A/N: I think it's time for another handful of chapters. Enjoy...
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Brunch
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There would be no lunch today because dinner would be such a big event tonight. Barbara already knew that so she stayed under the warm duvet for as long as she could after waking up. She would be having a substantial brunch but probably on her own. From downstairs some loud bustling was heard. Unfamiliar voices and rushing feet indicated that the manor already was being prepared for tonight. Over the internal debate if she should offer her help Barbara dozed off again.
The buzzing of her mobile woke her up a bit later. She blew her nose and already smiled because she knew that this could only be Tommy. Who else would send her a message? It had become quite a nice habit between them.
'Are you up?' he had texted. Barbara pressed the mobile against her chest and with her eyes at the ceiling she thought about a witty answer.
Downstairs Tommy eagerly waited for it. He was lying on the lounger in the living room, his feet dangling from one side, his head placed on a pile of cushions. He had chosen this room to be clearly out of the way of the company that was preparing the rooms for the dinner and the party. Tommy was glad that his mother finally had started to delegate these tasks to professionals. In earlier years it had been a family thing that always had ended in a disastrous argument between the Asherton brothers. Their relationship had turned better lately. They were not best friends but finally able to talk with each other without starting to fight at some point. They had talked about what stood between them and Natasha probably was another reason that made Peter less spiteful. He probably never will forgive him completely but maybe one day in the future they will be like normal brothers again. Tommy sighed and watched Peter sitting in the armchair with his feet on the coffeetable, toying with his own mobile, earphones plugged in.
Then Tommy received an answer.
' *yawns* '
Tommy grinned and shot a glance to his brother but Peter still was engrossed in something else. 'I take it as a maybe.'
Then the image of Barbara stretching and yawning while she still was lying in her bed would not want to leave his mind and he kept on smiling while he thought about a topic for that communication. He liked the idea that he was able to sneak into her mind first thing in the morning. She usually always answered straight away. This time Barbara did not answer for another short while and he suddenly only was able to imagine himself snuggling with her under her duvet. It was pleasurable and frightening him at the same time that he thought about going upstairs. They could easily cuddle and sleep off most of the day until they had to show up at tonight's dinner event, Tommy thought. It reminded him that Barbara still had not said if she would join him or not.
'Will you be my companion for tonight's dinner?'
Her answer came promptly. 'You've said I don't have to attend it if I don't want to'
It made Tommy's heart fall. Of course he had said that and of course she did not have to attend this dinner but he dearly wanted her to be by his side on New Year's Eve and all the more at midnight. And now her answer sounded as if she was playfully giving the same answer she had given him yesterday morning talking about getting up. He knew this time he could not let this conversation go in that direction. He had to be more clear.
'That's why I ask you out' Oh, heavens, this sounded like he was asking for a date with his Sergeant. Which he was. Which he should have expressed different. Which she surely will decline.
'Ok'
Or maybe she won't decline. Tommy gained hope. 'Is this a yes?'
Barbara was lying in her bed, smiling broadly during that chat. Her heart was racing and having this ridiculous text message exchange she felt like a teenager making a date with her first crush. Only her boss was no crush at all. What she felt for him was dangerously deeper.
'Yes' With mixed emotions she stopped breathing until his answer came.
'Wonderful. Come down for breakfast?'
A part of her was screaming to get up, fly down the stairs and into his arms. The other part was too embarrassed about the feelings she had discovered and more so about the date she had confirmed. Barbara had to calm down her nerves before she would be able to meet any of the Ashertons, not to mention his Lordship himself. Anyway she blamed the warm and comfortable bed for staying there.
'Give me a few minutes. It's so comfy in here.'
'As long as you can survive without caffeine' Tommy answered.
Barbara laughed. Since this was the end of their conversation she put the mobile onto the night stand but her mind still orbited the topic of the evening event. She had been invited to something like that before. Only now he had explicitly asked her to accompany him. It meant sitting next to him and staying at his side for most of the evening. Like on a date. And it was a date, wan't it? A real date. Once more Barbara reached for her communication device.
'Are we having a date?' She almost stopped breathing again. His answer came straight away.
'Looks that way, doesn't it?'
'Ah, well, then I'd better get going and start choosing one of the fancy dresses from my rucksack'
If she would have seen him standing in the hallway grinning madly Barbara may not have tried to overplay her racing heart with such a ridiculous answer but it made the strange tension he had been feeling finally falling from his chest. He was not able to keep it inside how light-hearted he felt. Standing at the foot of the stairs Tommy had to laugh out loud. Upstairs in her room even Barbara could hear him.
'Sure. Take your time. I have to go to the stables. You can meet me there later if you want to get out of the way of mother's bustle'
A good bit later Barbara went down to the kitchen to have some healthy brunch. No one but her was there when Trevor came running in excitedly beaming. His face fell when he recognised Barbara.
"Oh." he said disappointed.
Barbara had just finished her last toast with cheese and jam and only had kept sitting at the table for reading her book in an undisturbed place. She had looked up when the boy came in. "Have you expected someone else?"
"I had hoped... I just..." Trevor stammered. "I had hoped you were uncle Tommy. I..." He chewed on the inner side of his cheek.
"Yes?" Barbara put down her book and smiled encouraging.
"I am not allowed to go to the horses on my own." Trevor pouted and climbed onto the other chair. "What are you reading?" Are there nice pictures in it? I have a book where I can colour in the pictures. Do you like painting?"
Without having a chance to answer the first questions Barbara chose to ignore his last ones too. "Do you like the horses?"
Trevor nodded and gave her a heartbreaking doe-eyed look expressing his hope that although she was not his uncle she probably might still come with him. He did not do it on purpose but there was no way she would be able to resist the little man's pleading eyes, and the fact that she expected seeing the taller man with the same dark eyes in the stables made her decision to accompany Trevor all the more easier.
"Shall I come with you?" Instead of giving an answer Trevor jumped from the chair and ran happily howling towards the entrance door. "Wait! I have to get into proper shoes first!" Barbara laughed.
Before he could drag her out of the house Barbara insisted on warm clothes even though it had turned warmer. Unfazed by Trevor's nagging that it is "soooooo warm in the stables" she tossed him his woollen Celtic Glasgow scarf.
"You wouldn't want to get the sniffles, do you? I can tell it's no fun at all. So we don't go out there without our coats on."
"Mummy would let me." he murmured.
"I bet she won't." Then Barbara knelt down and helped him with the zipper. "You know, Trevor, I'm a Detective. Like uncle Tommy. I'm a police woman. I know when you're trying to cheat on me."
Her eyes winked friendly but the boy blushed nonetheless. "Yes, Ma'am." he murmured almost inaudibly and Barbara could not resist to ruffle through his dark hair. With Trevor she could do it without restrictions or irritated questions but there definitely was a different head on her mind when she did so. Oh, why on earth did all the Asherton boys have to have those gorgeous dark locks?!
A deep sigh came from her lips when she slowly followed the little tornado towards the stables.
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