Morning came and Steve woke with an aching neck on the sofa. He had blacked out there the night before after not feeling comfortable going into the bedroom with an upset Michelle. He sat up, blinking as the bright light of morning flooded into the room and blinded him, Steve couldn't help feeling disappointed with how last night had turned out. On the plus side at least Michelle had said yes before Ryan had managed to turn her mood sour. Mrs Steve McDonald. He liked the way that would sound as Michelle's married name, yes it would suit her perfectly.
Steve got up from his seated position and stretched whilst yawning in an attempt to wake himself up properly. Looking around the flat was still a mess from last night. Taking a deep breath he looked around deciding where best to start clearing up. The less Michelle had to complain about this morning the better it would be for everyone. Making his way to the table he stacked up the dishes, now covered in dried sauce and remnants of the Chinese from last night. What a treat for him it would be having to scour these clean this morning.
Michelle woke suddenly with what she thought was just the sensation of vomit rushing up her throat but upon sitting up she realised it was very much a reality. Throwing back the duvet she hurried to get to the bathroom before she couldn't hold it any longer and ended up wearing it instead. With her hand clamped firmly across her mouth Michelle slammed the bathroom door behind her and the sudden loud noise of it all almost made Steve drop the plates he was holding in fright. He hadn't expected her up just yet.
Michelle fell to her knees at the toilet bowl and stared heaving quite violently as the bile burnt her throat. She'd never known vomiting to be as painful as this not even when she'd had morning sickness when she was pregnant with Ryan. For now it felt like she was going to throw up her actual stomach and she hoped it wouldn't last much longer. Heaving as she finally finished, nothing but acid now coming up as she coughed, Michelle panted for breath and felt her throat was dry and itchy. She waited, hovering her head still over the bowl to make sure that was the last of it. The smell of what she'd previously chucked up very off putting and making her feel even more unwell. She needed to get out of there and so as she stood up she flushed the contents of the toilet away.
She wanted to curl up in a ball and so turned to exit the bathroom where she caught site of herself in the mirror. She was deathly pale, black circles under her eyes from smudged make up and she looked as rough and ill as she felt. Sickened by her image she turned away, unable to look at herself a second longer and slouched as she dragged herself into the hall.
"Morning" chirped Steve stupidly as he caught sight of her.
She gave a weak smile by way of response, she didn't feel much like talking. Her head was starting to throb and she felt too tired to even want to keep herself standing upright. She just didn't have the energy. Steve noticed she looked a little peaky but then again it was still quite early. He approached her slowly and with caution not wanting to stress her out in anyway.
"You okay?" he asked, concerned by her pale complexion.
Michelle nodded and gave him an expressionless look, she didn't know how she really felt but he was the last person she felt like opening up to right now. Turning her back on him she opened Ryan's door and peeked in to see his bed empty. Shaking her head in disgust that he hadn't even bothered to come home and had probably shacked up in Katy's room at Anna's for the night Michelle slammed the door back shut and stormed off into her own bedroom.
Steve was only too used to these moods of hers. They were growing more and more frequent especially where Ryan was concerned. He could tell Michelle loved her son so very much but he really did frustrate her with his immaturity. Shrugging it off as one of those days where he and Michelle would probably not even utter a word to each other her returned to the stack of washing up he now had to do and wished they'd eaten the take out from the trays to save him from having to make the effort.
In the bedroom Michelle went to climb back beneath the duvet when she looked over at the clock. It was later than she had thought, almost nine! Great, she thought, now I'm going to be late for work. Maybe Carla would be more forgiving today now she knew what was going on she hoped. Michelle suddenly found herself looking back in the mirror, nothing she threw on looked right, nothing felt right, she was just irritated. She ended up settling for some black straight leg jeans that now seemed tighter and a top that would pass as smart enough for the office. Teamed with her boots and pulling her hair back into a ponytail it was the most presentable she was going to be able to make herself.
As she patted on her make up she suddenly caught sight of the diamond sparkling away on her finger from last night. Looking at it shimmering for a minute she smiled and then had second thoughts about wearing it for the day. She wasn't ready to announce her engagement to the street just yet. She slipped the delicate ring from her finger and twiddled it in her fingertips for just a moment before going to place it on the side. She was about to leave without it when she felt guilty for taking it off, if Steve saw surely he'd feel hurt. Picking the ring back up she slipped it on to the opposite hand and left the bedroom.
She called out goodbye to Steve as she left in such a hurry it took a minute for him to register that she had actually gone. The street was busy as she hurried around the corner to the factory. She rushed up the steps and burst into the factory so quickly she made her own head spin. Apologetic as she appeared at the office door she chucked her coat on a hook, dumped her bag by her desk and got straight to work.
"Everything ok?" asked Carla, eyeing her friend suspiciously.
"Yeah" Lied Michelle as she got her computer up and running and started sorting through her workload for the day as way of distraction. She hoped today would go quickly and she could return home to disappear into her bed until she figured out what to do about the baby.
"Good" chirped Carla as she stood up and grabbed her own bag.
"You're in charge, because I have a meeting. See ya later" explained Carla as she made a swift exit.
Michelle didn't even have time to protest, with all the stuff she had going on right now she was way too pre-occupied to run this place smoothly by herself. Where was Rob and why couldn't he do it? She thought as she sunk back in her chair starting to sulk at the added stress she suddenly felt. Today just got a whole lot longer, she sighed and then jumped out of her skin, when Julie bounced in with a cup of tea for her. Thankfully she took it, leaning back in her chair and trying to relax as she sipped away at the sweet hot beverage. Carla had better not be gone all day she thought because they way she felt she would be relocating her office to the toilet by lunch time.