"A slice of toast?" Roman suggested.
Ella groaned.
"No!" she said rolling over and pulling the quilt over her head.
"Just one." He said in a soft voice.
She thrust the quilt down and rolled back.
"I will eat a full fried breakfast on one condition." She said.
"Name it!" he said confidently.
"You cook it naked." She told him.
He laughed.
"Not a problem." He told her confidently.
"I haven't finished yet! I will eat a full fried breakfast if you cook it naked down at the diner." She told him with an innocent smile on her face. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to get back to feeling nauseous over here by myself."
Roman thought about it.
"Ok if that's what it takes I'll do it." he told her seriously.
"Fine!" she told him. "Off you go." She rolled over and pulled the quilt up. "Oh and before you get naked you might want to check if its Colleen's shift. You don't want her to have a …." She paused chuckling. "A stroke do you?" she added trying to sound serious, which was only spoilt by her giggling.
He reached over and pulled the quilt down.
"You are seriously wicked." He told her leaning over and kissing her. "Come on get dressed. You can sit downstairs with me for a bit." He ordered.
"Bossy…." She added an expletive.
He grinned.
"Yes!" he agreed.
She pushed the quilt away and stood up then walked over to the bathroom. He heard the shower start to run so he plumped the pillows and remade the bed. He walked over and undid the window letting in a cool breeze. He was struck by how fresh the air seemed after a thunderstorm. He picked up discarded clothes and the towel he used last night and took them over to the clothes hamper just as Ella walked back into the room. She peeled off the towel and lay it on the wicker chair in the corner of the room and then opened a drawer and pulled out underwear. He watched this reverse striptease unashamedly. She walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of tracksuit bottoms noting that they were tight around the waist. She loosened the tie so they were more conformable with a grin on her face, then added a striped T-shirt.
"Pass my watch?" she asked unthinkingly.
Roman took a step towards the chest of drawers and then opened the top drawer where she kept her jewellery and caught sight of the dog tags he had asked her to get rid off.
She looked up at him with frightened eyes biting her bottom lip.
He lifted out the watch and handed it to her without comment and closed the drawer afterwards. She took the watch and put it on but her hand was shaking too much to do up the catch. He walked over to her and did the watchstrap up, then checked that it wasn't too tight on her wrist. He collected the towel and took it back to the bathroom to hang up.
She walked slowly down the stairs. Neither of them had spoken and she knew that it was impossible for him not to have seen the tags. He followed her and watched as she lay on the sofa. He pulled the throw out and lay it on her lap as she got comfortable. Then he wandered into the kitchen and made her a ginger tea and grabbed a coffee for himself which he drank half of and then put to one side. He took the tea through and moving her legs he sat on the sofa then lifted her legs back up so that they were over his lap. He clicked the remote and put the tv on finding an old black and white movie to watch.
"I think I'll give Miles a call later and see if we can go get my car." He said conversationally, feeling like he needed to break the silence.
She sipped the tea and remained quiet for a moment.
"You want to tell him?" she said then.
Roman grinned.
"No. I actually want to climb on top of the surf club and beat my fists to my chest like a bad Tarzan impersonator and tell everyone." He grinned.
She laughed and wondered if it sounded as forced as it felt.
He turned towards her then and said.
"I can't talk to you about that stuff El, I just can't. I need that bit of me not to intrude on this. I have hurt so many people in my life and I can't…" his voice broke and he stopped talking.
She moved until she was on his lap one leg either side of his hard muscular thighs. She took his face in her hands and raised it fractionally so that he was looking into her eyes.
"Then we won't talk about it. Nothing is more important than what we have here." She kissed him and noticed that he'd placed one hand on her belly.
"I love you El." He told her.
She kissed him.
"I love you too." She said.
Nicole stood in the doorway and turned to someone behind her and said. "And this is why I never bring anyone home any more."
Roman and Ella broke apart and laughed.
Nicole walked in.
"Hey, This is Annie." She introduced the other girl. "She pitched up late last night. Annie this is my stepmother Ella, I'm trying to train her to be evil but they are still in that disgusting honeymoon phase at the moment." Nicole made introductions. "Annie is Geoff's sister. " she went on further to explain.
"Nice to meet you Annie" Ella said.
She looked over at the other girl and immediately felt sorry for her. She seemed to be wearing a beige dress two sizes too big for her and totally the wrong colour, as if she was trying to shrink out of the room.
"Right that is my cue to leave so you lot can discuss the wedding stuff. I'm going for a run then I will look up Miles, and see if we can go get my car." He said standing. He lent down and gave El a kiss on the cheek.
"You can tell him." She said with a grin.
He grinned back and pulling the trainers he had discarded the night before he turned to leave. "Nic, can I have a quick word?" he asked.
"Sure." She said and followed him outside.
Ella glared at his departing back before settling back down on the sofa. She patted the seat beside her and after a pause Annie sat down.
The girl twisted the ring on her finger nervously and looked as if she didn't know what to say.
"Its great about Nicole and Geoff isn't it?" Ella said softly. "But it can be hard if things aren't as they are supposed to be in your own life." She placed her hand over on top of Annie's and stopped the girls' wrestling with the ring, she was making her hand red and sore.
Annie burst into tears and Ella took her into her arms.
Nic walked in moments later.
"Oh." She said. She had been trying to draw out the other girl all morning with little success.
"How about some drinks Nic?" Ella suggested.
Nicole walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on. She'd known as soon as Ella saw Annie she would be able to say the right thing. She busied herself making drinks and walked back into the lounge.
"Annie has gone upstairs to wash her face she'll be down in a moment," Ella said. "And I take your Dad has told you not to let me move off this sofa unless I'm to go upstairs to bed?" she asked with a half smile.
"Something like that!" Nicole grinned. "And then I think he wished me luck and ran off quickly."
Ella laughed.
She swapped her cold ginger tea for a cup of hot ginger tea and said mournfully. "I miss coffee."
Annie walked slowly downstairs and joined them. Nicole handed her a cup of tea and pushed a plate of biscuits towards her. She took one and nibbled it slowly.