This is the final chapter. I hope you've all enjoyed the ride. Thank you for reading!
11. You decided to agree to anything I decided
Danny stalked into the living room shortly after breakfeast. The rest of the group were already sat talking on the couches. They didn't have a con at the moment but were looking through the papers regularly to find one and Albert was out on his usual club round every afternoon, fishing for gossip.
Danny took his usual place, standing in front of the screen on the wall, facing them all.
"Okay, gang. I say we take a break for a few days. Me cousin's gettin married on Saturday, so I'll be gone over the weekend. Don't you underlings do anything stupid while boss is gone, eh?"
"Fine." Albert said.
Danny was about to leave the room when Billy asked him. "So where is this wedding gonna be then?"
"Dublin. Her husband-to-be is Irish." Danny answered.
"Good. It's about time you worked on your Irish accent." Albert stated. Danny gave him a tiny smile and went out of the room.
Billy sighed happily and patted his lap. "Goodie. My first hols. Mum's been naggin me to go see her for forever. She'll be happy, it'll keep her off me back for a while."
Stacie turned around to face Ash, who was sitting behind her on the sofa. "I think this means that we'll get our holiday." She turned back to Albert on the opposite couch. "Albie, do you want to come with us to Sandsend?"
Albert was chewing on the frame of his large black reading glasses. "Nah, my dear, I think I'll go see Harold and his wife in Benidorm. But thank you for the offer." he smiled, before getting up and moving into his bedroom.
Ash got up as well and went over to switch on his laptop. He sat down at the table. "So we decided on Sandsend in the end, did we?"
"Yes." Stacie says slowly as she walked over to the table. "We did. If I remember correctly, somewhere between the kiss at the restaurant on Friday night and breakfeast on Saturday morning, you decided to agree to anything I decided. Hence, Sandsend." she said and ruffled his hair.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his lap. They kissed quickly.
"Oh, get a room!" Billy shouted from the couch were he was slouched, reading an old magazine.
"We're about to." Ash stated. "Stacie, where do we want to stay? Hotel or cottage? Or perhaps you long for a weekend in a caravan?" he asked playfully.
She shuddered. "A caravan at the sea side in October? You must be joking. Cottage sounds good to me. Somewhere a bit off the beaten track, but still not totally isolated."
Ash agreed, so he started clicking on the keys of the computer. As Stacie was still sitting in his lap, he had to bend his neck around her shoulder in an akward angle in order to see the screen. A bit of a stiff neck is a small price to play for being able to look straight into her cleavage, he thougth. When he informed her of this, he got a swat on his arm and she jumped off his lap.
Billy chuckled.
***
Three days later, they sat on the train from Middlesbrough. It had been a long journey, but the scenery of the British landscape through the window was already making it worth it.
"I ain't been up in Yorkshire since I was twelve, I think. We went to Scarborough once in the summer." Ash said. He sat in the seat by the aisle, a crossword puzzle in his lap. Stacie had a pink chick lit novel in her lap, but neither of them had done much reading on the train. They had been taking in the view outside for the last thirty minutes and were soon to arrive in Whitby.
"I've never been here before." Stacie revealed, turning around to look at Ash and taking her eyes off the flock of sheep on the hill side.
"So why did you choose to come here then?"
"Because it's a new place for us to create new memories." she said and snuggled into his side.
He smiled widely and put his arm around her. "I like that."
When the train pulled into the old station in the centre of Whitby a few minutes later, Stacie was asleep against his side. He packed away his crossword and her book and woke her up. He softly rubbed his thumb against her cheek. "Wakey, wakey. We're here."
"Hmm?" she said as she opened her eyes. She looked out and quipped "What a cute little station."
Ash laughed and took their bags to get off the train. He collected their keys at the railway office and then went out to get a cab. They got into one of the waiting taxis and rode the short distance to Sandsend. The tide was going out and a few people were walking their dogs on the beach. A small boy was flying a kite, the breezy autumn wheater being perfect for that pastime.
They drove through town and then the driver turned onto a small lane just ahead of a steep hill. "That's the way you want to go for Lythe." said the man. "They have a nice pub, but if you want anything more grand you'll 'ave to go back to Whitby. There are some cafés here in Sandsend as well, tho'."
The driver unloaded their bags outside a quaint looking old fishersman's cottage called 'Thyme End'. "How long are you staying for?" ha asked as Stacie paid him.
"Just over the weekend. We wanted to go somewhere calm and relaxing." she said.
"Then you're in the right place. Come back in summer and it's packed with tourists, but this time o' year it'll only be you and the raindrops."
Ash smiled happily at that.
Fortunately, the cab driver had been wrong. It didn't rain all Saturday. Stacie and Ash had had a lie in and made breakfeast in bed. "What do we do today?" Ash said as he finished his tea and put the cup down.
"I'm guessing we'll go to Whitby for lunch. But what about a stroll on the beach first?" She continued teasingly "The sun is shining from a clear blue sky."
They had had this conversation numerous time before. Ash liked the fresh coast air but he prefered it when it was wasn't very hot. "I don't do sun."
"Come on. It's October, it's not the height of summer. Just humour me?"
Ash groaned, knowing he'd already lost the battle. He'd do anything for her, and a bit of sun couldn't really hurt. Besides, she was right, this time of year the sun wasn't as warm. It was the summer sun and the unbearable heat that he could't take. "Okay, okay. But then I get to pick the lunch restaurant."
Stacie rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, honey."
"We're having fish and chips." he stated gladly.
"I guess I can live with that." Stacie smiled down at him close beside her in bed. "But if that's what we're having, I think we might need some exercise first."
"All right, all right. I'm getting up." he said with the air of someone who's been defeated.
"And out." she said sternly.
"And out" he said and put his head back on his pillow again.
She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. He tried to move his head in order to get a proper kiss on the lips, but she was too quick for her. "Well ... let's get going then." she said smilingly as she jumped out of bed.
Soon Ash could hear the shower being turned on. Grinningly, he got up to join her under the hot water.
***
After lunch, which consisted of fish 'n chips at one of the several take out-places by the marina, they strolled around the East Cliff for a while before climbing the steep hill to the old abbey ruins. The view was grand. The vawes were glittering in the sun light and the sea gulls were screeching.
Ash held his arm around Stacie's shoulders as they stood on the hill top, looking down at the the people bustling about in the streets below.
The wide blue sea was calming to look at. They both stood there, staring at the waves and dreaming away. Ash thought back to the numerous times he'd been fishig with his father and his brother in sea side ports like this. He was woked un from his reminiscence by her her soft voice.
"Do you know what I'd like to do?" she asked dreamily.
"Me?" he said, smiling cheekily down at her.
She grinned. "Yeah, that to. But I was thinking of something else this time."
"What?"
"When we get a longer vacation next time, I know where I'd like to go with you."
"Where's that, then?" he asked curiously.
"Well, since someone isn't all that fond of sun and warmth, I'm guessing Mauritius is out of the picture ..." he gloated smilingly at him.
"Can't think who your talking about." he said slowly while concentrating on one of the sea gulls flying above them.
"I think we should go somewhere really cold. We both love the sea, so why not go somewhere where we could actually walk on the sea, I mean on the ice?" she asked.
He looked lovingly down at her. She had readily accepted the fact that he 'didn't do sun' and she had adapted to it, planning things that wouldn't take them somewhere warm. He loved her even more for it. "That would be interesting." he said. The fact that you could walk on the ice, he had known. But he'd never tried it, and it sounded fascinating.
"One might even say that it would be cool." she giggled.
Ash laughed at her bad joke. "You're just hilarious, d'you know that?" he said sarcastically.
"You're laughing." she stated in self defence.
"Must be 'cause I have a wierd sense of humour too, then." he said smilingly. She nodded pointedly at his statement.
Then he got serious. "Stacie, I'm touched that you plan on going somewhere where the temperature is below nil for my sake. I guess we could go south some time as well. Not Mauritius, though, you'd have to scrape me off the floor even before I got out of the plane. But perhaps Italy, that I think I might survive that."
She looked up at him adoringly and move in towards him. She leaned her cheek against his leather clad shoulder and looked up at him, her arms tightly wrapped around his form. "I love you." she said as she looked into his eyes.
Soon, they didn't even hear the sea gulls screeching anymore. They were too deep into their kiss to notice anything around them.
fin.