I sit down, turning my body away from her slightly so I don’t have to look at her.
“You’ve always been my favourite you know? My sweet, kind, caring little Amelia Rose with so much potential. So fragile, with a need to make everyone else happy, but the problem is, your gentle nature makes it so easy for people to manipulate and take advantage of you.” She glances towards the floor as she speaks, trying to avoid eye contact, “When I saw you with Ethan at the ball, I could see from the way you were looking at him that you were going to get hurt. I knew I needed to do something because guys like him are nothing but trouble.”
“Get to the point mother.” I spit.
“Last week, Peter came to me and admitted that he’d made a mistake and wanted to make things right. He said that he had ended things with Amber and asked for permission to propose to you.” She exhales slowly and continues. “Peter called me after you turned him down. He said that you chose Ethan over him. I knew you were making a big mistake and needed to help you realise that he is just a silly infatuation. So, when he came to visit you at the hospital, I told him that if he loved you, he would do the right thing and walk away.” She lifts her gaze just enough for me to see tears forming. “You and Peter are perfect together. He’ll take care of you and make you happy. You deserve so much more than a man who almost had you killed. I simply told him the truth… that it was his fault, and you are better off without him in your life.”
“How could you do that?” Finally looking her in the eye so she can witness the devastation she has caused, “You saw how much Peter hurt me. I finally found someone who loves me for me, not the career opportunities that my mother can offer him… and you ruined everything.”
“But I did it for you. Now you and Peter can go back to the way things were.”
“No, the only person you were thinking of was yourself. You were too worried about how it would look to all your friends to worry about me. You just want me to marry a nice clean-cut boy with traditional values because then you look like the amazing mother you pretend to be. Well guess what?"
Tears prick my eyes as I raise myself off my stool, move towards the door and turn to face her.
“I never loved Peter.” I inhale sharply, “And the only person that has hurt me, is you.”
“I'm so sorry Amelia, I didn't mean to...”
“I don't care about your apologies. I can’t even look at you right now.”
She sits in silence as I collect my things from my room, call a taxi and leave, hoping that Lexi is at home and happy to let my crash for a few nights.
“Come on Lex, we’re going to be late.” I yell, adding the finishing touches to my make-up and slipping into my heals.
“Okay, okay. I’m almost done. I just need to decide what to wear and I’ll be right out.” I’m beginning to regret the decision to bring Lexi along but there is no way I can go to Ethan’s fight and tell him how I feel without some kind of moral support. Besides, she’s letting me sleep on her sofa again, so it’s the least I can do.
I sit down on the sofa, waiting for Lexi to finish in her room and dig my phone out of my small clutch bag.
“Hey baby, I know you don’t want to see me right now and I should probably just walk away and give you some space but… I’ve decided that I can’t live without you and I just need you to come home. I’m sorry for bringing Jamison into your life. I’m sorry for not being able to protect you from him. Please, just be mine again.”
When I got to Lexi’s apartment last night, I finally found the courage to check my voice mail. Six drunken, slurred messages from Ethan and I have been listening to them over and over ever since.
Eventually, Lexi emerges from her room dressed in a ridiculously bright gold body con dress, a leather jacket and a pair of stilettos that would make even Ariana Grande look short. There is absolutely no way we are blending into the crowd tonight.
A horn blast outside and as I my glance drifts towards the window, I see the cab outside waiting for us.
“Come on then, what are you waiting for?” Lexi strolls out of the apartment as if she’s the one that has been waiting for me all night as I follow, locking the door behind me.
Distracted by the bright lights of the bustling club scene in the Northern Quarter, the journey to the arena goes quickly and when we arrive, I am anxious to see him. Pulling away after being paid, the cab driver leaves us standing on the curb staring at a gigantic queue of people waiting to get in. I motion to Lexi to follow me to the back but as usual, she has other ideas.
Grabbing the tickets from me, she barges through the crowd of people, pulling me along behind her as she approaches the two security men and unleashes her silkiest, sexiest voice.
“Hey, we’ve got these VIP tickets and I was wondering if we could, you know, get inside. It’s so cold out here, my poor nipples are rock hard. Look.” She opens her leather jacket and points at her boobs. Oh my God! Did she really just say that? I avert my gaze to the floor, trying to avoid eye contact with the door men or listen as we get told to wait our turn like everyone else, wishing the floor would open up beneath my feet and swallow me
