"Why are we going again?" I question Sam in my most uninterested voice. My squatter had rocked up at my bedroom door armed with a white shirt that he threw at my head as he demanded that we get ready to go out. 

"Because she's your sister," Sam replied in a tone that suggested the answer was obvious. "And he's my brother. They've just got back and are freakishly excited to share all their honeymoon stories with us. Plus, it's the rugby. Who doesn't want to go to that?"

"Me?" I say with hope in my voice. When Sam laughs, I sigh heavily. "I think I preferred it when Sophie and Daniel were arguing because at least then they weren't so keen on socialising. As for the rugby, I'd rather poke needles in my eyes."

Despite my protestations, I sulked towards my ensuite bathroom where I promptly did a quick change that even Superman would be proud of. I threw my works dress onto the floor and pulled on a pair of indigo coloured skinny jeans and then examined the England rugby shirt Sam had given me. It was a new shirt so I guessed that he'd gone out today to buy it for me especially for tonight. The Six Nations Championships started today and England is playing France in about an hour or so. 

Still, I looked at the shirt with some trepidation. As far as I knew, Sophie and Daniel had invited my family along to their little shindig and that in itself would be a disaster. My mother being French, I knew that it would make more sense to wear the French shirt rather than the English but then again, if Dad was going to be there, too, then I should maybe wear the Irish shirt. Ireland, however, had lost their opening game to Scotland and that can't have gone down well with my father. 

Oh, the minefield. After a little hesitation, I pulled on the white shirt. It wasn't because I wanted to but rather that I came to the realisation that I didn't have any sports shirts of note apart from my hockey jersey from my school days. 

"You look good," Sam noted, barely looking up from the screen of his phone when I returned to the bedroom. Leaning over him, I spied that he was playing Linkee and was trying to guess what linked four answers to questions. He typed in his answer before closing the app and placing his phone in his jacket pocket. "Ready to go? Do you even know where Dirty French is? It sounds like a brothel. Seeing as it was Sophie's suggestion it really shouldn't be surprising that she chose somewhere questionable."

Dirty French, far from being a questionable brothel, is my family's latest acquisition. Coming from a family full of foodies, the Clément side of my family are restauranteurs and they now owned seven establishments across London, Dirty French now being one of them. It was a tiny, hole-in-the-wall kind of place but thanks to familial connections, it was the place to be seen currently. With limited space, the place would be full once all Sophie and Daniel's friends and family turned up. 

My sister and her new husband had recently returned from their honeymoon and had rung a few nights ago, inviting us all to join them at Dirty French. At first, I'd been reluctant to go because I knew that Isaac would be there but after a pep talk from Sam, I found myself applying a single layer of mascara as I readied myself to leave. 

"Who are you making an effort for?" Sam taunted me. 

"Hey, Sam?" I caught his attention as I met his eye in the reflection of the mirror. "When are you moving back into your own house?"

Frowning at me for bringing up this sensitive topic once again, he says, "I hate you."

Sam doesn't tell me much about his relationship with his former fiancée slash current girlfriend but I've learnt to pick up on some of the subtleties in his demeanour, the small changes in his posture or the inflexion in his voice just after he's come back from a date. He'll leave the flat full of excitement, yapping away about how he can't wait to see Jasmine, but then he'll return a few hours later looking dejected with his shoulders slumped and a shortness in his words. Monosyllabic would be too generous a term for Sam just after a date. 

It was horrible to say but I hoped that Sam would stop seeing Jasmine soon just so that he'll leave. I grew up with a brother and while Lucas could be annoying, Sam was worse. 

"Let's just go," Sam grumbled not long after I pulled a slick of red lipstick across my lips. As a parting shot just before we slipped out the door, I heard Sam mutter a threat aimed at me. "I hope you and Isaac get locked in a room together tonight."

For the walk to Dirty French, Sam and I spoke very little. Despite wearing a coat, it was still cold outside. I'd heard on the news that there was a storm coming this week and as the soft, cold rain started to come down against my hair, I decided that Doris had arrived. I yelped when a droplet hit my nose and instinctively turned into Sam's shoulder. Almost like I was totally forgiven for mentioning his living situation, Sam wrapped me under his arm and sheltered me from the rainfall that was beginning to come down harder on us. Thankfully, we rounded the corner and ran down the three steps that led into Dirty French. 

"You're here!" I heard Sophie's familiar voice call out as Sam and I entered. She ran to meet us but stopped short as she wrinkled her nose and frowned. "You're wearing white."

I looked down at the offending clothing and rolled my eyes. "And you're wearing blue, so what?" I asked. Staring Sophie down, I knew better than to give in to her. If I blinked, she'll start to think she won this argument. Instead, I smiled at her and inquired, "How was the honeymoon?"

As soon as the words fell from my lips, I regretted them. Sophie, looping her arm through mine, dragged me deeper into the restaurant and recounted everything that happened on her and Daniel's honeymoon. I didn't need to know some of the details- no one needs to know that both Sophie and Daniel have full body tans- but I liked hearing just how happy my sister is. She deserves to be delirious and bragging about how perfect her life is; for so long, it was touch and go whether or not my sister would ever have her happily ever after but all that changed as soon as Daniel came into the picture. It made me hopeful that it could happen to me one day. 

"What's new with you?" Sophie asked as she handed me a pint of Guinness. I eyed it up warily but simply nursed it in my hands instead of sipping on it like Sophie was doing. She noticed, as she would. "Not drinking?"

Before I could respond, Sam came over and relieved me of the pint glass, downing half the iron-rich drink in one mouthful. "She's on a booze ban," he explained. His face scrunched up as he thought of something. "Wait, I thought it was only January you were giving alcohol up for. It's February now, so drink up."

"No, thank you," I replied, throwing him a look. I hoped that it said all the words that I couldn't vocalise in the presence of my sister but when I noticed the confusion on his face, I guessed that my message hadn't been delivered. "I'm having a dry year, not just a dry month."

My sister scoffed and moved to say something but her attention diverted to the door. She beamed and quickly ran to greet her latest guest ignoring her husband as Daniel approached Sam and I. He and Sam exchanged that typical man hug before Daniel reached down and kissed my cheek.

"So," Daniel smirked. "You slept with Fletch, huh?"

While my mind screamed at me not to react, my body didn't listen. I could feel my eyes widening as my jaw slackened and my heart pumped far too much blood to my cheeks. "How the hell do you know?" I hissed to my brother-in-law. Turning to the man to my left, I threw him a glare. "Sam, did you tell him?"

"Fletch told me," Daniel divulged. The smile on his face widened a little more when he saw my cheeks go beetroot red. "You know, he's really hurt that you turned him down. Oh and this secret will stay between us. I won't tell Sophie. By the way, did you know that you're wearing an England shirt?"

I watched as Daniel made a quick exit, joining Sophie as they spoke to Emma and Adam. When Sam also disappeared, I scanned the room of the one person I most wanted to kill and I soon found him as he propped up the bar, flirting with some redhead that was lapping up the attention he lavished on her. 

Without caring much about cramping his style, I pushed through the crowd, ignoring my father's distaste over my shirt option- 'traitor' he had called after me- and forcefully pulled Isaac away from the bar and into a darkened corner of the room. When I spun to face him and block his exit, his blue eyes fell on me and narrowed. 

His displeasure was clear and it unnerved me. For all the weeks, the months, that Isaac had tried to engage my interest in him, he had given up on chasing me rather quickly. It shouldn't have hit a nerve as it did; Isaac had practically told me not long ago that I had missed my chance with him and that he was through trying to convince me that he wasn't as bad as I thought he was. Still, the way he looked through me right now was like a dagger in my heart. It was almost as if I wasn't worth his time anymore. 

"Charlotte-"

"Why did you tell Daniel about us?" I cut him off as my voice adopted an accusatory undertone. 

"Why are you not telling anyone about us?" Isaac challenged, folding his arms across his chest to showcase his bulging biceps under his white rugby shirt. "And what do you even mean by 'us'? We're not an 'us.'"

Without thinking, I reached up and poked his chest. I flinched when a shooting pain went up my right index finger. "Sam knows," I say as a counter measure. Noticing Isaac's eye roll, I feel the anger rage inside me like waves in a storm. "As for everyone else, I'd rather not tell them that you and I had sex because I don't want to be known as another of your conquests!"

I hadn't realised that I'd been shouting until the silence between Isaac and I extended to the rest of the room. The secret that I had tried to keep hidden for weeks now had been broadcast to my entire immediate family as well as friends, and the one spilling the news was me. 

"Fuck," I grumbled to myself. 

"Well," I heard my older sister's sarcastic voice speak out, breaking the tension that had filled the air. "How scandalous. Meanwhile, Daniel and I tried S&M on our honeymoon. I can see why everyone went crazy for Fifty Shades!"

Laughter echoed around the room and soon enough, everyone's attention was diverted from Isaac and me. When I was sure that no one was listening, I lifted my eyes to meet Isaac's piercing blue gaze only to find him biting down on his lip to try and kerb his own laughter. 

"It's not funny!" I practically yell at him while subduing my own laughter. "Isaac, be serious!"

He stopped laughing. "Charlotte," he said my name in a slow drawl that held sincerity in each syllable. Stepping closer, he brought down his lips to my forehead and tenderly kissed me while his large hand cupped my cheek. When he pulled away, he whispered, "For the record, you would never have been just another one of my conquests. Never."

I could feel myself leaning to drink more of him in but just as I felt myself falling for his charms, he pulled away and walked back to the bar, resuming his flirtation with the redhead from earlier. 

Bullshiter, I thought. Of course I'd just be another of his conquests. I would never be anything more in his eyes. And now, everyone else knew that's all I was- another notch on Isaac Fletcher's bedpost. 

"Here," Sam interrupted the beginning of my break down. He handed me a pint of Guinness and gave me a pointed look. "Hey, I saw your dad pacing outside, muttering something that vaguely sounded like eel keel ta bass turd. I didn't know Jimmy was that into fish. You should have said, I know a great fishing river in Aylesbury. I should take him one day."

The photo below is every reason I chose Chris Hemsworth all rolled into one!

1. Hot? Check.

2. Can rock a suit? Check.

3. With a child? Check.

4. Getting messy in the kitchen? Check.

5. All shades of perfection? Check.

So, welcome back to Sophie and Daniel! 

I'm loving the relationship between Charlotte and Sam- they're like BFFs!

As for Isaac and Charlotte? That's an interesting one!

Until next week,

Sarah xx