Devoted: The Blackwell Lessons Part 20

'Vanilla Chocolate Malt sounds great,' I say. 'Thank you.'

Nadia slaps the menu closed and clicks her finger at the waiter.

'Hey!' Sigourney calls across the table. 'If you're ordering, I'll have another.' She taps her half-full gla.s.s.

'Someone's drinking quickly,' Nadia whispers.

'Soph.' Leo grabs my hand. 'Listen you know about Sigourney and Marc by now. Right? I mean, he told you all about it. Didn't he?'

'Yes.' My stomach turns over. 'I wish someone had told me before though. I felt like an idiot.'

'I would have but ... it just didn't seem relevant to anything. I mean, Sigourney has hardly been short of high-profile boyfriends. The Hollywood crowd ... there are so many matches. You'd get dizzy if you tried to remember all of them.'

'Marc wasn't her boyfriend,' I say, wis.h.i.+ng I sounded calmer.

'Whoa. Calm down. Just a figure of speech. Please don't tell me that little Miss Perfect is jealous.'

'I am in no way perfect, Leo.'

'Oh come on. You're a little bit perfect.'

'No I'm not.'

'Does it bug you? That Marc was with Sigourney?'

'Of course it does.'

'It shouldn't.'

'Wouldn't it bother you? If Jen was with someone you had to work with?'

Leo laughs and sucks a triangle of pineapple from a c.o.c.ktail stick. 'Not me. I'm enlightened. I don't do that possessive jealousy s.h.i.+t. I mean, look at me. I'm sitting two seats away from my ex-girlfriend.' He lowers his voice. 'Who completely broke my heart, by the way. Did I mention that?'

'You mentioned it. While we were doing Beauty and the Beast.'

'She ripped up my pride and stamped all over it. But hey life will throw you a few of those bad moments. And I've got nothing but grat.i.tude. Because she's helped me grow.' Leo drops the c.o.c.ktail stick to the table and swigs from a beer bottle. 'The past is the past. I live in the moment.'

'Good att.i.tude,' I say. 'I wish I could feel the same way. I just hate it, you know? The thought that Marc has been with someone else? Especially someone I'm going to have to see every day for a while.'

'You didn't strike me as the jealous type,' says Leo. 'So I guess you must really love this guy.'

I laugh. 'I married him.'

'But seriously Sophia. Jealousy? From someone so beautiful? It doesn't suit you. Let the past go. It has nothing to do with your present.'

'Did it ever bother you?' I ask. 'That Sigourney was with Marc first?'

Leo laughs. 'I don't get into all that high school bulls.h.i.+t. You know me. I'm not an alpha male "get off my girl" type of guy. Like I said. The past is the past. But I'm glad Marc filled you in about the whole Sigourney thing. I didn't like you not knowing.'

'He told me she wasn't important.'

'There you go then.'

My drink arrives a tall, chocolate concoction with a swirled black and white straw and a chocolate curl balancing on the rim of the gla.s.s.

A clear, fizzing drink is placed by Sigourney's elbow, and she takes a long gulp.

'Wow. This is delicious,' I say, taking a sip of my drink.

'It looks it,' says Leo, dipping a finger into my gla.s.s.

I laugh and swat his hand.

Leo grabs me in a playful headlock and rubs my hair.

'Hey!' I yell, pulling myself free. 'Enough with the little brother stuff. I'll tell Jen on you.'

'Jen has changed my life,' says Leo, suddenly serious. 'I've never been out with such a cool girl. She doesn't care what the newspapers say or if I'm kidding around with you. Or anything. She is just totally secure.'

'She is,' I agree. 'Jen has a thick skin. She's very sure of what she's worth. And she's worth a whole lot. So I hope you're being nice to her.'

'Nice to her? I love the girl.'

'You should. She's amazing.'

I get the sense that Sigourney is listening. When I glance at her, she gives me another horrible false smile.

'So what are you two talking about?' Sigourney shouts across the table.

'Nothing important.'

'Really? I don't believe it.'

She grabs her drink and strides towards me.

37.

Sigourney's eyes are swimming a little and slightly red. She really is too thin bones sticking out everywhere and legs like broom handles.

'So,' she says, placing her drink next to mine. 'We're both new girls on the movie set.' She sways a little, and Leo grabs her arm to stop her cras.h.i.+ng into a waiter.

'I can stand,' Sigourney snaps, shaking her arm free.

'Could have fooled me.'

'You're still doing that Leo? You're still patronising me?'

'And you're still drinking too much?'

'Oh let your hair down for once. Stop being so prim and proper.'

Leo laughs. 'You can accuse me of many things. But being prim and proper ...' He shakes his head. 'It's kind of sad, don't you think? That we were together so long, but you never really knew me.'

'Oh I knew you,' says Sigourney. 'I knew exactly what you liked.'

'Maybe once,' says Leo amiably. 'But not any more. Hey did you get to see Sophia here in Beauty and the Beast? She was pretty incredible.'

'Ugh, I hate musicals,' says Sigourney. 'But I'm sure Sophia and I are going to be great friends. Right?'

'Um ... sure,' I say, not feeling at all comfortable. There's something about Sigourney that feels a bit dangerous. I don't think she wants to be my friend at all. This is some big act.

'So.' Sigourney puts long, slim fingers on my shoulder. 'You and Marc ... how long's it been now? Just a few months?'

'We only married a few days ago.'

'Honeymoon phase,' she says. 'G.o.d when Marc and I were in that phase we couldn't keep our hands off each other.'

'You and Marc never had a relations.h.i.+p,' I snap.

Sigourney raises an eyebrow. 'Touchee!' She gives Leo a 'what the h.e.l.l is her problem?' glance.

'Sigourney,' says Leo. 'Sophia just got married. Have some tact for f.u.c.k's sake.'

'Okay, okay.' Sigourney holds up her hands. 'I just thought we were all grown-ups. But if I can't speak honestly-'

'You know what I mean, Sigourney,' says Leo. 'Have a bit of consideration. The girl doesn't want to hear about you sleeping with her husband.'

'Oh I get it,' says Sigourney, signalling a waiter and pointing at her drink. 'YOU, Falkirk, are still f.u.c.king bitter. It was years ago Leo. When are you going to get over me?'

Leo laughs. 'I got over you years ago.'

'After months of stalking me.'

'I didn't stalk you.'

'Calling me ten, twenty times a day. Where are you baby? I need you. Come back to me.'

'Hey.' Leo's grip tightens on his beer. 'You left. I had no idea why. One day you were there, one day you were gone. What did you expect me to do?'

'Be a man about it.'

'I was a man about it. When I found out you'd cheated on me with that French guy I could have broken his nose. But I didn't. Live and let live.'

Sigourney's eyes go all wide and girlish. 'You would have done that for me?'

'At the time, yes.'

'And what about now?'

'After you cheated on me and married someone else? Uh ... I think that s.h.i.+p has sailed. Anyway, I'm with the best girl I ever met.' He puts a brotherly arm around my shoulder. 'One of Sophia's friends, as a matter of fact.'

'G.o.d! You're kidding me.' Sigourney grabs a fresh drink from the waiter. 'It's so f.u.c.king incestuous around here.'

'We're living together in London and everything's great,' says Leo. 'A perfect fit.'

'So far,' says Sigourney. 'Relations.h.i.+ps always feel that way at first.'

Leo shrugs. 'This girl is forever. Well probably. I guess you can never really say forever.'

'Probably?' snaps Sigourney, her eyes narrowing. 'How romantic. You never told me probably. It was always you and me forever.'

'You never know how life's going to go,' says Leo. 'You taught me that. I never would have guessed you would have done what you did. Life can be funny. But hey everything worked out for the best.'

Sigourney glances at me. 'Not yet. Not for me at least.'

She strides away and jumps onto Baz's lap, throwing her hair around and laughing.

To my surprise, Baz looks happy. He slides his arm around Sigourney, and she leans into him giggling like a little girl.

I notice Leo watching them.

'Hey,' I tell Leo. 'Jen doesn't get jealous. But don't give her a reason to be.'

Leo snaps his head away. 'A reason? She doesn't have a reason.'

'You said that a little quickly.'

'I couldn't care less about Sigourney.' But Leo's gaze keeps pulling back to his ex-girlfriend, who's now fondling Baz's chest and gazing into his eyes.

'Leo. Are you sure about that?'

Leo frowns. But he doesn't answer.

We watch as Baz whispers something in Sigourney's ear. Then he pushes her off his lap, slaps her bottom and swaggers over to Leo.

Baz wears well-worn jeans and a grey hoody. His scarred, stubbly face looks every bit the gangster.

'Evening all.' Baz grabs a seat beside Leo.

Sigourney sneaks glances in our direction, whilst pretending to laugh with a cameraman. She doesn't look happy. The cameraman, on the other hand, looks like he's died and gone to heaven.