Chapter 81
Ella walked slowly down the stairs reading a message on her phone and saw Roman standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She smiled over at him and walked toward him slowly.. He handed her his cup when she reached him. She took a drink of his coffee and handed him the cup back.
"Thanks." She told him with a smile. "I've got a shoot tomorrow. Overnight trip included."
"Ok" he murmured.
"I think I might stay away for a few days."
"El?" he questioned.
"I need to get some headspace." She murmured.
He sat down on a chair at the table and waited for her to tell him the next bombshell. He thought that they were doing ok. Yes, losing the baby hurt but they were moving on and that was a good thing wasn't it?
"Aren't you going to say anything?" she asked him after a while.
"I'm not sure what to say." He said finally looking over at her.
"Ok." she said at last. "Well if you are ok with it I'll leave now give me a chance to look around for a bit."
He nodded.
She looked at him again before turning around and walking back up the stairs. She came down ten minutes later with a holdall packed. She moved around the lounge collecting her camera and laptop before taking them out to her car.
"I don't know where I'm staying yet so I'll send you a text." She told him.
She walked over to him and pressed a kiss to his lips before walking back to the door. He let her go without even saying anything. She waited a moment by the open door looking back at him but he still didn't say anything so she walked out and climbed into her car.
She drove for a couple of hours to the location up the coast and walked on to the beach checking out the locale. After a while she walked slowly back to her car and drive to the hotel Yannis had finally texted her and told her about. She walked into reception and saw Yannis sitting over at the bar.
"Hey." He called across to her.
She nodded and carried on to reception and checked in. She went up to her room and unpacked. She swore as she realised that she had left her phone charge behind. She switched her phone off to save the battery and went down to have a drink with her assistant.
Roman came back to the house from a very long exhausting run to find Nic sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in her hand.
"Hey." He called to her.
He stretched his legs out and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"I texted but got no answer." She said.
"Who did you text because El has left." He said and tried not to wince at the pronouncement.
"Oh well." Nic said.
She put down the magazine on the table and stood up.
"We wanted to invite you for dinner." She told him.
Roman nodded.
"We can't at the moment things are a bit up in the air." He temporised.
She looked at him.
"What going on dad?" she asked him.
He shrugged and delayed answering by taking a long drink from the glass of water.
"Ella has gone on an assignment." He told her. "Sorry Nic, I need to get a shower. I've agreed to do a late shift at the diner tonight."
She nodded and took her cup through to the kitchen.
"Are you ok Dad?" she asked him after a minute.
He nodded draining the glass.
"Ok then I'll give you a call. Perhaps we can do something this weekend when Mike is home."
He looked at her.
"I'm not sure Mike will be here." He said quickly. "But I'm sure we can sort something out." He added when he saw her give him another quick look.
"Ok then." Nic said slightly puzzled.
She turned and walked out of the door and he sighed in relief.
"And how do I tell them that within weeks of renewing our vows she is considering leaving me." He said aloud and turned to go up the stairs. He pulled out his phone and dialled her number. Her phone was switched through to voicemail. He hung up without leaving a message.
Ella sat at the bar discussing the terrain with Yannis. They went back to his room so she could go through the equipment he'd brought.
"Are you ok Liz?" he asked after a time.
She nodded.
"Why?" She said.
"Well you've checked that camera twice." He told her.
She chuckled.
"Got my mind on other things I suppose." She murmured. "I'm going to get some food in my room and grab an early night. I'll see you at 5am?"
He grinned.
"I forgot how much I hate early mornings." He groaned.
She grinned.
"You and me both."
"Hey, if this were the good old days we would stay up all night drinking then go do the shoot." Yannis laughed.
She looked at him.
"Don't tempt a girl!" she grinned.
She stood and walked back to her room. She clicked open her phone and switched it on. With any luck she would be able to charge it in her car. She checked her voicemail and sighed when there were no messages and the only text was from Nic. She looked at the time and assumed that she would already have seen her father so she didn't text her back. She left the phone on her bed and climbed into the shower.
She had just washed her hair when her phone rang. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her racing to the bedroom to answer it.
"'lo." She said breathlessly.
"Did I call at a bad time?" Roman asked her.
"I was in the shower."
He groaned.
"Roman Harris." She murmured softly.
"Yes." He said.
"What are you thinking right now?" she asked with a chuckle.
"I'm thinking about you wet and naked." He said honestly.
"Uh huh." She said. "I'm wet and naked in a hotel room on a double bed." She pointed out.
She heard him moan and gave a quick chuckle.
"What about you?" she asked.
"I've just been for a long run and I'm heading for the shower." He said huskily. "I'm getting out of my clothes now."
She grinned.
"Are we having this kind of conversation?" she asked softly.
"What conversation?" he chuckled. "I'm just telling you what I'm doing now and that is lying naked on our bed."
She laughed.
She heard his breathing quicken.
"Are you doing what I think you are doing?" she asked him.
He laughed that low and sexy laugh that made her pulse quicken.
"No I'm not but it might be fun don't you think." He suggested.
"Uh huh. Are you missing me already?" she asked. "Here I am all naked and wet and you can't touch me." She teased. "I'll just have to touch myself won't I?" she asked and listened to him moan.
She turned the phone around and clicked a picture and sent it to him.
She heard his phone beep and then his laugh.
"That is not playing fair." He grouched.
"I want something back." She told him.
He chuckled.
Within moments she had her return picture.
"That is impressive." she told him. "I like the angle on that."
She heard the warning beep from her phone and groaned.
"My battery is about to die." She told him ruefully.
"You seriously can't do this to me." He groaned. "Plug in the charger." He said quickly.
"About that. Look down the side of the bed."
She heard rustling and then a muttered swearword.
"So how will I speak to you?" he asked. "Where are you staying?" he added.
"I'm at the…" she began and the phone died on her.
She laughed and left the phone on the bed to go finish her shower.
Roman groaned and looked at the picture she'd sent before clicking his phone shut and heading for the shower. He turned the temperature to cold for the first few minutes. And even though he was frozen as a result he laughed, maybe just maybe her search for headspace, as she called it, wasn't the fist step out of the door.
She rubbed her neck wearily and waited for the lift to take her back to her room.
"What do you think?" Yannis asked.
She grinned.
"It was good. That Tania will end up a supermodel one day she's already got the attitude down." She told him. "I'm going to get dinner in my room and check the shots." She added.
"No drinking?" he asked.
"Not for me. I'm too tired." She told him.
"You just want to call that gorgeous husband of yours."
She grinned as she got off the lift.
"Maybe." She said and let him carry on to his floor.
She walked quickly to her room and in through the door. Placing the camera bag on the desk by her laptop. She checked her phone. It had been in the car all day on charge and only had two lines of battery. She looked and a few texts came up. She grinned as read them and sent him one back letting him know the hotel she was staying in and the room number. Then she added a couple of kisses and sent it. She switched the phone off to save the remaining battery and set to work. It was almost ten when she stopped and she decided to take a long bath. She soaked her tired muscles in the hot water for a long time, falling asleep for a time as she relaxed. She didn't hear the hotel phone ringing.
"I'm sorry sir there is no response from Ms Addison's room would you like to leave a message?" the receptionist said to him.
"No that is ok." Roman said. "I'll try again later."
"Sir, she has a do not disturb on the phone after 11pm." He was told.
Roman looked at his watch and nearly groaned.
"Thank you." He told the receptionist and hung up.
He waited for a moment, looking at his phone and then the time debating whether to text Miles and see if he were up for a drink. Deciding it was too late he climbed the stairs and went to bed, he was working double shifts at the diner and had the early shift in the morning as well as his normal one.
Ella woke up in the bath. The water was cold and she still hadn't had dinner. She climbed out and pulled the plug letting the water go down the drain. She looked at the time and swore it was gone one in the morning. Too late to phone him and she'd had a do not disturb on the phone so he wouldn't have got through to her. She opened up her mobile and flicked it on. She had no messages either text or voice mail. She clicked it back off to save battery and raided the mini bar for a snack.
Not happy with the proofs Ella called everyone on set the following day. She was tired and fed up with the model's attitude and finally called a halt around three and contacted her agent to come and sort her out. Normally she could deal with this but maybe she was getting too cranky in her old age she thought with a groan. She and Yannis drove a little way up the coast to do some nature shots while they were waiting for it to be resolved. The agent called and apologised for the model's behaviour and guaranteed her co-operation the following day. Ella hung up Yannis' phone, as hers was still on charge in the car, and looked at him.
"Another day?" he asked.
She nodded.
He grinned.
"You getting soft Liz, you used to love this?" he asked.
"Maybe it's time I retired." She groaned.
He laughed.
"Come on lets grab some food then take some lovely pictures of the sunset and head back to the hotel." He told her.
She nodded again.
They went to a small diner and grabbed some food before heading back out to take photos of the sunset. Then climbed into her car to head back to the hotel.
"Its not like I'm not enjoying myself I just fell that my priorities are different now." She said eventually after the two-hour debate, mostly with herself.
"You've only been married a short while." He commented. "It's natural to want to spend time with him, obviously."
She grinned.
"But I don't want to lose this." She told him.
"So you want the best of both worlds." He grinned.
"No I want my life to have my new stuff in and my old and I want not to feel tortured." She muttered feeling the need to be defensive. "Especially as it looks like I won't be.." she trailed off. He patted her knee and let her be quiet for a moment.
"Well why don't we start with one shoot a month." He said.
She nodded.
"Let's look at the schedule back in my room." She suggested. "And come up with a timetable."
He smiled.
"Now you are talking."
She chuckled.
They pulled up in front of the hotel and parked.
She grabbed her phone and they headed for their rooms with the promise to meet up in half-hour.
She clicked on her laptop and downloaded the shots, editing them She got lost in the work until Yannis knocked on her door and she let him in.
"I thought you were going to get shower?" he muttered.
"Yeah I am. I won't be long pull up the schedule and we'll go through in when I get out." She grinned and grabbed the bathrobe going into the bathroom.
Yannis went over to the laptop and saved what she was doing before getting the calendar up. He linked it to the Internet and checked for emails. He transferred some dates into the schedule as provisional and hooked up the portable printer to produce a copy to put in her organiser.
The hotel phone rang at that instant and he answered it.
"Hello." He said.
"I was after Ella." Roman said quickly put off by hearing a mans voice
"She's in the shower at the moment. Can I take a message."
"Yeah tell her that her husband called." Roman said and hung up before he added anything else to the sentence.
Yannis chuckled and put the receiver down slowly.
"Who was that on the phone?" she called out form the bathroom.
"Your husband. And I think you should tell him about me."
Ella stuck her head through the door.
"He knows you're my assistant." She muttered.
She pulled on the rest of her clothes and went into the bedroom.
"I didn't actually get around to telling him my name." He told her.
She smiled slowly.
"Right." He said. "I've come up with this." He handed her the paper schedule to look at.
She went through it.
"All except this one." She told him. "I hate working for these people."
He nodded.
"Usual email?" he asked.
She nodded.
He turned to the PC and typed it up and sent it before amending the schedule printing off a new copy for her and closing down the computer.
"I'm going to go party. I'll see you at 6 in the morning."
She nodded and saw him out. Before going over and checking her phone. She had a message from Nic and a couple from Mike. She replied to both of them and sent Roman one. She flicked the phone to silent and crashed on the bed in front of the tv. She fell asleep almost immediately and missed her phone ringing. Eventually the battery died and the phone stopped ringing.
The alarm went off early and Roman rolled over and groaned. He looked at it with a curse and climbed out of bed and into his workout clothes. He planned a run before his shift and was meeting Aden at lunchtime for a work out in the gym.
He grabbed his phone and saw no messages and swore. He put it in his pocket and headed out of the door. He completed the warm up and set off.
Ella rolled over slowly and picked up the hotel phone. She acknowledged the wake up call and got out of bed dressing quickly and headed for the lobby, taking her camera and phone with her. She saw that the battery was completely dead. She plugged it into the car charger and went back inside to wait for Yannis. He turned up 10 minutes later already wearing sunglasses and carrying a large cup of coffee.
She grinned at him.
Roman pushed himself on the workout the same way he ahd on the run.
"Are you going to tell me what's bugging you or should I just ignore your bad mood." Aden said.
Roman looked at him.
"Ella gone." he said finally.
"As in..?" Aden asked.
"I'm waiting to find out actually but when I rang her room last night a man answered the phone." Roman groaned and stood up stretching before he added more weights to the bar and then settled back down to do the reps.
"Could be innocent."
"She was in the shower." Roman grunted from the effort of lifting the weights or at least that's what he told himself.
"Ah." Aden said.
"But it could be innocent." Roman muttered. "Like hell." He added and lifted the bar again,
"Roman calm down." Aden said quickly placing his hands on the weight bar and stopping him from lifting it again.
Roman looked at him.
"Headspace she said."
"Well losing a baby changes a woman and maybe she did need to go think things through for a while." Aden said quickly.
"And it doesn't affect a man?" Roman asked moving over to the punch bag and pulling on the gloves before starting to hit it.
Aden shrugged and walked over to the bag holding it. After a couple of punches Aden realised that he needed to hold it a bit firmer and he hoped he never did anything to p*ss Roman off.
"Of course it does. Just that us men deal with it differently." He said with a smirk.
Roman stopped punching.
"Point made." He said with a grin. "Lets get a drink."
Aden chuckled and went through to the juice bar. He had a large Orange Juice and Roman grabbed a bottle of water.
"How is she anyway?" Aden asked quietly.
"I don't know. One minute she is the old Ella and the next she is quiet and doesn't seem to hear what I've said." Roman took a long drink.
Aden nodded understandingly.
"Sounds as though getting away was what she needed." He said.
Roman nodded.
"I know I'm just worried." He said. "Worried that she's hurting and I can't help her." he finally confessed.
Aden looked at him.
"You can't fix everything Roman and maybe it's enough for her to know you are there."
Roman looked at him.
"And you can't protect everybody either." Aden added.
Roman grinned.
"I remember a time I used to give out the advice." Roman muttered with a wry smile.
Aden chuckled.
Ella finished the shoot and climbed into her car and checked her phone. She was able to pick up the voicemail Roman had left her last night and caught herself grinning when she heard his voice.
"Heading home?" Yannis asked her when she re-joined him.
Ella nodded.
"I'm going to go check out and head off. I'll do the editing and send you the proofs." She told him.
He smiled at her and nodded following her to her car and climbing in. She drove them to the hotel and made her way to her room packing up and quickly. She looked round and made sure she had everything before heading to reception to check out. She paid the bill and left heading home.
Roman left Aden at the surf bar and he jogged home slowly. He went for a shower as soon as he got in staying under the hot spray for a long time easing his tired and aching muscles.
Ella let herself in through the front door and dumped her assorted bags, holdall, camera bag and finally her laptop bag on the floor just inside the front door and made her way up the stairs. She heard the shower on and grinned. Stepping into the bedroom she stripped off and walked naked into the bathroom. She stepped into the shower behind him and slid her hands around his waist.
"I should warn you that my wife will be home soon." He said.
She pressed a kiss to his back.
"That had better be a joke!" she warned.
He laughed and turned around.
"I've missed you." He said.
"I know I got your voicemails earlier." She grinned at him. "All twenty two of them. I'm not leaving you. Yes that was my assistant. Yes Mike is coming this weekend. I love you too. Of course I miss you. Yes we can go to Nic's for dinner. I am coming home. Does that cover most of them?"
He chuckled and bent his head to kiss her.