Chapter 41
On the fifth of July I got a phone call from the builders. The Manor was ready. I thanked the man on the phone and hung up, turning to the others in the kitchen.
"The Manor is ready. We can go back in two days; they just need to clear the building stuff out of the way."
"Really? It's all finished?" Meg grinned. I nodded and smiled as Erik got to his feet.
"Yup, all finished." I said and hugged Erik. He kissed the top of my head and said,
"We'll need to sort a few things out then."
We all sat around the kitchen table and Nadir said,
"I won't be moving up to the Manor with you. I've been sorting a few things out and I'm going to find my own place. I think I'm going to stay here for a while, rather than travelling again."
"Are you sure?" Erik asked and Nadir nodded.
"Yes, I am."
"As soon as Mum gets back, at the end of August I'll be out of your way." Meg said and I patted her arm.
"Meg, you're never in the way, don't be silly."
"What about you, Darren? Are you coming up to the Manor?" Erik asked him. Darren smiled.
"If I can. I'd like to get my own place eventually, but I need to pay for my college course and everything at the moment. So, if you'll have me…"
"Of course, it'll be good." I said happily. "And Dad will be out of hospital soon. He'll be coming here, and it's probably best if he actually has somewhere to sleep."
Darren grinned and then looked at his watch.
"Oh, gotta go or I'll be late for work. See you later." He kissed Meg quickly and disappeared. I smiled at Meg, who grinned dopily.
"I'm going to go and do some dance practise at the gym." She said, still with the smile on her face. Nadir disappeared into the study and I looked over at Erik.
"Ready to go home?"
"Very much so." He smiled.
We spent the next two days packing. Meg and I had finished college until September and Darren took a day off work to prepare his stuff. Nadir had the foresight to rent out a van for the Monday when we would be taking everything up to the Manor.
On the Sunday I started to pack my clothes into a suitcase, as Erik came in with another box. We'd both lost most of our clothes, which Meg had been delighted about, as it meant she could take us both shopping for hours, picking out clothes. Erik had simply selected them off the rack, paid and disappeared within forty-five minutes. I had been stuck with her for the whole day.
As I folded a dress, Erik said,
"I'm having a piano delivered on Wednesday."
"Oh, you found one?" I said, looking up with a smile. He'd been searching for a piano for some time. Not just any piano would do, he had gone around trying out all of the ones that had been available.
"Yes and some other new instruments."
"Great. Do you want me to pack your clothes?"
"If you would. Or, I should do that and you could go and buy some food to take up with us."
"Good idea." I said, kissing him and going downstairs.
"Christine, do you know where my CD bag is?" Meg asked, searching through a drawer.
"Under the living room table. Where are my keys?"
"On the hook." Darren said, carrying a heavy box through and putting it by the front door. I snatched my keys off the hook and went outside to my bike.
When I got home from the supermarket, Nadir was home. He smiled and frowned.
"I thought you were getting food."
"It's being delivered to the Manor between 12 and 4 tomorrow. I couldn't get that much on my bike." I said, hanging my jacket off. "How's the packing going?"
"I think we're just about finished." Nadir said, looking at the pile of boxes beside the door. He was coming to the Manor temporarily, whilst he was looking for his own place.
"OK, when did we get so much stuff?" I asked.
"I know, I'm sure I didn't have that much when we arrived here." Nadir agreed.
Dinner was a bit mixed up that night, as there wasn't really anywhere to sit because of boxes and cases. We ended spotted around the living room on the floor, eating Chinese takeaway straight from the cartons. I was pretty good at using chopsticks but Darren was less good and ended getting a fork.
"We should all get an early night. We're going to have a busy day tomorrow." Nadir said as we threw the used cartons away. So we all said goodnight and went upstairs. As I pulled my pyjamas on and Erik lay in bed I heard the others saying goodnight and called it back to them.
I climbed into bed and stretched, snuggling under the covers. Erik reached out and pulled me to him, hugging me. I rested my head on his chest and sighed as Erik's arms rested around me.
"It's so weird… tomorrow night we'll be back at the Manor." I murmured.
"Hmm." Erik said quietly.
"Tired?"
"A little." He murmured. I closed my eyes and whispered,
"Love you."
"I love you too." He whispered as the last light in the house went out and we descended into darkness.
Of course, it being a busy day, Murphy's Law kicked in. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong. Several boxes got dropped on their way to the van, which showed up an hour late. Ayesha got trapped in the garden shed and yowled for ten minutes after we got her out, scratching my arms to shreds in the process. Everyone was snapping at each other and when Samantha turned up to see how it was going at eleven, everyone just sort of grunted at her and she whistled.
"Bad morning?"
"Everything is going wrong." Meg moaned, pushing a box into the van. Samantha smiled.
"Think about it like this – things can only get better."
It then started to rain. We all glared at Samantha who winced.
"My bad."
Finally everything was loaded up. Darren took Erik, Meg and Samantha in the car, whilst Nadir drove the rented van. I climbed onto my bike and Erik frowned.
"Be careful. The roads are wet."
"Relax, it'll be fine. I've driven in the rain before." I told him, pulling my helmet on. The car went on ahead, with the van just behind. I made sure the house was locked up and then set off after them.
I had to drive quite slowly because of the rain and by the time we got to the Manor, it had turned from a light shower to torrential downpour. We started to run in and out with the boxes, trying to get everything in quickly. Once the boxes stood in a messy pile we closed the doors and sat around, panting, all of us soaked through and shivering.
Once I had caught my breath I blinked and looked around the Entrance Hall. It looked almost exactly the same. Only the missing things such as paintings and hangings, or tables and stands made it look different. I clutched Erik's hand, almost afraid as we stared around. Darren let out a low whistle.
"This place is… wow."
But both Erik and I were thinking the same thing. Still clutching each other, we hastened across the Entrance Hall to the Music Room. I paused outside, fearful. Erik took a deep breath and opened the door. We both stepped in.
It was… perfect. Painted completely white, as it had been before but completely bare. It needed instruments but it felt the same. It was our room again. I smiled up at Erik to see if he felt it as well and same him smiling down at me.
"It's right." I said.
"Yes."
We moved around the other rooms. Most looked slightly different, as they were empty of furniture. We would have to order it, but once it arrived it would be our home again. Thankfully the library had remained intact, although the books were in storage. Erik and I went upstairs to look at our room. It was mostly alright, a lot of the damage had only been from smoke.
The kitchen was completely different. It had been here that the fire had started and had therefore suffered the most damage. But Nadir had given instructions as to how it would look and instead of being a completely modern kitchen, as I had feared, it was still the old-fashioned, quaint room it had always been, even if it was decorated differently.
We joined the others in the Entrance Hall and Nadir smiled.
"How is everything?"
"It's perfect, Nadir, thank you." I said, hugging him. He looked surprised but returned the gesture. Erik smiled at him.
"There's not much furniture. We can order that later."
"Well, why don't I take Christine over to the furniture store and we can pick some stuff out?" Darren offered. I nodded.
"That would work, and then we can get it delivered, and get some of this stuff unpacked."
"Yes, go on." Erik nodded. I bent down and let a hissing Ayesha out of her cage. She sniffed cautiously and then darted to Erik, rubbing against his legs.
Darren and I wandered around the furniture store and I said idly,
"I've never put that much thought into tables before."
"Well, you have to have an old-fashioned looking one, to fit in with the feel of the place." Darren said, as walked past a pine and chrome style dining table.
A smiling man in his fifties, dressed in a suit and with a nametag on approached us, hands clasped in that 'let me help you!' kind of way.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, please. We need furniture. Lots of it." Darren said cheerfully. I grinned and the man said,
"Of course. You two are moving together? We get a lot of young couples at this it of-"
"God, no!" Darren said in horror. I pulled a face.
"No, no. He's my boyfriend's brother."
"Oh! My apologies." The man said. His nametag proclaimed him to be called André and he asked,
"What sort of furniture? Kitchen, dining room, living room…?"
"All of them." Darren said.
I pushed him out of the way and smiled.
"OK, the thing is, my boyfriend and I lost our house in a fire. We're moving back in today, but most of the furniture is gone, so we've just come to see what we can get."
"Of course. Would you like it in a particular style?" André asked and I nodded.
"Old-fashioned looking ones. It's a very Victorian looking house. Big rooms, so we need big furniture."
"You're in luck! We've just had a delivery of styled pieces and I think some of it could be just what we're looking for. We also have pieces custom-made, it the shape or size needs changing." André said, leading us to the other end of the enormous shop.
The first thing he showed us was a dining table. It was long and made of a very dark wood. It came with about thirty chairs and I smiled, running a hand over the gleaming surface.
"That is perfect for the dining room."
"It's definitely big enough." Darren agreed. "You do deliver, don't you?"
"Of course." André said, apparently a little offended that he felt the need to ask.
We wandered around the shop, picking out pieces of furniture. Nadir had had the foresight to pre-order essential things like the oven and washing machine so we didn't need to worry about those. We chose a new suite for the living room, a gorgeous set of three chairs and a sofa. We would have to come back another day with measurements for curtains and drapes, but this would do for now.
André looked as if Christmas had come early at the amount of furniture we ordered. I thought he was going to start hugging us after each piece we decided on. Eventually Darren tapped his watch.
"We should be getting back."
"Yeah. We'll come back probably tomorrow or Wednesday for anything else we need." I told André who smiled happily.
"Of course. If you would fill out these forms, we can have the furniture delivered by the end of the week."
Erik, Nadir, Meg and Samantha were in the kitchen drinking tea when we got back. I kissed Erik and grinned,
"It'll be here sometime this week. I need to get measurements for curtains and stuff though."
"Alright." Erik smiled.
"Wow, this is so exciting! I can't wait to see what it all looks like when it's finished." Meg said happily. I laughed as I poured myself tea.
"We got some great furniture. And, if you don't like it, we can return it in a week and change it for something else." I told Erik. He smiled.
"I trust your judgement."
"I hope you like bright pink upholstery." Darren said calmly.
Erik choked on a mouthful of tea and stared at me in horror. I snorted with laughter.
"He's joking, Erik! I'd never do that to you."
"Oh thank god." Erik muttered, clutching his chest. I laughed and dug through the cupboards. Clearly the shop had delivered the food. I grinned and pulled out a box of biscuits.
"Yum."
"We'll be having dinner soon." Nadir said. I shrugged and took a biscuit.
"I'm hungry now."
"Watch it Christine, you're putting weight on." Meg said, poking me in the stomach. I stared down at myself I then at Erik.
"You think I'm fat?"
"What? No!"
I grinned again and pulled a face at Meg.
"See? He still likes me, even if I'm fat."
"You're not fat." Erik insisted. I hugged him and then scooped up Ayesha, who was prowling around in hope of getting a biscuit. I fed her a bit of one and said,
"Let's find your bed."
"It's already in the cupboard." Samantha said. I hugged the cat and smiled happily.
"This is so good. Home, sweet home."
"Mansion, sweet mansion." Darren put in. I laughed and looked at Meg.
"Have you picked a bedroom yet?"
"No… how many are there?"
"Never bothered to count them. Come on, let's find you one."
She, Darren and Nadir spent a good twenty minutes picking out bedrooms. Erik had already put our things away in our room and had arranged for the things that were in storage to be delivered the next day. I looked at Samantha.
"Staying for dinner?"
"I'd love to. Let me help cook, though."
I did spaghetti bolognaise. Quick, easy and delicious. I opened a tin of cat food for Ayesha and she tucked into it before circling the table and pouncing on stray pieces of spaghetti. Over dinner we discussed furniture, plans for the next day, where to put the things, Nadir's house-hunting plans and when we were halfway through the meal, the buzzer to the front door went off. Erik went to answer it and returned with Penny and Thomas. I embraced them both.
"How are you?"
"Oh, we're fine dear. And who are these lovely people?" Penny asked, peering around at everyone. I smiled.
"This is Nadir, a friend of Erik's. That's Meg, my friend. Samantha is another friend and Darren is Erik's stepbrother. Everyone, this is Penny and Thomas. Would you like some spaghetti bolognaise?"
I piled two plates and everyone shuffled around to find space for them. Darren, Meg and I were all sat on boxes but that didn't matter. The atmosphere was one of warmth and happiness. I looked around at everyone. They were all smiling, laughing, talking, and joking. A bubble of happiness welled up inside of me.
My eyes met Erik's. He had been watching me. I smiled gently and he returned it. I put my plate in the sink and put the kettle on for coffee as Nadir asked Thomas about the gardens. Erik stood beside me, filling the coffee pot and setting out mugs. We worked in silence. Not because neither of us had nothing to say. Simply because we didn't need the words.
A/N: Yay! Back at the Manor! Things can only get better!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I quite liked writing this one. Much as I enjoy writing Erik/Christine interaction, it's fun to have all those characters to play with. Lol, maybe I should make one of those little stages, like Erik has in the movie, only of the Manor, and act out chapters!
…I need a hobby. Lol.
Love you all. Your reviews are so nice. I'll get the next chapter done soon, hopefully. See, I know exactly what is going to happen by the end of the story; I'm just sorting out the order in my head. So I know what's going to happen. Or maybe I should just have a meteor hit the Manor and everybody explode. That'd be amusing too!
… Seriously. Hobby. Gotta get me one.
Lotsa luv 'n' huggles
Katie