Chapter Twenty-six.
When I get home I decide to busy myself by catching up on the housework and chores. The day comes and goes so quickly that by the time I bring the kids home from the bus stop I haven't had a chance to think about Andy all day.
I check my phone as I make dinner but there are no messages. I decide to ring my parents and catch up with them instead. They tell me they have put some money into my bank account for me to buy presents for the kids for their birthdays. I tell them I'm going shopping for their presents on Thursday and I'll send them a photo of what I buy for them.
After dinner I sit on the couch with the kids until they get sleepy then put them to bed. I still haven't heard from Andy so I pull my laptop out and open up my emails. After I finish with that I check my banking and then head onto twitter to have a look. I see Andy has been tweeting so maybe he does have phone service.
I did tell him not to call while he's gone and I'm so tempted to send him a text but I hold myself back. I don't want to seem like the clingy type girlfriend and besides, I should be using this alone time to get my head around this whole 'famous boyfriend' situation.
I close my laptop and head for the shower. When I'm in my pyjamas I crawl into bed and turn the radio on so I can doze off. It takes me a good hour to finally go to sleep and when I wake in the morning it feels like I haven't slept at all. I really shouldn't have started thinking about Andy right on bedtime and now my face is showing signs of bags. Not a good start to the day.
When I get into work I say a quick hello to Sandra and head out the back to the office. She comes out the back and gives me the latest invoices that need to be paid and filed. She also tells me that starting from next week; I can work Wednesdays from home if I feel like I'm ready.
I smile and nod and go back to work. Just before lunch Sandra comes and asks me if any more of my neighbours are coming to the store anytime soon. I smile and shake my head.
"They are actually over in Cambodia at the moment filming a new video," I tell her.
"Oh, so that explains your long face today. Missing your man are you?"
"Ah, maybe a little. But he's busy with things and so am I. He'll be home before I know it."
"Maybe, but doesn't mean you aren't allowed to miss him you know," she tells me. "So tell me, how old is Bradie then?" she says with a grin.
"Ah he's turning twenty-one next week. Thinking of doing some cradle snatching Sandra?"
"Well, if it's good enough for you" she says with a wink.
I shake my head and smile. "True. Very true."
"So what's it like then?" she asks me.
"What's what like?"
"Being with a younger man? Bet he's full of energy," she says winking.
"Okay. I'm not talking about this at work" I say to her laughing.
"Oh, so he is" she says and now I'm blushing to the roots of my hair.
"Look at you blush. He must be good then," she says.
"Yes, he is," I say. "Can I go to lunch now please or are you going to keep up the interrogation?"
"Yeah, you can go to lunch. I wonder if his brother is as energetic" she says grinning.
"I'm out of here before you ask me anything else" I say as I stand and grab my bag.
I head out of the shop and cross to the deli. I give the girl behind the counter my usual order and she smiles and asks where my friends are.
"They've gone away for the week so I'm by myself today," I tell her. She smiles and tells me that she'll bring my order out.
I go and sit at the table and check my phone for messages. There's one text from Bradie that says:
We arrived. Very hot. Nice people here. Lots to do. See you Friday.
I shoot a quick text back saying thanks for the update, enjoy yourselves.
I wonder whether I should send one to Andy too but just then the waitress brings out my lunch and she introduces herself to me. Her name is Alice and she asks me where I work. We talk briefly before she goes back inside.
I eat my lunch and ponder what to text to Andy. Everything I come up with in my head just sounds wrong. I don't want to sound like the nagging girlfriend but I don't want to push him away either.
I put my rubbish in the bin and head back to work where I promise myself that I'll think more about this later on.
When I get home I grab the washing off the line and hear a voice sing out to me. I turn my head and see Sarah looking over the fence.
"Hi Elle, want to come over for a cuppa when you get the kids?" she asks me.
"Yeah, sure, that sounds great. Give me about half and hour," I say to her.
"I'll leave the front door unlocked, just come in," she says before giving me a wave and disappearing from sight.
I finish getting the washing and take the basket inside. I change out of my work clothes and then walk down to get the kids. When we get home, I put their things away and we go next door.
The kids go and play with Chris out the back and Sarah makes me a coffee before we both go and sit outside.
"So how have you been Elle?" she asks me.
"Yeah, good. Busy with work."
"Are you enjoying it?"
"Definitely. It's something else beside the kids and the house that I can focus on, you know. Besides, getting a regular pay packet is nice too."
"Have you heard from the boys at all?" she asks me.
"I got a text from Bradie today." I pull my phone out and show her what he sent.
"Nothing from Andy?" she asks me.
"No, but I did tell him to not worry about calling me or anything."
"I was talking to him last night when they got in and he asked me how you were. He made me promise to look in on you and make sure you're okay though," she says with a smile.
I return her smile and think to myself how sweet that is that he asked his Mum to do that for him.
"I've been thinking of sending him a text, you know, just to say hi but I didn't want to disturb him."
"I think he'd love it if you did that," Sarah says. "He's always been a bit of a romantic at heart, despite what he projects on the outside. I know my son and I know that he's probably secretly hoping you're going to text him but he's not about to tell anyone else that."
"I might do that a bit later on."
"So are the kids right to stay over on Saturday night then?" she asks me.
"I haven't told them they're sleeping over yet but I'm sure they'll be excited. I've been meaning to ask you what you want me to help you with on Sunday. I was going to make a birthday cake for the three of them but wanted to check with you first."
"That sounds great. I think the boys have hired a jumping castle and that's getting set up at around ten in the morning I think and they've invited all the normal gang around for lunch. I think there's about twenty or so people coming over. Were you going to ask anyone yourself?"
"I was thinking of asking my boss, Sandra if she wanted to come. She's met both the boys and she's about my age. I was going to ask her on Friday but thought I'd better check with the guys first."
"If you want her to be there, then ask her. I'm sure they'll be fine with it. After all, they've invited some of their friends," Sarah says.
"I think I might actually."
"So what have you got planed for your day off tomorrow?"
"I was going to go and get my birthday shopping out of the way for the kids and have a look for something to wear for this dinner on Saturday night."
"Were you going to go into Sydney to look?" she asks.
"I don't really want to stray that far away from home really. Just in case. I was going to go and have a look at Westfield at Tuggerah maybe. Unless you can suggest somewhere else?"
"No that's probably a good place to go actually. There's a couple of good toy stores and plenty of dress stores too."
"Did you want to come with me?" I ask her.
"That's really sweet of you to offer but Chris has his swimming lessons tomorrow, otherwise I would have definitely come with you. But you have to show me what you buy to wear out on Saturday night."
"Okay, I will."
We talk for a little longer and then I grab the kids and go home. Whilst I'm waiting on dinner to cook I pull my phone out and send Andy a text.
Just letting you know everything is fine here. Saw your Mum today. She's missing you, but not as much as me. x
I check my phone a couple of times after dinner but he hasn't replied back. I figure he's still busy so when the kids go to bed I decide to check twitter again to see if he's been online at all.
Sure enough, there are a few tweets from him, mainly about drinking the local beer. Bradie's been on too and it seems like they're getting the shoot done in time.
I log off and go to bed for an early night. Sleep eventually finds me and I dream of far away places and sunsets.
Thursday morning after I drop the kids to the bus stop, I drive to Tuggerah to do some shopping. I find a few really cute things for the kids and a few essentials too. I look in nearly every dress store I find and secretly wish I had a best friend to do these things with.
In the end I decide on a basic black dress that I saw in the second store I went to. I figure I can dress it up with some of the jewellery I have at home. I already have a couple of nice jackets that would go with it so I take all of my purchases and head home.
When I get there, I make a quick sandwich before hiding the kids presents so they won't find them. I hang my new dress up on my doorknob and check the time. I still have about an hour before I have to get the twins so I pull out my laptop and check my emails.
After I've replied to a couple of them, I check twitter again, which is turning into a seriously bad habit of late. I see that all three of the guys have been sending tweets and I read through them all. When I get to one of Andy's my heart seems to just stop. I feel my stomach drop and I think I want to throw up, or perhaps pass out. My blood flow seems to have stopped and I have to look away from the screen. When I look back, it's still there.
on a good note im about - close to sealing the deal with an english girl 25 but dont think i have the experience
I slam shut the lid of my laptop and go to the kitchen to get a drink.
Is he serious?
Was that true what he said?
Perhaps he's just saying that to throw the scent off our trail, even though he did go and tell everyone he had a girlfriend.
Maybe he's trying to get his man-whore reputation back.
What if he's really drunk and just doesn't know what he's doing. Surely he wouldn't do that? He's been around other women when he's been drunk without me and he's never done anything.
Shaun and Bradie would never let him do something stupid anyway, unless they're not there.
Oh shit. I have to turn my brain off or I'm in danger of making a huge drama out of something that is probably absolutely nothing.
I cradle my head in my hands and take deep breaths. I need to stop over reacting and causing myself to panic over this.
Maybe he did do that. Maybe that's why I haven't heard back from the text I sent him last night.
"Stop it!" I yell out.
I grab my running shoes and my mp3 player and decide to run before I pick the kids up. I put my earphones in and my shoes on and take off down the driveway. I go in the opposite direction of the bus stop and check my watch. I have about fifteen minutes to spare before I need to go get the kids.
I run down the road and turn the corner. I see Sarah drive pass and I throw a hand up and wave to her. I'm listening to my girl-band mix and it's slowly getting that awful feeling out of my stomach.
By the time I reach the bus stop I've calmed right down and I'm breathing pretty heavily. I stretch my legs and when the bus pulls up I breathing normally again. I wave to the bus driver and walk the kids home.
I don't say a lot to them and they seem to know that something is bothering me. I go through the motions of getting the chores done and when I put the kids to bed I climb in mine and silently let the tears fall.
I know I shouldn't but I can't help feel a bit betrayed. What the hell is going on between us? I text him and he doesn't answer. His own brother sends me a text but he doesn't. Then he tweets about another woman.
I eventually manage to convince myself that it's all a big deal over nothing and fall asleep.
When I get up in the morning and look in the mirror, the evidence of my bedroom breakdown is written all over my face. My eyes are red, the bags are huge and I look like death warmed up.
I climb in the shower and scrub my face free of dried tears. When I get out I decide to get ready for work now and put my make up on, just in case the kids notice my face.
I say good morning to them both and they both smile and keep watching the cartoons.
I feel myself itching to check twitter but decide against it and turn my phone on instead.
There's a message from Bradie: about to board the plane for home, see you Friday.
There's nothing from Andy though. What the hell is going on?
I push it to the back of my mind and get organised for the day.
When I get into work, Sandra can sense that there's something wrong but she doesn't mention any thing to me. I ask her if she wants to come to the party on Sunday but she says she won't be able to make it for lunch but might drop by later in the day.
I give her my address and tell her to ring me if she's going to drop in.
At lunchtime I go across the road and say hi to Alice. As I'm waiting for my order I sit at my normal table and put my head in my hands. I feel so drained and tired. I can't wait to get home this afternoon and hopefully sort out what's going on with Andy.
I feel someone stand close to me and assuming its Alice with my lunch, I lift my head up. But I'm surprised to see Bradie standing there.
"Hey" I say and stand and give him a quick hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be home catching up on your sleep."
He hugs me back and we both sit down. Alice drops my order on the table and goes back inside.
"I slept most of the plane trip and I finished unpacking so I was sitting around doing nothing and thought I'd surprise you."
"How was it then? As good as you'd hoped?" I ask him.
"You're not going to ask me where Andy is?"
"Well, I didn't want to seem rude, and I guess I just assumed he was sleeping."
"Ah, well, no. He's at home but he's in his room trying to unpack and clean it. He hasn't rung you yet?"
"No. I haven't heard from him since you guys left actually," I say.
"He is such an asshole sometimes. I told him to ring you when we got home. Hell, I even told him to ring you over in Cambodia. It was like he was sulking the whole time we were there."
I tell Bradie how I told Andy not to call if he was busy but that I regretted it now. I also tell him how I saw his tweets from the other night too. Bradie's face falls and he says, "He said what? I'm going to kill him myself."
"Oh please don't say anything to him. Please?"
"Elle, look at you. Sorry, but you look like you haven't slept all week and this has obviously upset you."
"I know Bradie. I just need to sort it out with him though okay."
"Yeah, okay. Look, just so you know, I didn't see him with anyone else over there and if I did I would have knocked him out for it. But in saying that, I did go to bed earlier than him every night so it's not like I was with him all the time."
"Thanks Bradie. Look, I've got to get back to work. If you see Andy, can you just tell him I said hello?"
"Yeah, I'll do that."
We both stand and he hugs me before walking me back across the road and leaving me at the door to the shop.
I wave goodbye and go inside and straight out to the office. Sandra leaves me alone all afternoon and when I leave at three o'clock she gives me a wordless hug and a smile.
On the drive home I feel nervous about seeing Andy but I know we need to figure out what's going on and why he's suddenly not communicating with me.
When I pull into the driveway, as expected, Andy is on the front step.