Thanks again to QueenofYourWorld for all the help :-) And thank you for the reviews for the first chapter - hope you enjoy this one!
***
Stranded - Part 2
(Sam's POV)
Toby bounds onto my bed at six. He's chatting about something excitedly. I grumble into the pillow and he burrows down under the duvet next to me, pulling my arms around him and clinging to me tightly. His excitement grows into tiredness and he soon drops off. I rest my chin on his soft brown curls and breathe him in. My heart bangs painfully against my chest and I feel my throat tighten. I struggle to breath for a moment and then Toby moves in my arms and I relax.
We drift in and out for an hour, until my alarm clanks into action and Toby is awake with new vigour and tugs on my arm to pull me out of bed. I follow him, wiping sleep from my eyes into his room and he pulls back the curtains. The sun almost blinds me and I wonder what he's so excited about. He climbs on top of the toy chest and then onto the windowsill and points down. I look. In the daylight, Randy looks so much bigger. He looms over the car, his jacket tossed to one side, revealing arms coated in tattoos.
"It's him!" Toby squeals.
"Who?" I look at him confused.
"Randy!"
"How do you know his name?" Did he hear us talking last night? He was asleep, surely.
"He's from the TV!"
"Yeah?" I pick Toby up and set him on his feet on the floor and we make our way downstairs to the kitchen.
"He's fighting the Undertaker at the moment," Toby tells me, as I pour out cereal into his bowl. "Look," he points at the bowl. I glance down. There, emblazoned on its side is a man that looks quite like Randy. I lift the bowl and study it carefully and then place it back on the table. I don't say anything as I hand Toby a spoon and watch as he eats his dry cereal.
I sit at the table and watch Toby eat, worrying a strand of my own hair. I twist it tightly around my finger, until the tip goes white.
The doorbell rings and I almost yank my hair from my scalp.
"Who's that?" Toby has finished his cereal and is fidgeting in his seat.
"I don't know," I say, as I get up slowly. The bell rings again. "Why don't you go and finish watching your TV show yeah?" He nods and plods off in front of me, turning off to the left just before the door. I watch him as he takes his place on the sofa and fumbles with the remote.
Taking a deep breath, I open the front door, completely forgetting that I have no make up on, my hair is a mess and I'm only wearing my pyjamas that read 'I love being naughty' across the chest. I blush even before he's said a word. Randy has a small splodge of oil on his forehead, which is furrowed.
"Hi…" I manage. "Do you need the phone again?"
"Yeah," he smiles. "Sorry."
"No problem. Come in." I step back and he moves towards me. "Just go through." I say, "I need to check on…" I don't say anything else, I just gesture towards the living room. He nods and walks through to the kitchen.
Toby isn't watching the TV. He's watching me, with his mouth slightly open. '"Is that…?" he asks. I hold a finger to my mouth, but I don't shake or nod my head. He scowls and his gaze returns to the TV.
Randy's voice is raised and then quiet, as he argues about something. I hover in the hallway, between the living room and the kitchen, debating whether to go into the kitchen. I could put the kettle on, I am in my pyjamas and have obviously just gotten up – it's a reasonable excuse. I hear him grumble and then the phone being replaced in its cradle.
I stand, frozen in the hallway, almost caught. He appears in the doorway and I don't quite know what to do. He's running his hand over the back of his head, which means his t-shirt has crept up his stomach and I can see the curves of muscle from his hips down to his Calvin Klein's that sit above his jeans. I swallow hard, as I avert my eyes.
(Randy's POV)
We stand for a moment, silent. And then a boy with blonde hair rushes out of the lounge and crashes against Sam's legs, who stumbles slightly. He gazes up at me with awe.
"It's you!' he breathes. "The Legend Killer! The Viper!"
Sam smiles apologetically. "Don't mind him… He gets over-excited, imagines things."
"I'm not imagining it!" The boy stomps his foot.
"No, he's not," I say. I crouch down and offer out my hand. "What's your name?"
"Toby," he says. His gaze switches from my face to his hand in my mine and back.
"Well, nice to meet you Toby." He grins and giggles and then looks up at Sam.
"Told you it was him." I look up at Sam and see her blush. She won't meet my gaze and she almost glares at Toby for humiliating her. And then the look fades and her face is full with adoration for the boy.
"You can't blame her," I say, still watching Sam. Toby must look like his dad. "Mom's don't know everything." Sam visibly flinches. Shit, what have I said?
Toby pipes up. "She's not my mum. She's my aunt."
"Oh. Sorry," I smile at Sam.
"Don't worry."
I get up and Toby, who appears quite unfazed now by my presence, saunters back into the lounge. Out of the corner of my eye I can see him sitting on a sofa, his gaze flicking from the TV screen to Sam and me.
"Thanks for your phone again."
"No problem," she says.
"And thanks for the tip last night…."
'Right.' I'm not sure where this is going. I feel so uncomfortable. Like when I was ten and tried to ask a girl out and she turned me down in front of everyone.
"Er…" I fold my arms across my chest and then unfold them. "We missed our meeting this morning."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Yeah… Jeff is trying to get another car. He's got to get to Manchester to fly back tonight." She nods. "But I'm er… I'm thinking of staying around."
Her head shoots up and our eyes finally meet. Her eyes shine slightly, but her face stays neutral. "Oh. How come?"
"Well I wasn't planning to fly home till next week. I've got some time off. I was supposed to go from Manchester to London for a few days. But I might as well stay here…" She nods. Is she happy? Or a bit freaked out. To be honest, I'm freaked out over my own decision.
"Well, I hope the weather holds for you," she finally says. I try not to laugh. She sounds so British. I decide a smile is probably the safest thing to do.
"Yeah…" She moves aside and gestures to the door. I open it and turn around. I can feel the sun on my back and Sam stares at me, her eyes glazed over slightly. "See you around then."
"Yeah. See you.' She smiles. And I leave.
***
(Sam's POV)
I don't see Randy for another few hours. I take Toby to school, chat to the mums at the gate and then walk back home. I clean the house, do the washing, hang it outside, make a dash for it when it starts to rain, and then iron Toby's football gear for tomorrow. I change my clothes and then head out to work. I'm in my own little world as I approach The Bluebottle and collide into the figure emerging from the red door.
"Sorry," I mumble.
"Hi, Sam." I look up and see Randy.
"Oh hi!" A bit too excited.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Work."
"Where's that?"
I point. "At The Bluebottle." I pause. "Do you want to keep me company? It's usually a bit quiet in the afternoons."
"Sure." We walk the five steps to the pub door and I knock hard on the door. Kerry, my friend and fellow barmaid, opens the door.
"Hiya," she trills. "A punter already? Bloody hell, never had them in so early before!"
"Kerry, this is Randy. Randy, this is Kerry. He…er, got stranded here last night and now he's decided to stay on for a while."
Randy follows me inside, as Kerry starts pulling chairs off tables. I head behind the bar and pull my jacket off. I lean against the bar and survey the empty bar. Randy hovers between the bar and the booths around the pub. I watch as his eyes flick between, making an apparently difficult decision. Shit. Am I really that stupid to think that he could have possibly stuck around for me? Or is it because he has nowhere better to go?
Kerry, sensing Randy's indecision, grabs his arm and tugs him towards the bar with ease. "C'mon love, sit yourself down here. Take advantage of the free space whilst you can." She pulls out a stool for him and pats it welcomingly.
"Thanks." He takes it and we're now thirty centimetres away from each other.
"Do you want a drink?" I ask. Politeness always gets the better of me.
"Sure… Coke with ice. Please." As I fill the glass with ice and then coke, I can feel him watching me. Kerry has disappeared somewhere and we're alone.
"So do you look after Toby for your brother or sister?" he asks as I place the glass in front of him.
"You could say that," not really wanting to tell him the truth.
"Okay…" He could somehow since she did not want to linger on that topic so he moved on. "How old is he?"
"Eight."
"And you are?"
"25." He takes a sip of his drink. "How old are you?" I ask.
"28."
"And are you really one of those wrestlers that Toby watches and obsesses about?"
He smiles. "Yeah…"
The conversation ends. I take a cloth and start to wipe down the sides that haven't been used yet.
"How long have you lived here?" He asks.
"All my life."
"Serious? I can't imagine that." I laugh.
"Well my life hasn't exactly brought a lot of travel. I went to London once and got lost. I went to France on a school trip. And got lost. I'm not so good with the map reading or foreign languages."
"Me neither,' he confesses. He's leaning forward, over the bar. His hand brushes against mine when I wipe the cloth near him. "I've got lost in a country that speaks the same language as me – now that's bad."
"How did you end up here anyway?"
"Jeff. He can't map read for shit. Yet he blames me for the crap car." He shakes his head. 'We went wrong when we decided that the back roads were best. Didn't realize how twisty they were and the car cut out and wouldn't start and then," He looks up at me. "And then you came to the rescue."
I open my mouth to reply, but Kerry is clanking her way down the stairs, carrying bottles of beer. And then the door swings open and the locals start to come in.
***
I leave the pub at three for half hour. I hurry up to the school to meet Toby and then struggle to take him to Mrs Harris'.
"Have you seen Randy today?" Toby asks, practically bouncing beside me. I nod at him. "Really?? He's so cool isn't he?" I'm trying to hurry him past the pub. And then Randy emerges. Crap. Toby gazes up in awe. Randy smiles down at him.
"Good day at school?" Toby nods. Randy looks at me. "Are you going back to work?"
"Yeah… until six." He hesitates.
"I can watch Toby for you." I twist my hands together.
"Er…"
"Please Sam, please, please!" Toby begs, clinging to my arm. Randy can sense my hesitations and he smiles reassuringly.
"It's okay." He bends down to Toby's level. "Y'know what? Maybe we'll hang out another time yeah? If Sam tells me you've been good, I might even watch wrestling with you eh?" Toby beams at him and then turns to me, his eyes wide and pleading.
"Really?"
I shrug. "Of course. Now c'mon, Mrs. Harris will be wondering where we are." He runs off ahead to where Mrs. Harris flat is above the corner shop, which her daughter owns. As I watch him, fumble in his pockets for ten pence for the sweet machine, I feel Randy's eyes on me.
"So what do you after six?" He really likes to ask a lot of questions.
"Pick up Toby, take him home, make dinner, sleep."
"Right."
"You?"
He shrugs. "I dunno. What is there to do round here?"
I chuckle. "Er, nothing."
"Right…" He says that a lot, it's cute though. I squint down the road and see that Mrs Harris is waving at me, ushering Toby into the shop. I wave back.
"Do you want to come over?" I murmur.
"Tonight?"
"Yeah… I'm cooking lasagne – my specialty." I glance up at him and smile. Why am I so nervous? I can cook lasagne with my bloody eyes shut and my hands tied behind my back. I swallow hard as Randy scratches the back of his head, his sleeves of his t-shirt moving back, revealing more of his tattoos. I start thinking what to wear later.
"I'll be there," he says. 'What time?'
"Seven."
" Seven it is. See you then." He smiled at me as he turned and walked away.
