Part 16
"And when were you planning to tell me about this?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the carrot I was preparing to chop on the kitchen bench. Beside me, Paul shrugged innocently.
"I didn't think you'd mind," he replied.
"Well, the next time you invite someone over, could you please give me a little advance warning?" I began to chop the vegetable a little more viciously than usual, becoming frustrated. Paul watched me doing this and uncertainly took a step backwards.
"You don't like Justin, do you?" he asked softly. I sighed and shook my head.
"It's not that I don't like him. I'm just a little worried about having someone we don't know in our apartment. He's virtually a stranger, Paul."
"Then tonight will change that!" he insisted, reassuringly patting me on the back. "Look, I can understand why you'd be worried, but i've spent more time with him than you. I know that he won't cause any problems."
"Then what was the deal with the club? He was almost like a leech." Pushing the chopped carrot pieces into a bowl, I reached in front of Paul for a tomato. From the corner of my eye, I saw a smile forming on his face.
"You were jealous, weren't you?" He gently poked me on the upper arm. I managed a small grin but maintained focus on the tomato. Paul gave a short laugh. "Rich, why didn't you say anything?"
The grin grew wider on my face and I finally placed my knife on the table, turning to face Paul. I shrugged, leaning against the bench. "I didn't want to give the impression of the 'possessive boyfriend'. It would've spoiled the evening for you."
That was partly true. I decided not to let Paul know of my suspicions about Justin. There was no need for him to know, anyway - it would only cause problems, problems that we didn't need. I also considered the fact that if I raised my suspicions and was then proven wrong, I would look like a fool in front of Justin, and in front of Paul. It was better to save myself the embarrassment.
Paul giggled and tapped his fingertip on the point of my nose. "In a way, I find that very cute. Don't worry, Rich, if I ever become a crackpot and leave you, it certainly wouldn't be for him. Sorry, mate, but you're stuck with me!"
"Heeelp!" I jokingly called out of the open window nearby. Paul slapped me on the arm and nuzzled his head into my neck. For a moment we remained like this, enjoying each-other's warmth, before I had to gently push him away.
"You know, if Justin wants to be fed tonight, then we should save these little tender moments for later and prepare dinner, eh?"
"Speaking of being fed, I know of a certain white furball who's scratching at the kitchen door as we speak."
I heard the familiar scratching noises from the door and groaned. "Aah, shit, I forgot to feed her."
Paul quickly pecked me on the cheek. "Don't bother, i'll go and feed her. I'll help you with dinner afterwards, okay?"
I nodded and gave him an appreciative smile, reaching for the knife again. As he left the room, I occupied myself with the tomato and didn't look up, but once I heard the door close I promptly placed the knife onto the bench again, shaking my head softly. There was definitely something about Justin that I didn't trust, but if I let Paul know how I felt, it wouldn't do us any good. Justin hadn't really done anything extreme that could raise my suspicions, but when I saw him with Paul there was something there that just wasn't genuine, and it bothered me.
But I trusted Paul, more than i'd ever trusted anyone. If he felt in any way unsure about our 'new friend', he wouldn't have allowed him to come to the apartment. Like I said to Paul, I didn't want to seem possessive. One thing that Paul detests is feeling as though he's being caged or restrained in any way.
Realising that I needed to get dinner prepared, I continued slicing the tomato. If Paul was comfortable in Justin's company and didn't feel threatened or insecure or any reason, then I would try to do the same. I still had my reservations about our British acquaintance, but for Paul's and my benefit, I would have to put them aside, at least for the time being. Justin was to be a guest in our apartment and I wanted to make it as pleasant as I could.
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Two hours on, we'd enjoyed dinner and found ourselves on the floor of the living room, sipping bottles of beer and chatting casually, divided by a glass coffee table between leather couches on both sides of the room. Mandy, the feline formerly known as Anonymous, was curled up on the couch behind our heads, undisturbed by the humans chattering in front of him. Paul and I sat on one side while Justin stretched out on the other, telling us about his life and his upbringing. We weren't sure what brought us to this topic, but as we didn't know very much about each-other, the conversation seemed fitting.
"Other than that, there's not much to say about my life," he concluded, pulling his black hair out of its ponytail and letting it fall over his shoulders.
"So is there that Someone Special in your life at the moment?" I asked out of curiosity, placing my beer bottle on the coffee table. He shook his head. "So you're living alone then?"
"No, I...I have a friend staying with me." He quickly reached for his bottle and took another swig, unwilling to say anything more. Paul, who was leaning his head against my shoulder at the time, looked up at me and slightly raised an eyebrow in silent warning that I should change the topic.
I groped in my mind for a new topic of conversation, but thankfully Justin found one for me. He saw my guitar sitting in a corner and motioned to it. "So who is the musician out of you pair?"
"Pardon?" I looked in the direction his head was turning. "Oh. That's mine. It's a little old but it works like a charm."
"Do you sing as well?"
"Only backing vocals. Paul's the singer out of us. We used to be in a group."
Justin straightened his back, now fully interested. "Oh yeah? What kind of music did you play?"
"Well, a lot of it was comedy, but we did some more serious songs and a few covers in our act as well," Paul pitched in.
"Not a bad industry to get into. Lots of money to earn there. So what happened to this group of yours?"
Paul and I looked at each-other at exactly the same time, trying to gather the right words to say. We definitely didn't want Justin to know very many details. Justin caught notice of our exchange of looks and added, a little softly, "Or is that a touchy subject?"
I cleared my throat and gave a short explanation, being careful not to give too much away. "We were...having problems with another person in the group. It got too much to handle. We were also extremely tired. The constant touring wore us out."
Out of Justin's view, Paul gently patted the small of my back in gratitude.
Justin nodded slowly. I think he knew that there was more to the story than we were letting on, but he didn't press the subject. Instead, he looked at the guitar and asked us, "Um...If you wouldn't mind...could you play something for me? Just anything, I don't mind."
"No, that's fine," I replied, rising to my feet. I walked over to the corner, grabbed the guitar by its neck and carried it back to the floor as Paul shuffled over to make more room for us. I positioned the instrument and plucked at strings randomly.
"So what do we play?" I asked Paul. He considered the possibilities and smiled as he began to sing in his sweet, angelic voice.
"Baby, you understand me now...Sometimes I seem a little rash..."
Not quite able to mask the smile on my face as I remembered the day that we sang this together for the first time, I began to strum the guitar. Justin smiled, too, but only because he recognised the song. He didn't understand the meaning behind it for Paul and I.
"Don't you know no one alive can always be an angel
When things go wrong you're bound to see some bad
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord...
Please don't let me be misunderstood
I've tried so hard not to be misunderstood
Baby, I'm so carefree
With a joy that's hard to hide
There's a time when it seems all I have is worries
If you're about you're bound to see my other side
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord...
Please don't let me be misunderstood
I've tried so hard, when I got edgy
I want you to know I didn't mean to take it out on you
Life has its problems, Lord, I get more than my share
That's one thing I never meant to do
Baby, i'm just human
I've got my faults like anyone
Sometimes I find myself alone at night
Regretting some foolish thing, some stupid thing i've done
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord...
Please don't let me be misunderstood
I've tried so hard..."
As the last note faded, the room was filled with momentary silence. Justin seemed very impressed with our performance, but before he could say anything, Mandy butted in with a meow. We giggled, breaking the silence.
"Did you like that, Mandy?" Paul asked, reaching behind me to tickle our kitten. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"
"Well, I don't know what Mandy's opinion was...but I think you two have extraordinary talent." Justin reached for his bottle and raised it in an appreciative toast. "It's a shame that your group had disbanded. I think you would've been a great success." He broke into a grin. "What are the chances of a reunion, eh?"
Paul scoffed. "Pretty slim, i'm afraid. We no longer speak with the other person in the group and have no desire to see him any time in the near future."
"Oh. I see." Justin leant back against the leather couch and took a small sip of beer. "I'm sure he's sorry for any trouble he may have caused you."
"I doubt it," I deadpanned, placing the guitar on the floor beside me. As Paul snuggled beside me, we could almost hear each-other's identical thoughts: Tim was far from sorry. He had every intention of breaking us apart and would seemingly stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Whatever had changed him from the sweet man we once knew and the unimaginable prick he had become was not only powerful; it was sick. We could only hope that he'd moved on from that and rebuilt his life, including his marriage. Poor Victoria had no idea of the trouble Tim had caused and would probably never know. Was it better that way? We were still uncertain. They say that what a person doesn't know won't hurt them.
One thing was certain: Life was so much better now that Tim was gone. But although he was far from us geographically, he still haunted our memories.
Part 17