Love Drunk: Chapter Five

Things have taken a rather sad and nasty turn for Lainie and Dexter! Having seen what he thought was a passionate kiss between Lainie and Rob, Dex now feels hurt, betrayed and extremely jealous! Lainie is still recovering from the inappropriate actions of a silly man unaware that Dex has got the wrong end of the stick. What will the consequences of his green eyed rage be? And what is to become of Ashton's little moment with someone he initially considered a groupie of the band?

 "It's..." Charlotte looked around the room that Drew had rented and was overwhelmed by the machines and gadgets scattered everywhere.

"I know, it's kinda...sci-fi!" Drew let out a nervous, soft laugh. "You're the first person to step foot in here, well, apart from me that is!"

 "Shall we groom my kitties now?" was all Charlotte could answer back. She was touched that he'd chosen her as his first guest.

"Sure. That's why we're here after all!" Drew shrugged and headed towards the pet hygienator.

 "Well I...don't know how to tell you this Andrew but..." just as Charlotte began to explain...

 ...Mrs Ubercutes showed her dislike for Drew's machine as Mr Fuzzickles gave them a disgusted look!

 If there was one thing Charlotte had learned about cats growing up in her mother's sanctuary it was this...they are not to be messed with! They know their own mind and you can't change it! However despite their apparent hatred for Drew's gift to their mummy, they still stood patiently awaiting their fate.

 Mrs Ubercutes, being the oldest and the female, staged a protest in front of the door. "Yeah, she's just showin' me who's boss isn't she?" Drew rolled his eyes and smiled.

 And when she disappeared out the door and off to the land of freedom (most likely the elevator) Drew took this rather personally and told Charlotte this, "Char! She's gone! Man this is a disaster! Your cat hates me!" he pouted as Charlotte remained her usual calm and unperturbed self...

 ...slowly tip-toeing towards poor Mr Fuzzickles as the look of utter terror hit him in his furry little face. "It's okay Andrew!" Charlotte replied, almost in a whisper, "We still have another cat!"

As Lainie was heading upstairs to talk to the boys, she spotted Dexter leaving the building dressed smartly and walking with purpose. "Hey Dexy!" Lainie called to him as he was about to descend the steps.

"It's Dexter!" he said rather coldly and looked down at the ground, completely avoiding her gaze.

 "Oh...um...sorry...uh will I see you later? We're meeting up in the diner at about 3pm to finish off any little bits that got missed and then there's a delivery at 4pm..." Dex cut in with a rather sharp tone, 

"I...can't I've got somewhere I gotta be so..." still looking at the ground with his hands in his pockets, he heard the hurt in Lainie's voice and got a slight satisfaction out of it, knowing that her little freckly face would be sad, and at that moment in time he didn't care! She was just a tease, kissing him and then Rob on the same day, playing with his feelings like that! Yeah let her know how it feels to have someone stab you in the heart with their actions!

 "Oh yeah, the gallery!" she remembered Dex saying he was meeting up with the gallery owner today.

"Yeah, the gallery!" he repeated, still so cold.

"Well...I suppose I'll see you later then?" her tiny voice managed to reply, unable to hide how much his attitude had wounded her.

 "Sure, see ya around!" he couldn't get down those stairs quick enough as Lainie stood...

  ...determined not to cry, at the top wondering why he was behaving like that.

 "Good luck!" she called to him as he disappeared round the corner...

 ...and then the tears came! 

 Charlotte comforted poor Mr Fuzzickes after the hair drying device failed. Drew was extremely embarrassed, his inventions never failed! And of course this had to happen when the cat was in the machine!!!

 "I'm so sorry Char, that's never happened before I..."

"Can you fix it?" Charlotte was still so calm and unfazed.

"Y-yeah I think I can!" Drew stammered, surprised at how well she was taking it with a sodden feline under her arm!

 Drew was determined to repair the hygienator and prove to Charlotte that it did work and that he wasn't a total idiot...

 ...when he battered his thumb with his hammer and yelped out in pain!!! Why was this happening? Someone up there wanted to make him look like a fool in front of Charlotte and it wasn't fair!!!

 Roxy hadn't seen Lainie since she headed for the boys' flat. As she snuck into her room to borrow some perfume she jumped when she saw Lainie was still there! "Lain? I thought you were going to see Dex and Ash and..." she stopped in mid sentence when she spotted the tears running down her friend's face...

 "Oh Lainie! What's the matter sweetie?"

"Dexter!" She wept and tried to hide her puffy face.

 "Oh my gosh, what? What happened???" Roxy couldn't understand how Dexter could upset her like that, especially after she found out he was crazy about her! How could he intentionally make her cry???

 "He...he was...he was so nasty to me Rox!" Lainie sobbed softly and sniffed, her nose stuffed up with all the crying.

"How???" Roxy still couldn't believe that Dex was responsible for this.

"I asked him if he'd be around later and he was just so...cruel and...cold towards me! Oh Rox, it hurt!"

 "Maybe he was in a bad mood and..."

"No, he was definitely being cold for a reason! We were getting along so well, he'd done all that work on the diner! What's changed???"

"It's really not...I don't believe he's trying to hurt you he thinks the world of you! I mean..." Roxy had to stop herself, so wanting to shout out exactly what she knew about Dex and his true feelings, "...he's been a good friend to you since we moved in! He sees you as a real buddy, why else would he do that for you? I'm sure you've got the wrong end of the stick!"

 "No, you didn't see him! He wouldn't even look at me, his voice was just flat and emotionless! He hates me and I don't know what I've done to deserve it!" Lainie's shoulders began to shake as she sobbed into her hand and the tears dripped onto her jacket.

 "Oh Dexter..." Roxy sighed sadly.

 "...what the heck have you done???"

 As Drew was testing out the faulty part, muttering away to himself, Charlotte began to strike up a conversation. "So, you invent things?"

"Yup, I can turn any scrap of metal into something groovy!" he replied while concentrating on the task at hand.

"Why not a doctor or a surgeon or..."

"I like to invent! Besides, I tried the whole medical Doctor thing, the scientist thing...I have a degree in Physics and Chemistry Studies, Human Biology, a Masters in Geriatric Care, and a Phd in Science and Laboratory Testing. But inventing is my first love!" Charlotte gasped and mumbled back,

"How old are you???"

"34, 35 in August!"

  

 Charlotte was speechless! Just a grungy looking guitar player, but so many layers underneath!!! Her eyes widened with delight as she continued to poke into the life of Andrew Mitchell! "What's Geriatric Care? I mean, I know it's old people but...why that?"

"My grandfather raised me when my mother died and my dad disappeared, he was an alcoholic and he couldn't handle my mum's death, or raising a kid so...anyway my granddad got dementia and ever since then I wanted to help others as well as their families to deal with it. But...I never can stick to things!" he shrugged half heartedly and typed furiously into his machine.

 "So what made you become an inventor?" Charlotte's brown eyes were still as big as saucers, there was a lot about Andrew Mitchell she didn't know! He'd only just moved in with the Maloney brothers a few weeks before but she'd known him longer than that. He was always in and out of the flat next door to practice with the band.

"Well I guess it's always been a hobby of mine, collecting scrap and making things out of it. I was always turning up late for my shifts at the hospital and that's when the nurse in charge of the geriatric ward said I should be a mad scientist instead of a doctor...so I did! But then I got bored of that and the head scientist at the lab got fed up with me sleeping in there too...so now I work for myself...inventing!!!" Charlotte was impressed, he was only 34 and had two honour degrees, a masters and a Phd under his belt! And all this time she thought he was just a guitarist in a noisy band! She really should have listened to her mother when she told her not to judge a book by it's cover...

 "That should work now!"

"I can't believe you're so clever!" Charlotte squeaked, to herself mostly.

 "Gee thanks!" Drew replied with a laugh and a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Well I can see where I went wrong before, just have to program it to medium strength, don't want the little blighters to go bald with the pressure!"

 "Well we'd better get going, it's almost 3pm and we're supposed to be helping out at the diner!" Drew mumbled as he shut down his machine.

"Oh yeah!" Charlotte huffed, "I was having so much fun here as well!"

"We can come back and have more fun tomorrow!" Drew smiled, then blushed.

"Sounds good!" she smiled back and blushed also. "Because I enjoy spending time with y...our gadgets!"

 Dexter stood nervously in the gallery waiting for the owner. He was terrified the man would laugh at him! Just as he was thinking that, in walked an old man with a limp...

  "Hey there! You must be Dexter Maloney!" the old man greeted him cheerily, "I'm Hugh King, we spoke on the phone! So, what have you got kid?"

 Ash made his way down to the diner, it was almost 3:15pm and he couldn't find Drew anywhere! He knew Dex was at the gallery and said he might be along later, but where Drew was? It was a mystery! "Hi Ash!" a female voice called to him as he was about to race down the stairs...

 ...he was lost for words! His heart began to race and it pounded in his ears. He tried to speak but couldn't as her amber eyes burned into his and she tried to smile, but his silence made her feel uneasy! "You...just ran away last night so I..." she began but Ash still stood as still as a statue.

 For a moment they looked at each other, in awkward silence, until Ash turned heel and skipped quickly down the stairs...

 "Ash???" Erin called out to him, the desperation in her voice clear for all to hear...

 ...why couldn't he speak? Because if he did, he was afraid he end up kissing her again! She was so young! There was at least 15 years between them! And yet he couldn't get her out of his mind, he could still taste her lips, feel the warmth of her pressed against him. But still he kept on walking, around the corner and into the diner with a heavy heart!

 Erin's heart was just as heavy. Confused over his behaviour, HE kissed HER! Not the other way around...

 ...and although it was the best kiss she'd ever had, she now wished he'd never done it! Getting a taste of what you'll never have was worse than never having it at all!

 Lainie, Roxy, Ash and Rob waited in the diner for the others to arrive.

Lainie was down over Dexter's behaviour, but despite her own hurt, she noticed Ash was out of sorts too!

 "Hey Ash, what's up? You don't seem yourself!"

 Still feeling guilty for leaving Erin standing there with no explanations, Ash took a deep breath and reassured Lainie that everything was fine. "I'm just tired, and I'm worried about Drew, he's disappeared!"

 And just as the words left his lips, in came Charlotte followed by Drew himself!

 "Hey sis!" Rob called to Charlotte chirpily.

 "I'm so glad to see you! Everyone is so quiet in here, I think it has something to do with my inappropriate behaviour last night!" Rob frowned and shuffled his feet under the table.

 "Can we go back to your room and invent some more?" Charlotte groaned.

"Just smile and act like you're happy to be here Char! It'll all be over before you know it!" Drew muttered under a fake smile. He was secretly honoured that she wanted to spend more time alone with him rather than be here in the diner with the others! At least he was hoping that was why she wanted to go back to his room, but with Charlotte...anything was possible!

 "So what's in this delivery of yours?"

"Supplies, fresh meat and veg to start preparing for Monday!"

"Uh-huh, and what's eatin' you?" Ash's question caught Lainie by surprise,

"What do you mean?"

"Well you noticed something bugging me and I notice something is bugging you, so spill!"

 "It's your brother actually!" Lainie blinked, stopping any more tears falling for that no good Dexter Maloney!

"Oh...what's he done?"

"Well, he was really weird with me earlier, cruel even! And it hurt, it really hurt!"

 "He was probably nervous about meeting the big wig at the gallery!" Ash hated lying to Lainie, making excuses for his immature, jealous brother! As he tried to explain that this was a lifelong dream of Dexter's he was struggling to concentrate over the noise behind him...

 Roxy was checking her phone when she spotted something rather interesting in her inbox.

 Something sent to her by Drew78@hotmail.com!

 "What the...oh...my...gosh!!!"

Whatever is was that Drew had sent her, it made her smile!

 Ash continued to explain his brother's actions but nothing he said excused it in Lainie's eyes, and he understood why! "So you see this is a pretty big deal for him and if he doesn't get the guy to accept his work, then he'll just feel like a total failure ya know?"

"Ashton that's rubbish! I mean look at Rob over there for example! He kissed me last night without my consent and I had to tell him we were only ever going to just be friends, I hurt his feelings and he still manages to be civil around me! Sorry there's no excuse for how Dex behaved towards me!" Lainie looked at Ash in surprise as he began to laugh...

 "Hahaha! You're not seeing Rob?" he continued to laugh as he questioned her...

 "No! Why are you laughing at me Ashton?"

 Dexter had brought along one of his most recent paintings to show Mr King, it was one of his best ones too! "So as you can see, I have a variety of talented artists emblazoned on my walls here..." his deep gruff voice echoed around the room.

 "...but I do have one wall that is lacking, so..."

Mr King looked Dexter square in the eyes, "...do you think you can fill this entire stretch of wall here son? Because I must admit, I am impressed with this piece right here, friend of yours?" he winked and waited patiently for Dex to answer.

 "Well sir, no she's just...it was something in my head I guess. I have loads of other paintings where she came from! And believe me, quite a few of them were very happy to pose for me! I do a lot of still life too, landscapes...a little bit of everything! So yeah, yes sir! I can fill up this wall no problem!" Dex could feel his confidence grow and his pride swell as Mr King gazed at his painting once more and let out a little chuckle.

 "Well okay Mr Maloney! My wall is yours kid!" he gave Dex a broad smile and continued to chuckle.

"That's...oh that's great! Thank you, thank you sir you won't regret it!"

"Well..." Mr King paused and sighed gleefully, "...how does Monday sound? You bring in all your work Sunday night and we put them up ready for showing on Monday, all day!"

 Dexter felt the panic rise up from his toes to his head. Wasn't that the day Lainie's diner was opening? What did he care? After she ripped his beating heart out of his chest and held it up high for all to see, blood dripping in between her fingers and down her arm, an evil grin on her face! Well okay she didn't actually, physically do that...but it felt that way to him! He couldn't get the picture of her kissing Charlotte's brother out of his head. And yet in the back of his mind he knew he had to be there for her big day, support her and be a grown-up and...NO! She hurt him, she hurt him so much...

...and suddenly he began to answer, with perfect clarity he replied to Mr King "Yeah! Monday! That sounds fine by me!"

Oh dear, jealousy thy name is Dexter Maloney! What is he doing? He hasn't even told Lainie how he feels, and he expects her to understand? Well next chapter things just go from bad to worse and then bad again! Ash continues to hide his inner turmoil over his growing feelings for Erin, Dex fights with everyone, Lainie is panicking over the opening of the diner, and Charlotte finds herself getting involved once again...but will she make a difference this time? Chapter six soon! ;o)