AN: Sorry about the delay. I've been sick... again... Sigh
I realize you dont usually travel by plane between Nottingham and London... I'll blame it on my fever...
The monster in you
It's hard to take control,
when your enemy's old and afraid of you.
You'll discover that the monster you were running from
is the monster in you
Robin stood at the window, watching the rain beat on the glass, thinking of Marian. Thinking about her face, the softness of her skin, the smell of her body…. Let's just say the steamy moment they had shared on the couch a few days ago was still fresh on his mind.
Had it really only been three-and-a-half week since he had first laid eyes on her? It seemed so much longer than that to him. What originally started as a fairly innocent publicity stunt had slowly but surely turned into a nightmare.
Something had changed, he wasn't sure when and why but lately he had found himself drawn to her on so many levels, it was not even funny. She was consuming his every waking thought - and a few sleeping ones. He wanted her. He wanted to talk to her, hold her, kiss her…. Lock them both in a room for a week or so and make wild passionate love to her. But he couldn't let it happen, not like this anyway.
Tearing his eyes away from the window, Robin sighed and turned his attention back to his half-packed suitcase. It was time to quit daydreaming and get back business. He had a charity event in London to attend to…. and then when he got back, there were articles to write, plot lines to polish and a chapters to finish. He didn't have time for a serious relationship in his life right now… at least that was what he was trying to convince himself of.
This whole dating thing was never supposed to get this complicated. The plan had been to keep things simple… simple but convincing … Step 1) Find a suitable love interest, preferably someone nice but flawed... Step 2) Show her off at a few public events…Step 3) Dump her and get on with your life…. No emotions invested, no strings attached, no headache…
A brilliant plan in theory, but in reality it had already backfired on him and he hadn't even gotten to the second step yet…
Adding another shirt to the pile of clothes in his suitcase Robin pushed the closet door closed and reached for the plane tickets on the dresser.. He was meeting Marian at the airport in less than two hours. They were flying to London for the fifth annual charity ball for children's cancer awareness.
Attendance was by invitation only and these invitations were hard to come by. Allan, who had a female friend serving on the board of the Children's Hospital foundation, had used his connections as well as his charm to get him in. And since it was for a good cause it had been fairly easy to convince Marian to come along as his date.
Robin knew he should be thrilled about this trip, after all it was a perfect opportunity for publicity, but it also meant more headache….
How the hell was he going to survive two looong nights alone in a hotel suit with this girl without succumbing to his desire? He didn't want to hurt her. She deserved better, someone better than him, someone who could tell her how much he loved her and needed her. Someone who would never use her for selfish purposes... She deserved the best…
The morning of the London trip, Marian's alarm clock failed to go off and she ended up oversleeping several hours. Still half-unconscious she stumbled her way to the bathroom and rushed through her morning routine as fast as her sleepy mind would allow. She didn't wake up fully until she got into the shower and nearly freezed to death because her sister had already used up all the hot water.
Some days you just shouldn't get out of bed…
Trying to brush her teeth while dragging her luggage to the front door resulted in a stubbed toe and a nasty bruise on her knee. In an effort to toast a slice of bread for breakfast, she nearly managed to burn down the house. And then when she was finally on her way to the airport, the cab got stuck in traffic.
Overall Marian was having a pretty shitty start of the day… Looking back, maybe she should have taken that as a sign of what this weekend had in store for her… but she didn't. She was way too excited about finally spending some time alone with her man, to let a little bad luck dampen her spirit….
Arriving late, Marian plowed through the departure hall, knocking over everything in her way. After a few minutes of frantic searching she found a very nervous looking Robin pacing a hole in the floor over by the terminal ticket counter. The poor guy had probably been waiting for quit a while but there was literally no time for apologies. Together they rushed through customs and security and made it to the gate just before "closing time" only to discover that their flight had been delayed due to technical reasons.
Waiting can be such a slow torture… Thank God for airport malls!
Three-and-a-half hours passed and the morning turned into afternoon before they were finally allowed to board the plane. The hour-long flight was uneventful, with the exception of some minor turbulence and they touched ground in London without any further delays.
With the big "charity ball" thing only hours away, Robin was running behind schedule. After a quick stop by the hotel to check in, they headed straight for the Children's Hospital were Robin was invited to visit the open house held by the Center for Young Cancer Patients.
Marian was offered to tag along, as Robin and some of the other special invited guests, were given the mandatory grand tour of the hospital ward, which she happily agreed to. Partly because she was curious, it was a whole new experience for her to see Robin rubbing shoulders with other socialites. But mostly because she was star struck… She had recognised Chris Martin, Kelly Osborne and some soccer player she couldn't remember the name of, among the group of VIP Guest.
The tour ended in the pediatric play area, with an opportunity to meet and interact with some of the young patients, and their relatives. To say that the room erupted in activity was an understatement . Of course, the celebrity guests stole the show but Robin got his fair share of attention.
At one point there was this little girl, with the cutest little dimples and chipmunk cheeks, that warped herself around Robin's legs in an ecstatic, spontaneous, full-body-and-soul embrace that perhaps only a toddler can deliver. Marian could have sworn she felt her ovaries ache at the sight. Even the women behind her were like, "Oh my gosh, he's picking her up! How cute is that?" And then everyone and their grandma took pictures as Robin bouncing the little girl on his hip.
That moment was without a doubt the highlight of Marian's day so far. Little did she know her "hospital stay" would not end a pleasant as it started…