John burst into
the house with an overwhelming sense of panic. He hadn’t seen Libby for days
now, and had just heard the news from a frantic Eric that Sarah had finally
gone into labour during the night, and that she wanted Libby to be there for
when it arrived. Eric had called everyone, but they all knew that it could be
hours before the baby arrived.
Scouring the downstairs he heard muffled
voices from above and hurried up the stairs, calling loudly as he went. Still
no one appeared and he burst through the door to one bedroom to find Libby
laughing with Gilliam as they watched the television together.
It was such a bizarre that John almost forgot
what he had come to say and when he saw Libby’s slightly embarrassed face he
wondered what she was thinking that he was thinking.
“Hey John, wanna join us? We’re watching the
wedding video.” Gilliam grinned up at his friend as though nothing was wrong
and John stood in silence before connecting his eyes with the screen. Eric was
on the screen with a flower between his teeth and twirling Sarah around in his
arms.
John mumbled a short no and then stared
directly at Libby who had turned back to the screen to laugh gently again.
“Sarah’s gone into hospital.”
Libby turned back to him and her smile
faltered. “Is she ok?”
John smiled. “The baby’s on its way.”
She leapt up, her face cracking into a large
smile, and she ran around the room hunting for the shoes she had discarded when
Gilliam had turned up with a bottle of wine and an offer of peace. She had just
been going to open the front door to walk the grounds when he had stumbled onto
her, his hand poised to knock the wood. Smiling uneasily she had offered a
greeting and he had smiled softly at her and offered his apologies, and she had
invited him in. They had popped the cork on the wine and settled down in the
conservatory for a chat, until Libby mentioned the wedding video and Gilliam
had said he hadn’t seen it. So they had gone upstairs into one of the guest
rooms to watch it, where she herself had watched it for the first time two days
ago.
John kicked Gilliam in the side playfully.
“Aren’t you going to get up? It is after all, the first baby that is going to
be born in our midst. And it’s Eric’s baby, which is even more unusual and
unlikely.”
Gilliam snorted with laughter. “It’ll be
hours yet, I’m not gonna bother going in till it’s dead close. You know me
John, I hate hanging around.”
John scoffed. “Considering the midwife told
Eric they thought Sarah had been in labour ever since the night of the funeral
they’re expecting a quick delivery.”
Libby gasped. “Why didn’t she say anything
that evening if the baby had started?”
John shook his head. “Perhaps she didn’t
realise. As far as I could make out Eric said she had been complaining of a bad
back ever since that evening, only yesterday night she had got up with a head
ache to boot and her waters broke.”
Libby looked pained. “She must be in terrible
pain.”
Gilliam stood up. “Well let’s get a move on
and help her then.”
John rolled his eyes and led them out of the
room, hoping that they hadn’t missed it and that they would be in time to see
the first baby born to a Python since his own daughter Cynthia had been born
years ago.
*******************************************************************************************************
Eric paced the floor. She hadn’t wanted him in
there, and he couldn’t blame her really. Just hearing her screams and the
panting and the pain in her voice was enough to make him wish he had never done
anything to her in the first place. It was so nerve wracking. The mid-wife had
told him that she had been in labour nearly two days now, and he hadn’t
noticed, and for that he felt so sorry. He had even insisted she dance with him
at the funeral party, and had wanted her so desperately that evening that in
the end she gave in to him and had made love with him. Eric felt so bad because
she had been in labour then, and he knew it had probably made things worse for
her.
Pacing the floor again he shook his head and
cursed himself under his breath. Michael watched him move up and down, watching
his face closely to examine the range of emotions he was going through. Michael
had asked him twice now why he wasn’t in with her, and each time Eric had
replied that Sarah hadn’t wanted him there.
Michael thought it was just fear that kept
him away, and he felt sorry for Sarah in there on her own.
“Eric!”
Libby ran down the corridor towards him and
hugged him close to her. “How’s she doing?”
Michael laughed. “He doesn’t know. He won’t
go in there.”
John’s face darkened as he sidled up beside
the hugging pair. “Why not?”
Gilliam grunted an approach. “He’s scared
isn’t he?”
Michael laughed again. “I think so.”
Eric looked scorned. “Sarah said she doesn’t
want me in there.”
John approached Eric and grabbed his arm,
holding it tightly so Eric couldn’t escape. “Your fiancé is in there you know?
She’s carrying your child. And I don’t care what she says to you in there, even
if she tells you to jump off a cliff, however inviting that proposition is
right now, you are to completely disobey her. Do you understand?”
Eric mumbled and then winced as John squeezed
his arm harder. “Do you understand? If not, you and I are going to have serious
words Eric Idle, and don’t you forget it.”
John let go of Eric’s arm and he rubbed it,
looking at John with mixed fear and vengeance. “I’ll have a bruise there you
know?”
John stepped towards Eric, but he scooted
quickly backwards and through a swing door where they could hear Sarah’s
gasping.
Gilliam sat down on the hospital chair. “I
wish I had your way with people John.”
Michael laughed. “And scare the whole of the
hospital with your menacing height and roguish charm, I think not.”
Gilliam snorted again. “I think they’d probably
lock me away you know. He does look a bit like a mad man.”
Libby stifled a giggle. She had noticed
John’s hair standing on end when he had come into her house, and now, with his
jaw firmly set and his eyes still fiery from the exchange he had shared with
Eric, she could see where Gilliam got his idea from.
“Did anyone tell you that when you get out of
bed and go to leave the house, it’s nice if you comb your hair first.” Michael
chuckled and John poked his tongue out.
“Did anyone tell you it’s preferable for you
to shut up Palin?”
Gilliam held up his hand to John.
“Ooooooohhhhhhh , calm down Cleesey.”
John batted his hand down and went to punch
Gilliam on the arm when Libby shouted with laughter.
“Boys, boys, calm down can we? Before you’re
all put away for crimes of Lunacy.”
They sat back and smiled at each other.
Things hadn’t felt this good for a long time, and in each of their minds they
were considering the possibility that perhaps, from now on, things were going
to get better.
***************************************************************************************************************
At a quarter past
three on Monday the 24th of December Terry Siobhan Idle made her way
into the world with her parents gazing eagerly into her face, her fingers
wriggling and her little lungs gasping for breath.
Eric watched in proud adoration as his fiancé
took his child in her arms and cried with happiness and weariness at what she
had brought into the world. The love he felt for Sarah was so indescribable
that he too began to cry a little, and he kissed her passionately on the lips,
before both of them were taken away to be cleaned up. He promised Sarah he
would return as soon as he’d told the others the good news.
He burst into the corridor, hi heart full of
excitement and love. He couldn’t believe that he was a father and he blessed
the day Terry Jones had met Libby Weller.
Gilliam was sleeping soundly with his neck
burrowed into his chest, his gently snores amusing Michael and John who had
taken up playing I-Spy and other stupid games. Libby was still biting her
nails, and even though the whole group had been sat there for nearly three
hours, they were still in good spirits and were sharing jokes together.
When Libby saw Eric standing in front of them
with his bottom lip quivering she thought something awful had happened. Her
stomach began to churn and she clutched her hands together, expecting the worst
words to come out from his wobbling mouth.
Suddenly he burst into tears and pointed
towards the room as if to try and get his point across, but the group now
looked at him as though something mortally terrifying had happened.
John got up and held his shoulders, looking
into his eyes and trying to communicate with him as to what had happened.
Instead Eric calmed himself enough to choke out the words they needed to hear.
“Little girl, she had a little girl.”
Libby was hugging him and crying herself, and
soon the whole group was congratulating each other as if it had been a group effort
rather than Sarah’s solo adventure.
“Well done Eric. We never thought you’d ever
get this far.”
John clapped him on the shoulder and then
gave him a hug, feeling that perhaps punching him wouldn’t convey his true
feelings.
“Can we see her?” Michael asked, his voice
smooth with emotion.
Eric was about to lead them back into the
room when he saw the midwives begin to close the door.
“Excuse me? Is it all right if we see my
fiancé now?” he asked, his voice still quavering with happiness.
The midwife looked at him. “You’d better come
inside sir, we have a surprise for you.”
Eric looked at the others and began to motion
them in when the midwife stopped him. “Just you sir, the others will have to
wait until afterwards.”
Eric looked confused. “After what?”
The midwife yanked his sleeve and he almost
fell into the room. Looking back out at the others she smiled warmly. “Don’t
worry, it’s nothing to worry about, we should be done in ten or fifteen
minutes. These things rarely take longer than that.”
As she closed the door behind her Libby
looked at John with worry.
“What’s going on in there? I don’t understand
it, they said it was all over.”
Michael shrugged and snuck a glance at Libby,
noticing how sad and troubled she looked. He rested his hand on hers and smiled
reassuringly.
“I’m sure it’s nothing, you heard what the
midwife said. We’ll see them in a bit.”
Gilliam laughed and John asked him what he
was laughing about.
“I was just thinking back to what she said.”
He said.
Libby cocked her head. “What was that?”
“About it being a surprise. Perhaps it isn’t
a baby after all, perhaps it’s a mutant.”
Mike laughed. “If it is she didn’t get it
from Sarah’s side did she?”
The group laughed which relieved the tension
a little.
“Perhaps it isn’t a girl after all and they
made a mistake?” John said, his mouth twitching.
“You mean it might be a boy?” Libby asked,
her hair falling over her shoulder as she leant forwards to look at him.
Gilliam laughed again. “No, of course not, it’s
going to be a turnip isn’t it? I should have known that Eric was a turnip all
along.”
Mike giggled. “Nah, he’s a bee. Not even a
whole one at that.”
“A demi-bee.” John said and chuckled.
Libby laughed gently. “So let me get this
straight. Sarah’s baby has turned into a mutant half a bee of the male
persuasion?”
John burst, his face creasing into a pleasant
smile and his laughter ringing down the corridor. The whole group was in
stitches when Eric reappeared and when he saw them laughing he couldn’t help
his smile growing broader again.
Libby jumped up quickly, the laughter leaving
her face in an instant. “What’s happened Eric, is everything all right?”
Eric looked slightly dazed and John thought
that perhaps it had been bad news after all, but when he saw the midwives
leaving the room smiling he knew it couldn’t have been that.
Moving towards the room Libby pushed the door
open and stared in shock at the sight before her.
“Twins?” she cried, her face lighting with
both shock and excitement.
Eric nodded slowly. “Can you believe it?”
John sat back in his chair and blew the air
out of his mouth through his teeth.
Mike looked at Eric. “But how? I mean, why
didn’t you know?”
The group followed him through the open doors
and looked at Sarah holding the children in her arms. They were so small but so
perfect and they all sighed an “ahhh” before anyone offered an explanation.
“According to the hospital the reason the
twins weren’t picked up on the scan was due to the fact that they were lying in
the same positions in the womb, and that they’re hearts were beating in
complete synchrony. They couldn’t pick up the fact that there were two of them
there, despite the fact that I was huge and couldn’t move.” Sarah giggled
gently and handed the babies around, the first to Michael and the second to
John.
John looked down into the little bundle and
grinned as she gurgled happily in his arms. “What are you going to call this
one then?” he asked, his large hands playing with her little fingers.
Libby leant over him to have a look and
almost melted when she saw the little hand in John’s.
Sarah sat back on her bed, her aching back
relieved that she was no longer sitting upright.
“John you’ve got Terry Siobhan, and Michael
you’ve got Isobel Elizabeth.”
“Both girls then?” Gilliam asked, nudging
Eric in the chest as he did so.
Sarah grinned happily. “Certainly. Only the
best for my darling fiancé.”
Eric grimaced playfully and waited as Isobel
was passed to him. Looking down at her face he smiled proudly and then, handing
her back to her mother, he kissed her forehead gently. He promised himself
silently there and then that he would never leave them, not for anything in the
world, and he knew as long as they were happy, his world would be complete.
*********************************************************************************************************
Libby stared up at the ceiling of the house
as another wail sent her thoughts in disarray and her hands trembling. She had
offered to baby sit the twins knowing that she knew nothing about babies, and
nothing about anything to do with babies. Looking into their cots, their little
faces all screwed up and their pretty little toes and fingers punching the air
Libby almost died with exasperation. She just didn’t know how to handle them.
It hadn’t seemed like such a big deal when she had offered but now that her
mind wandered back to the day she had said, “hey do you guys want to get out
sometime, I can look after the girls” Libby almost cursed her stupidity.
Isobel looked at her with wide blue eyes and
Terry continued squealing as her sister became silent. Libby winked at her and
tended to Terry, certainly the noisier of the two girls. They were only two
months old now, but Libby had seen the strain on their parents faces even now.
Both Eric and Sarah were getting very little sleep and both of their schedules
had collapsed when Isobel and Terry had arrived. Sarah had soon grown impatient
of tending them completely and had been trying to get back to the business, as
Eric had first thought possible. With two of them now though, it changed
things. Eric still had commitments to fulfil with his agent and some film
companies, but his workload had been cut by more than half.
It was true that there were advantages to
being parents, like spending a lot of time together, but even Sarah and Eric’s
perfect existence couldn’t withstand constant partnership. They had been in the
middle of a blazing row when Libby had arrived on the day she had offered to baby
sit, and seeing her friends glaring at each other with unusual venom soon
spurred her on to give them a lifeline.
Looking down at the girls, Libby knew that in
the end all of the heartache would be worth it. They had two very beautiful
baby girls, each with their father’s large blue eyes and Sarah’s cheeky smile.
They each had a personality all of their own already, and despite their young
years, you could tell that they were identical.
Terry started crying again, setting off her
sister in a loud wailing chorus. Libby spent the next fifteen minutes trying to
figure out what the problem was before she gave up and picked up the phone,
calling the only person she knew who had any experience with children.
*****************************************************************************************************
John sat down on
the sofa, one arm curled around Isobel and the other curled around Terry, each
of the babies sleeping soundlessly.
He rocked them both very gently and they
settled into him almost immediately, giving up their crying and settling for
peace and quiet.
Libby watched him in amazement and slight
envy.
“Why can’t I do that?” she asked, teasing him
softly.
He smiled up at her and caught her eye. “I
don’t know what it is really. When we had Cynthia I was the only one to get her
to go off. Mike said that perhaps it was my broad shoulders, able to make
someone feel safer or something. He was hugging me at the time.”
Libby chuckled gently and looked at the twins
in his arms. He looked so comfortable with them, the tiny bundles contrasting
greatly with his height and his muscular arms. There was a silence in the room
with them as they sat and looked at the children together, occasionally
glancing happily at each other and basking in the peace that the girls were
blessing them with.
Finally John stood up and laid them both
gently in their beds, his decision that his arms needed saving over ruling the
fact that they might wake up again. Libby couldn’t get over how soft he was
with them, how precise and tender his actions were, and she could tell just by
looking at him that he cared a great deal about these children. He placed their
little blankets over them as Libby watched him from the doorway, and finally he
came to her with a smile on his face.
“How’s that for parenting?” he asked, his
face cracking into a boyish grin.
Libby smiled at him. “I bet you make a great
Dad.”
He took her hand in his and squeezed it
gently. “Would you like to go downstairs and watch some very intellectual
television?” he asked, the corner of his mouth twitching as he led her
downstairs.
They headed straight for the sofa and sitting
side-by-side, comfortable and at peace with each other, they flicked on the
television.
John scanned the channels, announcing that
there was nothing on, and instead switched off the TV and began talking about
the girls again.
Libby chuckled. “You really love those girls
don’t you?”
John blushed slightly and grinned sheepishly.
“I want to be their Uncle John who is great fun to be around and someone they
can always come to. I don’t want to be someone in their background. I think
perhaps I want to make up the wrongs I committed when Cynthia was born, because
I don’t feel as though I was properly there for her.”
Libby twisted in her seat so she could look
at his face properly. John rarely spoke of his personal feelings so she was
intrigued that he was telling her so much now. He was a private person and
Libby had always respected that.
“I don’t think they could ask for a better
Uncle John.” She said, giving him he most reassuring smile to try and get the
point across.
He squeezed her hand again and looked into
her eyes.
“You are a wonderful person Elizabeth Jones.
Don’t let anyone else tell you any different.”
She squeezed his hand back and they sat there
for a moment in silence, looking at each other and feeling at complete ease
with each other. The length of the silence grew and it wasn’t long until Libby
noticed that neither one of them had moved an inch. She was about to say
something when John put his finger to her lips and leant close to her, his
aftershave lingering in the air between them like heavenly incense.
His lips were soft on hers, and at first she
was shocked that she was kissing him, but after a while she realised that this
had been coming all along. She had known that their friendship was becoming
closer, especially when they began meeting for lunches, going to the cinema and
sitting in the house and chatting together with a bottle of wine. As more and
more of her time was spent with him, Libby had known that he was becoming part
of her. And yet she felt no remorse for it.
Michael had since returned to the
John slipped his arm around her shoulders and
brought her closer to him on the sofa. She didn’t mind it, and neither of them
said a word. It was just comfortable to hold hands and lean on him, his
muscular arms holding her safe from harm, his heart beating in her ear and the
smell of him lulling her to sleep. It wasn’t long before both of them were
sleeping soundlessly together, and when Sarah and Eric came home and saw them
together, they laid a blanket over them so as not to disturb them before
turning out the light and heading upstairs to bed.
**************************************************************************************************************
Libby flicked the switch on the wall and the
shop lit up with early spring morning mingled with the fluorescent glow of
artificial light. She smelt the new vanilla air freshener Sarah had introduced
them to and grinned as she began thinking of the next few days. Nothing could
possibly spoil her happiness and her excitement about her future.
Gliding smoothly into the shop she slipped
off her coat and laid it absently on the sofa as she headed for the kitchen,
eagerly tasting the tea she was about to make for herself. It was perfect, she
would have the place to herself today, and after the mad Christmas rush when
she had had to hire more bodies in to help, especially because of Sarah and her
recent arrivals, Libby was relieved that there wasn’t going to be that many
customers until the Spring sales began in full flow in March.
Not that that mattered much to her. After
all, what with their company spreading elsewhere, the details for the new shop
in the centre of
Leaning on the kitchen counter she closed her
eyes and listened to the rumble of the kettle and smiled happily to herself.
Everything was running so smoothly. Sarah and Eric had settled in perfectly
with the twins. Although she wasn’t coming back to the shop until the kids were
at least six months old, Sarah had taken a lot of her work home with her and
had completed several major orders. As she had said to Libby previously, all
she really needed was someone in the shop who could look after the customers,
advise them, and then send the orders over to her for approval and production.
It was why Libby had been interviewing people for the posts ever since Sarah
had suggested it, and that had been nearly three weeks ago. No one had fitted
the bill as she would have liked, and Libby was also keen to find another good
interior designer who could take her place when she moved to
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door shook and the bell rang and she popped her head over her drawing board and
spied the elegant frame of a young woman in her mid-twenties glancing amiably
at the montages on display.
“Can I help you at all?” she asked as she
stood up from her table. The woman smiled sheepishly having not realised that
she was being watched, and she quickly came towards Libby.
“Are you Mrs Jones?” she asked, her tiny
voice making her look more like twelve than twenty and reminding Libby of a
mouse.
“That’s me. How can I help?”
The girl extended her hand. “My name’s Alasse
Lucas. I’m here about a job.”
Libby shook her hand and admired her first
name. It was very unusual, and something about this girl made her smile.
“I take it by job you mean the post as an
interior designer?” she asked as she took Alasse to the sofa.
Alasse nodded eagerly. Motioning towards what
looked like her portfolio and CV, she placed it quickly on the coffee table and
Libby leafed through it. It was certainly impressive; some of the work reminded
her of Chanel and some of herself, and even the new Retro gentleman Herman
Graus from
Alasse sat back on the sofa, her large grey
coat surrounding her and almost engulfing her and her long black hair. She
spoke of her interests, her hobbies and her life, her favourite food and what
had inspired her to become an interior designer. Libby took in every word and
she smiled as the girl spoke, reminding Libby of the way she and Sarah had
lived before the Pythons had officially arrived in their lives.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what
does your name mean?”
Alasse sighed and grinned. “My Mum was a bit
of a J.R.R.Tolkien fan, particularly of the Lord of the Rings, and so she
decided it would be fun to name in his kind of style. She found this Elvish
translation thing in one of his journals and managed to translate my English
name into Elvish.”
Libby laughed gently and smiled. She wished
that her mother had been so thoughtful, instead of naming her after a Virgin
Queen.
“What’s
your English name then?”
“Sarah.”
Libby laughed outright and Alasse looked
startled. “Did I say something funny?” she asked, her green eyes searching
Libby’s face.
“It’s a good job that your Mum called you by
the Elvish equivalent because we can’t have two Sarah’s working here.” She
smiled at Alasse, and her face lit up.
“You mean I’ve got the job?” she exclaimed.
Libby could tell that from the moment she walked in through the door that she
was the one she wanted, and there was no way that Libby was going to let Alasse
walk away now, not now that she’d seen her work.
Alasse threw her arms around Libby who hugged
her back. “Welcome to the team my girl.”
She offered her some tea and then a tour, and
while the two were discussing Libby’s latest project and the practicalities of
a cot the door swung open again.
Libby looked up briefly as she saw the figure
who entered the shop and she smiled a warm smile, her whole body warming up
upon seeing him.
John strode confidently towards the drawing
board and slowed slightly when he caught sight of the raven-haired girl sat
beside her.
Alasse looked slightly gob smacked when she
saw who was standing over her and Libby could tell instantly that she was
star-struck. She admitted quietly to herself that she had been exactly like it
when she had first met John. He was certainly a large presence in the room.
John smiled at Libby, trying to convey his
complete adoration of her in his eyes and she smiled back, perhaps hiding her
feelings from him a little too well. John knew that it was probably a reaction
after all she had been through, perhaps she didn’t want to love and lose again.
If she would only tell him this he could set her mind at rest. He knew his past
history with women was nothing to go by; three failed marriages and a string of
unhappy relationships, but he had never had the chance of being their friends
before their lovers, and he found he was hundreds of times more comfortable
with this woman than he had ever been with anyone in his life, not even Graham.
“John, this is Alasse Lucas, my replacement.”
Alasse turned first to Libby with an open
mouth, and then back up to the giant standing over her.
John held out his hand and greeted her,
smiling and asking her questions about herself.
Alasse answered in stilted sentences before
finally turning to Libby and asking the awkward question. “Replacing you? Then
who will be here?”
Libby played with her pencil as John stared
at her and pulled funny faces.
“Well at first it will be just you. My
partner, Sarah Ghost, is away at the moment on maternity leave and so she won’t
be back for another five months, but by then I’ll have trained you up
perfectly. I’m going to
Alasse nodded and took in the information.
“When would you like me to start?”
Libby thought for a moment. She really needed
to start training ASAP, but she didn’t particularly want to start halfway
through the day so she opted for the following morning, adding that Alasse
ought to bring whatever she thought appropriate with her.
Alasse nodded and then, turning a blushing
face back towards John she left the store with a wave and a flurry of black
hair and big grey coat.
“What do you make of her then?” Libby asked
gesturing towards the door.
John sat down beside her at the workbench and
took her hand in his, without even thinking about it.
Libby leant her head on his shoulder and
looked at her work. She had gotten quite a lot done, but she knew she would
have to move fast because the project was due to start the following Monday.
“I think she sounds perfect. And with expert
attention I’m sure she could be even more perfect.”
Libby heard the sarcasm in his voice and
looked at his face with slight disapproval.
“You don’t like her?” she asked, her face
giving away her disappointment more than she would have liked.
John touched her cheek with his fingers and
smiled at her gently. “She just seemed a bit forced that’s all. As if she
wasn’t that surprised to see me really, and that perhaps she was just looking
so shocked and star-struck because she knew it was expected.”
Libby tutted. “You and your ego.” She laughed
gently and he joined her.
“Perhaps I’m not keen because she’s not you.”
He saw the blush before she had chance to
turn away and he smoothed the hair away from her face. Lifting her chin
tenderly with his fingers he brushed her lips with his. Libby felt herself
relax against him and she returned his loving embrace with a more passionate
kiss.
They had been seeing each other now
romantically for over a month, and yet they hadn’t shared a bed, unless you
counted the sofa at Sarah’s house the time Libby babysat for the twins. Yet
neither of them were in a rush to sleep together, perhaps both wiser than they
had been in other relationships and perhaps more cautious about giving
themselves to each other. It hadn’t even crossed their minds to sleep together,
and Libby had only ever wondered why that was once when she had gone for a meal
at his house and they had fallen asleep together on the sofa in his flat.
Content as they were just to touch and taste and relax, John knew that it must
be something special for them to both take so much time over it, and it was
true that he relished her comfort and her thoughts and her emotions far more
than he needed her physically.
It wasn’t that they weren’t attracted to each
other. Just sitting together on this small bench at Libby’s workstation kissing
each other was enough to arouse them both, particularly John who, Libby had noticed,
was standing to attention through his trousers. She was even tempted to go for
it right there and then, but she knew that if she did that she might spoil
something that had come to mean so much to her in the past few months. It was
that thought that kept her from getting too physical.
Removing her entangled fingers from his she
stood up and headed towards the kitchen, intent on making herself a cup of tea
and intent on trying to calm the stronger feelings between them. It was
dangerous for them both to play the games they were with each other and she
knew that much longer on that seat and she wouldn’t have cared about tea or
anyone walking in on them either.
John followed her and asked if she wanted to
go for lunch with him. She shook her head and noticed again the inviting bulge
in his trousers.
“I don’t mean to be rude but I have this one
project that I really need to get finished, and I’m already behind on it. Do
you mind?”
John shook his head, his gentle smile
relaxing his often austere features. He approached her, encircling her waist
with his hands and leaning over her.
Libby almost jumped when she realised he was
pressing into her thigh, but she could tell by his face that he wasn’t
pressuring her into anything and that it wasn’t what he was thinking about at
all. His lips met hers again and she sank into his kiss, momentarily forgetting
everything.
He broke away with an almost painful smile.
“Perhaps I’ll see you tonight then. Do you want to go out or for a meal or do
you want to stay in or………”
She smiled loosely and put her hands on his
muscular arms.
“Perhaps tomorrow.” He said, knowing
instinctively what she was thinking. He kissed her once more and then again,
and then headed towards the door.
“I love you.” He said without thinking, and
wondered what her reaction would be.
She glanced up from her tea making and
beamed. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, seven thirty sharp my place.”
He nodded, knowing that wasn’t what he wanted
to hear, but satisfied with her offer all the same. He was about to leave the
shop when he heard her shout from the kitchen.
“Bring a bottle.”