Starr Fated Read online

  I just raised my eyebrows, and gave my brother a cool smile.

  Jamie sighed.

  “Okay, I get it, Liam. You’re happy to spend a small fortune on buying yourself a brand new Aston Martin Vanquish, but you’re too stingy to help out a decent, hardworking young woman, who’s been dealt a pretty shit hand in life. So she’ll have to put up with a freezing room this winter, as well as cold showers in that crappy little shower room.”

  “That’s about the size of it, yes,” I agreed. “You made this arrangement, so as far as I’m concerned, you are now her landlord. I’m handing over all responsibility to you, because I certainly don’t have any kind of a contract with her.”

  “When did you get to be such a cold hearted bastard, Liam?”

  “When I had to start living in the real world, Jamie.”

  Chapter 5

  Seraphina

  “No Jamie this morning?” I asked Toby. He’d come and sat with me at the kitchen table as I was drinking my mid-morning cup of tea while taking a break from my studies. Sundays were always a good day for me to get on with my course work. That was why I liked working in the restaurant in the evenings at the weekend, because it left me free during the day. Jamie had asked how I could possibly fit in any kind of a social life working those kind of hours when I kept side stepping his offers for us to go out somewhere together.

  The truth was I didn't really have any kind of a social life, but that was okay. I didn't see the point of spending money I didn't really have to go out and get totally inebriated, and then have to worry about embarrassing pictures appearing on Facebook or being tweeted to the world.

  “He’s gone to have lunch with The Big Guy – his brother. He usually does on a Sunday whenever Liam’s not away on business,” Toby explained.

  “Why do you call him The Big Guy? Is he massively obese or something?” I asked curiously.

  “Hardly,” Toby laughed. “Liam’s the super fit athletic type who gets up at the crack of dawn every day to go for a swim and a workout. And he’s even taller than Jamie.”

  I grimaced as I pictured him. I was far more comfortable mixing with the less overtly macho type of guys I rubbed shoulders with on my arts course. Men who are in touch with their feminine side. I was really not into these big ripped guys.

  “But it’s not just that,” Toby continued. “He has this presence, this manner about him, that makes everyone sit up and take notice when he walks into a room. He’s one of those hedge fund financial geniuses – self-made millionaire and all that. I imagine if you worked for him, he’d say ‘jump’ and without hesitation, you’d automatically say ‘how high, sir.’”

  “Ugh, he sounds pretty domineering and unpleasant. Is he married? Does he have a wife who has to put up with him?” I shuddered.

  “Hardly,” Toby laughed. “You could say he’s not the marrying type.”

  “Is he gay then?” I asked innocently, which made Toby roar with laughter.

  “Absolutely not. Jamie says his big brother doesn’t believe in all that romance and relationship crap. He goes in for friends with benefits, that’s more his kind of thing. You know what I’m talking about here?” Toby asked, clearly trying to be tactful.

  “You mean he has fuck buddies,” I said.

  “I was trying to be polite, but yes. Apparently he likes to spend his weekends having lots of kinky sex with big busty blondes. According to Jamie, anyway,” Toby grinned.

  “Well, I must say, this Big Guy man-whore sounds an absolute charmer,” I said sarcastically. He didn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities as far as I could tell, apart from being very well off.

  “In his defence, he’s good to Jamie, and they’re very close, despite the fact that Liam is about ten years older. Maybe that’s because they don't have any other family, just each other. But he is undoubtedly a control freak. Liam likes to keep a tight reign over everything.”

  “You said he interviewed you before he’d agree to you moving in?”

  Toby nodded.

  “So, is he going to want to see me? Could he decide I'm not suitable and throw me out?”

  I’d been in the house several weeks now, and I felt really settled. It was all working out so well. I got on fine with the guys, I could walk to uni, and my job. I could shut myself away at the top of the house to get on with my studies. This was by far the best place I’d lived in since I’d been at uni, and I really didn't relish the thought of having to leave.

  “I don't think it’ll come to that,” Toby reassured me. “Although I do think Liam will be surprised that Jamie has actually used his own initiative and done something without seeking his approval first. About bloody time he stood up to him, actually. He’s not a two year old, for crying out loud.”

  “I hope you’re right. I can't imagine finding anywhere else to live half as nice as here, and anyway, I don't have the time to go searching for new digs. Perhaps he’d be okay about me if I told him that it’s probably only for a few months anyway, because I've applied for the exchange program next year.”

  “Oh, have you? How definite is that then?” Toby enquired.

  “I've been told I stand a good chance of being placed on the short list, but that it would help me greatly if I could get some sort of short internship or placement here in a creative design or marketing team first, any decent company would do, to have some actual work place experience to enhance my application,” I explained. “I’ve already applied to loads of companies, but there are literally hundreds of applicants for every place. It’s really hard to get any kind of placement, especially with the recession. You have to be prepared to work for nothing; some companies even expect you to pay them for the privilege, which just wouldn’t be possible for me.”

  “Maybe Jamie could speak to his brother about getting you a placement in his company, Starr Capital Ventures?” Toby suggested. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know that matters in the business world.”

  “Thanks, but I really don't think that would be the kind of place I’d like to work by the sounds of things. I can't somehow see me fitting into that kind of corporate world.”

  “You said any decent company would do, and if it’s only for a month or so, would it be so bad? SCV would be a really good name to have. Shame my old man’s a doctor; it means he’s not much use for that kind of thing.”

  “That’s really sweet of you, Toby, but I’m sure I’ll get something eventually, don't you worry,” I lied. Truthfully, I was getting worried because I knew time was running out to get something sorted, and mine was just one among many hundreds if not thousands of applications. But getting Jamie to ask a favour from his brother just felt all wrong, especially as he sounded so awful. “Anyway, tell me, does Adam ever spend any time here in this house? Have I scared him off or something?”

  Toby smiled.

  “He spends very little time here of late, but that’s nothing to do with you. More to do with the charms of Chloe, his girlfriend, although I don't know what he sees in her to be honest, because she’s such a stuck up cow. She keeps him on a very short leash anyhow.”

  “Right, I see.”

  I had met Adam several times now, and he seemed nice enough. He was another tall guy, this time one with jet black curly hair, very dark eyes and olive skin. I think I heard him say that his mother was Spanish, which explained his dark good looks. But when I met Chloe, she threw me a really filthy look after Adam made a joke about spending more time at the house if I was going to be there. There was definitely no love lost between us, and clearly we were never going to be BFF’s.

  That’s why I preferred sharing with guys – at least they were usually pretty upfront, with no snide remarks or bitching going on all the time. All you had to remember with blokes was not to give them the slightest encouragement whatsoever about their chances of getting you into bed, so there was not the remotest chance of any kind of a misunderstanding. I often found myself smiling as I studiously ignored Jamie’s none too subtle efforts to
try and impress me. He kept wandering around the house half naked in his very low slung track bottoms or pyjamas - he was obviously proud of his body. I continued to keep him at arm’s length, although I had to admit he was persistent. I don’t think he was used to getting knocked back, so maybe I was denting that pride of his by not being overcome by his manly good looks, and managing to resist the temptation to throw myself at his impressive body.

  “So…um…you and Jamie? Are you two…?” Toby tried to ask casually, as he took a swig of his coffee.

  “What? Are we what? Dating, is that what you mean?” I queried. “What’s Jamie been saying?”

  “Nothing, really. I just wondered that’s all, because I think he’s pretty keen on you. Jamie has a reputation for being the number one ladies man, so I just wondered…”

  “Let me guess - you just wondered if I’d succumbed to the charms of God’s gift to women yet, is that it?” I asked wryly.

  “Something like that, yes,” Toby admitted.

  “We’re just friends, that’s all. Nothing more,” I told him firmly.

  “Don't you fancy him? Girls usually fall over backwards to get it on with him, but seems it’s the other way around this time. I’ve not seen him like this before, really keen on a girl and getting nowhere,” Toby grinned, seeming rather pleased by Jamie’s lack of success, suggesting there was possibly some kind of rivalry between the two of them.

  “Perhaps I'm just not like all the other girls who are queuing up and begging for his favours,” I suggested rather tartly.

  Toby’s head shot up when I said that.

  “No, I guess you're not. So, umm… when you say you’re not like the other girls…can I just ask, your friend that helped you move in, the one with the bright red hair?”

  “Abbey, you mean?” She’d helped me bring my things over in her car when I’d moved here from her place.

  “Yeah. Can I just ask if she’s a very close friend of yours? I mean, I know you lived with her before you came here. And I couldn’t help noticing she had a LGBT sticker on her car…” he looked at me expectantly, as he waited for the penny to drop.

  Ah, of course. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender sticker. I realised he wanted to know if I was gay, which if I was would explain why I was so resistant to Jamie’s charms. What to say? Should I let him think I was gay, which wasn't true…or at least I didn't think it was true… was it? I had sometimes wondered if maybe I was, because that might explain why I’d never felt comfortable in letting guys go further than kissing me. I’d been kissed by plenty of guys, but I always froze up as soon as they tried to take things further, when they started touching me, or trying to undo my clothes. Being gay might help to explain why I was still a virgin at the grand old age of twenty one. Or maybe it was just that I’d never met anyone who really interested me enough in that way. But for now I decided it was probably best not to open up to Toby, whom I’d only known a short time. No, it was best to keep these private thoughts of mine just that - private.

  “Abbey’s just a good friend, Toby, nothing more.”

  “So I take it she is a lesbian? But you're saying you two weren’t a couple?”

  “No, we weren’t. And for the record, I think Abbey would describe herself more as bisexual.”

  “Ah, she’s greedy – she likes it both ways,” he smirked. “I bet she’d be great in a threesome.”

  “Toby! Honestly, you blokes are all the same – you have a one track mind,” I scolded him, not wanting to admit that he was actually right from some of the stories Abbey had told me about her wilder exploits. I often felt like a drab, boring little mouse in comparison when I listened to her tales about exciting adventures with all sorts of exotic characters, both male and female.

  “Sorry, I forgot I wasn't talking to the guys for a minute there, which is a compliment really, if you think about it.”

  “Hmm, if you say so. Anyway, tea break over. I’d best get back to my studies.”

  With that, I headed back to my room, to shut myself away and concentrate on getting on with my latest project. Hopefully I had set Toby right about the state of play between Jamie and myself.

  Chapter 6

  Jamie

  I lay in bed looking up at the ceiling, knowing that directly above me was Sera’s room. I liked her. Really liked her, so much in fact that I thought I might actually want her to be my proper girlfriend, rather than just a girl I sometimes hung around with and fucked. So this total lack of progress with her was really getting to me.

  Liam still maintained that I just wanted what I couldn’t have, and that once I’d finally managed to get her into bed the novelty would soon wear off. But as he didn't believe in close relationships anyway, I didn't take too much notice of his biased opinion, especially as he had never even met Sera, or shown the slightest interest in knowing anything about her.

  Toby was also highly amused by my lack of progress, and I knew he was watching very closely to see if anything developed between Sera and me, no doubt waiting for his chance to step in should the opportunity arise. Like I was going to let that happen. I saw her first.

  I wondered what she was doing up there – she shut herself away for hours, endlessly studying. Of course I had to study too, but not the way she did, I guess because she had so much course work. My economics degree was largely exam based with only minimal course work. So as long as I crammed for the exams, I usually got by with only minimal effort the rest of the time.

  But even when Sera wasn’t studying, she was out working at the restaurant until all hours, even at the weekends. She didn't seem to have any kind of a social life, because she claimed she didn't have time, but it wasn’t normal for a student. It’s part of the whole experience to get wasted from time to time, and do all sorts of stupid things that you’ll eventually look back on and laugh about.

  So I’d decided to use the excuse of my birthday to have a house party. If Sera wouldn’t come out to have fun, the fun would have to come to her. She’d been living in the house for several months now, but always keeping herself at a distance. I’d thought maybe there would be an opportunity for us to get closer at Christmas time, but Sera had been working at the restaurant right up to the last minute, and then she’d disappeared off with Abbey to her family home for the holiday period. Now by whatever means it took, I was going to get her to join in with us. I was pretty sure that if she would only let herself chill out with a few glasses of wine, she’d maybe become a bit more receptive to my efforts to get closer to her. She seemed to be such an independent loner, I guess because she’d had to support herself as she had no family around to help her out.

  I’d found out a little more about her background when I went to her room to see about fixing her radiator. She was listening to what turned out to be Take That as she worked at her desk, surrounded by large sheets of illustrations and pictures all over the floor.

  “What the hell is that rubbish you’re listening to?” I asked. Soppy boy bands from way back? What was that all about? I’d have expected her to have much better taste.

  “Mind where you tread, I don’t want any of my coursework ruined, thank you very much Mr. Big Feet. And don't you dare dis Take That. They were my mum’s favourites,” she told me.

  “Really? I don't know much about them to be honest.” I thought I vaguely remembered some of the au pairs we’d had when I was younger listening to their music.

  “I grew up listening to all their tracks, because Mum thought Gary Barlow was a total hunk. I couldn’t bear to listen to them for ages after she died, so it’s only recently I’ve started playing them again. My best friend back then was Emma, and we used to know all the words, with all the dance routines.”

  “I’d have thought you’d have been more into the Spice Girls. I seem to remember all the girls were obsessed with them in the nineties. Girl power, and all that.” I raised my arm in a mock salute.

  “Oh, we were into them as well, trust me,” Sera laughed. “We used to clutch
our hairbrushes as we sang and danced together in front of the mirror in my bedroom, like everyone did.”

  “Let me guess; with your dark hair, you’d have been Posh Spice,” I suggested.

  “Yep, I certainly was. I spent ages trying to straighten my hair to look like hers, as well as perfecting my moody stare and sexy pout.” She gave me a quick demonstration of her best Victoria expression. “And Emma was blonde and had the same name, so naturally she was Baby Spice.”

  “Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Do you still see her? Emma, I mean?” I leaned against the door frame as I watched her, intrigued by this rare insight into her character.

  “No, we lost touch when she moved away, but at the time we were inseparable – we lived in the same road, went to the same school. You think you’ll be friends forever, but circumstances change and people move on, don't they?”

  “I guess so. It must have been very hard for you all on your own. Don't you have any family at all?” My parents were also both dead, but at least I’ve always had my brother looking out for me, even if he is irritatingly overprotective at times.

  A wistful look passed over Sera’s face as she put down her work to answer me. She didn't invite me in to sit with her, so I just remained where I was in the doorway. Sera always seemed to put up barrier that made it hard to get close to her. And after her warning, I didn't dare risk messing up any of her precious work that all over the floor.

  “I have my Gran, my Aunt and my cousin over in Ireland, and they wanted me to go and live over there with them. But although it’s really beautiful where they live, it’s a quiet little place with very few jobs and limited opportunities. So I’d have really struggled to make any kind of a decent living for myself, and I wouldn’t have wanted to just sponge off them. And all Mum ever dreamed about was me getting into Central Saint Martin’s to study for some sort of art degree, I think to compensate for the fact that she never made it because she got pregnant with me. So when I got my place there, I decided to take it up and muddle through on my own as best I could, as a kind of a tribute to Mum, because she worked so hard to bring me up single handed.”