NOT THE BEST DAY EVER
The Carsons finished their drinks, informed the others of their plans, and hastily left the night club.
They chatted and walked around the streets of Brighton for a bit, arm in arm, in the dark. They made a little circle, eventually arriving back to the area where Pelican Club was, before Mr Carson stopped and pulled Mrs Hughes closer to him. He took her hand and brought her under a nearby tree - with a green area lit up by a lamp. They could hear music coming from the club. "I think I owe you dance, don't I?" He stated sweetly.
Elsie just stared at him for a second but also followed his lead and finally melted in his strong arms. She let him swing her around, enjoying the soothing warmth of his body and the ever-loving attention of his gaze.
After relishing their little dance, they moved on to a next-door pub, ordered drinks and continued their conversation.
"What a day." Mr Carson reminisced and sighed. "How come I always end up going places and doing things I hate?" He asked as if he was blaming her for this regularity.
"You went because you felt bad about this morning, because Daisy wanted you to come, remember?" She reminded him.
"Hmm..." He wasn't going to admit to her that was exactly the case. She saw right through him! "Anyway, I regret it now."
"Oh, come on it wasn't all bad." She beamed remembering their enjoyable walk as well as the romantic dance.
"No, not all bad, and hopefully from now on it can only get better." Charles gave her a knowing look which made her blush and look away. "I hope you weren't too disappointed we'd left the horrid club." He added with seriousness now.
Elsie rolled her eyes at him, and replied honestly, "Not really," reassuring him. "I'd rather you were comfortable."
"Or you'd rather be alone there, without me – an old codger ruining everyone's fun?" He repeated her words from earlier and raised his eyebrows.
She laughed at that but also added "No." firmly. "I'd rather be with you."
"Hm." A broad smug smile appeared on his face.
They were both so emersed in their conversation and lost in each other's eyes, they hardly noticed Daisy and Andy entering the pub, until they were only a couple of inches away.
"What are you two doing here?" Mrs Hughes jumped at the sight of them, startling her husband as well. She saw them first; her seat was facing the entrance.
"Mrs Patmore and Mr Mason were tired; they went to the hotel and sent us to pick you up." Daisy explained.
"Why don't you sit down with us for a moment, we've barely touched our drinks yet." The housekeeper suggested, and the young couple agreed, purchased some more cocktails, and sat down next to them.
"I hope you two at least had a nice day!" Elsie asked but from Daisy's giddiness and Andrew's grin she already knew the answer.
"We enjoyed every bit of it, didn't we Daisy." And squeezed his fiancés hand.
"We did." She joined in excitement. "But what do you mean at least?"
"Well," She inhaled and shot a meaningful look towards her husband. "Mr Carson didn't have the best day ever."
"It wasn't the absolute worst either." Charles returned her look; he wasn't caught of guard by here teasing.
The group of four continued chatting for a while, finished their drinks and eventually made their way back to the hotel.
When they came back, Andy headed straight to reception to pick their keys up as was agreed with the receptionist earlier that day, only to come across a bit of an obstacle - an obstacle that couldn't be solved as at this small hour the receptionist was already retired.
"They've only given us one key…" He announced to the rest of the group when he returned, dangling the keys in front of his face.
The Carson's looked at each other in panic.
"What do you mean?" Daisy yelped. "There is only one room?"
"Don't fret," Mrs Hughes took charge and tried to calm the group down. "Now, let's see what we're dealing with." She took the key from Andy's hand, found the right door to fit it, and inspected the room.
"Right," She turned back to the rest of them. "Daisy, you will come with me, to sleep in my room and Mr Carson," She stumbled a moment when she saw his dangerous frown. "You will sleep in here with Andy, on one of the single beds."
"Why me?" He protested irately. "Can't we tell the Masons to-?"
"They have already gone to sleep," Of course Elsie had thought of and discounted that option. "Let's not interrupt them. It's only for one night." She tried to encourage him.
"Arg… Alright." He eventually gave in and sighed with frustration. Just when he thought this day couldn't get any worse!
