Page 45 of The Rest is History

Elodie

C harlie’s right.

The money changes everything for me.

And even though a large part of me feels uneasy, even a little grubby, for accepting such a large loan from him, I have to take the bigger picture into consideration.

This completely changes the game for my sister.

The double stress of having Jake fuck off without making adequate childcare provision and starting Olive at an extortionate private school has taken a massive toll on her.

This removes that burden in one fell swoop and gives her a year’s grace to save up for next year’s fees.

She’s ecstatic—a different woman. And she never has to know I intend to pay back every penny. I’ll worry about that by myself.

However much Charlie Vaughan has sucked me in and spat me out and stomped on my heart, our sorry tale has ended in him playing fairy godfather to my family, against all odds.

So refusing his extraordinary generosity for reasons pertaining to my own pride is not cool. Because this isn’t about me.

I’d be lying if I, too, didn’t feel a huge weight lifted.

The month ahead at school feels interminable, and I’ve been dreading Saturdays even more.

By removing my financial obligations towards my niece, Charlie’s given me the gift of freedom.

And after his heart, it’s the best thing he could have given me. A very distant second place, but still.

It’s a lot better than being tied down to play his onetime beloved wife every Saturday.

Maybe it’s a sign. A sign that it’s time to move on.

To start living for myself again. To find a place of my own and a permanent position teaching the period I love, probably back in London.

Even if the thought of returning to city life after my idyllic time here doesn’t excite me as much as it should.

At least Charlie doesn’t have the option of chopping off my head to get rid of me. Though I have the sudden thought that maybe he’s paid through the nose to facilitate my leaving Hampton Court. Now that I’m free of my financial obligations, he must know I’m likely to disappear from his life.

He still seems pretty tortured over the whole thing, though.

The way he was looking at me in my denim dress yesterday had my heart beating more quickly.

It’s probably just some leftover lust on his part.

He was getting a lot of action before he dumped me.

It’s hard to walk away from that. I hope he’s every bit as sexually frustrated as I am.

And I’m glad my dress had the desired effect.

I’m glad he remembers what it made him do.

I sigh and get out my phone. Time to rally my queens before the weekend. I’ll need all the help I can get on Saturday. I pull up the Slay Queens Slay WhatsApp chat. Lauren added me my second week at the palace. Charlie’s obviously not invited—this is a queen-only chat.

Hey ladies. I have some bad news—afraid Charlie broke up with me this week. Will need some serious moral support if I’m to survive Sat

SHELBY:

What the actual FUCK??????

SHELBY:

Seriously?

TESS:

Oh, my dear. That’s very disappointing. I’m so sorry. We’ll be there for you xx

LAUREN:

Noooooo. What the hell is wrong with that guy? This is why I only date women.

SHELBY:

Not helpful right now

LAUREN:

Sorry not sorry. Geddit? Girl we’re here for you. That man will rue the day he fucked with you, believe me.

Thanks guys. I love you. Not sure how the hell I’ll manage to play nicely on his arm though

TESS:

I’ll take care of him on Sat. It’ll be like old times. You know, before he divorced me for you… :)

Guess it’s karma. Maybe he’ll throw me in the Tower for good measure

CASSIE:

OMG babes I’m so sorry!!!! What a loser. Like he thinks he can do any better than you at his age? You’re way hotter than him. And Tess, you know there’s an actual emoji keyboard now? You don’t need to use punctuation

TESS:

What’s an emoji? Just kidding

CASSIE:

lmao

TESS:

What?

REBEKAH:

Shit Elodie!!!

I’m so sorry!

WTF? He was literally all over you last weekend—Shel and I were joking about how he’s even randier than Henry was.

Did he give you a reason?

We’ll be your human shield on Sat—we’ve got this, don’t we ladies? x

LAUREN:

Hell YEAHHHHHH

You’re all so lovely. Thank you guys. I’m going to need that shield.

No Bex, no reason. Not a real one anyway. Something about not wanting to get married again and not seeing a future for us so he’s biting the bullet now “before we get hurt”.

UGHHHHH remind me never to date ever again

SHELBY:

I do not understand that man. He’s clearly obsessed with you. You guys were my #relationshipgoals. Men get scared so easily don’t they?

CASSIE:

Mid life crisis

REBEKAH:

Truth

LAUREN:

Stay strong gorgeous girl.

See you Sat for the uprising of the queens.

SLAY QUEENS SLAYYYY

CHARLIE

I wouldn’t blame Elodie if she didn’t show up today. I was seriously tempted to pull a no-show myself. It’s five past ten and there’s no sign of her yet as I pace Clock Court, my stomach churning with the anticipation of seeing her. I wasn’t even able to eat breakfast before I came out.

She may be dreading having to spend the day together, but I’m dreading it more.

Hampton Court was the place where I allowed my feelings for her to surface.

Where I allowed myself to act on those feelings.

To build a relationship with her, however clumsily I did it.

We’ve even consummated our relationship here, in those upstairs rooms.

Being here with her while we both played our roles has been one of the most magical experiences of my life, and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to survive seeing her as Anne.

Her dark hair pulled back under that iconic hood.

Those pearls at her white throat. Unlike Henry, I can’t isolate myself from her.

Shutter her and her undoubted magical powers away.

I’m a sitting duck.

The huge clock is showing ten-ten and there’s no sign of my queens. This is most unprofessional. I nod curtly at some curious visitors and continue to pace. And then I spot them.

Oh, holy hell.

They’re coming for me. All six of them. In a line that makes them look more like the Ocean’s Eleven cast than a gaggle of Tudor queens. They sweep across the courtyard in their long gowns. Elodie’s among them, chin held high, looking so fucking magnificent, so regal, it takes my breath away.

Only a madman would walk away from a woman like that.

I suppose that makes me and Henry total lunatics.

The queens are closing in on me. Instinctively, I look to my right and left for an escape route. I feel as though I’m about to fall prey to a pack of wolves, but although some visitors are watching this whatever-it-is unfold with curiosity, no one looks interested in coming to my rescue.

I’ll have to battle it out alone. I aim for bravado.

‘Good morning, my queens.’

They stop in front of me and my eyes run over the group, lingering longer than they should on Elodie. She meets my gaze, challenge burning in her eyes.

More than challenge.

Defiance.

And it turns me on.

She’ll keep her head held high today, I can tell, despite the number of questions we’ll both inevitably have to endure from colleagues who still think we’re an item.

That’s my girl.

Shelby steps forward. ‘Here’s how it’s going to go, fuckface. Today you’ll go back in time to when you played nicely with your first wife. Tess will keep you company because she’s the only one saintly enough not to punch you in your pretty face.’

‘But—’ I begin, and she silences me with a hand.

‘We do not require any commentary from you. Oh, and stay the fuck away from the rest of us, because someone’s bound to punch you if you get too close.’

And they turn and walk away across the courtyard, taking Elodie with them.

ELODIE

‘Tell me how I’m supposed to bear this,’ I moan.

I don’t love the side of myself Charlie’s actions have brought out in me—in fact, I utterly despise it—but I can’t seem to pull myself together.

School has been hideous this week, but Hampton Court is our special place, and when he’s Henry and I’m Anne, we’ve been able to surrender to the crazy chemistry between us.

Hampton Court is where I fell in love. And, like the man who’s been stalking the courtyards and corridors in all his finery, it will always have my heart. It was the setting for our too-brief fairytale, after all.

I’ve been talking about myself to Lauren, Shelby, Bex and Cass pretty much all day, but dammit if they aren’t excellent listeners.

They’ve pressed me for every detail, asked smart questions, given even smarter advice, and been gratifyingly angry and frustrated on my behalf.

Their ‘human shield’ has made today bearable.

We’re now across the road in The Mitre, where Tess has joined us and is sloshing white wine into glasses.

‘If it’s any consolation,’ she says, ‘he seems to be as miserable as you. Not that he gave me any useful indication of what the hell’s going on in that pea-brain of his, but he was like a bear with a sore head all day. That man is in serious agony.’

I sigh and accept a glass of wine. She’s definitely given me the fullest glass. She’s such a sweetheart. They all are. I’m so lucky to have found this fiery and fabulous group of women who have my back.

‘I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse,’ I say. ‘Obviously, it would kill me if I thought he was over us in under a week, but if he’s unhappy, then why is he being such a martyr? Ugh! It’s such a waste.’

‘It definitely makes it better,’ Shelby tells me, ‘because firstly, we all want him to suffer as much as humanly possible, and secondly, it means there’s hope.’

‘Oh, no, no.’ I shake my head and stare into my wineglass.

‘Hope is not good. Hope is very, very bad. Believe me, that guy meant business when he finished with me, and he has no intention of going back on his word. So by far the best thing for my heart, and for my sanity, is to accept that and move on.’

‘You’re so right.’ Cassie nods sagely. ‘I read somewhere that all suffering is caused by resisting what is. If we just accept what is, we save ourselves a lot of pain and wasted energy. You should put your energy into moving forward and coming up with a fabulous life plan.’

Everyone else stares at her in astonishment.

‘Wise words from the young ‘un,’ Lauren says, winking.

‘Wise words indeed.’ I take a large slug of my wine. ‘Thanks, Yoda.’

She shrugs, looking pleased. ‘Anytime.’

‘I just never knew he was such a dick,’ Shelby muses. ‘I mean, don’t get me wrong. We all know he could be obnoxious and cranky as fuck—until he started boning you, that was.’

‘Helpful,’ I say drily. ‘Thanks, Shel.’

‘Sorry, babes. But there’s a difference between being a grumpy fucker and being a nasty bastard. And I didn’t think Charlie was that.’

‘He’s not,’ I say firmly. ‘No matter how unhappy I am with his decision, and no matter how totally baffled I am by whatever the fuck is going on inside his head, he’s not a bastard.

He’s a guy who feels things deeply, and doesn’t let much of it out, and who clearly has a strong moral code.

It’s obvious he thinks he’s doing the right thing.

He seems to think he’s saving me from himself. ’

‘Well, that’s sad,’ Rebekah says. ‘Why would he think you need saving from him?’

‘He seems dead set on not wanting a wife or a family in future.’ I toy with the stem of my glass. ‘And I have to admit, he said that the very first night we were together. And I thought I could change his mind, and obviously I was wrong. More fool me.’

‘When someone shows you who they really are, believe them,’ Cassie says, and we all stare again.

‘Okay. Who are you, and what have you done with our Cass?’ Lauren asks.

Cassie shrugs. ‘I dunno, we’ve just been having a lot of, like, existential chats at uni recently.’

‘Is there pot involved in those chats?’ Rebekah asks.

‘Yep. A lot of pot.’

‘Maybe I need to go along to one of your chats,’ I deadpan, and the others laugh.

‘Cassie’s right,’ I continue. ‘He told me outright, and I thought I knew better. Thought I could turn his head with my feminine wiles, and I couldn’t.’

‘Maybe you’re just not as good at blowjobs as you thought you were,’ Shelby says, giving me a wink.

I smirk at her. ‘Believe me, there were no problems in that department.’

Tess grimaces. ‘Moving on. We know he’s a good guy. He’s clearly got issues that he’s chosen not to enlighten you on, Elodie. And as Cass wisely puts it, your best bet for your own sake is to respect what he’s told you and move on.’

I shrug sadly. ‘That’s about the gist of it.’

‘Will you keep doing this job?’ Rebekah asks.

‘Yeah,’ Lauren adds, ‘because none of us would blame you if you ran for the hills. But we want you to stay.’

I hesitate. ‘I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

Everything’s up in the air at the moment, but my teaching job ends next month—it was just maternity cover.

’ I shrug. ‘So I’ll probably look at going back to London.

And who am I kidding? There’s no way I can see Charlie every weekend.

Interact with him. It’ll kill me. A clean break is best, I think. ’

‘Ugh,’ Shelby groans. ‘Fucking men. Why do they have to fuck everything up? That’s miserable, babes. We’ll miss you so much.’

‘He paid for Olive’s school fees for the whole of next year,’ I say. ‘It’s a lot of money. Like, a lot. He told me it was so I’d have options. So I wouldn’t have to keep helping my sister out financially, and so I could afford to give this gig up if I wanted to.’

They’re all silent for a moment. Then Tess says quietly, ‘That was a thoroughly decent thing to do. I knew Charlie was one of the good ones, even if he’s a little misguided at the moment.’

‘Yeah,’ Shelby says. ‘It’s much easier to hate them when they’re a dick.’

Rebekah raises her glass. ‘Cheers to that. You’re still coming to Six , though, right?’

I freeze in horror. ‘Oh my God. I totally forgot about that. Shit. There’s no way I can come. I gave my tickets to Grace and Olive—I was going to take Charlie’s second ticket.’ Obviously, going along as Charlie’s date is not the remotest option.

Tess puts a hand on my arm. ‘How about this? You take my ticket and sit with these ladies. I’ll go with Charlie. We all know he’ll grumble the whole way through it, anyway.’