Chapter Fifty
Max's alarm clock woke him up at 6:00am. He groaned, rolling over to turn it off. He glanced at his sleeping wife beside him before climbing out of bed. He pulled on his robe as he walked down the stairs. He wasn't surprised to see Lauren in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a coffee. 'Morning' he said with a smile, stooping to press a kiss to the top of her head.
'Morning, dad' she replied. 'Kettle's just boiled' she told him.
Max smiled and made himself a coffee and sat down at the table. 'What time did you get up?' he asked her.
'3:00am' Lauren replied as she took a sip of her coffee. Max studied his daughter's face. She was pale and the black circles around her eyes were a dead giveaway to her lack of sleep. He was still worried about her. Tanya was too. The counsellor Lauren had been seeing didn't appear to be making any difference.
'Did you sleep at all?' he asked her.
Lauren shook her head. 'No'
Max sighed, putting his cup on the table 'this has to stop Lauren it's not good for you' he told her sounding a little harsher than he'd meant to.
'I know' she nodded again and looked down at her cup, feeling her eyes fill with tears. 'I can't help it, dad' she whispered. 'I try to sleep but everything just whirls round in my head…'
'This counsellor doesn't seem to be helping you at all ether' he said to her 'maybe we should think about seeing the doctor again. Maybe he can give you something stronger to help you sleep, those pills the counsellor gave you don't seem to be working' Lauren didn't reply. 'Or maybe a trip away will do you good?'
Lauren looked up at him aghast 'what?' she blinked at him 'no' she shook her head 'I don't need to be sent away anywhere. I'm not crazy!' her voice went up a few octaves.
'Hey, I didn't mean that. I don't think you're crazy either' Max got up and moved to sit beside his daughter 'I meant that maybe we should go away abroad somewhere. Just you and me' he told her 'we could go to France or Spain?' he suggested to her. 'Go and look at some art galleries, you'd like that wouldn't you?' he asked her.
'What about mum and Abi?' Lauren blinked at him.
'They'd be okay for a couple of weeks or so without us' he told her softly 'so what do you say? Do you want to go away with your dad?' he asked her.
Lauren looked down into her coffee, 'I don't know' she said softly, 'can I think about it?' she asked looking up at him.
Max nodded 'course you can' he nodded his head 'How about I make you some breakfast, hey?' he asked her.
'I'm not hungry' she replied, wrapping her hands around her cup and getting up 'I'm going upstairs' she told him and she left the room.
Max sighed, he didn't know what else he could do. He hated seeing his daughter like this, suffering so much. He'd broach the subject again later, maybe even get Lucy to help him persuade Lauren to get out of Walford for a while.
*XX*XX*XX*XX*
Lauren climbed into her bed, pulling the letter from Joey out of her pocket and she straightened it out and began to read it again.
Dear Lauren.
I've read through the letters you wrote to me and never sent.
Firstly, I want to apologise for not getting in touch with you and telling you I was very much alive. Seeing the way you are now compared to the girl I used to know, and knowing that I'm responsible for that fills me with a tremendous amount of guilt and regret. I honestly thought you and Marcus had made up and what we shared was just a one-night stand. On reflection I realise nothing you did or said indicated we were having a one-night stand. I can only blame my own insecurities for my actions.
I'm so sorry Lauren. I hope you can forgive me.
I've enclosed my address and my phone number in case there is a slight chance you might want to contact me and arrange to meet up. I think we need to talk, don't you?
Anxiously waiting to hear from you.
Love Joey.
She put the letter to one side and frowned. She didn't know what to make of his letter. She knew she wasn't going to reply to him, nor was she going to call him even though she had his new mobile number. She couldn't understand how someone could be so cruel and unkind to another human being. If the shoe had been on the other foot and she'd seen Joey with his ex, she would've had the common decency to let him know that she was safe, whether he wanted to know or not. She would've at least given him a chance to explain things to her. But he didn't even give her that chance. His actions were those of a man who didn't really care. So why should she care now? Her decision was made. She left the letter on her bed and walked out of her room and down the stairs. Max looked up as Lauren walked into the room. She hesitated slightly as she saw her mother and sister were now up. She hadn't heard them get up. They both looked up at her in surprise. Lauren turned her attention to her dad. 'Did you mean what you said before?' she asked him.
'Course I did sweetheart' he nodded his head as he buttered some toast.
'I've thought about it and I think it would be good' she nodded her head.
'Yeah?' Max looked surprised, but a smile spread across his face.
'What's this?' Tanya asked him, looking at him for an explanation.
'Yeah' Lauren repeated, giving her dad a rare smile. 'As soon as possible' she added.
'I'll tell you what, why don't you go get your laptop from upstairs and I'll get my credit card and we can decide where we want to go?' he suggested to her.
Lauren's face lit up with a huge smile and she kissed her dad on top of his head and stole the slice of toast he'd just buttered as she rushed out of the room.
'What was that all about?' Tanya asked him.
'Lauren and I are taking a little trip' he told her 'I thought getting her out of Walford might help her a little bit' he told her.
'Max, we can't afford it' Tanya hissed at him.
'Did you see the smile on her face?' he asked her 'did you see she stole my toast?' Tanya nodded 'I'd pay all the money I had to see another smile like that and to see her eat again' he told her. He reached for some more toast and buttered it.
AN: Joey's keen to talk to Lauren and for her to forgive him, but Lauren isn't in that frame of mind. Max and Tanya are still worried about her and Lauren has taken up the suggestion of a trip away with just her dad…but something tells me the reason she's going on the trip isn't for the reason Max thinks it is. What do you think? Back tomorrow, don't forget to leave me a review.
