Spiralling Skywards: Fading (Contradictions, #2)(29)

I debated lying to her for a split second, remembered where that got me in the past, and told her the truth.

“I got drunk.”

She pulled back, her brows pulled together in a tight frown, and her eyes darted all over my face.

“What?”

I didn’t think I’d ever felt more ashamed in my life as I continued to explain. “I negotiated a deal with Caledonia, the Scottish drilling company. We won the contract, and the CEO wanted to celebrate.”

She stared at me wide eyed, but at least she wasn’t crying. I kind of wished the tears were still there instead of the hurt that replaced them.

“We had wine with our lunch, so I was just drinking water when we went to the hotel bar. I needed a clear head to do business and to drive the car home from Gatwick.” I attempted to justify . . . explain . . . whatever, but I didn’t miss the soft huff of breath she let out. It said the, “Yeah right,” she never voiced. “I had every intention of coming home, Sarah. That was why I didn’t take my charger. I’d never intentionally be unreachable like that.”

She looked like she was about to cry again, and I was unsure of what to say. I was sick of hearing myself say sorry, so I was sure she must be, too.

“Andrew Hamilton, the CEO, ordered some top-shelf whiskey. I was just gonna have the one, but we sat in these big comfy armchairs around an open fire in the hotel, and next thing I knew, I was waking up, face down, just missing a puddle of my own puke in a hotel room.”

She moved further back and sank down into her pillows.

“How did you get there?”

“I’ve no fucking clue.”

“Did you . . . Were you wearing . . . Were you alone?”

Seriously? That was what she thought I was up to?

I grabbed on to her hand and held it in place as she tried to pull away.

“Sarah, I don’t know whether to be insulted or amused. I was fully clothed. I was alone. Yes, I got drunk. Yes, I fucked up, but that doesn’t change the fact that I love you. That all of this—all of the long hours and the travelling, it’s all for you and the baby.”

She stared down at where I was holding her hand, refusing to look at me.

“It won’t always be like this, bub. I promise you. Things have just expanded rapidly, and we need to take on more staff. I’m gonna get that sorted, and I promise, no more travelling while you’re pregnant.”

She chewed on the inside of her bottom lip, and I knew by the look on her face that she didn’t believe me. But before I could respond, we both turned our heads towards the door to her room as it slowly opened. Mai’s pale and worried face appeared and Archie was right behind her. If looks could kill, the crash team would’ve needed to be paged right then to try to resuscitate me, coz he was giving me the death glare.

“Sarah,” Mai said in a hushed voice.

“We got here as soon as we could. Sooner than we should have really, thanks to ya grandfather here thinking he was Sterling Moss on the motorway.”

“Who’s Sterling Moss?” Sarah asked.

“That your Jag out there being loaded onto a tow truck?” Archie asked, the hint of a satisfied smile on his lips.

“Shit, my laptop’s in there.” I leant forward and kissed Sarah on the forehead. “No pole dancing while I’m gone.” She rolled her eyes and gave me a small smile.

“Mai, Archie, I’ll be right back.”

“That’s good of ya.” I heard Archie mumble from behind me as I headed out the door. I obviously wasn’t his favourite person.

After a fair bit of begging and the telling of my sob story, as well as a twenty-pound “drink” for the driver, I got my car unloaded and parked it in the car park. On my way back to Sarah, I called Mel, thoroughly pissed off that she hadn’t told me about Sarah’s call this morning.

“Hey, boss. You back in town yet?”

“Why didn’t you tell me Sarah called this morning?”

“Ah, yeah. I forgot about that. Yeah, Sarah called this morning.”

“You told me you didn’t have her number when I emailed you earlier.”

“I don’t.”

“Would it not still be showing on your call log?”

“Yeah, I suppose. I didn’t actually think of that.” She paused for a moment as I paced outside the entrance to the building. It didn’t matter if she’d passed the number on to me or not. The issue was that I wasn’t here when I should’ve been. “Is everything okay, Liam?”

“No, it’s not. Sarah’s in the hospital. My phone was dead, I don’t know her number off the top of my head, you passing it on to me this morning could’ve saved a lot of stress for both of us.”

“You’re seriously blaming me because you don’t have your wife’s number memorised?”

I took in a deep breath through my nose and wiggled my bottom jaw to loosen some of the tension. When I saw Archie appear through the doors, obviously looking for me, I stopped pacing and tried to calm down.

“No, Mel. I’m just asking that if my wife calls again, please make sure all messages are passed on to me.”

I hung up without giving her a chance to reply. Blaming someone else for my fuck-up didn’t make me feel in the least bit better, and I just knew I was gonna have to cop it sweet from Archie.