Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

She made sure to organize her time around Michael's visits the next few weeks, coinciding Mr Robert's outside appointments with those times as well. If anybody found it odd, they didn't question it.

She fell more and more in love with the little boy every day, laughing in delight every time he said her name or learned a new word. He would squeal with eagerness whenever she came into view and soon Sandra stopped pretending like she was even the one watching him and left Charlie to her own devices, rather completing whatever work she had for Brian Lavery.

Charlie for the most part would leave once he fell asleep but sometimes she'd catch herself watching him for no other reason than to see him breath. She realised that it was probably not a good idea, this constant dose of Michael that she seemed to need and Cleo apparently agreed with that.

The barbecue had been cancelled due to an unexpected shower that had come down that weekend so after three weeks of working at the firm, Mr Robert gave her the Saturday off and she made her way to Cleo's lovely house in Richmond.

Ian and Cleo's family both came from a wealthy background and the in-laws had gifted the couple the house on their wedding day. They had only moved into it six months ago when Ian's gallery had opened up. It was not so much a house as it was a mansion and it would have been intimidating if not for the way Cleo had made it into a home. It was her job: interior designing. And she had done the house up in such a way that you would forget where you were and only feel the love of a family in it.

She stepped out of the taxi, waving at the driver as she reached out and pressed the bell. Almost immediately the gates began to open and she smiled at the now unencumbered view of the gardens. The place was really astonishing. More than an hour from her flat in Barking, Charlie didn't often get a chance to just pop over and it frustrated her that she now had to plan ahead just to see her best friend. But this was better than nothing and it wasn't like they didn't Skype or speak on the phone almost every other day.

She slogged her way up the driveway, silently cursing the architects for being so dramatic before finally reaching the massive oak doors. They swung open before she could knock and was almost bowled over by the flying missile that was her best friend.

"Charlie!"

Keeping a careful grip on the pie dish in her hand, she hugged the skinny girl back, feeling the slight bump of her tummy touching her. Pulling slightly away she held Cleo by her shoulders and looked at her flush face and they both started to giggle, pink flushing up their faces, grins breaking across their faces.

"God, how I've missed you."

Charlie squeezed her friend again, being mindful of her tummy, and felt at peace once again. Cleo was like home.

The two finally separated and trudged into the house, Charlie relieving herself of her coat and hanging it up in the cupboard before Cleo grabbed hold of her hand and tugged her into the kitchen. There they found Ian leaning against the stove, two bottles of pink lemonade in his hand.

Grinning, he loped forward and pecked Charlie on her cheek before offering her the drink.

"I'd offer you something stronger but alcohol is banned in this house for the next two years and we're just going to have to make do."

"Good afternoon to you too, Ian. I'm fine, thanks for asking. Yes my week has been lovely, so kind of you to enquire," she replied with grin before taking the drink with a whispered thanks and twisting the cap open."So two years huh? You're gonna last that long?"

Cleo snorted, "He's putting restrictions on himself that I have never asked for. I told him to continue drinking and just stop the use of alcohol in our dinners but he's refusing."

"I don't want to tempt her, Charlie. Surely you understand that."

Charlie rolled her eyes, "How can you have been married to her for all this time and not know that Cleo barely drinks anyway and nothing tempts her except if she wants it to."

Cleo smiled, "Oh he knows that. He feels guilty about the morning sickness and me being unable to eat sushi. So he wants to suffer with me."

Ian flushed, "You ladies are going to be the death of me one day. I will be outside with my perfectly harmless ginger ale, pretending to be unable to hear you girls as you gossip. Charlie, you really need to find yourself a man so I'm not such a third wheel in these gatherings."

Charlie laughed out loud at this, as if he was the partner-less creature. Cleo ignored his pity party and tugged Charlie so that they could relax themselves in the lounge.

Jumping onto the sofa, Charlie snuggled into the blankets that had been thrown there for this very purpose. Usually Cleo would have been right behind her, tackling into her too but now she had to be careful, so she just slid in next to Charlie and snuggled up to her, sighing in contentment.

"I've forgotten how much I've missed us."

Charlie nodded, her chin lightly bumping into Cleo's head, "How have you been?"

Cleo smiled, "I've been good. The morning sickness isn't as bad as I thought that it would be and the only odd thing that I've been craving lately is this stupid pink lemonade. Which isn't even that stupid because it's delicious."

Charlie hummed her agreement and took a long sip of the said drink, "At least the baby has good taste. Are you guys gonna find out the sex?"

She felt rather than saw Cleo shaking her head, "I mean I know that it's going to either be a boy or a girl but I still want to leave it as a surprise. Everyone's complaining because they want to buy gifts but I'm telling you now. No baby shower."

Charlie groaned as she had in fact just been thinking about the baby shower, "I was looking forward to that!"

Cleo chuckled, "I know that you were. You love all things marriage and baby but I prefer that if anyone wants to bring gifts, they just bring it after I give birth. No worries then. Please, Charlie."

She didn't even put up a fight. Cleo only ever asked for things that she wanted and if she didn't want a baby shower, she didn't want a baby shower.

"I am so excited for this baby. I am going to spoil you so much, you won't be able to help but love me," this was said to the tummy and Cleo laughed.

"I know that you're going to spoil our pumpkin and I guess it's okay because when you get your own, you can forget me even letting you have a second of time with them to yourself."

Charlie beamed but then her smile turned wistful. When she had her own. One day.

Cleo noticed her expression and sat up, pushing her side into Charlie arm, "Hey hey! What's with the mopey expression? We supposed to be happy here. No time for depression."

"Yes yes, I know. Sorry."

Cleo touched her arm, "Everyone's love story is different and knowing you, yours is going to so full of drama, you're gonna miss these carefree days."

Charlie giggled in appreciation. Cleo always knew what to say to cheer her up. Then she rolled her eyes, "Oh please, C. Who's going to miss this boring life of mine huh?"

"Boring? I beg to differ. Not every average English girl can boast the fact of meeting Benedict Williams and being driven home in his car. I still can't believe that he went to Jeanine about keeping your job. That was so sweet of him."

Charlie sniffed, "Oh what. That was one meeting and yeah okay, what he did was terribly sweet but it's not like it changed my life or anything."

Cleo shook her head, "Darling, things like this don't happen unless there's a reason behind it."

Charlie swatted her arm lightly, "C, you put way too much faith in all this destiny hogwash. It isn't all set out, you know?"

"You laugh at destiny but it will prove you wrong one day. There's someone out there for everyone. And God has set out the incidents of our life so that we end up meeting the one we're meant to be with."

"Oh no. Here you go again."

Charlie closed her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips as she heard Cleo go into her well-versed tale.

"We could have gone anywhere, Charlie! You were begging me to try out that new Korean place downtown and I was dying to visit that boutique that everyone was raving about. You wanted food, I wanted to browse, but no. It was your mother's insistence that we go to the mall and buy her vegetables before doing anything else. If your father hadn't fallen ill the day before and your sister hadn't filched all the vegetables for her stew that we didn't end up eating anyway, we wouldn't have needed to go to the mall. Actually, it all goes back to the month before when your mother decided that being vegetarians for a month was the way to be healthy. If it wasn't for that then we wouldn't have gone to buy veggies. God forbid, we would have ended up at the butchery for some chicken and some other girl would have bumped into Ian."

Charlie picked up where Cleo left off, knowing the story so well that it all came out in a toneless voice, "And if it hadn't been for bloody Simon and Marcy having a tiff in the middle of the street, we wouldn't have been delayed which made us enter the mall at just the right time to see that the skirt you'd always wanted was now on sale. Then, if it hadn't been for that incompetent saleswoman, whom we now thank, we wouldn't have rushed out of the store in anger and you would have been happy instead of angry which means that you would have probably seen Ian and avoided bumping into him. Instead, in your huffiness, you dashed forward and low and behold. God presented Ian right into your arms."

Cleo beamed despite Charlie's bored tone, choosing to totally ignore it, "Exactly! See! Destiny is real."

Cleo sighed in happiness and leaned back against Charlie.

Charlie grumbled and groaned but didn't nudge her off.

"You know it's not that I don't believe. It's just that miracles like these happen so rarely that if it's happened to you, it's not bound to happen to me."

"Oh yeah? And why not?"

"Because there's a limited amount of this stuff and two helpings don't drop down. Not so close to each other."

"Oh. Now it's a tub of ice cream and it has to be shared out equally per country huh?"

Charlie laughed at Cleo ridiculousness, "Yeah. Something like that."

Cleo groaned at her obtuseness, "Sometimes I wonder how we are even friends what with you being so pessimistic and me being so optimistic."

"I'm being realistic and there is no problem with that. And you have every right to be optimistic seeing as you are living the life."

"Yeah well, whatever."

"Says every person when they've lost an argument."

She only had time to scream before Cleo was attacking her with a pillow that had been lying at her feet. She squealed in delighted shock as Cleo launched it at her arms that were held up to protect her head, over and over again. She grabbed the pillow as it made to make contact again and laughed as she tugged it insistently away from Cleo.

"Oh C. You can't win every argument."

Their faces were flushed and their eyes were sparkling with happiness, hair everywhere, clothes askew from the tussle.

"If I didn't have proof that my wife was as straight as an arrow, this situation would make me suspicious."

Charlie laughed as she tilted her head back to see Ian smirking at them.

"What makes you so sure that we're not bi, Ian?"

He made a disgusted face, "With the way that the two of you carry on about some of the men when you're watching TV together? I don't think so. It's horrendous. And you yell at me if I so much as glance at the TV when a pair of breasts come on show, clothed or not. If you were bi, you'd ogle with me."

"Oi! I'm the only girl whose boobs you need to be glancing at and Ian baby, don't be jealous. You know that you'll be the only one for me."

Saying this, Cleo leaned over Charlie, the girl's chest almost in her face, as she moved to give her husband a wet kiss.

"Excuse me. Human down here, not wanting to die due to gagging out of disgust with a boob imprint on her face."

She lightly shoved Cleo off of her, and rolled her eyes at her friend's mischievous face.

"You are a devil, you know that?"

Cleo nodded proudly.

"That's enough foreplay girls. Come and have dinner."

They scrambled off of the couch, neatening their clothes and padding their way to the kitchen where Ian had neatly set the table for a quiet supper.

The aromas around the kitchen were so tantalising that her mouth began to water and she took a deep breath to inhale everything.

"Smells delicious."

The couple nodded with happiness and they all sat down, enjoying the meal with a delight that only came with good company.

"So Charlie, tell me, how's the job at the firm? You're enjoying yourself?"

Charlie swallowed the piece of chicken in her mouth, took a sip of the sparkling grape juice and nodded before answering Ian's question, "It's great really. The hours are reasonable and I suppose that it's tiring but that's what makes it great. I don't feel like just decoration there. I'm actually doing some work."

"Dad's says that you're great. He doesn't even notice that Lithia has been gone and he's glad that you came to work for him."

"I'm glad too. The pay's good and now with Michael there-

She cut herself off and hurriedly stuffed a piece of garlic bread in her mouth hoping that they hadn't caught on to what she had said. Cleo would not approve.

"Michael? Who's Michael?"

"Michael? I don't know."

"You just said Michael. Charlie? Is there a new man at the office that you have been ogling and you haven't told me about?"

Charley shook her head vehemently and laughed, this time her words ringing with truth, "Dear god, no. Definitely no man that I've been ogling."

Ian seemed to believe her and asked her something about the Wesley case to which she gave a lengthy answer but all the while she could feel Cleo's eyes on her. Her best friend knew her too well.