that last sentence. And who did they see, standing in the doorway, mouth agape?

  Lilah.

  She looked from Amy to Charlie and back to Amy. And then back to Charlie. All they could do was stare back.

  ‘She’s a what?’

  Charlie stepped forward to explain, but her mouth opened and closed a few times with no actual words being released.

  That was enough to tell Lilah that she’d just heard something she wasn’t supposed to. She had no clue what a Rent-a-Date was, she just knew that it was something bad, potentially something that could cause trouble for Charlie. Lilah couldn’t get her phone out quick enough.

  ‘Siri, what is Rent-a-Date?’

&n
bsp; Everyone listened as Siri spilled the beans, Lilah’s face breaking into a grin of malicious delight.

  ‘Well, well. I knew there was something fishy about you!’ she sneered at Amy.

  ‘Lilah, Charlie’s going to tell everyone anyway. But not today. It’s Maddie’s wedding. It’s not about us. Can you just-’

  ‘Your sister’s gonna to shit a solid gold brick!’ Lilah said and span on her heel, dashing out of the toilet, the need to urinate utterly forgotten. She was heading straight for table one.

  Charlie and Amy hurried after her, panic stricken. Charlie had just decided to try and be the best version of herself and lo and behold, poor timing was about to fuck it all up.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lilah’s heels thumped towards table one but as she got there, she slowed down, realising she couldn’t just run at Maddie and scream her information. She should take her time, enjoy the moment. Not only was this her chance to embarrass Charlie publically, but everyone would be looking to her as the one who’d weaselled out this ridiculous and embarrassing secret. She was kind of a hero, if you looked at it that way. And Lilah did indeed look at it that way.

  However you sliced it, this was her moment and she wanted to savour every delicious bite.

  ‘Maddie, I’m sorry, I need to talk to you for a second.’

  Maddie, mid awkward conversation with her father, who was making some utterly inappropriate jokes about the honeymoon, was glad of a reason to break it off. She turned gladly to Lilah.

  ‘What’s up?’

  Charlie and Amy had finally caught Lilah up. They were both shocked at how fast she was. Usain Bolt fast. But now they’d caught her up, they had no idea how to stop what was about to happen. What could they really do? Kidnap her and throw her in the boot of a car?

  Amy decided to make one last ditch attempt at reasoning with her.

  ‘Lilah, could I speak with you?’

  But Lilah was in no mood to be reasoned with.

  ‘Maddie…’ she started.

  ‘Lilah, please’ Charlie begged.

  But Maddie could already see that there was something seriously strange afoot.

  ‘What the hell’s going on here. Why are you lot being weird?’