She woke up slowly and groaned.
Looking around she saw that Roman was sitting on the other sofa with a cup of coffee and reading a book.
"Hey." He said.
She moaned feeling her stomach somersault on her.
"Not the usual greeting I get." He said.
He walked over to the kitchen and got her a glass of water.
"Sip this." He said, helping her ease into a sitting position, sitting beside her.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked her voice still drowsy.
"A couple of hours." He told her. "Are you feeling ok?" he asked her.
She smiled at him.
"Slightly sick but ok!" she confessed. "I think I need to eat something."
"Probably. I tried to wake you earlier to eat a sandwich or something but you were out of it."
She smiled again.
"I had this dream about someone checking my pulse." She murmured.
Roman looked sheepish.
"Uh huh" he said.
"Can I get some toast?" she asked. "I'll go freshen up in the bathroom."
She stood up and stretched.
He stood too and pulled her into his arms and held her.
"Hey what's this?" she asked.
"I just needed a hug." He told her.
"I notebooked you didn't I?" she grinned.
He coughed suddenly trying to cover up that he was feeling emotional.
"If you go into Mike's room you'll find a load of action films." She said to him with a chuckle.
He pulled away.
"You're telling me that now? After you made me watch that other film?" He moaned.
She chuckled and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before moving away and into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and pulled on a bathrobe before walking back into the lounge. He had found a pile of films he had stacked by the tv.
"Lethal weapon?" she asked.
"No." He said, "Lethal Weapon 1,2, 3 and 4." He grinned.
She laughed and sat next to him on the sofa.
He walked into the kitchen and came back with a glass of juice for her and cheese on toast with a side salad.
She sighed and looked over at him.
"How did you know?" she asked. "If I didn't think it possible to be more in love with you this would have me falling head over heels all over again." She sighed blissfully as she bit into the toast.
"See I said you only love me because I can cook." He grumbled.
"Yeah, that too." She grinned saucily.
He put his arm around had and pulled her closer to him. She snuggled automatically and he pressed play on the remote. She decided not to tell him that the films were hers, Mike must have borrowed them at some point.
Nic had cooked.
Then Ruby had ordered more Pizza.
They sat at the table.
Annie picked up a slice and bit into it.
"Are you sure that's what she said?" Annie said again. "For all of us to go there?"
"Yup. And I didn't phone her." Nic said.
Ruby and Annie had exchanged a quick guilty look. It had been Annie's idea for them to get in touch with Ella and Ruby had sent the text.
"What does Geoff think?" Ruby asked.
"He thinks that anything that stops me from trying to cook or clean or cry will be good." Nic said with a suspicious sniff.
"Did you suggest that more sex would do that?" Ruby asked.
Nic looked up and blushed.
"Yes, he replied with he would take me out for a run or too the gym so I could use up the extra energy." She muttered. "Like am I a pet dog to be taken out for a run?" she added standing up and clearing the glasses from the table and emptying the half-drunk contents she washed them up.
"Er Nic, we were still drinking." Annie said finally.
Nicole looked over at the table and then at her hands. She was wearing rubber gloves and an apron.
"Ok when did I become a Stepford wife?" she muttered.
"I don't know but it is kind of scary. I vote that we go." Annie told her.
Ruby grinned.
"It's not kind of scary I'm bloody terrified." She laughed. "You hoovered my room at 6am this morning. Of course I vote we go."
"Right then Friday morning we go. I'll go and phone Ella to let her know." Nic said and moved over to the phone. She absentmindedly used the dishcloth to wipe the phone and the wall around it. Then sighing she wiped the paintwork around the door.
"Er Nic." Annie said.
"You did that already." Ruby added. "Phone Ella before we have to have an intervention or hire you out as a housekeeper." She grinned at Nicole's expression.
Nicole dialled.
Ella picked up the phone and handed it to Roman to answer while she ate a piece of the toast.
"Hello?" Roman said.
"Dad?" Nic questioned.
"Ella is eating at the moment." He explained.
"We are coming up on Friday." Nic said into the phone, rubbing at a tough spot of dirt on the wall.
"That's good." He said. "Ella is looking forward to showing you around."
"Er Dad." Nic began.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Where do you keep the window cleaner?" she asked.
"Under the sink." He replied without thinking.
"Good." She said and hung up rubbing at the spot on the wall again.
"Er Nic what did he say?" Annie said sharing a concerned look with Ruby.
"That it would be ok.. Ah ah. Got you." She said to the wall and its now clean surface. She turned and walked over to the sink and searched amongst the products until she found the window cleaner.
Ella looked over at Roman.
"What?" she asked.
"The girls are coming and I think Nic is in trouble." He said looking over at her. "She wanted to know where the window cleaner was."
Ella laughed and stood walking into the kitchen she dragged out a pen and paper.
"What are you doing?" he asked her puzzled.
"I thought I'd make a list of jobs that need doing while she's here." She said.
Roman vaulted over the back of the sofa and ran over to her.
She tried running away but he caught her easily and pressed her close laughing and kissing her at the same time.