"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Brian asked as he threw his coat on over his hoodie.
I nodded. "It's too cold, I'm just going to chill with the cats." I stroked Brooklyn's head as she curled up into my lap.
"Ok, just call me if you need anything." Brian kissed me lightly and headed out the door.
Oli shook her head as she joined me on the sofa. "You two are disgusting." I stuck my tongue out at her.
"You're just jealous because you are too chicken shit to do anything with Sal." I raised my eyebrows at her as she stammered and stuttered, unable to reply. "You know I'm right. We've got three weeks here, why don't you make the most of it?" I turned to face her, chuckling as Brooklyn gave me the evil eye for disturbing her.
"Can you.." I shushed her as Brian text me. I read the message out to her.
"We have a cast & crew night out tonight, you guys are coming. A car will pick you up at 7, be ready." I grinned at Oli. "There you go, perfect opportunity to go for it!"
Oli stared at me for a few seconds. Then shrieked "What the hell am I going to wear?!" The cats scarpered as Oli jumped up. I sighed and followed her to the Brian's guest room, where she was already throwing her clothes out of her case and onto the bed, trying to find something to wear.
I spent the next few hours sat patiently on the bed as Oli went through every possible outfit combination she had. Luckily this was something that I was used to. I played with the cats, who had followed us upstairs, nodded and ahh-ed in the necessary places, My opinion wasn't actually needed, Oli just needed a sounding board.
"Don't you need to decide what to wear?" Oli called from the bathroom as she did her make up. "It's 6pm."
"No I'll just throw something once you're sorted." I shrugged. I would be ready in less that 15 minutes, I wasn't in a rush.
Oli came out of the bathroom and stared at me. "You're just going to throw something on? We're going out with the guys and the crew and you're just throwing something on?" She stode across the room and grabbed my arm, dragging me to Brian's bedroom. "Sort your shit now." She commanded.
I rubbed my arm. "First of all, ow. That hurt. Second of all, why the big fuss? You know I don't dress up. I'll just throw on some jeans and a nice top."
Oli looked at me like I was insane. "You know who will be there, right?" She asked quietly. I frowned and shook my head. "Natasha..." She said quietly.
I groaned and threw myself on the bed. "I am so not in the mood to deal with her."
"Well you may have to. She still works with them I think so it's only natural to assume she will be there. So can we make sure that you look absolutely perfect please?" Oli started rummaging in my suitcase, looking through my clothes.
I sighed and sat up. "Oli, stop." She ignored me. I raised my voice. "Will you stop please?" She stopped and looked at me. "I do not have to prove anything to her. She means nothing to me. I don't care if she is there or not, to be honest. Me and Brian are good right now, she can't do anything." I stood and peered into my suitcase. "That being said, I may as well make myself look as good as possible..."
Oli grinned at me and started throwing clothes at me.
A car horn beeped at exactly 7pm. We grabbed our bags and coats and rushed out of the door. The journey to the city was slow, rush hour traffic backing everything up. I looked at Oli, she was a bundle of nerves. "Why are you being ridiculous?" I asked quietly. "You saw Sal yesterday for gods sake. Why is tonight any different?" She looked at me, but stayed quiet. "Ol...?"
"Casey will be there..." She all but whispered.
"Ah fuck." I muttered. "Well, it'll be fine I'm sure." Oli shrugged and turned to look out of the window.
Brian is waiting for us at the entrance of the restaurant. "Hey," he smiled as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me lightly.
I glanced at Oli, who was looking through the window, obviously trying to see if Casey was there. "Hey...is there anyone in there that could make things awkward?" I asked, meaning Casey.
"That's why I waited out here for you. Natasha is in there." He looked at me, gauging my reaction.
I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't talking about her, but oh joy." I said wryly. "I meant Casey." I nodded over to Oli.
"Oh yeah, he's there. Sal hasn't mentioned coming to yours for Thanksgiving, by the way. Just a heads up." I watched as Oli took a deep breath to compose herself.
"Come on then, you fucktards. Let's do this." She announced and gestured for Brian to lead us into the restaurant.
Brian was busy telling Oli about one of the challenges that they had filmed today, so he didn't notice that I faltered as Natasha came into my eye line until he realised I was no longer beside him. He pointed out the bar to Oli and came back to me. "Hey what is it?" He asked quietly.
"Nothing, I'm being stupid." I mumbled.
"Shae, just tell me..."
I sighed. "It's just seeing her again. It makes me mad and has my stomach in knots. I thought I'd be ok. But there's so much more on the line now."
Brian turned to face me, taking both of my hands in his. "Stop. I swore to you that I would never hurt you again, and I meant it. She can do nothing to ruin us."
