"What the hell is going on? Get off my daughter right now!", Geoffrey shouted, sounding angry.
Lee and Lucy sprang apart, sat up and quickly readjusted their ruffled clothing. They looked at each other then, as if to say 'how on earth are we going to explain this away'. Shocked and red faced, neither dared to look at Lucy's parents as they sat waiting for the grilling they knew they were about the receive. Lucy turned to Lee and spoke in a whisper,
"Why didn't you lock the door Lee? You were the last one in, you know the rule".
"I thought I had", he said, sounding slightly desperate.
"Why did you just walk in to the flat? Haven't you heard of knocking?", Lucy dared to question her parents, really annoyed that they had just barged in.
"We did, and there was no answer. We were passing so thought we could come in for a cup of tea, we haven't seen you since you had the food poisoning. You didn't answer your phone, then we saw a police car and an ambulance outside the flats. So after we tried several more times and you didn't answer the landline either we were worried about you".
"I might have just not heard it ringing, or I might have been out and not had a phone signal".
"The answerphone in the flat didn't come on, that always come on when you're out. We even tried Lee's phone to see if he knew where you were".
"My phone's on charge in my bedroom", Lee said.
"Did you purposely ignore our calls Lucy?", Geoffrey asked, his tone of voice making Lucy feel like she was 8 years old again.
"I...I...I'm sorry but it wasn't a good time".
"I can see that. You need to apologise to your mother, she saw the emergency vehicles and convinced herself something terrible had happened to you".
"You need to stop worrying about me so much, I'm 31 years old! This is the problem with mobile phones, if you don't answer instantly people either get offended or start to assume you're lying in a ditch somewhere".
"You're still our baby daughter Lucy, it's our job to worry about you, and given what was going on between the two of you when we arrived it seems that in this case we were right to".
Geoffrey kept saying 'we' and 'our', even though Wendy was shaking her head, and was not joining in with his tirade.
"No, you weren't", Lucy said insistently.
"Don't argue with me Lucy, I'm waiting for you both to explain yourselves".
"Why should we?"
"Lee was on top of you, you were kissing...and what can only be described as...heavy petting".
"Ugh, I hate that phrase, you're making us sound like a pair of teenagers. We're grown adults".
"In that case tell me what's going on?"
"Surely that's obvious".
"Since you claim to be just friends I wouldn't say that. Is this some sort of arrangement you've got?"
"Are you asking me if Lee is a friend with benefits?"
"I don't even know what that means. I'm asking if you are sleeping together".
"Geoffrey!", Wendy tried to interrupt, disappointed though not surprised by his reaction. She was ignored.
"That is none of your business Dad".
Geoffrey continued undetered,
"Okay then, I'll ask Lee. What do you think you are playing at manhandling my daughter? Have you finally wormed your way into her bed?"
"Geoffrey, I'm not...", Lee tried to think of a response.
"It's not like that Dad, leave him alone. Me and Lee are...it's early days but we've decided to be more than just friends. I can't explain it properly yet because we're just exploring our feelings and we haven't had the chance to..."
"Lucy darling, you don't have to explain. I understand", Wendy said, casting another disapproving look towards Geoffrey.
"Thanks mum", Lucy said, smiling weakly.
"I don't care what your mother says Lucy, I'm not happy about this. I thought I'd made it clear how I feel about Lee. He's not good enough for you".
"I am actually in the room", Lee said, getting wound up and wanting to defend himself.
Wendy managed to speak again,
"Geoffrey, calm down. Remember how Lee helped us not so long ago? It's thanks to him that our marriage is back on track. Stop being so harsh on him".
"He was probably only helping to impress Lucy. It was probably just a tactic so she would let him have his wicked way with her".
"He hasn't had his wicked way with me, stop making out that Lee is some sort of pervert and I'm a victim. Anyway, we haven't...actually I'm not going into this. I know you don't like Lee but you don't really know him. I do, and if I want to have a relationship with him I will. Who I see is up to me, I'm a fully grown, independent woman. You don't get to decide who is or isn't a suitable boyfriend for me, I do".
"Lucy's right Geoffrey. I think we should go home and leave them to it before Lucy refuses to ever speak to us again, we're sorry for interrupting you".
"No we're not", Geoffrey added.
"Yes, we are, and we're leaving", Wendy said forcefully, guiding Geoffrey towards the door.
Just as Lucy's parents left the flat the pizza arrived...