Page 18 of Losing Control
“Oh, yes, Jeremy mentioned some racing thing,” she says with a wave of her hand.
“In fact, they should be back any moment now,” I announce as the front door opens and we hear the laughter of the two men.
Jeremy comes into view first, his sky blue eyes glazed over indicating that he has had a little too much to drink, not to mention his blue shirt is no longer tucked in and his floppy blond hair is all in disarray.
“Hey, girls,” he slurs as he stumbles over to Kim and leans down to give her a kiss. Unfortunately he loses his balance and plows straight into Kim, knocking her wine all over her.
“Jeremy,” she screeches as she struggles to get him off of her.
“Oh shit, sorry, babe, didn’t meant to.”
“For fuck’s sake, man, how old are you?”
“Old enough to know better, yada yada, I know the drill, but we had fun, so I couldn’t give a toss right now.”
I laugh at their banter and then my eyes lock with Michael’s. He doesn’t look anywhere near as drunk as Jeremy, and there is definitely no mistaking the heat in his gaze.
“Hey,” I say putting my wine glass down and standing up.
I walk over to him and snake my arms around his waist. He leans down and places a kiss on my lips, allowing me to taste an essence of whisky on them. I am not a fan of whisky, but on his lips it’s not so bad.
“Are you ready to go?” he asks me, and I sense that there is an urgency to get me out of here.
“Oh, sure. Let me just go and get my coat,” I say as I move past him and out into the hallway.
Kim is still shrieking at Jeremy to get off of her and I feel a little sorry for him for the hangover that he is going to wake up with tomorrow morning. I put my coat on and make my way back to the lounge.
Michael has taken the liberty of picking up my handbag and is waiting for me to say my goodbyes.
“Kim, I’ll give you a call tomorrow,” I say as she just sticks her hand in the air to say bye. She is definitely going to have fun trying to get Jeremy to bed as he seems to be half-asleep already.
I take Michael’s hand in mine and lead him out of the house and out into the fresh air. It’s a little chilly and a shiver runs through me.
“Come here,” Michael says as he nestles me into his side so that we can walk back to his place. His arm comforts me and makes me feel safe.
“Did you have fun tonight?” I ask him.
“Yeah, it was okay.” He doesn’t sound very convincing.
“Well, Jeremy certainly seemed to have enjoyed himself.”
“Oh, he definitely did. Now there is a man who can’t handle his drink.”
“Hmm. He’s going to feel so bad in the morning, especially once Kim has dealt with him.” I chuckle at the image that conjures in my mind. I have seen Jeremy come back in a state before, and I have witnessed the morning after. Kim will spend the morning playing loud music and singing at the top of her lungs whilst Jeremy whimpers for her to have more sympathy. Kim will tell him that he should know his limits and that it serves him right. Jeremy will then spend the rest of the day creeping around Kim before she finally gives in and they snuggle up and watch a film together.
“I like Jeremy, but I still think that Kim is unsure about me.”
“Nonsense. Kim does like you. You proved what I meant to you when you stood up to Tom at the restaurant.” I feel his body tense against mine and I know that it is because I mentioned Tom’s name. He feels uncomfortable when I mention him, but unfortunately, I can’t erase my past and Tom is a part of that.
“Speaking of which, Tom was at the dog racing tonight.”
“Oh, really?” Shit, I hope that doesn’t mean that Michael spoke to him.
“Yeah. He came over and chatted to Jeremy for a bit.”
“Well, Jeremy thinks that Tom is a wanker so there’s no chance of that becoming a regular thing.”
“Hmm.” We walk in silence for a few minutes until Michael speaks again. “They seemed to be quite friendly.”
