B&B OF LOVE AND FUN-9
Hello everyone. Good to be with you again. It's weekend, so it's time for another update. As you probably recall, in the last chapter, our trio has finally found the almost perfect place for their B&B so now it's time for the next step. Hope you will like this chapter.
When Elsie finally managed to go through all Charles's anxieties and worries about the new place, the decision was taken. There was nothing else to be done, than to start the process of buying the place.
To Elsie and Beryl's amazement, Charles, who was the most reluctant one from all three of them, has started to be the most engaged in the whole process.
They were both having a good laugh on the side from Charles, because even though he would never admit that, he thought, that women were not wise enough to take part in negotiation process, so he became the front man and took an active lead, trying to negotiate a lower price with the owner.
At first, Elsie felt a little bit hurt, by the very suggestion of not being good enough to talk about money issues, but she quickly understood, that it was important for Charles to take the lead here. He was a man of old times and he considered it his duty, to take care of her and Beryl. It was annoying and sweet at the same time.
It was the second time in his life, when Charles was buying something. He already bought Bruncker Road cottage for himself and Elsie, but that was different back then. He bought it on his own, hoping, that this was a first step in building a relationship with Elsie.
Now, they were together in this, as married couple, plus Beryl, but he still believed, that he should be the main boss in the project.
Elsie and Beryl had quite a good laugh about it, when he was not with them...
"I'm telling you Mrs Hughes- if you could see him yesterday, when we met Mr Lewis again. He was as proud as a peacock, wanting to show me how well he negotiates. Wish you were there with us to see it."
"Believe me Mrs Patmore, I can imagine that..I know very well this attitude of his. He married a modern woman, but even though he still likes to think, that he is the boss..."
"I hope that we can both persuade him, that it's not how it's going to work with the three of us, once we will start our business..."
"I'm sure that we will be able to manage him...You are not a person who will let him give orders and I certainly know the ways to convince him, that he is not the boss.."
"I'm sure you do...I would like to know those ways of yours...Could be interesting to hear..."
"Mrs Patmore...I ask you...If we are to start a business together, you need to learn to stop making constant jokes about our marriage life..."
"Sorry Mrs Hughes. You are my best friend and so is Mr Carson, but this is one thing that I can't promise you...I swear, that I will not interfere with your private moments, you can count on having all the time you need alone, but you need to allow me having my jokes, I would feel incomplete without them.."
"Well, if you can't change something, I guess there is only one thing to do- accept it..."
"There you go-that's the spirit...I knew that we will get along...And you are right by the way- he has no chance against two strong women like us..."
"There will be three women, you are forgetting your niece- Katie..."
"I wouldn't worry about her, she is a nice and sweet girl, although I admit, there are moments, when she has a character..."
"I'm wondering where she got that from...:-Elsie asked with innocent face, but there was a trace of amusement in her eyes...
"I'm not going to deny, after all I'm her Godmother, so she should have some of my character...I'm very grateful, that you agree that Katie can run it with us..."
"She will be a very valuable addiction...We need someone young, to live up the party, of three late middle age people..."
"Speak for yourself! I still feel very young.."
"Like I would hear Charles...Sometimes I think, that he should have married you, you two have much more in common than we do..."
"That's true, but he wouldn't even look at me. Ever since you came to this house, you had his heart..."
"I don't know about that...But I'm really glad, that we will finally start a business soon...Could hardly wait for that moment..."
"It's mostly your accomplishment Mrs Hughes...It was your idea and you managed to convince Mr Carson to it, although I'm guessing, that he wasn't very keen on it in the beginning..."
Well...He needed some convincing..."
"And I'm sure, that you knew exactly how to do that..."
"All right, that's it for today..You had your fair share of jokes and I'm going back to the cottage...See you tomorrow, it's our big day..."
"See you tomorrow...Have a good evening..."
"You too Mrs Patmore..."
The next day...
They all felt very touched and only a little bit scared, the next day, when they were signing the papers in the solicitor's office.
Elsie was very proud of Charles, because she found out, that his negotiation skills were not bad at all and he indeed managed to negotiate a better price for the B&B. When all the documents were signed, they all felt a huge relief.
They said goodbye to Mr Lewis, who wished him all the best and gave them two sets of keys to the house and then they decided to stop by their new place.
When all three of them stood in front of the house, there were various emotions in them- joy, fear, pride, excitement, hope for the best...They just stood there for few moments, in complete silence, watching the sun set and enjoying the awareness, that this was their new home now and their place of work at the same time.
Beryl was the first one to break that silence:
"I need to run now..I promised to help Daisy with the evening party at the Abbey...Are you coming back with me?"
"Not yet Mrs Patmore...We still want to enjoy this moment for a little while...-Elsie said.."Have a good time tonight..."
"I have a slightly different definition on a good time, but thanks...See you tomorrow..."
"Bye Mrs Patmore..."
Beryl left, leaving Elsie and Charles alone. They looked at each other and they both knew, that they want to get inside, to be alone for a moment...Charles has opened the door and he let Elsie enter first.. The came into the main living room, which had a lovely evening look, lightened with the light of the setting sun...
"Charles...This is incredible, amazing, I can't even find the words to describe it...I'm so happy..."
"Me too Elsie...I never thought, that we will get to that point..."
"But yet we did...I know that you bought a Bruncker Road house before, so it's not a new thing to you, but it certainly is a new thing for me...Our dream has come true..."
"Yes...Both of my dreams came true...I had two dreams, to run a B&B and to marry you...I had to buy Bruncker Road cottage, to make my most important dream come true-having you as my wife Elsie..."
"Oh, so I was just a part of the bargain..."
"You were the essence of my dreams...From the very first time I saw you my love...It's just such a shame, that I needed so much time to realize this..."
"But you finally did...And that's what matters..."
"That's true...I need to do one more thing to make it right..."
"What's that?"
"Since this is our first real house, a house that belongs to us, I'm going to do something, that I haven't done before and I should have..."
"What's that?"
"Well, two things to be exact...To kiss you..."-he took Elsie in his arms and gave her a very loving and passionate kiss...Elsie was glad, that he was holding her so tight, because she was close to fainting, being kissed that way..."
When they stopped, Elsie had a dreamy eyes and Charles noticed that immediately...
"And what was the other thing Charlie?"-she whispered...
"The other thing was, that I wanted to carry you through the threshold, I should have done it when we entered the house, but I didn't want to startle you, so now I will simply carry you, to our future bedroom...
"Charles you can't do that!...You will!...You daft man! Put me down!..Charles...!"
Elsie's protests were not taken into consideration, as Charles simply took her in his arms and he took three steps, but that was about it, when suddenly..."
"Oh my back! My back! It hurts so much!...Ouch!..."
"Charles, are you all right? Oh God Charles, what should I do?"
"I just need to lie down...I can't walk...Oh, it hurts so much..."
"That's how being romantic ends in our age Charlie...I think it's a good lesson for both of us..."
That's all for today lovelies...Elsie was right...That's exactly how being romantic ends in a certain age... Instead of being romantic, some part of the body suddenly refuse to cooperate ;-) I guess Charles should be lucky, that it was only his back ;-) Hope you had fun reading this chapter...Have a wonderful weekend!