A little later in the evening, Phil had arrived at Jack and Ronnie's flat. Ronnie had told Phil on the phone she wanted to talk about signing over half of the Vic to her but Phil told Shirley Ronnie needed her to talk about Robbie's birthday-party. Luckily Shirley was joined at home, by Heather, as they were watching some women's movie Phil couldn't care less about anyway. For him it was a good excuse to escape the house at the right time.
- 'You want something to drink Phil' Jack asked 'Coffee, orange juice maybe?'
- 'Orange juice will be fine ta' Phil said sitting down on the sofa in the livingroom.
- 'Alright Phil 'Ronnie said as she came out of the bedroom.
- 'Yeah, ehm about the papers, I just phoned Richie as I was walking over here' Phil said.
- 'Oh really, what did she say?' Ronnie asked.
- 'She'll have them ready for tomorrow' Phil said leaving Ronnie and Jack a little surprised not expecting that this would go so well and easy.
- 'Have you told Shirley yet?' Jack asked putting the juice on the table.
- 'No, I'll ehm, I'll tell her before Friday' Phil said grabbing the glass and taking a sip.
- 'Well maybe you should tell her a little sooner' Ronnie said sitting on the armrest next to Jack who was sitting on the chair.
- 'And why is that?' Phil asked a little curious, not wanting to take any orders from anyone.
- 'Well, we ran into a little problem Phil' Jack said 'see ehm, when Robbie found out about you and Glenda, when we was at Paris, she told Peter Beale about it, and then Peter and Robbie found out that Ian has been listening in on one of their conversations and checking the laptop Peter has been using to have chats on with Robbie, he read his history and now he's blackmailing Glenda with it, we're afraid he's gonna tell Shirley to ehm…well to get to you obviously'.
- 'That little toerag, I knew something was up the way he has been behaving whenever we're at the cafe' Phil said standing up walking around the room a little 'that scumbag, well thanks for telling me, wish she had kept her mouth shut but then again, it's..'
- 'She's a kid Phil, mum ánd Rox were obviously too busy with other things, I just wished I was around at the time so she could've told me, but we weren't here and obviously wanted not to bother us with it on our honeymoon so, and well…, it wasn't really something she has done now did she, I mean, if you and mum hadn't…' Ronnie said standing up getting a little nervous of Phil walking around the room.
- 'Yeah yeah, I get it alright' Phil said 'let me handle Beale'.
- 'What are you going to do?' Jack asked.
- 'Well make sure he keeps his mouth shut' Phil said 'I'll have to think of how I'm going to approach him but ehm, don't worry, I just want him to not mouth it of to Shirley', that's all '.
- 'He's all yours then' Ronnie said 'ehm, you're still coming Friday right?' Ronnie said.
- 'Yeah 7 right?' Phil asked.
- 'Yeah, I want everyone there at 7, we'll take her for dinner just before that and will "pop "over to the club to get her a birthdaydrink' Ronnie said with a little smile.
- 'So what did you get her? ' Phil asked.
- 'Jack and I got her a laptop, she really needs it a lot for school, and I don't wanna hear her and Rox arguing about it anymore over who's right it is now to use it, I mean we have one we use for the club, just don't want her on it if she's also going to be chatting and all with her friends, I don't know downloading music, you know with viruses and all' Ronnie said.
- 'Oh she probably going to love that, Jay and Ben use one like 24/7 most fights are about who's ready to use it' Phil said finishing his juice 'ok, ehm as soon as I'll get those papers I contact you yeah'.
- 'Alright, let me walk you out Phil' Ronnie said as Phil said goodbye to Jack and walked behind Ronnie to the door.
- 'Phil' Ronnie asked 'I don't know what you're going to tell Shirley, I just don't want my mum to get hurt alright, I mean you 2 are both grown ups, but ehm, I've got an almost 16 year old upstairs that acts tough at times but is scared to death like a little girl that mum is going to get hurt alright'.
- 'I'm not going to tell Shirley, I promise, I just need to make sure that Beale won't get in the way!' Phil said 'I'll probably see you tomorrow yeah?'
- 'Alright, thanks Phil!' Ronnie said closing the door and looking at the upstairs door to Roxy and her mums apartment.
_ 'Jack, I ehm, I'm gonna pop over upstairs yeah, see if she's in bed and alright ok' Ronnie said peeking round the door where Jack was just putting the glasses on the kitchensink.
- 'Alright give her a kiss for me yeah' Jack said' I'll see you in a bit'.
- 'Alright daddy , maybe wanna watch a movie later, or… I don't know, we got the flat to ourselves again tonight!' Ronnie said looking a little cheeky with a smile on her face.
- 'Hurry up then yeah' Jack smiled back.
Ronnie walked up the stairs and walked straight to the livingroom first where Roxy, Robbie and Glenda were sitting on the sofa, watching telly.
- 'You're still up then cheeky?' Ronnie said looking at Robbie.
- 'I was just ehm…' Robbie said getting up.
- 'Yeah she just said she was gonna…' Roxy said also to Ronnie, trying to help out Robbie.
- 'Yeah alright come on you, I want you in bed, school tomorrow remember 'Ronnie said pointing her finger at Robbie 'you can still sleep here if you want babe'.
- 'Yeah I was already gonna mum ' Robbie said giving Roxy a kiss goodnight then leaning over to Glenda 'night mum'.
- 'Sleep well darling, night night, I'll be there later on' Glenda said presuming she would sleep in Glenda's bed again.
- 'Nightie night Wobbie' Roxy said teasing her sister, making Robbie walk back to Roxy and jumping on her.
- 'Come on Robbie, thanks a lot Rox!' Ronnie said.
Ronnie walked Robbie to the bedroom and Robbie crawled into the bed and under the covers.
- 'You brushed your teeth already then?' Ronnie asked laying down on the bed next to Robbie.
- 'Yeah don't worry, I really was about to go to bed Veronica, your voice is like on repeat in my head constantly' Robbie said' I have my alarm set at 7 alright, then I'll come downstairs and have breakfast with you yeah, or do you wanna have a ly in then? '
- 'No, I'll make you breakfast baby, now shuss , I wanna see those babyblues covered by your eyelits alright' Ronnie said stroking her hand over Robbie's eye's and face.
- 'So what did Phil say' Robbie asked looking over to Ronnie.
- 'Everything is fine alright, nothing for you to worry about anymore ok, now get to sleep Robbie!' Ronnie said putting her arm around Robbie hoping she would fall asleep a lot faster this way.
- 'You sure?' Robbie, as nosy as Roxy, asked again.
- 'Robbie!' Ronnie said strict' you'd better shut those eyes and mouth of yours, when I say it's alright, it's alright ok'.
Robbie just sighed receiving a little playful slap on her bum by Ronnie 'night babycakes! ' Ronnie stroked her hand across Robbie's cheeks then just put her arms around Robbie again and soon enough she heard, from the way Robbie was breathing, that she had fallen asleep. Hopefully the whole Phil/Glenda/ Ian drama would be over soon!
After a couple of minutes Ronnie softly closed the bedroom door and walked back to the living room.
- 'She's asleep already?' Glenda asked surprised.
- 'Ron's got that magic touch mum don't know how she does it' Roxy said pouring herself some more wine.
- 'Cause I don't get her worked up Rox, ….well not when she's in bed anyway' Ronnie grinned.
- 'She alright then?' Glenda asked 'she worries a lot doesn't she?'
- 'Yeah well don't give her anything to worry about then mum, ey!' Ronnie said making clear this whole affair business was the cause of all these worries.
- 'Speaking of giving something to her, ehm, I was thinking of getting her one of those cool phones yeah' Roxy said 'you know with the internet and all, those she can chat on and everything'.
- 'Any chance that she can actually make calls with it also maybe?' Ronnie said' ehm I don't know Rox, you gonna pay her bills then,I already have to check her telephone bill every month, I mean, if you're getting her one I'm holding you responsible for the costs'.
- 'Listen sis, I know you're not as up to date as I am, but these chatthings on those phones are for free, they don't have to pay for it, which means she can chat the whole time instead of calling or texting, tadaaa no high bills then!' Roxy said feeling she outsmarted her older sister for a change.
- 'Excuse me, this is Robin Evangeline Riley Branning Mitchell we're talking about, otherwise known as your little cheeky and" far too smart and talks her way out of everything with you" babysister, she's gonna be 16 Rox, thought you knew by now that she can manage everything even get you paying a higher bill then you expected!' Ronnie said 'she's a kid Rox, they still thinks money comes falling from the sky every month I don't know, they don't have a clue, they just do and wonder later' Ronnie said.
- 'Well I know she is getting 16 Ron, I just wanna give her something good' Roxy said.
- 'You'll probably give her a phone-cover with it that says "I got this cool phone from my bestes sister ever! And you'll glue it to the phone so she's forced to show everyone where she got it from' Ronnie said winking at Glenda.
- 'Well I was thinking more of "the coolest sister ever" ' Roxy said smiling.
- 'You're so predictable Rox, you're still a kid yourself, alright I'm going to be downstairs alright, I'll see her in the morning, she's going to have breakfast downstairs yeah' Ronnie said.
- 'Yeah, no problem, I 'll send her downstairs darling' Glenda said 'goodnight.
Xxx
The next morning Glenda walked back into her bedroom again, she had been up for a little while now.
- 'Robin, get your tiny bum out of bed now, not going to call you again!' she said making Robbie move in 'the bed.
- 'Just give me a minute mum alright, I'm tired' Robbie said still under the covers.
- 'Oh well I'll tell Ronnie that you will have an early night tonight then, now come on, mummy's gotta get dressed for work!' Glenda said opening her closet to get her clothes out.
- 'Is this what I will turn into when i get to be as old as all of you, nag nag nag like all the time?' Robbie said throwing her covers off.
- 'I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, come on, Ronnie wants you down for breakfast she already rang upstairs' Glenda said raising her eyebrows to Robbie.
- 'Now why am I not surprised about that, you're all a bunch of controlfreaks, all of you' Robbie said as she grabbed her phone and got up.
- 'Oi, I heard that!' Roxy said as she peeked round the door 'I can still swing you over my knee you know! '
- 'And I can still talk your head off before I get to the door and you wouldn't know what you were on about anymore, cause you're that thick Roxanne!' Robbie said walking towards her sister.
- 'Really now' Roxy said putting Robbie's head in a lock with her arms, thinking of what Ronnie had said last night about buying Robbie a phone and talking her way out of high telephone-bills 'say sorry Roxy I didn't mean it'.
- 'Let go of me Roxy or I'm gonna make you eat my knickers' Robbie said not one to give in really easy.
- 'Knickers, those tiny ones, they wouldn't even fill the whole in my back tooth you numpty' Roxy said squeezing Robbie's bum.
- 'Let go Roxy!' Robbie screamed 'mum make her stop, I gotta go have breakfast downstairs!'
- 'Well what a coincidence, me too' Roxy said' come on you loudmouth, mum I'm downstairs for a coffee yeah'.
- 'Yes alright, and you be good in school today yeah!' Glenda said.
- 'Can't guaranty you anything' Robbie smiled as Roxy pushed her forward down the stairs 'Rox stop you making me fall in a minute'.