Abbi... Read online

  Jessica saw her mother coming over to her with a surprised look on her face. This was not going to go well. She knew it.

  “Why are you just standing there?” She demanded.

  “Why don’t you look at the dance floor?” At Jessica’s words it was painfully obvious what she was talking about. The band had only played a few songs. As it was early in the evening there were only two couples dancing. One was Mark and his blonde girl.

  “They haven’t stopped looking at each other since they started dancing mum.” Jessica was getting a bit mad. “What would you like me to do? Throw myself at his feet and beg him to go out with me? I doubt he would even notice.” At that moment, as if to illustrate her point, Mark and Abbi burst out into laughter staring into each other’s eyes.

  Her mother paused and then said, “This is a set back. You made him laugh earlier. You just need to put the charm on.”

  “Mum open your eyes. It won’t work with her in his life.” Watching them slow dance around the floor even she had to admit that Jessica was right.

  “I know what you could do”, her mother said quietly. “When she leaves on her own to touch up her make up or something you could get chatting to her. Just generally drop in that for the last few years it’s common knowledge that the girls he takes with him to the ball he only wants for sex. Say everyone knows he has done it before and that he will do it again.”

  “Absolutely not,” Jessica said aghast. “If I can’t get him I’m not going to resort to lying like that. It’s just wrong! Plus she probably wouldn’t believe it coming from me anyway. I hated talking like that in the dress shop. I won‘t do something as degrading as that again mum!”

  “Fine. It was just an idea.”

  “You are shockingly single minded has anyone ever told you that?” Jessica asked.

  “Yes. Your father tells me almost every week.”

  A voice from somewhere in the room said audibly “Pamela?” With that her mother turned away and ran to find who had called her. Jessica sighed to herself while grabbing another glass of champagne. She had no interest in Mark at all. Jessica just wished he didn’t have money because if that were the case she wouldn’t be in this situation.

  “Pamela when are you going to drop this?” James her husband was looking livid. “Neither of them are interested in the other,” he continued.

  “But James, it is such a wonderful opportunity for us. Our money is running out!” Pamela was trying to plead with him.

  “Yes it is a wonderful opportunity,” James agreed. “However it looks like that blonde girl is going to be taking it. Not Jessica.”

  “Don’t you want the best for your daughter?” Her voice was getting very loud now and people were beginning to quieten down and listen to their conversation.

  “I do want the best for her. I admit that I thought this was a good idea at first. Forcing her to do what you find appropriate won’t make her happy. Deep down you know it won’t.”

  “Fine!” Pamela flounced off leaving James on his own. He deeply hoped he had heard the end of this.

  “Right. I will be back in a minute,” Abbi said to Mark. However he didn’t let go of her hand.

  “You forgot something,” he said and kissed her gently.

  “See you in a bit,” she said smiling. Abbi walked around looking for the powder room. She went down the hall to the left and heard the loud chatter of women after a few paces. She followed the noise. She knew that the powder room would be absolutely manic. It always was on nights like these. Abbi pushed open the door and loads of women of about twenty were all laughing at the mirrors. Before Abbi could reach the mirrors the conversation hit her.

  “…and that’s not even to mention his brother!”

  “Yeah. I’ve heard he is even worse!”

  “Loves em, leaves em faster than the drop of a hat.”

  “Mark is rather gorgeous though isn’t he?”

  “Helen you can’t be serious.”

  “The last three years after the ball he sleeps with them and then dumps them the next day. It’s just what the Hammond‘s do.”

  “All the Hammond men are quite good looking though.”

  “Well I wouldn’t put up with it no matter how good he looked.”

  “That poor girl on the dance floor with him tonight.”

  “Once he’s slept with her he will leave so fast her head won’t stop spinning until at least next year.”

  Suddenly one of the girls caught sight of Abbi and gasped. A deathly hush fell over everyone. They were all waiting to see how she would react. She could tell. Abbi walked straight back out with her head held high.

  “I want to talk to you,” Abbi said as soon as she found him in the crowd of people. She grabbed his arm and dragged him outside into the vast gardens.

  “Christ, what on earth is wrong with you!” Mark looked completely bewildered.

  “Is it true?” she asked.

  “Give me a hint about what you are talking about,” he said. She didn’t say anything for a moment. He genuinely didn’t have a clue what she was saying.

  “I heard an interesting conversation tonight,” she paused wanting to look at his face to see whether he was lying or not. “It seems that everyone but me knows that after the ball every year you have sex with your date and then dump her the morning after.” He looked horrified.

  “That is one hundred per cent untrue,” he said quietly. “Who… Who told you this… rubbish?” He sounded a bit dumbstruck.

  “All the girls were talking about it in the bathroom. It sounded like it was common knowledge. How you treat your women.” Abbi was really upset and she didn’t like the way it sounded in her voice.

  “Abbi you don’t believe this.” Mark paused. “Do you?” he added very quietly when she didn’t answer.

  After a long while she said, “No. I looked at your face when I told you what they were saying. You didn’t look like you were lying. Plus I trust you,” she said simply.

  Mark looked at her. She did look so very beautiful. “Listen. They obviously want you to think that I sleep around and am going to leave you.” He held her hand and she leaned her head against his shoulder. “Lets get back in the ballroom and have fun. That will show them.”

  “Yeah you’re right,” Abbi said. She gave him a kiss and led the way back into the dance floor.

  “Well Done girls,” Pamela said. “Thank you so much. I owe you all a massive favour. Come on then. Lets go out and see what’s going to happen between Mark and his new tart.” Pamela led the troop of giggling girls out of the bathroom. She was smiling to herself. That girl would leave him like a shot now. It was the only thing she could reasonably do she thought to herself as she went back into the ballroom.

  All of the women who had been slandering Mark had spread out in the ballroom to be with their respective partners. A very short time after they had all come back Abbi and Mark were back on the dance floor. To the surprise of everyone they looked as happy as ever. Pamela’s mouth hit the floor when she realised what she was seeing. This was mirrored by every single woman who had been badmouthing Mark. They were astounded.

  As Abbi was dancing she noticed after every few faces there was a shocked woman. That was the biggest tip off she could have had that they were all lying. If they had been telling the truth they would have been mildly surprised that she hadn’t left him and embarrassed because she overheard them. These were outraged faces. If it had been the truth there would have been none of that because it was her own business.

  Abbi leaned closer so she could whisper in his ear, “I completely believe you. It was all rubbish.” Mark looked very pleased.

  “What made you so certain?” he asked

  “Apart from the fact that I trust you, I looked at the faces in the crowd. Every now and then there are shocked women. They can’t believe that I am still here. With you.” For the next minute or so Mark looked around. She was right. There were two women looking at them talking exceedingly fast. And there.
A mouth open in horror.

  “You’re right.” Abbi laughed.

  “I’m sorry I listened to them. Even for a second.” He didn’t say anything. He just replied by kissing her. Abbi could vaguely hear all those malicious women gasp.

  “We don’t have too much longer here,” Abbi said.

  “The ball ends in ten minutes. At midnight,” he said.

  “Shall we get out of here? I have had fun tonight but my feet are killing me,” she said grinning.

  “Yeah lets go.” They both walked out of the room, ignoring the stares and whispers that followed them.

  As they left Abbi saw Steve and his five foot blonde Grace passionately kissing in a bunch of bushes. Maybe that set up hadn’t been quite as bad as Steve had envisioned it to be.

  Chapter 8

  Aftermath

  They got into one of the cars to take back to the hotel they were staying at. It was only a fifteen minute drive. It would have taken twice as long if they had waited until the ball had ended because everyone would have been trying to leave at the same time. Abbi had taken her heels off and had her feet up on the seat, her head on his shoulder.

  “I had a great time Mark,” she said. He moved her off his shoulder so that he could kiss her. He had kissed her many times. This time he just didn’t stop. He couldn’t. After a moments surprise she was kissing him back. She grasped his shoulder very tightly. He put his arms around her waist. He noticed that the car was slowing down. Damn it they were there already.

  Abbi got out of the car slowly. That had been good she thought. Shame they got to the hotel so soon. Mark had his arm around her waist as they walked up to their rooms. She had her shoes in one hand and her dress in the other so the bottom didn’t drag along the floor.

  They were outside her room very quickly. “Do you want to come in?” she asked very quietly, hoping the answer was yes.

  “What would everyone think? Would you think all those girls were right? The first time I get you in a hotel room alone…” he left the rest of his sentence unsaid. He was so close to her that she was struggling to think clearly.

  “That doesn’t answer my question,” she said smiling. “Do you want to come in?”

  He didn’t say anything for a long time. He leaned close to her and just before he kissed her he whispered, “yes.” He wrapped his arms around her. She was trying to unlock the door without looking with very little success. She stopped the kiss by turning around. She focused on unlocking the door, which was made very difficult because Mark was kissing the back of her neck.

  She finally got the door open and they both rushed in. She shut the door and made sure it was locked. She threw her shoes onto the floor and wrapped her arms around him while they kissed each other. He lifted her up and they both fell onto the bed, laughing together. He took his jacket off and threw it to the floor. He ran his hands through her hair as she took her gloves off. He kissed her again as she took his shirt off. She moved her hands over his bare chest.

  Dimly she could hear the chatter of other people staring to arrive further down the hall. He turned her over so that he could undo the zip of her dress. It came off very easily. She was now in nothing except her underwear. Black underwear. She had never been so excited in her life. He moved his hands all over her very slowly.

  “Do you definitely want to do this?” he asked. She nodded and kissed him again.

  George and Julia were in their hotel room and he was ranting about Abbi.

  “Have you finished?” Julia asked. “Good,” she said before he could answer. “She is a lovely girl. You can’t possibly hate someone that much who you spent the entire night ignoring.”

  “She might well be fine but that’s not good enough. The girl that Mark ends up with has to be right. She has to be from the right circles and know our ways, like Jessica.” George was calming down slightly now.

  “You and I both know that,” Julia said quietly. “The harder you push Jessica towards him the more he will dig his heels in. You know that’s how he works. Let him have his fun with the blonde. It wont matter in the long run. They will fall apart in a matter of weeks.”

  “Did you see the way Mark looked at her?” George didn’t wait for a response but carried on anyway. “He’s falling in love with her and he won’t see that she is wrong for him before its too late.”

  “It will fall apart in the long run,” Julia soothed. “Trust me. He knows what the right thing to do is. Even if it takes him a while to get there.”

  Mark woke up very suddenly. He looked at Abbi. She looked extremely peaceful. She was lying on her stomach and her long blonde locks were completely tangled down her back. She had never looked better he thought. He was about to get up when she suddenly stirred. She turned over and opened her eyes blearily.

  “Morning,” he said to her. She looked up at him and smiled. “You’re not regretting last night are you?”

  “No,” she said instantly. “You’re not are you?”

  “Of course not.” He gave her a light kiss. “I have to get up though,” he said making no effort to move. “Otherwise all those girls will know about us and think they were right.”

  “I am not going to be your dirty little secret!” Abbi was indignant.

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Mark sighed. “You don’t think the only reason I brought you here is for sex do you?”

  She shook her head. “No of course I don’t. You could have left me in this room in the middle of the night and gone next door yourself.”

  “I could have,” he agreed. “But I didn’t.”

  “I know,” she said and giggled. “Five minutes more isn’t going to make a difference you know. It’s still early.”

  “Yes. It is early,” and he gave her another cuddle in bed. After a few minutes there was a sudden knock at the door. “Oh God!” They both said desperately.

  “You hide in the bathroom!”, Abbi hissed. She grabbed her dressing gown and made sure it was done up. She checked that Mark was hidden from sight too. She opened the door a crack to find George Hammond waiting outside.

  “I want to see my son,” he said very quickly. The look on her face must have given her away. George pushed the door open and had a quick look into the room, getting a general impression of the clothes that had been flung every which way the night before.

  “Send him out when he’s dressed Abbi,” he said sharply and he slammed the door shut.

  “So much for five minutes,” Mark said. Abbi was chewing on her lip, thinking hard.

  As he was quickly getting dressed she said, “I hope this hasn’t caused trouble.”

  “No more than usual”, he assured her. “Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t trade last night in for anything in the world.” He had his trousers and shirt back on by now.

  “I’ll see you later,” she said and kissed him deeply. “Good luck,” she mouthed as he left her room with his jacket slung over his arm.

  “Oh dear.”

  Mark left Abbi’s room with a sense of foreboding. His father was not going to be pleased. That much he knew. With an unpleasant shock he realised that his father was still standing outside his room.

  “Come with me for a walk.” It was not an invitation, it was a demand. They went outside and he hadn’t said anything else. It was so early there was still a dew on the ground.

  “Just spit it out,” Mark said impatiently. He was getting irritated with the silent treatment.

  “You have profoundly embarrassed me,” his father started. “You spend the entire four hours of the ball with that… that waitress. You don’t dance with any of my contacts daughters. Just one would have done. There were loads to choose from. And last but not least I find you at six in the morning in that girls room and you were definitely doing more than just sleeping.”

  “How did you know to find me there by the way?” Mark interrupted.

  “It was so painfully obvious Mark. I didn’t even bother checking your own room first. I knew where yo
u would be.”

  “That girl as you call her actually has a name you know,” Mark challenged. “I would appreciate it if you started calling her by her name. Abbi, not just that girl or that waitress. She is my girlfriend and “that girl” is not good enough. You wanted to meet her. You told me to bring her here and you didn’t say one word to her at dinner. Mum was great. You didn’t even say hello to her. I foolishly told you she didn’t have money or social status and that’s it. Your mind is made up.”

  “Do you want your inheritance or not?” his father threatened.

  “It is my business who I spend my time with and whether I sleep with someone is not your concern,” Mark said, his voice rising in spite of himself.

  “She is a gold digging cow! Anyone can see that. She is only with you because of they reward check she can see on the horizon. What if she gets pregnant? You never thought of that did you. If that happens there will be a bastard Hammond child demanding support payments or rubbish like that.” His father was getting even more angry. “She is not fit to be your wife!”

  “What are you talking about?” Mark said confused. “We have barely been together a month and you are taking about me marrying her!”

  “I can see that you are serious about her.” Mark decided enough was enough and started to walk away. He heard one last comment.

  “We will discuss this in the future. You can count on it”

  Mark decided he would go and see Abbi and apologise for leaving her like that. He got to her hotel room and knocked. She opened the door almost immediately. She didn’t say anything. Just looked down at the floor She had got dressed by now, he noticed. He wrapped his arms around her and he swung the door shut behind them.

  “I did not want to leave you like that,” he said into her hair. She still didn’t say anything. He let go of her and held her face making her look him in the eyes. “What’s wrong?” She tried to shake her head. He kissed her very softly. “What’s wrong?”