Hillhead

Chloe

Tasha takes a step closer to me. I take a step back which results in me banging my hip on the sink. It smarts but I try not to react. I have enough to deal with right now

"I know it must be hard for you to see Michael with someone else," she says. Her face is suddenly the picture of innocence.

"It's a bit weird, yeah, but I'm okay with it," I reply carefully. "We broke up a while ago. I'm glad he's moved on." I'd rather he'd moved on with someone other than her, but we'll try and keep schtum on that eh?

"Oh good, I'm so glad you're coping," she says gently, as if speaking to a scared kitten. I suppose, metaphorically, I am. "I remember Liam mentioning in the past that you struggle to cope with awkward situations." She giggles and it seems at odds with everything about her spiky personality. "He used to tell me a lot of things about you, actually. I always got the impression he didn't like you very much.  He also said he ruined your favourite film - he seemed quite proud of that, weirdly."

My heart is slamming in my chest again. I know she's full of shit but she's not pulled this stuff out of nowhere... he has to have spoken about me to her at one point for her to know this surely?

"I thought this was about Michael," I manage to say. "Why are you bringing Liam into the equation?"

She smiles again. Completely void of any warmth. "You might think Liam likes you but he doesn't, not really. He's been obsessed with me for years. It's actually quite pathetic. Anything he might do with you . . . Well he's only doing it to make me jealous."

And, despite what Becky's told me - hell, even despite what Liam himself has told me, I start to doubt myself. It really was all too good to be true, wasn't it?

Okay, so he didn't know Tasha was going to turn up today. But that doesn't mean he doesn't still harbour feelings for her. That he's not going to run right back to her like an eager little puppy if she throws him the tiniest bone.

I don't particularly like having these doubts but it just seems typical of my life that the first guy I'd fancied in a long time would just be using me to get to another girl. I can't help the way my mind works sometimes. It's a curse.

"And you?" I force myself to challenge her. "You're clearly just using Michael to make Liam jealous. Don't you think that's a bit pathetic?"

A flash of anger flickers in her eyes. It seems Tasha is used to getting her own way. I don't think she expected me to bite back. I'm surprised at myself to be honest. But I'm not just angry on my own behalf. I'm angry for Liam too. And Michael. Who is a mere indispensable pawn in her little game, apparently. He deserves better than that.

"I don't need to make Liam jealous," she recovers herself, laughing coldly. "He already wants me. I'm not sure what part of that you're not getting."

"Except he doesn't want you."

We both look around in surprise at the third voice but there's no one else there. Seconds later I hear a toilet flush and the door to one of the cubicles opens.

It's that girl from earlier.

Sandy. The one who kept talking to Liam and winding me up.

I didn't notice she was even in this pub. I hadn't even realised there'd been anyone else in the loos. She saunters over to the sink next to me, shooting me the ghost of a wink, and turns the tap on.

"Who the fuck are you?" Tasha snaps.

"I'm Sandy." She wipes her hands with a paper towel and turns around, leaning against the sink with her arms crossed. "And I don't know who the fuck you are - and I don't care - but I'm here to tell you that you've got it all wrong."

"You know nothing about this situation so just piss off," Tasha hisses, her face reddening. She looks a bit nervous though. Sandy is a force to be reckoned with.

"Oh yeah?" She laughs now. "It's funny you should say that as I actually know for a fact that Liam is majorly into Chloe."

"You're delusional," Tasha states.

"Nope, that would be you, love." Sandy shakes her head. "I spoke to Liam for a good while earlier and I know all about their history. How he's fancied her for years but she was with that other guy - Michael, I'm assuming - and today he finally felt like he might have a chance with her."

Liam's fancied me for years?

"Funnily enough, there was no mention of you, whoever you are," Sandy continues, scorn in her voice. "But Chloe was mentioned a lot. Oh, and he feels terrible about ruining her favourite film, not proud, so you're full of shit."

I suddenly can't stop smiling. I can't believe that the whole time Liam was talking to Sandy he was discussing me. Even the Ferris Bueller incident.

Tasha is incandescent with rage by now.  "You don't know anything!" She spits. "Liam only wants me."

Sandy smirks, digs around in the back pocket of her jeans and pulls out her phone. "I messaged Liam about half an hour ago to ask how he was getting on with Chloe." She glances at me slightly apologetically as she flicks through to her texts. "I mean, I had an ulterior motive as I kind of fancied him too. But this was his reply."

She clears her throat, puts on a gruff Irish accent. I'm starting to really quite like Sandy.  "'Things are going well with Chloe, thanks. Turns out she does like me back, we're going to spend a bit more time together and see how it goes.'"

She puts her phone away. "Well, that was me put in my place," she adds ruefully in her own voice before she raises her eyebrows at Tasha. "But I think it proves that Liam isn't just using Chloe to make you jealous. So maybe you should just fuck back off to whatever drain you crawled out of."

I think at that point Tasha realises she's done. She can't even look at me anymore, and I suddenly can't stop giggling. I can't be certain  but I think it was Sandy's terrible attempt at pretending to be Liam that set me off. Tasha mutters "Bitch!" in Sandy's direction before storming out of the bathroom.

I'm left in the loos with Sandy. "Um . . . Thanks for that," I say uncertainly. She's turned back to the mirror and is checking her dark eye make-up, which is ever-so-slightly smudged, but she can pull it off. This feels weird. I wasn't expecting her to be an ally.

"If there's one thing I hate, it's a bully," she replies. "That girl needed put in her place. Don't get me wrong, you were holding your own. But I figured a bit of back-up might be in order."

I have to ask. "Did Liam . . . um . . . Was he really talking to you about me all that time?" I ask uncertainly.

Sandy looks me up and down before she nods. "Yep. I got the whole history of your interactions over the years. It was really quite annoying . . . But very sweet." She smiles. "He really fucking likes you. I'm very jealous."

"Sorry," I say awkwardly.

"Hey, the heart wants what it wants," she shrugs, holding the door open for me. "No hard feelings.

"But just remember," she adds, grinning at me good-naturedly. "If you get sick of him, I have first dibs."

It's official. Sandy is my hero.

Who wants to join the Sandy fan club with me???

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