A Week Later

Alice was in her surgery lkistening to her air conditioner hum, she was lounging back in her chair glancing out of her window keeping an eye out for her unwanted guests. It had been a sorcher of a week, they had zero rain so far which meant the guests wanted to do things like game drives and visits, she made sure she was away pretty much all day. The time had passed surprisingly quickly but not quick enough, she knew she wasn't going to be able to avoid them forever. It didn't help that Caroline and Nomsa were trying to throw them together which was irritating, she always seemed to know just when Alice was going to go home as there the men would be eating or chatting. Alice had started eating out or skipping meals, by the time they left she was going to be a dress size smaller! On top of that she was going to be far better off financially, she had taken on twice as many call outs and worked her surgery sun up until sun down, hid at Mara in the evenings and looked for her mother in whatever free time she had. So here she was, in her office dialling yet another phone number trying to find her mum for Rosie…difference between this phone number and all the rest was she knew this one was a winner.

It had cost her a small fortune but she had hired a private detective who managed to track her mother down in the UK. She hadn't even tried to hide! Going back to the same estate Alice used to live on as a child, she didn't know why she hadn't thought of it! She was sat back ion her chair listening to the telephone ring in her ear.

"Hello?" came a soft Glaswegian voice.

The accent Alice had inherited having lived there until she was ten. "Hello mum its Alice."

"Oh no not you!" her mother yelped.

"Don't hang up!" Alice said quickly. "I need to talk to you that's all!"

Her mum was quiet so long Alice thought she had put the phone down and left it somewhere, a disjointed voice floated across the line, "Ok talk then."

Alice exhaled, "Aren't you even going to ask about Rosie at all? You don't know if she is safe." On the subject of Rosie, at the moment Alice's relationship had dips and flows. Mostly dips, but she seemed to enjoy her time in the surgery, she helped with the meds and cleaned the pens and cages for pocket money. It was hard but Rosie seemed to be getting into it….things had been great with them until Alice caught her with a bottle of Dupes whiskey which caused a screaming match. Why couldn't Rosie see she was only doing what was best for her? her mums voice yanked her from her thoughts.

"I know she is safe Alice, you wouldn't be phoning me if she wasn't with you, you have had no time for me for years!" her mums voice bitter.

"How do you know they didn't contact me when they couldn't find you? How do you know she wasn't hit by a car? Or kidnapped?"

"How is she then?" Linda asked almost bored.

Alice clenched her jaw, "Do you actually care?"

Linda didn't answer and had her mother been in front of her Alice might have hit her. "Well?" Alice hissed.

"You don't know what I went through with her Alice, she had been expelled from as many schools in the last three years. She is smoking, drinking…." trying to justify her actions.

Alice could guess what her mum went through by the treatment she was getting by Rosie, Rosie was her sister though, it wasn't fair on Alice having this thrust on her. "So what mum? You throw your daughter away because its hard work? Coz she's difficult?" Alice shook her head on the phone. "Then again that's what you do isn't it? You did it to me when I was eleven and went to live with my dad! At least I had him."

"And Rosie has you." her mum told her.

"She needs her parents, I don't know how to raise a teenager!"

"She'd have both her parents if it wasn't for you!" Linda fumed.

"Don't blame that on me!" Alice snapped. "HE started on me! HE hit me! I lost so much coz of him! I couldn't stay after you picked him. I left because I had to! You picked a man over your daughter!"

"YOU picked a man over your mother and looked what happened to that!" Linda laughed.

Alice felt rage bubbling beneath the surface. "Don't pretend to know what went on with me and Danny….."

Linda was laughing louder, "I know more than you think! I know less than a week after your split he was seeing some girl he used to talk to from school…."

Alice's mum knew just how to push her buttons, unfortunately when Alice got in contact with her mum once again she believed she could trust her and told her how worried she was that Danny was cheating on hr with a girl in his class. It was all unfounded but her mum never missed a chance to use it….."You know it probably best Rosie is away from you!" Alice hissed. "God knows what kind of start she's had! With you as a mother it's a wonder both of us aren't messed up!"

"You both are messed up! She is gonna end up just like you, well she's your problem now!"

"You have NO IDEA WHAT I WAS LIKE YOU WALKED OUT!"

"And what did I find when I got back to you? Same as her! She's taking drugs, sleeping with boys, smoking and drinking and I just know she's gonna end up…."

Alice refused to listen to her mother list all her faults. She removed the phone from her ear and pounded it off the table three times hard hoping to have caused her mum some pain. She then tossed the phone on the table and sat forward her head on her hand. There was no way Rosie could go back to her mum now. God knows what Rosie had already been through. She lowered her head further, her hands running through her hair feeling thoroughly irritated with life. She couldn't wait for tonight with Vanessa! She was going to get blind drunk!

She wasn't sleeping very well lately, the close proximity to Danny was messing her up. She was avoiding him the best she could but like the thought earlier Caroline was trying to throw them together. She could feel him when he was at the house and now Caroline and Nomsa were using him as a handy man! Having him near was putting her on edge, her nerves frayed…..a knock startled her from her thoughts…..oh good work, she wouldn't have to think of Danny now! She got up, "C'min." she called and headed for the door.

Danny appeared and those nerves which were fraying finally snapped and her temper exploded. "I told you guests aren't supposed to be in here!"

"Caroline said you had a sticky door and told me you were out. Don't blame me!" his eyes flashing fire.

"I don't need you ok! I didn't need you ten years ago and I certainly don't need you now!" completely over reacting.

"I didn't say you did, I was doing a favour for Caroline." and he crossed his arms.

"Well I don't want you in here, I don't want you anywhere near me!"

His whole body seemed to harden, "Fine by me!" and he spun quickly and left. Alice was breathing heavily the anger in her refusing to ebb. You know what? It was time to shut up shop and start drinking a little early, God knew she was entitled to it! Oh and Vanessa better leave Leon at home, since they met a few days ago it was like they were joined at the hip! Alice didn't want Danny or Leon rammed down her throat, tonight she wanted to forget!

Alice had taken a long luxurious bath after her altercation with Danny, granted she had taken a bottle of wine in there with her, she'd had three glass while she soaked. She wanted to have the whole bottle but she knew better than to drink it all, this night would be ending very quickly if she drank too much before she even left the house. So after emptying her glass she put the lid back on the bottle and it currently sat on her nightstand while she sat doing her make up.

She had been in touch with Vanessa and she had promised her no Leon tonight, it was a girls night. Plus Alice knew that if Leon was around then Danny might be too and she had no desire to be around him. She felt all off balance around him, her moods swinging uncontrollably from being ok and extremely angry, the last time she'd been like this…..no! Not going there and not thinking of Danny either! It wasn't that she didn't feel guilty for how she treated him in the surgery, or that she didn't know she had to say sorry for it, she knew she did but the bitter ex wife part of her thought sod him, he brought this on himself! She told him guests weren't allowed in he surgery regardless whether Nomsa or Caroline told him different…..

'He had looked so natural stood there', sprang into her mind. He'd had long pressed blue jeans on with a blue t-shirt under a shirt which hung open, he was tanning nicely. It was weird as when they'd been at home he used to burn, he'd had such sensitive skin! She used to have to cover him in sun cream when they went out. Her eyes lowered and she smiled as she remembered a play fight they'd had once when she had been putting cream on his back, the lotion had got everywhere….she looked in the mirror saw the smile and scowled at her reflection. They had been young and stupid! They had no money and what did they do? They go and get married, they had never been abroad together, never even had a honeymoon! It had seemed like such a good idea at the time! They'd had a few months of grace whether if felt like the world was theirs and they could overcome anything.

She had spoke to her mother once about her current partner and then everything seemed to go wrong. It was funny marriage hadn't seemed as fun after that. It wasn't what she expected. Looking back she had expected it to just work, neither once of them was trying and working at it like they should have been. Still even if they had tried she knew that they would never have worked, it had been better to find that out earlier on. The marriage had been far too impulsive…..she scowled harder, why on earth was she still thinking about him? Why couldn't she get him out of her head? She had spent far too much time dwelling on him and their massive mistake and she was doing it no more! So clearing her mind she finished her make up and zipped up her bag.

She exited her room to walk into the kitchen and saw 2 full bottles of whiskey sat there, almost welcoming her. It was almost like Dupe had read her mind so as she walked into the kitchen she picked them up and took them to her room, unscrewing the bottle of one.

A/N this is a kind of cleaning up chapter, Rosie is sticking with Alice and she is about to go out with Vanessa oooo not good i tell you, this chapter was supposed to be far longer but it had like 5000 words and still wasn't finsihed so i've cut it, next chappie up soon x