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Chapter 7: The Most Perfect Company
It had been expected for Rachel that the afternoon would drag by, what with Eddie's plans for the evening at the forefront of her mind. But because of Philip's presence in her office, Rachel had to at least look like she was managing to get some of her paperwork done. So this only heightened the difficulty. Squinting as she tried to focus on a form about departmental budgets, Rachel found that the words had just turned to mush.
Giving up, she glanced up at the clock for what felt like the tenth time that hour. Rachel was glad to see that only fifteen minutes remained of this seemingly never ending day. Rachel couldn't stop thinking about what Eddie might be planning on cooking for her, or what their night together might involve. She wouldn't want to rush things, it still seemed to unsettle Rachel that a mere 4 hours ago, Eddie was technically still engaged to her sister. Sighing, she pushed that musing to the back of her mind and focused on more joyous trails of thought.
Rachel decided that tonight was just a perfect opportunity for her and Eddie to explore what a relationship with one another could bring. It was something which Rachel had been longing to do for a while now, and thinking back upon Eddie's earlier choice of words, she reckoned that he had envisaged similar scenarios.
Catching a slight movement from Philip out of the corner of her eye, it occurred to Rachel that she hadn't yet broached the subject of Eddie's company with the boy. Something which had to be done.
"Philip?" she said, slightly warily. Rachel wasn't sure how Philip was going to react. She reckoned that it would either go terribly or perfectly - no in between.
The boy took one of his earphones out, tilting his head slightly, "yeh?"
"Well, tonight - Eddie's offered to come round and cook. I just wanted to check, if you know, if you're alright with that?"
As Rachel spoke, a subtle yet somewhat certain grin spread across Philip's lips. It seemed to fill Rachel with a whole lot of confidence - perhaps this conversation was going to go in her favour.
"As long as he doesn't give us food poisoning," Philip joked, emanating a chuckle at this point.
With that, every single ounce of tension seemed to leak out of Rachel's body. Philip could have easily been difficult about this situation, she would have understood it if he found the concept odd.
Rachel returned her nephew's chuckle before responding, unable to hide the considerable amount of joy in her features.
"Well, I asked him if he could actually cook, and he said that I'll have to be the judge of that. So it could go either way really," Rachel spoke, continuing Philip's humour.
Philip laughed and allowed a comfortable silence to settle for a few moments. He could see that his aunt's happiness still remained, and the smile which lingered on her lips had him feeling glad that she could feel this way despite his mother's earlier revelations.
"Rach," he said, capturing her attention once more, "really though, I am okay with it. I'm happy for Eddie to come round."
"Thank you Philip. I really do appreciate that."
The two family members shared a smile, and with a case of perfect timing; Eddie entered the office.
It was a pleasant surprise for Rachel, she hadn't been expecting to see Eddie again until later that evening, when he arrived at her house. The plan was for him to buy the ingredients for the meal he planned on making and get to Rachel's for about seven. She had offered to go with him to the supermarket, but Eddie had brushed off her offers, explaining how he wanted it to be a surprise. In any other case, Eddie knew that he would have jumped at the chance to spend some more time with Rachel. All in all though, they would be spending a much more considerable amount of time with one another for the rest of their lives - if Eddie had anything to do with it.
He seemed to hover in the doorway slightly, perhaps unsure of what to say or how to act with Philip's presence. Rachel and the teenager's previous conversation would be completely new knowledge to Eddie. Trying to reassure him in the form of an expression, Rachel smiled encouragingly. She hoped that Eddie would glean enough from her joyful features to know that Phillip approved.
The boy himself was smiling slightly too, and as Eddie glanced at him, Rachel guessed that his demeanour was the final consolation that he so very required. If at all possible, Rachel fell in love with Eddie even more as a result of how cautious he was currently being. It just showed how loving and caring he truly was. Eddie had a tendency to put others needs (particularly Rachel's) before his own, and she absolutely adored him for it.
"Just checking we're still on for tonight?" Eddie asked in a light manner, approaching Rachel's desk to be as close to her as possible.
"Of course," she beamed in response, "I was just telling Philip here how I really don't know what to expect with your culinary skills."
By this point, Philip himself had readjusted his headphones; feeling that he was somewhat intruding on what should be a private moment. As Philip tried to re focus his attention on French homework, he realised just how happy he was for his aunt. When Eddie had been with his mum, Philip couldn't see the spark and the genuine love which was now so very visible between the two adults in his company. He was glad that they have each other.
"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised Mason, just saying," Eddie responded, humorous facial expressions and mannerisms coming into play.
"I'll believe it when I see it Lawson."
Eddie huffed, "the cheek!"
Flashing him a playful look as he turned, Rachel allowed herself to get truly excited for this evening, now that it was so close. And as Eddie said his goodbyes, Rachel thanked her lucky stars for whatever force had allowed all of this to happen.
….
After heading to pick up Philip's essentials from Melissa's house, it was fast approaching seven o'clock. Upon realising that they would have to stop by and pick up some clothes etc for Philip, Rachel had been worried that Melissa would still be there. Luckily, she was long gone, leaving the house rather empty. Rachel also noted that the house wasn't home to many of Eddie's belongings, and she guessed that he had already been here on the way to the supermarket from work.
Currently, she was standing in her own bedroom failing to decide what to wear for her evening with Eddie. What was this? A date? Rachel sighed, cursing herself for being such an over thinker. Glancing at the clock, it was ten to 7, so she would have to make her mind up and fast. Deciding to go with a slightly more casual attire, Rachel chucked on some denim jeans and an emerald green jumper. Reapplying her lip gloss, she prided herself for getting dressed in under five minutes.
It was just as well, because as Rachel descended the stairs, the familiar noise of her doorbell was heard.
She checked her appearance in the hall mirror before taking a breath and approaching the door to open it. And there on Rachel's doorstep, stood the somewhat smouldering form of Eddie Lawson. All of a sudden she felt slightly nervous.
"Hi," Eddie smiled lightly, all the while taking in the beautiful sight of the woman before his eyes.
Rachel blushed as his gaze swept over her, breath catching in her throat as she struggled to reciprocate his greeting.
"Hey, you'd better come in," she beamed warmly, stepping aside to let Eddie into her hallway.
Only as they came face to face did Rachel realise that Eddie was holding an elegant bunch of flowers. But the thing was, they weren't just any old flowers. They were lilies - a favourite of Rachel's. And then she remembered a conversation that she shared with Eddie not long after meeting him, to do with flowers and which ones she preferred. Her heart soared thinking that Eddie had remembered such a minor detail from a significant amount of time ago.
Rachel took a step closer to him, touching one of the lilies softly and bringing her other hand to rest of Eddie's forearm.
"Oh Eddie, thank you," she commented sincerely as their gazes met once more.
He simply smiled in response, accompanied with a look which Rachel was beginning to realise he kept for her eyes only. As Eddie leant forwards to place a kiss on the side of her cheek, Rachel found that she didn't feel nervous anymore. This was Eddie, someone who was utterly easy for her to get along with. How amazing it felt to just be in his company had been one of the reasons why Rachel had fallen for him in the first place; that certainly wasn't going to alter in any way now.
Remembering that Eddie was cooking for her, Rachel grinned; looking forward to seeing his cooking skills first hand.
"You'll be needing the kitchen then," Rachel spoke, amused expression still evident as she took the bunch of flowers from Eddie's hands.
"Don't worry," Eddie laughed whilst following Rachel up the hallway, "I'll try not to burn your house down."
"You'd better not Lawson, or you'll never step foot in here again."
They entered the kitchen and his mouth widened upon acknowledging her words. Rachel laughed at Eddie's antics, showing him in her expression that those utterances were far from the truth. If Rachel had anything to do with it, she would be more than happy to spend the rest of her days with this wonderful man. She found herself hoping with all her heart that he felt the same.
Eddie began to unpack the ingredients, and Rachel was alerted to a slightly apprehensive looking Philip in the doorway.
"Is everything okay Philip?" Rachel queried; the boy now capturing Eddie's attention too.
"Would it be alright if I go out for a bit… with some friends?"
Rachel shared a glance with Eddie, both wondering why Philip seemed so nervous to ask such a simple and reasonable thing.
"Well I don't see why not. How come you were so uncertain to ask me that?"
Rachel didn't want to nag the poor boy, he had certainly been through enough in the past twelve hours. He deserved to be cut some slack. Equally though, she would have only sat and worried about him had she not asked about something which was so obviously bothering him.
"Well the thing is, it's erm... Bolton and Paul who've asked."
Rachel now felt rather wary about Philip's requests, and Eddie could completely understand her apprehension. After all, this was a boy who several hours ago, was taunting Philip with anything that sprang to mind.
"Are you sure that's a good idea lad?" Eddie asked lightly, hoping that Philip's answer would be truthful. But the boy showed no signs of answering, he only tore his gaze away from the two adults and began to focus his attention on the floorboards.
"Philip love, we're only asking because of what happened today. You know, how genuine really is Bolton's invitation?"
Rachel's nephew looked up now, perhaps understanding the reasons behind her questioning.
"We spoke some more, after the cooler. He said sorry again, so to be fair I do think he meant it."
Yet again Rachel glanced at Eddie; who was witness to the conflicted emotions behind her eyes. He guessed that she would be thinking of her nephew first and foremost, but that she would be pondering about how much she had turned Bolton around in the past year or so. Would he really go as far to betray her trust once more after their earlier conversation? Rachel longed for Philip to feel comfortable at Waterloo Road, and in recent weeks, he clearly hadn't been. So looking at the benefits if Bolton truly was sincere, Rachel reckoned that it was worth the risk if Philip was going to be happier within himself.
"Okay," Rachel said as the boy grinned and turned to make a move, "but Philip?" she waited until he turned around to face her, "if there are any problems, please text me."
"Yes miss," Philip joked as he walked away.
Rachel couldn't deny that it was wonderful to see Philip feeling slightly more upbeat after the day's events. She just had to trust her instincts with Bolton's intentions. Rachel truly did believe that at heart, Bolton was a kind and genuine person.
"He'll be alright you know," Eddie said, coming up to stand beside Rachel. She turned to face him, with his facial expression instantly calming and reassuring her, "I don't think Bolton would risk falling under your wrath again."
Eddie grinned now, and his light-hearted tone had the desired effect when Rachel span around fully to chuckle and swat him gently on the arm.
As they lingered their eyes on one another for a little bit longer than perhaps necessary, both adults were thinking about how Philip may have actually done them a favour this evening. It was an undeniable opportunity to spend some time in one another's company after earlier revelations. Maybe they wouldn't admit it out loud, but Rachel and Eddie were delighted to have each other's undivided attention.