Broken Truth Read Free Page B

Street, she was always running at a hundred miles per hour with no room for falling behind. Over running with one client meant that she was late for the next, which was certainly not acceptable in her line of work.
    With clientele spending more money than her annual salary within the hour, Charlie had to make sure that she consistently dealt with the diva strops and high demands. Of course, with this happening almost every day, she was now a seasoned pro at the sport.
    “If I wasn’t so concerned about these bloody speed cameras everywhere then we would probably be there by now,” Callum replied as he pushed his foot down on the accelerator slightly to merge them smoothly onto the motorway. Swerving straight into the fast lane, he turned his head quickly with a boyish smile. “We have three miles to our junction. Shall we see what this baby can do, eh?”
    Slamming his foot onto the pedal, Charlie felt the sudden queasiness in her stomach as the car surged forward at a crazed speed. Having not eaten anything this morning, she lifted her head to the sky in a silent prayer. On days like this she was proud of her laziness. Had she listened to her mother’s usual ranting and made time for breakfast, the interior of Callum’s new car would be spectacularly covered in vomit right now.
    “Wow!” Callum’s excited voice filtered through the small space in her subconscious.
    Snapping herself back into the moment, she registered the speed of the car increasing. Gripping the door handle for dear life, she tried to look anywhere but out of the window at the trees and buildings whizzing past at great speed. She had hoped that they would hit some traffic on the motorway, but it just appeared that cars were moving over into the slower lanes before they approached.
    “Just one mile till we get off, Baby. Shall we go faster?” he asked as his foot pushed the accelerator pedal to the floor.
    Charlie swallowed down the rising bile in her throat. She was totally going to get the little fucker back for this.
     

     
     “Charlie!” both Amelia and Lucy squealed over the lunchtime chatter in the small restaurant.
    She waved happily as she noticed them seated in their usual booth tucked away at the back. As she started to move towards them, Charlie felt the press of Callum’s hand on the small of her back. His gesture was commanding and it halted her in place. “I thought Jack and Ollie were supposed to be here?” he said dipping his head low so that he could whisper softly into her ear.
    Flicking a glance across the room at the table, she realised Callum was right and that the girls were on their own. “I can’t believe that I didn’t even notice the boys weren’t here,” she replied. “I’ll have to ask them why they aren’t here. Did you still want to have lunch with us?”
    “Of course I will. I still love spending time with the girls as well,” he smiled, taking her hand in his.
    Weaving her way through the crowded tables with Callum in tow, Charlie smiled brightly as she focused on her two best friends. It had only been a few days since they had last seen each other, but it may as well have been years. For Charlie, her friends were like lifelines during the week while Callum was away. With nights in and nights out filling her social calendar, they always made sure to keep her busy rather than wallowing away in the apartment by herself.
    Releasing his hand, Charlie squeezed herself in at one end of the rounded booth and placed her handbag on the table so that she could hug them both.
    “Girl, you are looking beautiful as always,” Lucy said, admiring her outfit from head to toe. Snapping her gaze to the centre of the table, her jaw opened slightly. “And that bag? Damn! How the heck did you manage to get your hands on that?”
    Picking up the bag by its handles, Charlie twirled it around in the air. “Oh, this old thing?” she started to tease. She knew that it would be one of the first things both girls would