“No pressure, but I’m relying on you to fix this mess I’m in” I state.
She’s quickly back on form, “Right, first are you sure you’re OK? Nothings broken?”
“I’m sure, couple of stitches, nothing serious; Carlos has been taking excellent care of me”
“Awwww” she croons, “Don’t distract me from the mayhem with your romance!” she tells me off, practical as ever.
“I’m sorry I should have told you about all this before now, it’s just been a hectic few days”
“I can imagine! I’ve got a plan, first I’m going to track down Jake, there are only so many places he could be hiding and find out what the hell he was thinking. Actually I’ll speak to his parents, they’ll probably disown him, he deserves it the little maggot!” she fumes.
“I really think he’s gone off the rails, mentally, I can’t explain it, but he had a proper crazy look about him”
“He must have to do that and think he’ll get away with it. Don’t worry about it Kate, he’ll get what’s coming to him!”
There is clearly not going to be anything I can say to calm her down, or change her mind on this.
“Alright, now tell me what I’m supposed to do about tonight!?” I beg, changing the subject instead.
“Tonight will be awkward!” she laughs.
“Not helpful!”
“Sorry, but it will, there’s no escaping that, all you can do is wear something stunning, be your usual charming self and whatever you do, don’t bring it up in conversation.”
Well that is not useful, but I guess there is nothing much else she can say which could magically fix this one for me. She lets me gush about Carlos a little more; accepting that I’m in too deep already not to be upset when I get back and has given up lecturing me about it accordingly.
She is however as optimistic as she gets about how it’s all going so far and the fact that he has moved me in with him has earned him some real brownie points.
She gives me a brief update on the house, it’s all going swimmingly and at this rate, I should be in the new place within three weeks of getting back, which is scary, but so exciting!
Lastly before we say our goodbyes, I get her to promise not to mention any of the bad stuff to my parents, for their own good; they will only worry about me if they know. She is reluctant, stating that she is the one who still gets daily calls from them, badgering her for information constantly; I persuade her with the fact that those calls will double if they think I’m in any way in danger.
She makes me swear on Carlos’s life that I will call with regular updates, whether anything else happens or not, which I do, but keep my fingers crossed, just in case and hastily hang up before she somehow realises.
I send off a brief, cheery email to my parents, avoiding all taboo subjects and sticking with the standard holiday template, weathers lovely, wish you were here etc.
Picking up the phone again I ring through to Blair’s room and get John; he explains Blair is by the pool sunning herself, while he plans on going to the gym for a bit, so she would be thrilled if I went and joined her. I thank John and head out to do just that.
I find Blair on a lounger in the most sought after spot, of course, catching every available ray from sunrise to midday. She screeches loudly when she sees me, waving like a lunatic and pulling me into a hug.
“Oh my God, how have you been, you look so much better!” apparently she hasn’t noticed the huge cut across my forehead, only half hidden by my fringe. “How’s Carlos? I thought I’d leave you two love birds to it for a few days.” She says, giving me a sly look.
In so many ways she reminds me of an overexcited version of Caz; it must be why I like her so much, she is my Caz away from home.
I briefly fill her in on the events since I last saw her, there’s no way she’s not going to notice the line of stitches for much longer. She listens with the usual enthusiasm, plenty of ‘OH MY GODS’ and throwing her hands to her face looking shocked, followed by a satisfying amount of coo’s and ah’s at Carlos’s part in the drama; that’s the only way she improves on