Ella turned on the radio and flicked through the channels until she found a rock station. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
"Nic, can you just hold my phone next to the speaker for me please?" she asked her passenger.
"Er sure…" Nicole said.
Ella flicked open the phone that answered the incoming call. She handed it to Nicole who heard her Dad's voice as she put it against the speaker in the door. She grinned at Ella and then flinched as Ella used the controls in the steering wheel to put the volume of the radio on full. The call ended abruptly Nicole noted and handed the phone back to Ella who had by then turned the radio down low.
"Thank you!" she said to Nic with a wicked grin on her face.
"No problem. I think I will remember that one." Nic said with a smile.
"Just remember to use it sparingly otherwise they will get used to it and not have the phone next to their ear!" she advised. She indicated and they pulled into the shopping centre in the city. She led Nic to a boutique the other girl had crossed off her list because the wedding dresses were too expensive.
"Ella." Nicole half protested.
"Remember Nic, don't get mad.." to be interrupted by the other girl.
"Get even?" Nicole said.
Ella laughed. "No, Get their credit card!" she showed Nicole the wallet she had picked up in the bedroom when she had got dressed.
Nicole laughed.
"Is that why he rang?" she asked.
"I don't know I was too busy listening to the radio!" Ella said, then "Hang on." She put her hand in her front jeans pocket and pulled out her phone again. She flicked open the phone then closed it again. "Some people are just so persistent!" she muttered and then clicked the phone to off.
"Now lets go shopping!" Ella said with a grin.
"This shop is way too expensive." Nicole said fearfully.
"Don't worry about it we took out a credit card just to pay for wedding stuff. Its fine!" Ella said grinning in a wicked way again.
"You're plotting something aren't you?" Nic guessed.
"Yes. But I assure you its fine to go in here and try on dresses." Ella put her arm through Nic's and steered her into the shop.
Miles sat opposite Roman on the picnic table at the lookout. He handed the man a large coffee.
"I take it its not good?" Miles said to him.
Roman grimaced and took a long swallow of hot coffee.
"If by it you screw things up each time you open your mouth then no, its not good." Roman said. "And she has her phone switched off."
"Hello!" Geoff called. "We had a surprise visitor!"
Roman looked up and saw Aden standing there. He stood and gave him a quick hug. "What the devil are you doing back in the Bay. Not that I'm not pleased to see you!"
"Geoff asked me to be his best man." Aden said.
"Well I hate to break it too you but the wedding is still 5 weeks away!" Roman said.
"Yeah but we needed to get our house move sorted." Aden said with an Aden trademark smirk.
"Wait are you telling me you are coming back?" Roman asked with a grin.
"Yeah, we've bought Rachel's old house." He said.
"Mate!" Roman looked pleased and gave the other man another hug. "It'll be great to have you back!" Geoff and Aden sat down at the picnic table.
"So anyway!" Geoff began. "You screwed things up?"
"Nicole told you?" Roman asked.
"And Rachel told me!" Aden told him.
"Great who doesn't know?" Roman muttered.
Aden looked at Geoff and grinned. "I always said she would wise up to him in the end!"
He said as though Roman wasn't sitting at the table with them.
Miles laughed.
"Mate," he began, "I think you should get flowers and chocolates…"
Aden chipped in with "and cuddly toys, they love that kind of thing."
"Especially chocolates!" Geoff said.
Roman sighed.
"I think this is past chocolate!" he said putting his head down on his folded arms.
Aden looked at Miles over Roman's downcast head.
"If its beyond chocolate the man is …." Miles began
"Doomed." All three chorused.
Nicole was crying again. The dress was taffeta and tulle with diamantes and embroidery. But she'd looked at the $12,000 dollar price tag.
"And people really pay this much?" she asked with a sob.
Ella smiled.
"Yes!" she said. She picked up the tiara with the $1000 price tag and handed that to her. Nicole fixed it to her head and gasped.
Ella came up behind her and helped place the matching veil with the $2000 price tag. She looked at the other girls' eyes through the mirror.
"You do look like a princess Nic!" she said softly.
"I can't though! Its way too much money." She said.
"Miss, " came the voice of the shop assistant, "We do a special pair of slippers for this dress. Its called Cinderella so we have these." She showed Nic and Ella a pair of shoes that had been designed to look like glass slippers. She took them out of the box and placed them on the carpeted floor.
Nic slipped one foot in then the other and lifted the dress so she could look at them in the mirror.
"Wow!" Ella said. "We'll take the complete outfit." She added.
Nicole gasped and then saw Ella grin.
"It's fate Nic, the dress doesn't even need altering. Can you package it up for us?" she turned to the assistant.
"Yes of course!" the assistant simpered.
Nic stepped back into the changing room to slip out of the dress.
"Are you ok Nic if I go and pay?" Ella asked.
"Yes I can manage!" she called.
Ella turned and walked with the assistant to the front of the store.
She pulled out Roman's wallet and picked out his bankcard and handed it over.
"You should be ok with that one but the bank may call my husband to authorise the payment." She confessed with a grin. "It's probably best just to run it through quickly before he has an heart attack."
"I won't ask what he did wrong." The assistant said with a grin. She began processing the payment. It went through on the first try and she printed off a receipt for the total of $20,000 dollars. Ella knew that would take out all his savings and max out the overdraft.
She was still grinning a full half-hour later when she pulled up in front of a branch of their bank.
She turned to Nic and said. "The dress is a present form me."
Nicole looked up confused.
"But I thought you said you had a credit card?" she said.
"We do. But this is something a little different. I used your Dad's bankcard." Ella said. "And now I'm going to transfer the money from my account to your Dad's to cover the cost of the dress. It'll just take a couple of days."
Nic still looked puzzled but then she grinned.
"You want him to think you spent all his money?" she said.
"Any second now your Dad will be getting a phone call from his bank manager to tell him!" Ella stepped out of the car and was joined by Nicole as she walked into the bank.
Roman looked at the three men grinning at him and soon laughed himself.
"You are impossible!" he told them. He picked up his cup and took a long drink when his mobile rang. He looked at the display and noted he didn't recognise the number.
"Hello Roman Harris!" he said when he answered it. He stood and walked a little way away from the group and looked over at them as they exchanged interested looks.
"Yes speaking." He answered his two security questions and was then put through to the manager of his branch.
"Yes, no that's fine….. I understand….. No, its ok….. I was aware of the purchase. Thank you for calling. Good bye." He said in response.
He stood behind Geoff with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Ok spill it!" Miles said.
"Well you know I asked you to buy my coffee and bring it here." Roman began. "I may need you to buy me a few more from now on!"
"Huh?" Geoff questioned.
"His wallet was missing!" Miles explained.
"Nicole is now the proud owner of a $20000 dollar wedding dress. " Roman said.
Miles had been taking a drink of his own coffee when Roman spoke and he ended up choking on it.
"I take it Ella had your wallet then?" Miles said when he could speak again.
"Yes. And that was my bank to tell me that I am now slightly overdrawn on my account." Roman said with a grimace.
Geoff and Aden looked at each other and began laughing. They stood up at the same time.
"Mate, you are on your own I am so not messing with that woman. She knows Belle." Aden confirmed.
"And I'm on Nic's side." Geoff said holding up his hands.
Roman looked at Miles as he too stood up.
"Hey! She knows Kirsty too and I can't afford any friction!" he said.
The three men walked away together telling each other that they admired the woman for her sneakiness.
Roman picked up his phone and tucked it in his pocket before collecting his coffee cup and draining the dregs he threw the cup away and made his way home. After a moment his sense of humour kicked in and he chuckled.
Nic carried her dress into the house as Ella followed behind with the accessories. As cued by Ella in the car on the way back from the city, she walked up to her dad and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you Dad!" she said.
"Your welcome!" Roman said dryly. He turned to Ella and said. "Feeling better?"
She smiled. "Much!" she said.
She handed over his wallet and said with an innocent expression on her face.
"I seem to have picked this up by mistake!"
"Uh huh! So you did." He turned to Nic. "Are you going to Geoff's?"
Ella chuckled.
"I think that's code for leave." She said to the other girl.
Nicole looked at the both of them.
"Ok just so long as you understand the rules, no screaming, biting or gouging and its Marquis of Queensbury!" Nic parodied the boxing rules.
"Nic leave." Roman said and he lifted Ella off her feet and tipped her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and carried her up the stairs. He heard the front door click shut by the time he stepped into their bedroom. He kicked the door shut and threw Ella on to the bed.
She lay there and began laughing.
He moved to lie on the bed and pinned her underneath him.
"Did you have fun shopping?" he asked.
"Yes." She answered the wicked grin back on her face.
"Uh huh!" he said and kissed her.
She found her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
He traced the outline of her face.
"I'm sorry I hurt you." He told her.
She looked at him.
"I meant to tell you about everything that happened there just wasn't time." Ella sighed. "We got married so quickly."
"Its ok. We got here in the end." He said. "I love you El, whether we have kids or not."
"I know that." She smiled. She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him.
"I know sweetheart but I should have said that this morning." Roman whispered against her lips. They continued kissing as they peeled off each other's clothes. Caressing each other gently.
"Wait." she cried. "I'm not sure if I want to get pregnant."
He stopped and looked disappointed. He stood up and pulled on his trousers.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
He turned and grinned.
"I just need to make a trip to buy something and then I'll be back. Don't move." He instructed. "I don't carry any on the off chance you should know that you've had my wallet all day!"
"Just like that?" she asked sitting up and pulling up the sheet.
"Of course. Or is this some kind of test?" he asked starting to frown.
"No! It wasn't a test." She pulled him back to bed.
"El?" he questioned.
"I've just been convinced!" she said. "Now don't you have something to do?" she teased.