Until I Met You
Jaimie Roberts
Copyright © 2014 Jaimie Roberts
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1499686913
For my sister, Angela.
Though miles may lie between us, we are never far apart,
For friendship doesn’t count the miles,
It’s measured by the heart.
CONTENTS
Prologue
P
i
Chapter
1
1
Chapter
2
Pg 28
Chapter
3
Pg 34
Chapter
4
Pg 47
Chapter
5
Pg 56
Chapter
6
Pg 75
Chapter
7
Pg 91
Chapter
8
Pg 98
Chapter
9
Pg 121
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Epilogue
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Pg 143
Pg 153
Pg 181
Pg 198
Pg 215
Pg 224
Pg 241
Pg 254
Pg 265
Pg 273
Pg 283
Pg 295
PROLOGUE
I never put much thought into the way my life may turn out. I was only fifteen and having fun. It was hard to think of the future when you’re having this much fun. My friends are all jealous of me at school because I’m the only girl in my class who has a boyfriend old enough to own a car. I must admit, it makes me feel real good inside knowing this. They’re always asking me questions when they see him picking me up after school. It’s hard to not be big-headed about it to be honest.
The only problem I have is that my best friends, Jack and David, don’t like him. We always seem to be arguing lately. They keep asking why a boy of nineteen is hanging around with me. It hurts when they say things like that as I’m more than just a fifteen-year-old girl, I’m a person.
“Princess, are you okay?”
Turning towards Jaden, I couldn’t help the silly grin on my face. He was a handsome boy with brown wavy hair and lovely green eyes. I always loved looking into those eyes. To me he was just the bee’s knees. Of course I am a virgin still, and of course he is patiently waiting, but he still tells me how much he loves me. I haven’t said anything back to him as yet because I’m not sure what it is I feel. All I know is he makes me feel nice. That’s always a plus—right?
“I’m fine, Jaden. I’ve just been thinking about Jack and David, that’s all.”
Jaden sighed and I knew it wasn’t a pleased sigh. “Do we have to talk about them now?”
I smiled gently towards him. “No, of course not. It’s just—”
Jaden wrapped his arm around me, interrupting what I was about to say. “Listen, Princess. I know they are your friends, but right now, it’s just you and me. Can’t we just enjoy each other?” Jaden leaned in to kiss me and I smelt the alcohol on his breath. I didn’t like it when he drank too much.
After he kissed me, I drew back with a smile. “Of course we can. Sorry.”
Jaden winked and pulled me into him again. “I’ve got a little surprise for you.”
Feeling excited, I looked up into his bright green eyes. “What is it, Jaden?”
Jaden dropped down from the fence and held his hand out to me. “Come, let me take you there. It’s only a short walk, and I promise you it will be special.”
I looked around the expanse of the field and shook my head with a frown. What surprise could he possibly conjure up out here, in the middle of nowhere?
Getting down from the fence, I took his hand. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”
With a smile, Jaden led me across the field to a barn. I wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but I thought maybe he was just being romantic. Maybe there was a surprise waiting for me in there.
As we neared it, my heart began drumming a million miles an hour. I was a little excited, but a little apprehensive. When I heard voices coming from inside the excitement disappeared.
“Jaden, what’s going on?”
He could see I was a little bit frightened so he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “It’s okay, Princess. I’m your boyfriend and will take good care of you. I promise you that. I just want to show you something. You can trust me, can’t you?”
I looked up into his eyes and admired his beautiful face. Jaden never failed to amaze me.
Feeling a little better about it, I nodded my head. Jaden promised me he would look after me, so I had to trust him.
With that quick nod, Jaden smiled and opened the door.
chapter 1
“Angelina… Angelina!”
Oh boy, please, just give me some peace.
“Angelina!” my mother bellowed again. “Come on, you need to get ready. It’s already ten-thirty.”
“I’m up, Mum, just getting ready now.” It was a lie of course, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Angelina Bradshaw, if you don’t get your arse up right now and get ready, I will personally drag you out of bed myself!”
“I’m up!” I shouted angrily. Gosh, you would think the Battle of fucking Hastings was about to go down, instead of my little sister’s wedding. I say little as I am reminded that every five minutes considering I’m now twenty-six and should be married myself. I personally thought we were living in the twenty-first century, but obviously not when it comes to my family.
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I was about to get out of bed when the aforementioned little sister, Julia, skipped into my old room.
“Eek,” she squealed excitedly. “Can you believe it, Angelina? I’m getting married today… fucking married!”
“I know,” I said groggily. “It’s your big day.”
“Oh, don’t be sad. It will be your turn one day. Maybe you’ll meet the man of your dreams in London. If not, there’s always Brian.”
I shook my head feeling a little annoyed. I didn’t see why at the age of only twenty-six, I should be married, barefoot and pregnant. I have always been different as far as that’s concerned. I wanted to work, and any fun time I had, was just that. Brian was my “go to” guy. If I felt horny, I’d go to him for help. He wasn’t the best sex in the world, but he always manages to bring me to an orgasm. Even if it wasn’t through sex, he would make sure I was taken care of. He’s a nice guy and we’ve known each other since school, but he’s not commitment material—even though he says he wants to be.
It all really doesn’t matter now though, as I’m moving to London after today is through. Tomorrow I’m going to pack my bags, leave Cornwall and set sail for the big city. My dad’s friend owns an estate agency in Chelsea, and asked if I would like to move into the flat above the shop. He also asked if I could virtually run the place when he wasn’t around. I jumped at the opportunity. It kind of helps that my dad’s friend is hot—even if we both know nothing can happen between us. The only problem being is… that it very nearly did once.
My dad, Clive, had a big fiftieth birthday bash last year and Jonathan came to the celebrations. I hadn’t seen him in five years and his age had d
one everything to improve the way he looked. He is tall with light brown eyes and silver hair. He looked like a sexy George Clooney in his forties—definitely fuckable material.
To cut a long story short, we celebrated, Jonathan and I flirted, and we very nearly ended up calling it a night in his hotel. I bailed though. He is my dad’s friend after all and I didn’t want to over-complicate things. It was very hard to resist, but Jonathan more than understood. He even said we did the right thing in the end. My dad’s been friends with the guy ever since he sold him the house I’m currently staying in now.
My only concern—which I raised—was our little indiscretion. Or shall I say, almost indiscretion. Jonathan put my mind at ease straight away and said that we needed to put that in the past and get on with life. He never mixes business with pleasure; it has always been his number one motto. With that in mind there was only one answer.
I gave my job—and place I was renting—one month notice and moved back in with my parents once I quit. I’ve been staying here for just over a week now and it’s doing my head in! I’m so glad I’ll be finally off tomorrow.
“Angelina,” my sister probed. “You’re not mad at me for not making you Maid of Honour are you?”
Julia quickly snapped me back to reality, reminding me of the day ahead. “No, of course not, Julia, Mindy’s your best friend. She likes all this wedding stuff. I would have been shit at it.” She smiled, nodding her head at me in relief.
Pretty soon, our peace was quickly snapped from us as my mum barged through the door. “Angelina, Julia, what are you still doing in your pyjamas? You should be getting ready.”
Julia looked at me for a moment and rolled her eyes. “Mum, my wedding isn’t for another three hours yet. Chill.”
“How can I chill when my house is in chaos and the bride, and sister of the bride, won’t get their arses out of bed? Now get! Come on!”
Both Julia and I snapped out of bed to salute my mum. It was so perfectly orchestrated; we couldn’t have planned it better if we tried. Julia and I looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles.
“Oh boy, I’m going to have trouble with you two today aren’t I?” my mum said with a smile. She tried to act annoyed, but it just wasn’t happening.
“Don’t worry, Mum,” I replied soothingly. “We’ll behave ourselves and get ready. I’ll be done in a jiffy and help you out... promise.” I took her arm and she placed her hand on mine.
“Thank you, Angelina. I’m going to miss you.” You could see the hint of tears in her eyes as she stared at me.
“Mum, I’m not going to be that far away. Four hours by car, that’s all. I’ll visit as often as I can, you know that.”
She sighed. “I know. It’s just Julia’s getting married and now you’re leaving. It’s a lot to take in. I thought we would all live in this area, grow up together as a family. See my grandchildren.” The last sentence was definitely directed at me.
“Well,” I said eagerly. “I’m sure Julia will get straight down to it with Jack once they’re married.” I looked towards Julia and she rolled her eyes at me, again. Weddings and babies are not my thing, and as soon as the conversation about them are off me, the better.
“Why are you so eager to become a grandmother anyway, Mum? I don’t understand it. Normally women are reluctant for that so soon.”
“Well,” she answered smiling. “If I have grandchildren now, everyone can comment on how young a grandmother I look, can’t they?”
The laughter started. “Your logic is quite frightening.”
“Don’t forget, Angelina, that my logic is what brought you two lovely ladies into the world.”
“Fair point, Mum, but still not sure why you’re in such a hurry.”
Julia’s face fell, shocked into silence, she sat down. “Mum, you’re not ill or something are you?”
My head snapped toward my mum, wanting just as much to know the answer.
She looked shocked. “No, of course not. I’m as fit as a fiddle. I’d run rings around you two… which reminds me, why aren’t we getting ready yet?”
We both breathed a sigh of relief, and with the knowledge that everything was okay, we got ready.
I took a nice long shower, making sure I was suitably scrubbed and ready for this wedding. I was in the middle of pulling my dress on when I heard Jerry whistling. I ran to his cage and pulled the blanket off him so he could see me.
“Hello Jerry, how are you this morning, my beautiful hunk of a male?”
Jerry cocked his little head at me and wolf whistled. With his feathers puffed out, the serenading began.
“I see you baby, shaking that ass, shaking that ass, shaking that ass.”
“Will you stop encouraging that bird, Angelina?”
Turning around, I saw my mum in the doorway. “Hey, Mum, it’s funny, and he’s not just any old bird, he’s a cockatiel.”
My mother shook her head, but then noticed my dress. “Do you need help with that?”
“Yes, if you could zip me up, that would be great,” I said cooing at Jerry.
Once I was zipped up in my coral sleeveless number, I turned to face my mum. She instantly started gushing towards me. I suddenly felt like I was five again.
“Angelina, you look beautiful.”
“Thanks, Mum, so do you—as always.” And she did. My mother was a very beautiful lady in her early fifties. She had blonde hair, like me, but dark brown eyes, unlike me. I have very unusual eyes and I often get comments about it. My eyes are light brown, but with speckles of green. It’s normally the first thing someone notices about me.
My mum, in her elegant chiffon dress, sauntered over to the window to take a peek at the weather. “It looks like the rain may hold off today. Hopefully some sun will make an appearance later. Thankfully it is forecast.”
“Well that’s good. Julia will be pleased.”
“Julia Gulia,” Jerry squawked.
I couldn’t help the eruption that came out of my mouth. My mum turned to glare at Jerry, and then her eyes bore into mine. “What on earth are you teaching him?”
“What can I say, he likes The Wedding Singer.”
“The what?” she asked, confused.
“Never mind, Mum. I’m going to finish off the rest of my hair and go help out with Julia.”
She nodded her head and walked out just at the time Jerry squawks “Julia Gulia” again.
“You’re gonna get me into trouble, young man,” I said handing him a seed.
Once I was ready, I went out in search of my sister. I soon found her in her room, with my mum and a couple of Julia’s friends all fussing round her. Both were on the Champagne already. I could never understand why people would want to put alcohol near their mouth so early in the morning. I never even wanted to eat breakfast first thing, never mind booze.
“There you are,” my mum chimed.
“Yep, now where do you want me?”
“Nowhere, just sit by me,” Julia requested. “I have Mindy putting flowers in my hair. She’s doing a really good job.”
“She is,” I said admiring her work. She looked over and smiled, making her whole face light up. Mindy wasn’t particularly beautiful, but when she smiled, she could light up a room with just that one gesture.
“I could do yours if you want? I’ve done it a few times before for friends and relatives, so I’m used to it.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. It’s all about Julia today.” I placed my hand on her arm and she smiled sweetly at me, squeezing my hand. I saw tears in her eyes and the sight made my own eyes threaten to sting a little.
“Now, stop it you two, you’ll ruin your make-up.” Mum looked away, dabbing her own eyes with embarrassment.
“Oh come on, Mum, you know it’s compulsory to cry at weddings.”
“I’m going to go and see if your father’s ready,” she said, heading for the door as quickly as possible.
Once she was out the door, I turned to Julia. “She doesn’t
like getting emotional, does she?”
Julia looked deadly serious towards me. “Very much like you.”
I was confused all of a sudden. “What do you mean?”
“I have never seen you get excited over a man. I’ve never seen you actually cry, real tears. You just seem so, I don’t know… unattached.”
I was completely stunned by this. “Really?”
“I’m not saying that in a bad way, I know you’ve not met anyone who sets your heart fluttering yet, but it will happen, and when it does, I want front row seats for the show. At the moment, I keep thinking you were born the wrong sex.”
“I beg your pardon?” I couldn’t believe where this was heading. Both Mindy, and Julia’s other Irish friend Naomi, looked at me sympathetically, but didn’t add anything to the conversation.
“Well, you never seem to need anyone, Angelina. You seem to be happy as you are and that’s fine, I get it of course. I just think sometimes it’s a very lonely existence for you. You never want to let anyone in. I hope that changes for you when you get to London.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Julia, I have never felt the need to have someone in my life just so it fulfils some kind of morbid way of thinking that you have to have someone, just to have someone. I like being my own boss, having a career, not answering to anybody. It suits me this way.”
Julia smiled calmly and laid her hand on mine. “I know. Please don’t be angry with me. I just worry about you at times.”
“Ah, she’ll be okay, Julia. A few drinks and a couple of dances will see her right tonight. I know Brian will be there and looking forward to seeing you, so he will,” Naomi said, winking.
Shaking my head, I had to disagree with her. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go there, Naomi.”
“Why not so? He likes you, you like him. You both need a good—”
“Okay, okay, I think that’s enough.” We all started laughing and I felt more at ease after my sisters little speech about my love life—or lack thereof. I was always happy being this way and nothing will change that. I’m not interested in marriage, or children. In fact, I think on more than one occasion I have referred to children as “Sprogs”. That’s not coming from someone with the greatest motherly instincts at all—and that’s totally fine by me. Who said it was a written rule that once you got to a certain age, that you were to find someone, get married, and start a family? I would only be adding to the over-populated country as it is anyway. I’m doing the world a favour.