Part 7
“Hey where have you been?”
Paul sat down in the booth next to Corinne but she quickly slid away from him, the angry look still plastered on her face.
“Like you care.”
“Of course I care.”
Corinne just shook her head, not knowing if she was willing to believe anything he said to her at that point.
“Yeah of course you care. I could see that by the way you were dancing and kissing that young tramp over there.”
Paul looked and saw Corinne gesturing towards Jen and her friends. He sighed, suddenly feeling very guilty about that whole thing.
“Come on that didn’t mean anything. Surely you of all people should know better than that.”
“Yeah I do know you Paul, which is why I know you were loving every bit of attention that girl was throwing you. I don’t know why I’m surprised. Why would you want to be stuck with me when you could have any of those girls you wanted?”
Corinne wiped the tears away from her face and at the sight of her Paul felt his heart literally breaking in his chest. She was upset and hurt, and it was his entire fault.
“I’m sorry.”
He knew it wasn’t good enough, but he didn’t know what else to say. He wanted to pour his heart out to her, to tell her how much he loved her, how much he wanted her, but the words just wouldn’t see to come out.
“You’re sorry? That’s all you have to say? Well fine, apology accepted.”
Corinne took one last look at him and then stood up and left the booth, leaving Paul sitting there watching after her. He turned his gaze back to the other table and saw all his friends sitting there staring at him. He sighed and dropped his head into his hands.
“Paul?”
A short time later Paul lifted his head when he heard a voice next to him, and he looked up to see Mark sitting there.
“You alright?”
“Been better. Tell me Mark why do I always manage to fuck things up?”
Mark placed a hand on Paul’s shoulder. He’d been sitting over at the table with the others watching everything that had been going on. It was after Corinne had stormed away from Paul with tears streaming down her face that they realised getting the two of them together might be harder than they thought.
“Well dancing with and kissing some other girl isn’t really the way to show Corinne that you love her you know?”
Paul sighed; knowing Mark was right but not sure if he really needed to hear that anyway.
“Well what am I supposed to do? That’s twice tonight already I’ve made her run away from me crying. What if I tell her I love her and she does that again?”
“Telling her you love her is the way to stop her running off Paul. She loves you and anyone can see that. And it’s about time you guys stop messing around and just be honest with each other.”
“But I can’t tell her Mark, I just can’t. I’m afraid. Look where talking has got me so far tonight? Further into the doghouse that’s where. I think I’ve done enough talking for one evening.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s time for action instead of words.”
Before Paul could ask what he meant Mark stood up and left Paul alone with his thoughts once more. He went back to talk to Rhys, Amanda and Tanya. Wil had gone to talk to the DJ about another part of their plan and Rove had gone to try and find Corinne and talk to her.
“Corinne?”
Corinne looked up through tear-stained eyes as Rove sat down next to her.
“Hi.”
“You okay? Sorry stupid question.”
Corinne forced a smile.
“Why can’t he love me?”
“He does love you. He just has a hard time telling you that’s all. You know his history, we all do.”
Corinne sighed.
”I’m sick of hearing that as an excuse. I know that Paul’s been hurt in the past, but that doesn’t automatically mean I’m going to hurt him. I love him more than I thought I could love anyone.”
“Have you told him that?”
Corinne stared at Rove for a moment, realizing she hadn’t in fact told Paul that. Here she was assuming that Paul knew how she felt just as she assumed how he felt. But while berating him for not being honest about his feelings, she was guilty of the same thing.
“God we’re as bad as each other.”
“I think you guys need to talk.”
“We’ve tried talking already tonight and it’s got us nowhere. I know Paul usually has a way with words but talking to him tonight hasn’t proved beneficial. I’ve done all the talking that I’m going to do.”
Rove smiled and placed an arm around Corinne’s shoulders.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s time for action instead of words.”
part 8