Strangers

Chapter 47: Wine/Whine Night

14 Days

London has long been the best city in the world in my mind. There's something to be said about city atmospheres, and I've probably said it all before; people with purpose filling the sidewalk, skylines, culture...etc. There's nothing quite like it.

Gemma is taking an exceedingly long time to answer the door, leaving me shivering on the doorstep for longer than I would've liked until she finally opens the door. She apologetically frowns at me, notioning to the phone pressed against her ear as she mouths 'I'm sorry' and beckons me to come in. I immediately take off my coat, comforted by the warmth of her house.

"Look I can't really talk right now...no I'm here for you but I just can't be right now...don't talk like that. Please, just...I think it's possible to overtalk things, and my ear has essentially been chewed off...it's not like that, I want to help but I don't know what else I can do..." She huffs dramatically at the person on the phone, stomping up the stairs to her bedroom. "I didn't mean it like that...I'm happy to listen...I hate seeing you this way as much as you hate feeling this way." She mumbles, just above a whisper and I wonder if I should be making more of an effort to not hear what she's saying...but dammit I'm intrigued now. My immediate thought was that she was on the phone to Ashton, and that's why she was being secretive, but as the conversation; or rather her side of it continued, it has just become more apparent that it isn't in fact Ashton, and the person it most likely is, is probably the last person in the world I would want to hear her say things like this too. I can only imagine the things he must be saying to elicit such concern-filled responses. But why?

"I'll talk to you later, I have to start getting ready, I'm going out tonight, remember?" She pauses, and gestures for me to sit on her bed after I dump my overnight back in the corner. I watch her facial expressions carefully. "With Lola...no I don't know why she didn't tell you she was going out..." Well actually I did tell him, he clearly wasn't listening. "In London of course...I don't know, just for the night I think. You know you could just ask her yourself...you're ridiculously infruriating when you're in this mood. I have to go...because Lola's here...did you want to talk to her?" She pauses, "Okay...well I will talk to you later then...good luck tonight. I love you. Buh-bye." She hangs up, letting out a big sigh of relief and sitting her phone on her dresser. "Sorry about that. Brothers, am I right?" She chuckles, rolling her eyes.

"I wouldn't really know." I shrug, "He didn't want to talk to me?"

"Oh well, um... I don't think he wanted to stop us from getting ready. We have make up to apply and wine to drink and all that." She waves her hand about in a dismissive gesture. That's okay, I'm used to Harry avoiding talking to me. Nothing new here, I somehow manage to hide my disappointment and give her a reassuring smile.

"Alright, shall we get ready then?" She says, rifling through her messy drawers and pulling out her make up bag before sitting down on the floor in front of her full length mirror. "You can use the duchess." She says, pointing to the chair infront of the dresser and mirror combo. I grab my excessively full make up bag from my overnight and sit down at the duchess, taking a good five minutes to examine my pores before even doing anything.

"Uh you have no idea how badly I need this girl's night out." Gem whines, pinning her hair back off her face. "I am so done being heartbroken over Ashton, I need fun." I've been so caught up in my own relationship I'd kind of forgotten Gemma was dealing with the break down of her own long term one.

"Yeah, I bet. When do you reckon you'll be ready to get back out there?"

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it, I reckon soon though. Like I've been stuck in that stage where you just don't really find anyone as attractive as you found them and you just kind of hold out hope that maybe you could find an exact replica of the one who broke your heart, but one who hasn't broken your heart. But I think maybe soon, I could maybe see myself going on a date or something." She shrugs, I didn't think it had been that long since her and Ashton broke up...and considering they were together for a while, is it too soon for her to be moving on? Or not, because he probably already has? And is there a set amount of time you're meant to wait before moving on, or how long does it take the average person to get over a serious relationship? I think my biggest question though is; am I wondering all this for Gemma's sake or for my own?