Sleeping Arrangements

[Lise]

The fluff and banter was brilliant, as always. She can't say yes to Nick. She just can't. I can't wait to find out what going on with Belle.

The Sneak Peak is good, too.

[bikinikill]

WTF?!?!?! She said yes to Nick. Why??? I really hope she backs out if it. Apart from that, brilliant chapter.

[Jody]

If the sneak peek is anything to go by, I can see this next chapter becoming one of my favourites. Looking forward to it.

[Louise_2983]

If the sneak peek is anything to go by, I can see this next chapter becoming one of my favourites. Looking forward to it.

Eeek well I hope it lives up to expectations...because if some people compared the other chapters to a big bar of Dairy Milk I'm worried that this one isn't even a Freddo

Chapter 13

She’d been photoshopping the same photograph for hours now. Every enhancement was taking at least three times as long as it should have done. She just couldn’t concentrate at all. She’d messed up over and over again at her location shoot that morning and looked more unprofessional than she could ever remember having done before, even when she’d just started out.

All she could hear were his angry words running through her head and all she could see were his wounded, big blue eyes staring back at her when he’d asked her what she was doing.

”That would be nice?” he spat angrily after Nick had left, giving Belle his number and arranging to meet her at a trendy restaurant across town the next evening.

“That would be nice?”

“Aden, calm down it’s just dinner” she told him but she knew she had no right to. She wasn’t single and she had no idea why she’d just agreed to go out with another man.

“Just dinner?” he half laughed at her naivety knowing exactly what Nick would have in mind for dessert.

“Yes you know? Starter, main course, dessert?” she snapped sarcastically not sure why she was suddenly angry at him for reacting this way.

“Yeah and it’s dessert that I’m worried about Belle”

“Well you wouldn’t be if you trusted me!”

“And how exactly am I meant to trust you when you’re dating other men?” he yelled. He didn’t know how she could do this, how she could sleep in his bed and tell him she loved him and then less than

a few hours later agree to date another guy.

“It’s not a date!” she protested but she knew otherwise.

“For him it is!”

“Look Aden it is just dinner” she sighed.

“I’m not going to take it any further than that and maybe if I go out with him then people will be less likely to realise that we’re together”

He scoffed loudly as he walked away from her, his fists clenched as though he was trying not to lash out.

“I want people to realise Belle, I’m not the one who wants to keep this all a secret! You are!”

“We talked about this, I thought you understood” she whispered in frustration.

“No” he shook his head.

“No I don’t understand and all. I agreed to it because it was what you wanted but I don’t like it one bit and I definitely don’t understand it Belle”

“I’m sorry” she shrugged honestly.

“I don’t understand it myself”

“Just call him, tell him that you can’t make it”

“Aden I can’t do that, I only just said yes!” she whispered still not sure why she couldn’t just do that, or even why she’d accepted in the first place.

“You’re going to go aren’t you?” he sighed in disbelief, the hurt in his eyes like a knife plunging through her.

“Belle?” he questioned again when she simply failed to respond and stared at the floor.

“Do you remember the Year 12 formal?” he suddenly asked and she looked at him in confusion.

“Of course I remember” she half laughed.

“I ended the night in a burning building trapped under an oven remember?”

“I didn’t mean that” he told her, his expression hard and uncaring.

“I was thinking more about Geoff and Nicole actually”

“Geoff and Nicole?” she questioned, her brow furrowing as she became more confused.

“Yeah” he nodded.

“I’m not sure if you remember. They were dating at the time but Geoff didn’t ask Nicole to the formal he”

“Agreed to go with Melody” she completed his sentence as the memories of all those years ago came flooding back.

“Exactly” Aden confirmed, his tone still cold and empty.

“He agreed to go with her without thinking about how it would make Nic feel, about how hurt she would be knowing that he was out with someone else. Belle, how do you think this makes me feel? You’re

turning us into Nicole and Geoff for pitys sake, I thought we were stronger than that!”

“We are!” she exclaimed adamantly, his words stinging her painfully. Of all the relationships he could have compared them to, Nicole and Geoff’s was not the one she wished for. They broke up every

five minutes and never really talked to each other about anything, they just fought over it instead.

“Then don’t go out with him” he half begged, his eyes sad and pleading.

“Please”

“Aden, I...” she mumbled and that was all the response he’d needed as he turned and stormed towards the door.

“Aden! Stay! Please!” she called after him frantically.

“We talk about everything these days remember?” she yelled hopefully but he didn’t even turn to look at her as he responded angrily.

“I’ve said all I’ve got to say Belle!”

And then he was gone.

She wiped the tears seeping from her chocolate brown eyes as she continued to try and concentrate on work, praying that no one in the office would see her out in the open display of emotion.

She didn’t know what to do or what she was doing or why she was doing any of it.

Aden had stayed out until the small hours and she’d slept alone the night before. He hadn’t taken up her invitation to join her, not that she had expected him to really but deep inside she hoped he might

have calmed down and started to see things her way. But then she wasn’t really sure what her way was to try and get him to see anyway.

She hated herself for hurting him. She never wanted to be the cause of his pain. She wanted to be the one holding him tight and kissing it better but no matter how many times she scrolled down to

Nick’s number in her mobile she could never quite bring herself to call and cancel their date that evening.

And it was a date, she knew that, no matter how much she protested otherwise.

“Belle?” her boss’ voice instantly brought her back to the reality of the busy office around her as he hovered by her desk.

“Yes?” she looked up dubiously, from the stern look on his face he wasn’t happy with her.

“Can I have a word with you in my office please?”

She groaned inwardly. If the clients from that morning’s shoot had complained she was in big trouble.

“Sure” she told him, saving what she had done so far and following him into his office. She perched on the edge of the black leather chair as he shut the door and sat at the opposite side of the desk.

“I have to say Belle, I’ve been very impressed with your work since you’ve been here”

“Thank you” she blushed at the unexpected compliment.

“And I also took the liberty of getting the London office to send me some of the proofs of the shoots you did over there too and there is some amazing work here” he told her, flicking through the folder

of her work with a smile.

“Thanks” she told him once more not sure whether he’d brought her in here for anything other than some mutual appreciation. Was she expecting her to compliment him too? She hadn’t seen any of his

work.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what this is about”

“Well yes” she admitted shyly, feeling rude to push it.

“I’ll just get straight to the point Belle, there’s no point beating around the bush. You see a very famous publication has asked us to provide the photographers for their entire business. News stories,

editorial, fashion. ..the whole shebang. We’re in the process of setting up a team for the job and we’d like you to head it up”

“Me?” she gasped in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening.

“Yes, you” he smiled sincerely.

“Everyone is very impressed with your work and we’re all very confident that you’re up to the job. That is if you’d like it. Obviously it’s more work but with that there will be a very lucrative pay rise and

a company car”

“Of course I want it!” she grinned jumping at the chance of promotion. She couldn’t wait to tell Aden about this.

“Excellent news” he grinned happily before pushing a magazine across the desk towards her.

As she looked down and realised exactly which publication she was about to become head photographer for her beaming smile only got wider.

“We’d need you to start next week though I’m afraid”

“No problem” she answered without missing a beat.

“I know a week isn’t long to pack your life up but I’m sure you realise what amazing an opportunity this is Belle”

“Oh I realise!” she assured him, still unable to contain her smile.

“Hold on” she ordered, her smile suddenly falling.

“What do you mean pack my whole life up?”

“Well I thought you would have realised” he told her matter of factly.

“The job’s based in the New York office”

***

“Woah!” Joey cried out as she grabbed hold of the punch bag Aden was ferociously beating, steadying it.

“We’ve got a big game tomorrow afternoon, save some energy for that hey Aden?”

“Sorry” he sighed, wiping his furrowed brow as perspiration trickled down it.

“I’m just a little worked up”

“Yeah, I heard about Nick’s date with Belle” she replied hesitantly not sure bringing it up was her best idea ever.

“Does everyone know?” he sighed in frustration.

“Yeah pretty much” she nodded.

“Don’t say it” he ordered.

“Say what?”

“You told me that it would come back and kick me on the ass and it has...you were right Jo”

“Well I won’t rub your face in it” she smiled gently.

“I can see that you’re already upset about it”

“Not that Belle cares!” he punched the bright red bag once more.

“I can’t believe she said yes Jo!”

“Why did she? I thought you two were together?”

“Yeah so did I” he sighed.

“But obviously whatever there is between us means a hell of a lot more to me than to her”

“Well at least you had some good news to cheer you up hey?” she tried to get a smile out of him but was unsuccessful.

“I hear Sydney are willing to pay big bucks for you, highest transfer fee in history”

“If it goes through” he mumbled without a hint of excitement. The best team in the league wanted to sign him for a record fee but all he could think about was Belle’s date and what might happen after it.

Images of Nick holding Belle’s hand fluttered through his mind as he punched the bag once more.

Then he was kissing her as his fists pounded against the red leather.

His hands wandering all over here body...

“ADEN!” Joey yelled, moving the bag out of his way so her was punching thin air.

“Sorry” he mumbled lowering his fists.

“You don’t want to go to Sydney because Belle’s here huh?”

He shook his head.

“Belle doesn’t care where I am, even if I stay she’ll be too busy with her new boyfriend to notice”

And anyway he wouldn’t pass the medical. His knee would never hold up. It was only a matter of time before he was found out. Perth wanted to sell him as much as Sydney wanted to buy him. They

could buy at least three decent players with the money Sydney were willing to pay for him.

“Aden I’m sure Belle must have a reason for all this”

“Maybe” he shrugged picking up his gym bag and turning to leave.

“But I’m not sure it’s going to be good enough Jo...that’s if she ever decides to actually fill me in on what’s going on...”

***

She pressed number three on her speed dial one more time and waited for her best friend to pick up as the monotonous ring filled her ears again. She sighed deeply as it clicked on to the answer phone

for a third time and Matilda’s jovial message began to play. She snapped her phone shut in frustration and hastily wiped away the warm tears stinging under her deep brown eyes. She knew that Matilda was home, she had seen her stood in the kitchen window when she had passed her house on her way home from work not twenty minutes ago.

She wondered what she had done to offend Mattie. There was nothing that she could recall, especially not something which would warrant her best friend to stop speaking to her. She pressed three on

her phone in one last ditch attempt. She really needed to talk to someone. Aden hadn’t come home after practice and she had no idea where he was. Not that he was talking to her anyway. Nor did she

have any idea what she would say to him is he was.

She’d got herself into one big mess and she didn’t have a clue why. And worst still, she had a good idea how she could get out of it but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it.

“Belle!” Matilda’s flustered voice finally answered and she breathed a sigh of relief, choking back tears at the sound of a friendly voice.

“Can’t you take a hint? I’m busy!”

Well maybe not that friendly.

“Sorry” Belle mumbled feeling even worse than before.

“I just needed to talk to someone”

“Can’t it wait? I really am busy Belle”

“Well I guess,” she sniffled, trying to fight back her tears and stop her emotions from making her voice tremble.

“I just...I...”

“Really busy Belle!” Matilda hissed.

“We’re trying”

“Oh!” Belle hiccupped feeling really stupid. She should have realised when Matilda hadn’t answered that it was baby o’clock.

“S**t...sorry, I’ll leave you to it” she hurriedly told her, lowering her phone from her ear and reaching out to press the end call button.

“Wait! Belle!” Matilda’s voice called out just before she did so.

“Yeah?” she mumbled pressing the handset back to her ear.

“Are you ok?” her friend questioned, her annoyed tone replaced by one brimming with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine” she lied still brushing away the tears rolling down her red cheeks.

“It can wait. You get back to your baby making....and good luck!” she laughed genuinely at the ridiculousness of the situation. She couldn’t believe Mattie had stopped to answer the phone.

“Alright...well I’ll call you later ok? And if you need someone to talk to then try Aden, he’ll be free” she told her with a giggle before the line went dead.

“Because the only person he wants to get busy with is you!”

Matilda’s parting words only caused her tears to gush faster and more plentiful as she carelessly dropped her silver mobile onto the bed and buried her head in her hands.

Aden couldn’t even bring himself to look at her right then and it was all her own stupid fault.

Sniffling she grabbed her phone once more and scrolled down to Nick’s number and clicked to send him a text. Her fingers typed quickly as she formulated an excuse for cancelling. I’m in love with

Aden didn’t seem the best thing to say. Even though it was the truth and it was what she should say.

She spent a few minutes deciding how to sign off, eventually reaching the decision that any number of kisses would be inappropriate and misleading. She was ready to hit send but as her fingertips

hovered over the required button she just couldn’t bring herself to push it.

Instead she gently placed her phone onto the oak bedside table, her message staring back at her from the illuminated screen. She simply watched it for a while until the screen went dark, before getting

to her feet and heading for the shower.

She stripped off her clothes and submerged herself in the boiling water, steam clouding her vision and intermingling with the soft tears which gently fell down her cheeks.

She was being stupid. She knew she was. This wasn’t her. She was the strong, feisty and independent one. No one would ever expect her to struggle like this.

And maybe, she thought to herself as she soaped her slender body and shampooed her hair, just maybe that was the problem.

Pulling herself together she managed to reign in her tears as she twisted the shower dial and the cascade of hot water ceased. She wrapped herself up in one of Aden’s towels and set herself to work,

preening and preparing herself for her date.

She was almost on autopilot as she plucked her dark eyebrows into a perfect arch and dried her dark hair, styling it into gentle waves which fell softly around her face.

She thought of nothing, her mind void and fuzzy, as she expertly applied dark mascara to her long lashes, dusted her cheeks with a hint of pink blush and applied a light slick of gloss over her full lips.

As she slipped into her best underwear she didn’t stop to consider why she was doing it. Why she had chosen the soft, sexy black lace set that she wouldn’t mind someone else seeing her in and, as she reached around to zip up the deep black strappy dress which accentuated her figure in all the right places, she simply paused to admire her reflection in the full length oval mirror and give herself an

approving nod.

It was only as she rifled through her dresser drawer, in search of a purse that wouldn’t clash with her shoes, that emotion flooded back through her.

Her fingertips landed on the rectangular booklet, her heart lurched and a flutter of nerves twisted her tummy into a jumble of tight knots.

She slid her passport out from underneath the silk scarf she had purchased in London but never worn and quickly flicked through the stiff pages, all blank except for the ones stamped on her arrival in

the UK and on her return to Australia.

For years she had dreamt of filling the tiny book with different coloured stamps, of travelling all over the world and broadening her knowledge and experience of countries and cultures she couldn’t even

begin to imagine.

She slotted the passport back out of view only for her gaze to instantly be drawn to the New York guide book poking out of her camera bag.

Holding back tears once more she turned her back on the sight and shoved her feet into the sexy heels she would never admit she struggled to walk in.

A loud car horn beeping outside almost sent her toppling off balance as she swiftly found a purse and slotted the necessary items into it. A quick glance out of the window confirmed that the offending

horn belonged to the taxi she had booked earlier.

Grabbing her phone she caused the screen to illuminate once more, her message to Nick still displayed on the screen. She deliberated for a few seconds until the deafening horn blared once more and

made her decision for her.

She held down the delete button and watched the message disappear before taking a long, deep breath and heading out of the door on the way to meet her date.

[LAURZY!]

That was just sad

She cant go to New York!!!! and Aden has to talk to her and interupt her and Nick's date and proclaim his love for her there and then!

Apart from the ness, it was a brill chapter, the bit with Mattie made me LOL haha

Cant wait for more! Here's hoping it's happier lol

[bradyell]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely not a freddo!! maybe a big bar of fruit n nut!! the yummyness of the choc is still there just a few bits of stuff in the middle that we could live without! lol!

What is going on with Belle?!?! New york or Aden?? it should be a toughy but it's really not!

Loved it as per and can't wait for more!

[hitmanfan]

great update, what are they doing?

Belle is very confused at the moment and I hope they start talking again before she decides either way about NY.

But I agree with Laura, loved her interupting Mattie,

Lets how they sort themselves out in the next couple of chapters and we return to fluff *prays*

[~Zoe~]

Loved it, great chapter

[MrsL]

Nooo get out of the taxi, send the message to Nick and find Aden. Oh dear its all going so wrong

I still loved it and can't wait for the story to get back to the fluff- an Adelle reunion *hopes*

[MrsL]

Sorry Double post