I hope you enjoy this chapter, I appreciate negative and positive reviews.
Rachel laid on the white couch with her daughter and sighed quietly, she had been ill for a couple of days and all she'd been given by the doctor was some medicine, saying that they needed to let the bug run it's course. Abigail was sitting in Rachel's lap as she ran her hand over her back gently, her crying had just ceased and her cheeks were still damp with tears. Rachel passed Abigail a dummy gently which she immediately took from her "shall we take you to bed hey?" Rachel whispered, kissing the side of her daughter's head as she ran her hand over her curls.
"We still have snuggles?" Abigail questioned through the dummy she was using, though Rachel understood what she was saying to her having gotten used to her own little baby language.
Rachel nodded "if you want to . . ."
"Carry" Abigail stated and Rachel nodded as she wrapped her arms around her back and under her bum while Abigail nuzzled into her neck.
Rachel was curled up in bed with Abigail who had nestled into her as she ran her hand up and down her back she was glad that it was slowly helping her to drop off. She knew that if Abigail was tired there was even less chance she would feel better the following day so she hoped that that night would be better than the previous one.
Rachel had jut started to drop off herself when she felt a cold hand trail up her leg and underneath the night dress that she was wearing. She turned around and as soon as she did Brody's lips were on her's, his tongue invading her mouth. She could smell the Whiskey and taste the cigarettes on him and it made her want to vomit. It was seconds before she pulled away and spoke in nothing above a whisper, desperately hoping that he wouldn't kick off. "Stop . . . In case she wakes up."
"Come into our room"
"Brody, she isn't well"
He tutted "oh there's nothing wrong with her, you're overreacting."
"Like you would know" Rachel snapped "you've never been interested in her, she's not a boy so you're not bothered. You never were even before I had her; all you care about is going around with your mates down the pub playing the big man. Some man, you don't even care about your own child." When Brody reached out and grabbed the side of her chin so hard she was sure there was a bruise there immediately regretted her outburst, he just made her so mad.
"You better be back in that bedroom in 5 minutes" he hissed, pushing her head back before leaving.
Shit, Rachel thought why couldn't I have just kept my thoughts to myself. She bit down on her lip gently and moved to get out of the bed when Abigail stirred and whimpered as she began to get up. "Mama you leave me?"
Rachel swallowed hard "of course not baby"
"Snuggles?"
Rachel nodded and kissed Abigail gently before curling up with her in the bed once more. She knew that as angry as Brody would be that she hadn't gone into the bedroom as he had instructed, she couldn't leave Abigail. "I always want snuggles with you" she whispered.
"always always?"
Rachel nodded "does your tummy still hurt?"
Abigail nodded "make it stop mama"
"I'm trying sweetheart" Rachel moved her hand to rub Abigail's back in a soothing manner and around 20 minutes later she was settled back in the bed, a little more soundly this time. Rachel got up and swallowed hard, stepping out of the bedroom and onto the landing and she slipped past the bedroom she shared with Brody to dash to the stairs but he grabbed her around the waist before she could make it down them. Brody pulled her sideways into the bedroom and closed the door heavily as Rachel found herself utterly panic stricken. He lashed out and hit her hard and in seconds Rachel found herself on the floor with her lip bleeding. "Brody . . . Please, she was upset . . ."
"Did you really think I was just going to let that go? You speaking to me like I'm nothing?" he raged.
Rachel frantically shook her head "no . . . I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean it . . ."
Brody laughed; "of course you didn't" he moved to hold the hair at the back of her head while pulling her up to her feet.
Before Rachel could get her balance Brody pushed her back against the bed and she found him laying over her. "I'm sorry . . . Really . . . Please, just . . . Let go . . ." Rachel stuttered in a whisper, her voice raw with emotion.
"You are mine Rachel and I think you need reminding of that . . ."
Rachel sat up sharply in a cold sweat; she pushed her hair back with her hand gently as an overwhelming feeling of nausea came over her. She jumped up and dashed into the bathroom before throwing up violently into the toilet. Rachel couldn't even go back to thinking about what had happened after her nightmare had ended but she was so glad that she had gotten out when she had. Rachel checked that Abigail was still settled in bed and made sure the stair gate was on before she got a shower.
It wasn't long before Rachel wandered back into the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, her hair was wet but she knew she had more than enough time to get ready. She bit down on her bottom lip gently and sat down on the bed. She leant forward a little, her arms in her lap as she thought back to the nightmare she'd endured that morning and felt an urge to cry. Which she did. Rachel wasn't sure how long she had been crying for but she was pulled from her thoughts and her emotions when she felt tiny hands against her back. "Mama? Why you cry?"
Rachel shook her head a little and sniffed quietly "I'm not baby, I've just had a shower"
Abigail tried to climb into Rachel's lap and wobbled a little as she did so "all clean?"
Rachel laughed quietly and nodded as she wrapped her arm around Abigail's waist as she stood on her lap. She smiled when Abigail put her hands on the back of her head and pulled her close so that her cheek was against her chest and tummy, mimicking what Rachel did when she was upset. "Hair's wet mama"
"I know baby" Rachel whispered, surprised at just how quickly things could be put to one side by spending a couple of precious moments with her daughter.
"I dry it?"
"I want a kiss" Rachel smiled as she lay back against the bed and brought Abigail with her so that she was laid against her chest.
Abigail chuckled and placed her hands either side of Rachel's cheeks as she pushed them together gently before pouting her own lips to mimic how Rachel's were "you like dis"
Rachel laughed and moved Abigail's hands before kissing her once. "Right come on Mrs, we need to get you ready for nursery."
"I stay here?"
Rachel shook her head "not today darlin'"
Rachel had dropped Abigail off at nursery a little later than usual after having to scrimp though her purse to get together 40p for some sweets for her which she guessed would be her breakfast, though she wouldn't have encouraged it she didn't have anything else. After the day before and what had happened at Underworld she guessed she wouldn't be welcome back and she was just thinking about going to try and find another job when a hand held her arm gently. "You're not avoiding me by any chance are you?"
Rachel bit down in her bottom lip gently when she turned to find Finn and she swallowed hard "don't flatter yourself," she turned to walk away but was stopped when Finn tentatively reached out to take her hand and she felt a spark run through her that she'd never felt before. After a second or two she moved her hand and shook her head a little. "What? Did you want something else?"
"Hey don't be like this with me, I waited here to talk to you . . ."
"I don't want to talk to you"
"You should be at work"
"I'm not going in, have you not worked that one out yet genius?"
"Genius?"
"You're the one who owns all of the business aren't you?"
"Come for a coffee and talk?"
"That's what got me into this mess to begin with"
Finn pouted, "don't make me beg Rachel . . ."
She couldn't help the smirk that passed her lips in response to what Finn had said. "Oh . . . I think I might enjoy it"
"Fine . . . Please come for a coffee with me . . ."
"That's not proper begging . . ."
"That's as much begging as you're going to get now come on."
Rachel sat in the coffee shop, at the same table she'd sat at the first day she'd met Finn and she couldn't help thinking that it felt like she'd known him much longer than she really had. Once again she was pulled from her thoughts by Finn speaking. "Penny for them . . ."
"Huh?"
"Your thoughts . . ."
"Oh . . . I was just thinking about this really irritating guy I met recently"
"Oh really, how irritating?"
Rachel smirked "I'd say very . . . He just won't leave me alone"
"Maybe you just have a natural charm that makes him want to come back for more"
"More of what?"
Finn smirked himself "what are you offering?"
Rachel tilted her head to the side a little as she raised an eyebrow "cheeky"
"Always" he smiled and Rachel was powerless to stop herself from smiling back at him.
"Come back to work Rachel . . ."
"Finn, I didn't take that job on to get a load of abuse thrown at me, I thought I was doing you a favour as much as you were doing me one but you failed to mention that I'd stolen someone's job. Now, while I don't make a habit of being told what to do by overgrown schoolgirls I know I wouldn't be very happy if my job was taken from me . . ."
Finn smirked "overgrown schoolgirls?"
Rachel nodded "I suppose it suits her really"
"Why's that?"
"She seems to act like she's in a playground . . ."
Finn smirked and had a drink of his coffee to disguise it, changing the subject of the conversation completely when he spoke again. "Maria decided she wanted to give that job to someone else and it wasn't her decision to make. Now I have spoken to her and I've made sure that she doesn't even think about repeating what she did yesterday . . . So will you come back?"
"I drive a very hard bargain Mr. Connor . . ."
"If you come back I will take you and Abigail out, my treat?"
Rachel pretended to consider the offer for a couple of moments before nodding "alright . . . But I want one more thing . . ."
"Oh?"
"An advance on my wages this week?"
"You're right, you do drive a hard bargain Miss R" he grinned "but as it's you I think I can sort something out"
Rachel smiled and nodded "so as of now technically I'm skiving?"
"You were skiving all morning"
"How? I might not have come back . . ."
"I'd have agreed to almost anything to make sure that you did . . ."
Rachel gave a wicked laugh "oh I wish I'd have known before we began these negotiations"
"I don't think I want to know why"
Rachel laughed again before having another mouthful of coffee.
"I'll give you a lift back to work and then meet you back at the nursery when you pick Abigail up?"
Rachel nodded "yeah sure"
As they made their way to the car that Finn's driver was waiting in he spoke to her once more. "One more thing I needed to ask you . . ."
"Oh what's that then?" she got into the car and Finn sat down beside her.
"What's your number?"
Rachel frowned "why?"
"Well . . ." he put his seatbelt on and continued "when members of my workforce send e-mails to me in which they are furious, and I have no way of getting hold of them when after the knock off early, it's very annoying." Finn smirked when Rachel blushed.
"Thinking about me all night were you?" Rachel teased, her voice considerably quieter as it wasn't just the two of them in the car.
"Oh wouldn't you like to know" he smiled and Rachel bit down on her lip as she shook her head at him, "well your phone number?"
"I don't have one?"
Finn frowned "you do, you had one when you were around mine while you were waiting for the call about a job?"
Rachel nodded "I know . . . It's broken"
"Oh right . . . Well I suppose you can't give me a number you don't have."
"That's true"
"Are you going to get another?"
"I don't know, not anytime soon unless I get given one"
When they arrived at the factory, Rachel got out and headed into the office on her own as Finn had another meeting he needed to get to and she had only been in there a moment when the people who worked on the machines gathered in a group where they spent their coffee breaks and she couldn't help wondering if they were talking about her. She guessed they probably were. Rachel turned on the computer after sitting down behind her desk and as she opened up her e-mail inbox she bit down on the inside of her mouth when there was an e-mail there from Finn which she thought he had probably sent only minutes after receiving hers the day before.
"I don't know what you're talking about or what has happened, just wait there and I'll come over as soon as I can x"
A kiss, there was a kiss Rachel thought and a smile spread over her lips at it. She silently wondered whether it had been automatic but quickly shook that thought away, he hadn't put kisses in the other e-mails . . .
When the door opened Rachel snapped out of what she was thinking and frowned when she found Dom standing opposite her. He must have only dropped her off 20 minutes ago. She gave a small smile "Hi Dom, did I forget something?"
Dom shook his head "no, I've just been told to drop this off for you"
Rachel frowned as she was handed a box with a red ribbon tied in a bow around it. "I don't understand . . ."
"Open it, you will . . . It's from Mr. Connor . . ."
Rachel hesitated for a moment, her apprehension apparent as she undid the ribbon and opened the box to reveal a top of the range mobile phone. "I can't accept this . . . Please take it back and tell him that . . ."
"I can't do that Miss, I've been instructed by Mr Connor to make sure that you keep it"
Rachel sighed before nodding she knew there was little she could do now and decided to take her issue up with Finn. "Thanks Dom . . ."
He smiled and nodded before leaving and as soon as he had gone Rachel was on the computer typing out an e-mail to Finn.
"What are you playing at? Those phones cost a fortune; you didn't need to buy me one. If you meant what you had said about what happened yesterday not happening again then you have no reason to get in touch with me apart from when I'm at work do you? You need to take it back."
Rachel frowned when moments later the box to the side of her on the desk buzzed. She removed the lid and found the screen of the phone had lit up with a message. "Your wish is my command sweetheart"
Rachel frowned and after a moment replied to him. "What do you mean, I didn't ask you to get me a phone"
"You hinted at it this morning in the car . . ."
"Oh no no, you're not doing that, I was just talking."
"Well it doesn't matter now it's non refundable."
"More fool you for buying it"
"Just think of it as your work phone if it makes you feel better. Besides, you can't go without one really."
"Why's that, in case you are thinking about me on a lonely night again"
"I don't have to be lonely to think about you, Rachel"
She swallowed and a moment later another reply came through. "I have to go into a meeting, accept the phone before I go please or you might have me so distracted about the money I've wasted on it that I lose a whole lot more through not being able to think about other things . . ."
"Oh well, how could I refuse now."
Finn smirked "thank you x"
Rachel smiled, another kiss. She sat back in the chair a little and went into the phone to edit the name that Finn had saved himself under, which was "your favorite man". However, as her finger hovered over the delete button she decided against it. Why change it? It was true, he was her favorite man.