Follow Me

Chapter 26

Noah

To say she didn't look pleased to see me as I walked into the shop was an understatement. No doubt she's mad at me for ghosting her call last night and not getting back to her.

Fuck, I knew the flowers would have been a good idea.

"Noah. My man."

Oh great, there's a voice I wouldn't forget in a hurry. "Oh, hi Brad. How are you?"

"All the better for seeing you again, sir. Nice to see you can't stay away from the shop? Anything I can help you with today?"

"Yeah, something like that." My eyes look over to Chelsea who was still behind the till serving, she needed to come and save me from him again but she turned away as soon as our eyes met. "Actually, yeah, could you let Chelsea take her break now please? I want to treat her to lunch."

"Absolutely. She's certainly earned her break today."

"Thanks Brad, you're a star." Urgh, what am I saying? Why has this creep brought me down to his level of interaction.

"Love the latest post by the way, thrown a cheeky little like against it a few minutes ago funnily enough. You pull of the Peaky Blinder look, really well."

I force a smile. "Ah, thanks Brad." Seeing as he was my number one fan all of a sudden, I thought I'd push my luck just a little and I called him back as he made his way towards Chelsea. "Actually, how about giving her the rest of the day off?"

He stopped in his tracks. "Ooooh, I'm not too sure about that, Noah. The place is buzzing and we only have a part timer in with us today and he's not fully trained, so I can't let her I'm afraid."

I raise an eyebrow. "Brad, mate! Take a look around, look at what these people are buying. The brand I was in here promoting the other day. It looks to me like I've done a huge favour for your trade. So how about you do this little favour for me?"

And right on queue, I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around to see three teenage girls standing there. "Noah? Omg it's really you! Can we have our photos taken with you?"

I smile and turn back around to Brad. "You see..." he rolled his eyes and admitted defeat as he headed back towards Chelsea to give her the good news.

"Of course, girls. Who wants their photo taken first?"

                                     ~~~

"Let me go and get my coat and bag. I'll meet you outside."

As the girls began walking away, all appearing pretty happy with their photos, Chelsea hardly acknowledges me as she heads to grab her belongings. "A hello or a thank you, would have been nice." I mumble as I walk towards the exit. Not before turning around and waving goodbye to my new best buddy who was now occupied behind the till that Chelsea had just vacated.

It took her a good five minutes to reappear again but as she walked towards me, I couldn't help but smile. I had missed her beautiful face although again, I was getting the feeling that it wasn't mutual today.

"Hey beautiful." I open my arms out towards her and thankfully she does return the hug but just a "Hey" in response. My attempted kiss to her lips was rejected and instead her cheek was offered.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, her mood is concerning me.

"Not really, Noah. I think we need to talk. Can we go somewhere private to chat?"

Oh shit, here we go. I can't tell her now about last night, she's clearly pissed off with me. I can't make things worse, in this mood she will definitely call things off.

"Erm, yeah of course. Where do you want to go?"

"Home. Come back to my place and we can talk there."

                                     ~~~

The uber ride to her apartment was frosty. Conversation was at a minimum and any sort of touching was completely out of the question. My brain was racing, my stomach churning and not just with guilt anymore, anxiousness had now been thrown into the mix for good measure and I deserved to be made to feel this way after what I had done but my only issue was she doesn't know about that and still cannot fathom what she could be so annoyed over.

Due to the silence, I pulled my phone out to check how my last post was doing and 728 likes in an hour in a half meant it was doing as well as I'd expected.

As the cab pulled up outside her apartment, I could sense that Chelsea's silence was now slowly turning into pure anger. Her demeanour changed the minute we stepped out of the car and walked up the stairs. If moods could kill, I'd have been left to rot in the back of that poor mans car.

"Coffee?" Aha! She speaks. Granted, it wasn't much but it's a little bit of progression.

"I'm fine, thank you." I take a seat on her sofa and sit with my hands on my lap like a little boy who's just been pulled into the principals office and is about to receive an almighty punishment.

I thought it best to break the ice first, I need to dip my toe in to find out just how cold she is right now. "Look, Chelsea. I'm sorry about not phoning you back last night but my phone had died and after the day I had, I must have just collapsed into bed. So I apologise, if I've upset you."

She smiles as she sits beside me and lets out a sly laugh. I think speaking first was a good idea, I've apologised and guessed correctly about what she was so angry about. I breathe a sigh of relief and begin to relax back into her sofa.

She clears her throat before she responds. "The thing is, Noah..."

She pauses and I have no idea what's coming next. Maybe she's in the wrong for something? Maybe she fucked someone last night? I'm not sure I'd be too happy about it but it would make my admission a hell of a lot easier. I look at her and raise my eyebrows in anticipation.

"You're a fucking bad liar, Noah!"

                                        ***