** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1
Every cloud – 2/4
"Nicola are you sure you don't want to come downstairs? The press still haven't made it through the flooding so there's no one in the bar but a couple of locals and they're more interested in the result of the dominos game they're playing from what I can work out one of them has his house on it did you know people bet on dominos?" Ollie asked cheerfully opening the door to Nicola's room after knocking loudly then stopping in his tracks as he saw her curled up on the sofa in the corner of the room staring out the window at the rain still coming down in sheets outside. Her clothes were hanging on the outside of the wardrobe on the other side of the room and her tights and shoes were over the fireguard that sat in front of the small open fire in the grate and the fact the robe that had been in the bathroom came only to her knees and he could see far more of her legs than he was used to seeing immediately scrambled his thoughts.
"Do I look like I'm appropriately dressed to go socialise with the locals Ollie? It's going to take till the fucking morning for my stuff to dry out properly I think I'll just stay here and hope this truly is the end of the fucking world. They say it'll begin with extreme weather don't they? Well with any luck there'll be no fucking tomorrow then I won't have to face the shit storm that's going to come when I get home after this." Nicola sighed keeping her gaze on the window determined not to let him see that she was upset. She seemed to miss more of the things that were important to her children these days than she attended and she's promised Ella faithfully that she would be there in the front row for her recital that night. Now she just couldn't stand the fact she'd broken yet another promise even if this time she really didn't have any control over the circumstances.
"Do you want me to bring you some food? Maybe a bottle of wine? I could get us both something and we could see if there's something trashy on the TV I know you're upset about this Nicola but it could have been worse at least the press photographers are stuck somewhere between here and London too I was talking to Glen back at the office and last he heard they had got stuck on some dead end country road with nothing around for miles so if nothing else the thought of a dozen of them stuck together all night in a cramped fucking minibus has gotta make you smile." He smiled moving a little closer and seeing the reason for her refusal to look at him. The make-up he'd watched her carefully apply in the car on the way there was smudged and her eyes were edged with red and it took all his self-control not to just sit beside her and take her in his arms telling her it would all be ok. He knew that this time, unlike so many others, her upset was nothing to do with the press or the job at all she wanted to be there for her daughter she had been talking about it for weeks and had been determined that nothing would spoil the evening.
"I don't want anything Ollie just leave me alone."
"What time is Ella's solo?" he asked the grain of an idea starting to develop in his head as she glanced at her watch.
"About 7 she'll be at the school now getting ready the show starts at 6 and she's right at the end I've been talking to her but she's furious she wouldn't even let me explain so as usual I've proved I'm a complete fuck up as a parent and she'll be up there singing her heart out without either of her parents there to see it." Nicola sighed her heart breaking all over again. "She's finally settling in to that hell hole of a school and has calmed down and the first time she has something big going on I can't even fucking be there, I swear I should just walk away and let the nanny raise them she sees a hell of a lot more of them than I do and she's certainly more of a fucking mother to them than I am these days."
"You're a great mother you can't control the weather Nicola. Look sit tight I'll be back shortly with something to eat and drink that will make you feel better and I might just have a way that you can be there and here at the same time." Ollie smiled leaving the room again before she could object further and heading down to the bar again.
He'd hoped that the fact they had an unexpected night alone in a country hotel without any potential for press coverage might mean they could get a little closer and enjoy the intimacy that they normally had to plan days, sometimes weeks, in advance to get. He'd hoped that she would see that it was the up side to the whole situation just like he could but so long as she was still wound up about Ella and feeling like she was screwing up her kid's lives again that would be all she could focus on and any other plans he had for the night would be a nonstarter.
"Hey can I get two pie of the day with chips or whatever and a couple of bottles of house red up to the ministers room please and can you tell me the Wi-Fi password for this place too? I know it's not included in the room but I see you have Wi-Fi and we'll pay extra if need be." He said smiling what he hoped was winningly at the middle aged woman behind the bar as she nodded.
"Course you can son it's not often we have a genuine government minster under our roof you leave it to me I'll get Frank to bring the food and wine up and don't you give the Wi-Fi a second thought I'll tell him to write the password down for you can't have the country falling apart because you can't keep in touch with base now can we?" She smiled back winking as Ollie thanked her and went into the corner to make a phone call one he hoped would make everything else fall into place.
"Yeah Glen just go and take the iPad off my desk the button is right there on the front when you see a call from me coming through on it just click accept even you can do that. Ring me and let me know what time she's scheduled to hit the stage so I know what time to call ok I'm going to call Ella and let her know what's happening hopefully she'll talk to me even though she won't to Nicola." He explained as his colleague agreed on the other end of the phone and he hung up before scrolling through his contacts to find Nicola's daughter's phone number hitting dial and spending the next 20 minutes talking to the little girl about what he had planned.
As he hung up feeling a lot more positive about what he'd organised he headed up the stairs back to Nicola's bed room with a distinct spring in his step now completely convinced that when she'd eaten and seen what he'd organised the night would definitely go much more like he wanted it to when he'd realised they were trapped in the small town in the first place.
