-Looking down at the tall, pointy red shoes in her hand. It was a bad idea, a very bad idea indeed, but she was going to do it anyway. They matched her dress perfectly, and he had said to dress up. Taking hold of the shoes by the thin straps that she had no idea how to fasten she carried them out of her bedroom and across the hall into the kitchen. Placing them on the chair she went back to the bedroom to get her bag and jacket. Hanging the jacket on the back of the dining chair she picked the shoes and sat down, placing one of the shoes on the floor as she looked at the other shoe in her hand trying to work out how it fastened. After a few minutes of loud swearing, she finally fastened it on her left foot and picked up the other shoe. Now she knew what she was doing the shoe was on in less than ten seconds. Just as she sat up straight she heard the buzz of the intercom in the hallway. Standing up she carefully placed one foot in front of the other, walking as slowly and as carefully as she possibly could until she reached the front down and pressed the buzzer to allow her visitor entry to the block of flats. Taking a step back she opened the front door just in time to see a smartly dressed Boyd, hand poised in midair ready to knock.
"Come in, I'm just about ready." Taking another step back so Boyd could enter her flat.
Frankie shut the door behind Boyd and watched as he turned to look at her, his eyes travelling down her body then back up again until he made eye contact with her.
"I've changed my mind, I think we should stay in." His Adam's apple visibly fell and rose as he swallowed hard.
"You have got to be kidding me, right? I just managed to squeeze into this dress, spent way longer than normal fastening these shoes, and now you're saying let's stop in. Not happening Boyd, we're going out. I'll just get my bag and jacket and we'll go. Plus it's valentine's day." Not leaving any room in the conversation to negotiate the matter further.
After a slow walk along the hallway and back, Frankie stood beside Boyd with her jacket on and her bag in her hand. Boyd held out his elbow for Frankie to take, watching her walk to the kitchen and back he was surprised she hadn't fallen over. By the time they reached the car, Boyd was all but gripping on to her for dear life.
"Do you want to go back and change them shoes?" He asked as he rested his hand on the passenger door handle to stop Frankie opening the car door.
"Like hell I do. Cost me a bomb and they match my dress. Plus I have nothing else to wear unless you want to wait until I find a whole new outfit and shoes?" Grinning as she saw and heard Boyd groan.
"Get in the car." He all but growled as he yanked the car door handle and held the door open for Frankie to get in.
"So where are we going?" Frankie enquired after nearly ten minutes of driving along in silence.
"A little restaurant I found the other day while I was out walking around Mayfair. I just hope we can park close to the place before you fall off them shoes and I have to carry you." Boyd joked as he glanced down at Frankie's feet encased in her very tall heeled red shoes.
Boyd tried three times to park near the restaurant, doing laps around the block until he gave up and took the first available parking space he could find. They were only four streets away, but glancing down at Frankie's shoes as she got out the car and stood beside him they might as well have used the tube and walked from there. Linking Frankies arm they set-out towards the restaurant, Frankie stumbling every few hundred yards. After two streets his grip on her grew tighter each time she stumbled, he came to a stop, his hold on her less firm as he tried to turn her to face him. That was when things went drastically wrong. Her argument, later on, was if he had warned her he was going to stop so abruptly she would have had some warning and her forward motion wouldn't have suddenly halted as he attempted to turn her to face him. His argument was it didn't matter if he warned her or not, her heel would still have struck the edge of the paving slab and sent her spiralling towards the ground at an awkward angle.
"This is all your fault," Frankie grumbled as she sat back on the hospital trolley with the ice pack over her ankle.
"Don't start this again. It was gravity's fault and those bloody shoes of course." Looking between Frankie's face, the ice pack that covered her ankle and the red shoes that now both lay on the floor beside the bed.
"I'm hungry." Looking up at the clock on the wall as she sighed for the hundredth time.
"I am sure the nurse will bring you a sandwich or something if you ask. Not quite the snails, medium-rare steak and cheesecake I had in mind for tonight's menu though." Grinning as he watched Frankie close her eyes and groan.
"I take it the restaurant is nice then?" Curiosity getting the better of Frankie as she saw Boyd grin.
"Le Gavroche is beautiful. Had to book the table months ago with it being Valentine's day. Even had a hotel room booked for afterwards. Was going to wine and dine you, then take you back to a nice swanky hotel so I could have my way with you in a huge bed and most probably the jacuzzi as well." His mind's eye-filling in the blanks of Frankie lying sprawled out on a queen size bed completely naked.
"Are you serious?" Frankie not quite able to believe Boyd could be remotely romantic and also willing to spend so much money.
"Yes, look." Standing up from the hard plastic chair as he opened his jacket and pulled out an envelope with the words Hilton Hotel on and a small blue emblem. "Two nights, just you, me and room services." Passing the envelope to Frankie so she could see the plastic room card key inside.
Frankie looked at the envelope and the room card inside, her eyes starting to sting against the mix of pain, annoyance and disappointment she was feeling. She was about to say something but was halted when the curtain around the cubicle opened and a nurse stepped forward.
"X-ray time. Then hopefully we can patch you up and send you on your way." The nurse looking at Frankie as she reached around the curtain and brought a hospital wheelchair into view.
Boyd bent down and picked up Frankie's shoes, as Frankie shuffled off the bed and tried to stand up. The nurse helped Frankie take a seat in the wheelchair before taking the folded blanket from the foot of the bed and covering Frankie's legs. Both Frankie and Boyd looked at the blanket and then at the nurse.
"It's Friday night so it's a bit wild out there, the normal drunk and disorderly crowd of men and women. Don't want to cause any unnecessary problems.
I take it your date didn't get started going on how long you've been here?" The nurse asked as she took hold of the wheelchair and started to pull it out the cubicle.
"You could say that. We never even made it to the restaurant. These things here are the reason of course." Boyd answering the nurses question as he held up the offending red shoes.
"Yeah, them shoes would do it, seen many broken bones caused by those things. Best footwear ever, a good comfy pair of trainers. Can't beat them." The nurse pulling the trolley behind her said as she talked with Boyd following alongside.
"I do trainers every day, I wanted something different, something girly and, " Stopping before she added the word sexy to the end.
"Don't get me wrong, I get it. It's nice to be girly every once in a while, especially when you spend all day in scrubs. But you can't be all girly and sexy with a cast on your leg can you?" The nurse winking at Frankie as she stopped outside a door with a huge X-ray sign-on. "Before we do the x-ray any chance you're pregnant?" Seeing Frankie look at Boyd before answering.
"Definitely not. Not my thing at all." Frankie seeing Boyd start to smile.
"No, your thing is dead people and chopping them up." Suppressing a laugh when he saw the nurse look at Frankie.
"Don't panic, I'm a forensic pathologist." Glaring at Boyd just as the door to the x-ray room shut blocking him from view.
"So that's what the doctor is for on your file. Didn't want to snoop or ask. So, up on the bed and lie down, I'll get everything ready." Stopping the wheelchair beside the x-ray table and moving away to, sort out x-ray plates and the computer.
As the time passed by Boyd grew more impatient and Frankie grew more miserable. Frankie had opted to stay in the wheelchair when she was wheeled back to casualty, hospital beds weren't comfortable and she didn't want to lie down. After sitting waiting for over forty-five minutes Boyd got up and started to pace.
"I'll go find some food, and maybe see if they have something that passes as coffee. Won't be long." And with that, he was gone leaving Frankie sitting alone and even more miserable now she had no one with her.
Boyd did find an all-night Costa in the hospital and bought two coffees, a pack of sandwiches and a packet of small love heart chocolates that he tucked out of sight in his jacket pocket. When he arrived back at the cubicle he had left Frankie in he stuck his head through the small opening and looked over to where he had left her sitting. She was still sitting there, and she looked totally and utterly sorry for herself. When he stepped through the curtains she looked up and he saw a lone tear slip from her right eye and roll down her cheek. She quickly lowered her head as he placed the coffees and sandwiches on the table and closed the curtain fully. Picking up the plastic chair he moved it so it was right beside her before sitting down and turning to face her.
"Hey, come here." He whispered as he slid his left arm across her shoulders and gently tugged her towards him.
Frankie would have all but folded into him if it wasn't for the awkward position they were sitting in.
"It's not that bad, and we can't possibly be kept here much longer. Look, I have coffee and sandwiches, we can have our romantic dinner here. And, I even brought chocolates." Making a big show of getting the small packet he had just bought out his pocket.
Frankie gave a watery smile, swiping at her eyes to wipe away the tears. Boyd kissed the top of her head and rubbed his hand up and down her arm as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"See, not the end of the world and we have decent coffee to boot." Reaching across and picking up the coffee he had bought Frankie. "See, even smells nice." Moving the cup back and forth near Frankie's face.
Frankie sat up a little straighter and took the pre-offered coffee, inhaling the aroma before taking a sip. Boyd took his coffee and they sat quietly sipping the still hot drinks.
"Sandwich as well." Boyd promoted as he put his cup down and removed his arm from around Frankie.
The sandwiches were soon gone, the rubbish in the bin and the remains of the coffee going cool. Frankie was nearly asleep when a nurse appeared with a doctor following close behind her.
"So, Doctor Wharton, or do you prefer Frankie?" The Doctor asked as he smiled at Frankie.
"Frankie works for me." Frankie instantly replied as she tried to sit up a little straighter.
"We have good news and bad news. The bad news is you have a hairline fracture of the ankle bone. The good news is we can put a cast on and then you go home. The nurse will take you through to a room and we'll get your cast on, then we will sort out some meds, crutches and then discharge you. Sound okay with you?" Frankie already nodding her head in agreement before he had even finished asking.
Boyd followed the nurse and Frankie through the hospital but stayed outside the room as Frankie got her cast on. They were just about to return to casualty when another nurse appeared with a set of crutches and Frankie's meds discharge papers. Frankie stood on her good foot beside Boyd as soon as she saw the crutches, Boyd still carrying her shoes and her bag.
"How about we use the wheelchair to the car, you seem to be forgetting something in your haste to escape." Boyd holding up the pair of red shoes for Frankie.
"Fuck." Frankie ground out as she looked down at her bare foot.
Sitting back down she held the crutches up so Boyd could pass her the discharge papers and her shoes leaving his hands free to pull the wheelchair. Between them they got her seated in the car with her crutches on the back seat along with the shoes and hospital paperwork. Boyd started the car and looked at the dashboard clock, four seventeen in the morning. He supposed the hotel had people turn up at all hours of the day and night. The room was booked and paid for, and theirs until Sunday lunchtime so why not turn up at four-thirty in the morning?
Parking the car in the reserved bay that he had booked with the room Boyd looked across at Frankie. Her hair was now all fluffed up, her dress had slowly inched halfway up her thighs and the bright pink cast on her leg didn't match but it was so Frankie.
"Let's get you upstairs," Boyd suggested as Frankie gave him a half-grin.
"Thought you'd never, " the rest of the sentence unintelligible as she yawned.
"If you say so. We'll order some food to be sent up as we pass reception." Seeing Frankie yawn again as he went to open the car door.
It took five times longer than it should have to get from the car to reception then up to the room. What didn't help was they were at the end of the hallway on the 25th floor. Boyd had been in the room earlier to drop off the overnight bags he had packed for them both before meeting Frankie for Lunch. He knew what the room was like but he wanted to see Frankie's face when she saw it for the first time. After getting the keycard to work he pushed the door open and let Frankie enter before him. Quickly shutting the door he slipped past Frankie so he could watch as she took in the Queen size bed, the minibar and the view from the window. He heard her gasp as she looked around, her eyes widening in surprise as she saw the bed and the view through the window.
"Pete." She all but whispered as she felt her eyes starting to sting again with unshed tears.
"Get comfortable and take the weight of your good foot, I'll get you something to change into." Boyd called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the bathroom only to return with the complimentary slippers and a bathrobe.
Frankie propped the crutches against the wall and hopped the two steps to the bed. Sitting down she shuffled back as she turned to lift her legs up. Boyd stood at the foot of the huge bed and watched as she moved the pillows around until she had a stack behind her before flopping back and closing her eyes.
"Don't get too comfortable, you need to change out of them clothes and the food should be arriving shortly." Taking a seat at the foot of the bed and placing his hand on her knee as he watched her slowly open her eyes.
"I'm sorry for spoiling all of this, and dinner of course. It's beautiful, and you shouldn't have gone to all this effort." Feeling Boyd squeeze her knee as she spoke.
"You didn't spoil anything, we just got here later than expected. As for dinner you probably saved me money not going. I only lost my table deposit which is a small price to pay compared to how much dinner would have been. We can have dinner another time, another day. You're okay, no major damage, and we are here now. Stop fretting and get changed before, " a loud knocking stopping him mid-sentence. "Too late." Giving her knee a final squeeze before standing up and going to answer the door.
Frankie sat up and watched at the waiter wheeled in a trolley full of food dishes. She had no idea what Boyd had ordered but judging on the number of plates she better at half the menu. Boyd gave the waiter a tip as he went to leave before turning his attention to the trolley. What Frankie hadn't expected was for Boyd to reveal pizza, an Indian curry, some naan bread, and a few plates of Chinese food.
"What the hell, Boyd?" Looming over the plates before she started to laugh.
"Restaurant is closed so I had to improvise. Still cheaper than dinner at that restaurant. Come on and tuck in, pizza at five in the morning watching the sunrise is totally acceptable." Moving the trolley near the window as Frankie moved across the bed and sat up beside Boyd.
They ate in near silence, the only words exchanged were as they asked the other to pass food, or they commented on what they were eating. Soon half the pizza, half the curry and naan bread and most of the Chinese were gone. The sky outside was a beautiful shade of blue, the odd white fluffy cloud filling the cold February morning sky.
"I think I may slip into a food coma," Frankie mumbled as she wiped her hands and mouth on a napkin and threw it on the trolley.
"Food coma after you get changed. That dress can't be comfortable after twelve hours being pinned in it." Boyd said as he stood up and turned to look at Frankie.
"Help me with the zip then. Wasn't fun doing it up on my own." Managing to kneel on the edge of the bed with her back towards Boyd.
Boyd reached out and slowly pulled the zipper down, his fingertip following the line of her spine until he came to the bright red bra strap.
"Frankie!" He hissed through gritted teeth as he continued to pull the zipper down revealing a matching pair of panties that don't really cover much at all.
Frankie let him push the straps of the dress off her shoulders and down her arms, the dress slipping down the rest of her body and pooling at her knees.
"If I knew you were wearing them we definitely wouldn't have left your flat. Turn around and lie down so I can get a better look, I mean help you remove them so you can get into bed." His voice was deep and dry as he licked his lips and chilled his body to stay in check.
Lying flat on her stomach Frankie rolled onto her back and instantly locked eyes with Boyd, his pupils dilated making his eyes look nearly black. Boyd was careful as he pulled the dress the remaining way off. His attempt at keeping himself in order went out the window as he took in her pale skin against the bright red bra and panties. Shifting his weight from foot to foot he reached out and ran his hands up her legs, squeezing and kneading the skin and muscles until he reached the edge of her panties. Brushing the back of his hand against her groin he felt the damp material causing him to moan at the feeling of her arousal.
"We should leave this until later. We both need some sleep, you more so." Trying to be the voice of reason as his own groin gave a sharp twitch.
"Too late now. I want you." Frankie purred as she reached for his shirt front and drew him down to her.
Soon both of them were naked, Frankie pinned underneath Boyd as they both sort their own release. Frankie came first, her body's reaction to her own release pulling Boyd over the edge just after. Boyd collapsed to the side of Frankie and drew her close, her head resting on his chest as she tried to find a suitable place to rest her cast. Boyd felt her grow heavy against him and gave her a gentle nudge.
"Get into bed, it's big enough for both of us and your cast, come on." Giving her another gentle nudge before he moved to get off the bed.
Frankie complained in the way of a moan before she sat up and half crawled up the end. Pushing the cover back she climbed into bed and buried herself under the duvet. She heard the sound of Boyd using the bathroom before she felt the bed dip, his arms wrapping around her from behind as he settled her against his chest. Soon they were both sound asleep, the previous night's adventures forgotten as they slept.