Pieces of Truth

Chapter 21

More Lies?

~ ~ ~

I had lost count of how many times Josh and I made love that day. It was constant and never-ending. We couldn’t get enough of it. We were insatiable. We did it in his bedroom, on the terrace, in the kitchen. Every single moment that we wanted to, which was all the time. By evening, I had to catch my breath. I ran a hot bubble bath in Josh’s grand bathtub and slid in, Josh following me a few minutes later.

“I thought you were going to rest,” I said to Josh, as he pulled me against his chest through the bubbles.

“I hated being away from you,” he said, leaning down to my cheek, kissing it gently. I stared at our entwined feet which had emerged from the bubbles at the other end of the long tub.

“Josh, today has been…”

“I know. We are... The way we... I think I’m addicted.”

We both laughed and when we finished, the atmosphere became serious. Josh hugged me as we both listened to the sound of the bubbles lightly disintegrating and popping, but I could tell something was on his mind.

“Norah, what are you going to do about Clint? He is going to find you, and he will want to know where he stands.”

I knew this would come up. I stopped Josh from saying any more than he needed to.

“Josh. It’s over with Clint. The moment you brought me back here I knew this was going to happen. I think I always knew it would lead to this. I just didn’t know how we would get here, but we have. Finally.”

Josh wasn’t completely convinced. “But, he might change your mind, he might...” He trailed off. I knew Josh must have been worried about how quickly I had moved on from Clint. I had jumped from one bed into another. Yes it looked bad, but I didn’t care. I didn’t feel like that was how it should be seen. The moment was right, and I no longer cared about whether or not this would hurt Clint. To me, I had made a choice. Josh was it, he was my end. My destiny. I regretted nothing. Why should I give a damn about Clint’s feelings, when he clearly did not care about mine?

“Josh, nothing will change my mind. You have always been the right guy for me. You are not like Clint or Samuel. Why; have you changed your mind?”

Josh’s body tensed as I questioned his feelings. “Never. I want you here forever Norah.”

“Then forever I will stay,” I said, moving backwards so I put my neck into the crook of Josh’s neck.

“Are you being serious Norah? Don’t toy with my emotions.” Josh’s hands had shifted to my hips in the bathtub.

I turned my head to look up at him. “I don’t want to waste any more time with the wrong guys. I just want every moment from now on to be with the right guy. You Josh. Just you.”

Josh sighed, relieved. “I love you so much Norah.”

“I love you too Josh.”

His hands began to find their way around and up in between my thighs. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes in anticipation. His hands would soon find me and I would be ready, wanting him again. Before he reached that spot, he stalled.

“You need to call Tess. She has called me a thousand times since the truth and dare party, worried about you. When she couldn’t get hold of you after everything went down, I gave her my cell number in case I found you first.”

Oh crap, I had forgotten all about Tess. I should let her know I’m OK. More than OK. I hope her trip back to London was alright.

“I wonder why I haven’t heard from her on my cell?”

“Ahhh, perhaps it’s because you shot your cell to pieces Nor,” Josh pointed out. Everything before this turn of events with Josh had become fuzzy memories in my mind. I had forgotten I did that.

I giggled, “Oh yeah, that’s right. I’ll have to get her number from you then.”

Josh started to kiss my neck now returning to what we started. His hands returned to my inner thighs where I needed him to be. It was going to be a long and orgasmic night, and I couldn’t wait to have more of Josh.

~ ~ ~

The first thing I heard in the morning was the sound of the shower and Josh singing. I had no idea Josh sang in the shower. He was awful and couldn’t carry a tune. I giggled as I listened to how happy he sounded as he attempted the high notes. I think he was singing Lifehouse’s, You and Me. I smiled as I stretched out in Josh’s bed. A buzzing sound went off near my ear.

What’s that?

Josh’s cell phone was on vibrate and going off. It must have buzzed at least three times. Josh was a busy man. I wonder what could be so important at this time of morning.

I rolled over on the bed, the Egyptian cotton sheets getting caught up between my naked body and the bed, cocooning me as I did. I reached over and grabbed his cell. Maybe it was Tess? I would love to talk to her right now and tell her everything was fine.

My eyes lit up as I saw the name flashing. It was Tess. I pushed ‘Accept’.

“Why hello there Miss Nicholls!” I said in my most charming voice. I couldn’t help it. I will still in a lovesick state of mind. Nothing could bring me down from the high.

“Shit, f*ck, oh my God, f*ck Norah. Shit! Are you OK?”

“And hello to you too! Yes, yes, I’m fine. I’m so sorry you were worried and that we didn’t get a chance to say good-bye, but you know...”

“Yes, I saw what happened, I was there. Are you really OK? What happened with Clint? F*ck Norah…F*ck!”

“Tess, calm down. I am alright. More than alright. Clint and I are over and I managed not to destroy walls because of it. Josh has...well...he was there for me.”

“He told me you were staying at his place. Are you sure you are OK? I can probably get time off this weekend to fly back. We can use that ticket I got you and you can come back with me.”

“No, that’s not necessary. I think I’m fine where I am Tess. But thank you so much for checking up on me, you are the best.”

“What do you mean, you are fine where you are? Do you mean...with Josh?”

I went quiet, not denying anything. A high-pitched squeal came from the cell. I had to hold it away from my head so it wouldn’t burst my eardrum.

“Oh my God Norah, have you and Josh...did you and Josh...shit, wait, I’m going through a tunnel...”

Click.

Ah, European cell reception. I smiled at the cell as I placed it back on the side table. I knew Tess would call back with a million questions.

The cell began buzzing again. I picked it up, but a different number flashed this time. A number I immediately recognized. It was my Dad. No doubt worried about my whereabouts. I was sure he was just checking in with Josh. He had mentioned that he had called a few times too. I thought about talking to my Dad, but I wasn’t in the mood for his parenting style. He would probably command me to come home after he found out that I’d left Clint, and I didn’t want to get into an argument with him about why I wouldn’t be doing that.

I’ll just let it go to message bank.

As I went to put the cell down, I felt the buzz of a message coming through.

Damn my Dad is persistent.

Curiosity made my eyes look at the screen before I placed the cell back on the side table. The words ‘job’ and ‘work’ flashed in my eyes.

Ummm, what?

I adjusted my vision again and hit the cell so I could read the message fully, which was, as I saw, from my Dad’s personal cell number. The message wasn’t about me, it was specifically for Josh.

‘Josh, regarding that important work, we need you to come by as soon as possible and finish the job.’

Work, what work? A job? What job? With my Dad? Josh is working for my Dad?

I started scrolling through his messages very quickly as I heard the shower taps turning off.

‘Is it done?’

‘Did you meet with him? Is it taken care of?’

‘Are you sure you want to do this job. You know what it will mean.’

Talk about curiosity killing the cat. Suddenly I felt claw marks digging long and hard down my back as I tried to formulate a reason as to why Josh would be working for my Dad. I knew all too well what type of jobs men do for my father. Why the hell would Josh be involved in any of it? He knows. He knows what it will do to me. No. It’s not possible. NOT POSSIBLE!

My breathing became erratic. I felt myself turning inside out as I thought about Clint and Samuel. Two people who did things I never thought they would do. Now it looked like Josh was exactly like them. Doing what my Dad does. No, this isn’t happening, this can’t be happening. Not Josh. Please, NOT JOSH!

My hand started to tremble at the idea of being sideswiped. I tried to move off the bed but the room was closing in all around me. The trembling from my hand had moved to the rest of my body as I crawled off the bed, still holding his cell in my hand. All I could think about was finding my clothes. I needed to run away from all this deception, and fast, even though my legs felt like bricks tied to the ground.

I managed to find my jeans and boots but no shirt. I saw one of Josh’s business shirts hanging on a chair. I had both my hands in the sleeves when Josh came sauntering into the bedroom, the biggest grin ever on his face and a tiny white towel wrapped around his waist. I stilled like an animal, frightened and frozen in place, before bounding off into a forest. Josh’s face fell when he saw the look on my face, the way I was dressed and with his cell in my hand.

“You’re working for my father!” It was all I could say, and I still couldn’t believe I was saying it. My whole body trembled from the words that shook my core.

Josh tried to take a step forward but I took two steps back. There were so many emotions plastered on his face and I couldn’t decipher any of them through this massive bomb drop.

“Norah. Give me the cell. It’s not what you think.” He sounded like he was trying to calm a wild animal.

I could hear what Josh was saying, but my mind processed it as, “Lie, lie, lie, lie, f*cking lie.”

“You’re working for him. Doing jobs.” I was shaking so bad. I was trying to tell my mind to move, to make my legs run, to never look back.

“Norah, stop. You don’t understand.”

Something snapped inside when Josh said that.

“UNDERSTAND! What makes you think I would not understand? I asked you to do one thing for me when you moved to New York. One thing! I asked you specifically not to get mixed up in my Dad’s work, and now I see you don’t care about me at all. Understand Josh - I understand you only care about yourself and getting ahead in the worst possible way. You know what I’ve been through and what I’ve seen. You know if you worked for my Dad, what it would do to me!”

“Nor, it’s not...” He kept trying to make an excuse, but I had seen the texts. Seen the words. It was black and white now. No excuses. They would all be lies. He was a liar. He wasn’t any better than Clint or Samuel.

“You know, the idea of the Lappell hurting you back in Morewell almost killed me, but this...this Josh; you’ve broken my heart.” My voice croaked as I tried desperately not to cry.

“No, wait Norah.” He tried to jump forward, to grab hold of me.

“No you wait!” I threw the cell at his body and he moved to avoid being hit, running across to the other side of the room. I took that as my moment to flee his apartment. I took off out of the bedroom, through the loft, towards the door, running as fast as I could down the hall and to the elevator.

Why am I constantly running towards f*cking elevators!

I made it to the elevator before Josh made it out of the apartment. As the elevator doors closed and I managed to clumsily do up a few buttons, I saw Josh running down the hall towards me. His face looked so pained and upset, but I couldn’t trust it. I couldn’t believe anyone anymore.

As I exited the building, I ran out to the street, looking both ways, trying to decide very quickly my next course of action. I looked down at my feet, which again felt like lead. I needed to turn and start running anywhere but where I was. A black car pulled in front of me at the same time I saw Josh about to leave the building. The car windows were tinted black and I knew it must be my Dad’s men, who had been keeping tabs on me. They must have seen me flee the building and knew I needed help. My Dad knew I was at Josh’s place. I looked back at Josh, who was getting closer. My only thought was about getting away from Josh and making an escape, so I jumped into the car, slamming the door behind me.