** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1
18:37 – 2/5 – Laura
Relaxing into the hot bath she'd just run for herself Laura sighed contentedly. She'd had the day from hell and now she couldn't wait to relax with Robbie and their friends that evening. She knew there was an ulterior motive behind Jean's insistence that she cook that night rather than them going out as they usually did on Friday nights. James had put his foot in it in grand style the last time they'd all eaten together and she herself had cooked so she knew Jean was out to prove a point and she had every intention of helping along the way if she could. She adored James but at times he suffered from a lack of tact that she knew caused problems in his relationship with Jean and when she had cooked for them the week before and he had raved about her food ignoring the warning stares from both her and Jean she'd known there would be repercussions to it.
"Hello? Robbie why are you calling you're supposed to be picking me up in an hour couldn't it wait?" She sighed into the phone which had suddenly chirped into life on the small table beside the bath. She knew she should have left it downstairs but habit dictated that she always lifted it when she was moving from room to room and until it had rang she had forgotten it was sitting beside the glass of wine she'd been enjoying while soaking in the warm water. "You better not be calling to say something's happened, Jean will pitch a fit if anything ruins tonight you know she's been planning it all week."
"No, honestly nothing's happened I just wanted to know if you could record the Rugby for me. I'm still waiting for them to come and sort out my Sky box and it won't record." Robbie replied as she shook her head smiling at the fact he had forgotten already that he asked her to do exactly that when they'd seen each other that afternoon.
"It's set already darling you asked me to do it earlier. Now can I enjoy my bath in peace?" She laughed rolling her eyes as he hummed quietly on the other end of the phone and she knew exactly what was coming next.
"You're in the bath? You could have called and I could have come over early and helped wash your back."
"Down boy we don't have time for you to wash my back and everything else that comes along with it if we're late Jean will kill us."
"Why couldn't James just have kept his mouth shut when you cooked for us all we could have been out at that Indian we all love so much tonight then no one would be stressed and Jean wouldn't have spent every spare moment this week quizzing us about what we liked and didn't like to eat? I swear that lad will never learn."
"Yeah well he hasn't had as much experience in tact and diplomacy with women as you have now go, I need to get out of this bath and get ready it's already almost half six." Laura laughed hanging up the call and getting out of the bath, draining it and drying quickly before putting on her bathrobe and leaving the bathroom. She'd already decided what she was wearing so she knew she had a little time to kill and considering how determined Robbie had been that she should not forget about his recording she wandered through the house into the living room smiling to herself as the familiar red light on the Sky box told her the recording had started. She knew the match was important to him, his son was coming down that Sunday for lunch and they were planning on taking him to the pub for their Sunday buffet then back to her house for the two of them to watch it while she played waitress keeping them supplied with snacks and drinks. He so rarely got to spend quality time with his son that she'd been delighted when the plans had been made and now that she was sure that she had done her duty and the Rugby match was recording she was happy to go back to getting ready. Glancing at the clock she smiled noting that at six thirty five she still had almost an hour to get ready and turned toward the stairs and had her foot on the first one when the landing light went out with a loud crack. Cursing the fact that the bulb had picked that night of all nights to blow she turned back toward the kitchen to retrieve a new one when the darkness from the sitting room she'd just left, leaving the light on when she did, struck her.
"Shit! No not now, come on!" She groaned entering the sitting room again and staring at the corner where the TV sat and the light no longer shone reassuringly from the satellite receiver. Weeks of power cuts had made her prepared with candles and torches in strategic places around the house but tonight it truly as the last thing she needed. Now she knew no matter what other troubles the lack of power meant for the evening Robbie's recording had been cancelled and his Sunday plans were in jeopardy. Not only that but she had a suspicion that if the outage was city wide Jean wouldn't exactly be thrilled about it either and that was a much more immediate problem.