Getting a Life (8 page)

'When are the rest of the world arriving?'

'About eightish I think. I just wanted some time alone with you first.' She felt a thrill run through her. She was looking forward to this evening but the idea of a bit of time spent together first pleased her no end.'

She lay in her bath a while later, thinking of him with great pleasure. She did however, know one thing. She was totally in love with this man. One way or another, he'd got into her soul. She closed her eyes and thought about him a whole lot more. His dark hair, blue eyes and his almost perfect good looks. He was quite a bit taller than she was but with heels, it was perfect. She also quite liked his leather gear ... not her usual choice but it suited him perfectly. At least she was spending a fairly important evening of the year with him. He wasn't escorting some expensively dressed floozy to a party somewhere. He was all hers for the night. Well, for a long evening, anyway. She had better not count her chickens about the whole night! She shivered suddenly. Sleeping with Mike? It certainly frightened her and hopefully, by the time it really happened, she'd be over it. She got out of the bath and dried herself. She took out her silver dress from the wardrobe and slipped it on. Immediately, she looked to see a different girl in her mirror. She would do for Mike. She twisted her hair into a knot and put on some make up. She was ready. And it was only six-fifty. She wandered around, wondering what had happened to him. It was seven fifteen by the time Mike was knocking at her door.

'I'm so sorry to be late. A few problems in getting the sound system working. It all seems okay now though. I say. You look amazing. I really love that dress. It suits you beautifully.'

'Thank you. You're very kind.'

'I really mean it. It's perfect on you.' He reached over to her and took her in his arms. 'I really can't believe you're coming with me to what is just a family party.' Holding her close to him, he kissed her and sent all her senses soaring into space. She looked up at him, saying,

'Thank you for inviting me. I can hardly believe it either. I'm looking forward to it. You're looking pretty smart yourself. No leathers tonight?'

'Nah. The parents wouldn't approve. Shall we go then?'

'Okay. I'm ready to meet the rest of your family.'

'You ready? Let's go.'

The room was still empty of people, except for Mike's parents. They had changed and looked very smart.

'Oh my word. Don't you look lovely?' Mrs Thomas said.

'Thank you very much,' Joanne said softly. 'You're looking lovely too.'

'So who's this you've brought with you?' Mr Thomas asked his son. 'Surely she isn't with you?'

'Okay Dad. Cut it out.'

'I wondered how anyone looking like this would come with you. May I have a dance later? I can put you right about this young man. Tell you stuff about him that will put you off him forever.'

'Thanks. I'd like that. I need some information about this son of yours.'

Very soon, the room began to fill with family and friends. The Aussie contingent arrived amidst a great noise. Joanne was surprised to see them all arriving with sound waves that would have disturbed anyone's peace.

'Why any dingbat like old Mike should attract a fancy bird like you is beyond me,' said one of them. 'If you want someone to really show you what's what, call on me.' She laughed and promised she would. 'So you gonna come and strut your stuff with me?'

'I should think so. Thanks for asking.'

For the following half hour, she was dancing solidly with one then the other of Mike's Aussie relatives. Dancing was maybe a rather loose term but she enjoyed herself and hardly stopped laughing the whole time. She went to the bar for something to drink and immediately, Mike came to join her.

'Are you all right?' he asked. 'Need saving from the rellies? I gather that's what I have to call them. You know, Aussie style.'

'I'm fine actually, thanks. That Jacob is quite a character isn't he?'

'I suppose so. I didn't like the way he commandeered you though.'

'Jealous, are we?'

'Naturally. I want you all to myself.'

'Sorry. You can have me for at least the next five minutes.'

'Thanks a bunch,' he laughed. 'Come and dance with me then.'

'Let me finish my orange juice and I'll be right there.'

She finished it and they went to dance. Luckily, it was a slower number and she snuggled close to him. The smooched their way round floor and ended standing still, a million miles away from the party.

'I love you Mike Thomas,' she whispered so quietly that he didn't hear her.

'What did you say?'

'Nothing. Just how much I enjoyed that dance.'

Me too. I could dance with you forever and still have room for more.'

'How romantic,' she whispered.

The party went on till almost midnight. At which point, Mr Thomas called on everyone to make sure they had something in a glass to toast the New Year.

'Get ready for the countdown,' he instructed. Everyone joined in together and raised their glasses at midnight.

'Kiss me,' Mike said to her. She did.

Various people began to leave once the midnight celebrations were over. The younger ones stayed on and Joanne was asked to dance again by the various family members. For once, she forgot her shyness and enjoyed dancing and whirling round. Mike cut in on the deal and took her hands and danced around with her once more.

'Are you ready to leave?' he asked.

'If you want to. I'm happy with that.'

'I'll take you home then. It is after one o'clock. Time for all good girls to be tucked up in their beds.'

'Hey Mike, you're not ducking out already are you?' Jacob asked him. 'Not taking that lovely woman away with you are you?'

'Fraid so. I have to take Joanne back to her home. It's way past her bedtime.'

'Aw shucks. I can't believe you actually have a bedtime.'

'Oh believe me, I do.' She was laughing at the innuendo and leaned over to kiss him.

'Thanks. You two make a lovely pair. I guess we'll all be invited back to the wedding before too long.'

'Not for a long time,' Mike informed him. 'But if we do get married, I promise you'll be on top of the list. You ready, Darling?'

'Oh yes. I think so. Bye. It's been great to meet you all.'

'Sorry if I dragged you away,' Mike told her on their way back to her house.

'Not at all. I was ready to leave. I felt I did my bit for Australian/ UK relationships.'

'You certainly did. Jacob would have loved to come back home with you. I could see by the way he was coming on to you.'

'I hardly noticed,' she teased him. He looked at her.

'Come off it. You must have noticed.'

'I was teasing you. Of course I noticed. But I wanted to come back home with you. Nobody else.'

'Shut up.' He stopped the car outside her house. 'Come here woman.' He leaned over and kissed her once more. She shut up for all of five minutes.

'Do you want a coffee?' she asked him when she resurfaced.

'Wouldn't say no.'

'Come on in then. And please, behave yourself. This is a quiet street,' she giggled.

He followed her to the door and waited to be let in. They went into the sitting room and sat down on the comfy sofa.

'Coffee?' he asked.

'Sorry. Yes of course. I'll go and make it.'

'I'll come with you. Can't trust you with the coffee pot on your own.' He followed her into the kitchen and stood close to her as she put on the kettle. 'Know something? I don't really want any coffee after all.' He caught her into his arms and once more, the world stopped turning. They snuggled together on the sofa until both were nearly falling asleep.

'I think I should leave you now. I'll come back tomorrow to collect you.'

'I want to be with you as much as I can during the holiday.'

'It's so late now. I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Bye Mike.' He drove off and she was left yawning and reflecting on a splendid evening. 'I hope you'll sleep with me soon,' she whispered to the air.

Chapter Seven

It really had been a lovely evening, Joanne thought when she awoke the next morning. She glanced at her clock. She shot out of bed in horror. It was already ten thirty. Mike had agreed to come and fetch her at eleven to go and sort out their room. She went into the shower and dressed quickly. Breakfast? No time she thought. She did make some coffee and was half way through drinking it when Mike arrived.

'Do you want some coffee?' she asked him immediately.

'No thanks. I had some before I left. I'm a bit late again. Sorry.'

'I didn't even wake up till ten-thirty,' she confessed.

'Disgraceful. I didn't either.'

In the factory rooms, it was still chaotic. There were balloons deflating all over the place and rubbish collected in one corner in a heap. Mike's parents were there, sweeping things together and collecting the flags from round the room.

'What can I do?' she asked.

'If you could stuff some of the rubbish into the bags, that would be great.'

'I'll find the bags. We'll work on this between us,' Mike offered. He fetched a heap of black sacks and they began to fill them. 'How so few people could make so much rubbish beats me.' They stuffed the sacks and made short work of the balloons, stamping on them and reducing them to tiny bits of rubber. It was all rather silly and they giggled a lot. 'I think we make a good team,' he said as they finished the tasks.

'I want to get the machines back into their places. Can you manage to help with that?' Mr Thomas suggested.

'Sure.' They moved everything back into place. 'Is there anything else?'

'I think that's about it. You are coming back for lunch aren't you?'

'I er ... I don't know,' she replied.

'We thought we'd eat back at Jo's place,' Mike told him.

'Nonsense. Your mother's busily cooking enough food to fill an army. Get yourselves over there right away.'

'But...' began Mike.

'Get over there. We won't take no for an answer.'

'See what they're like? I did warn you.' Mike said with a wry grin.

'Okay. Thanks. We'll enjoy some nice food. Must be better than my efforts at cooking.'

'This is true. Okay Dad. See you back at home.'

They drove along the lanes and were soon at the Thomas's house. In the large drive, there were several cars parked.

'Looks as if they have other folks there,' Joanne remarked.

'I suspect it's the Aussie contingent again. Hope you can cope with Jacob's flirting with you all over again. I'm not exactly sure I can.'

'Oh dear, I'm really scruffy. I should have put on something a bit smarter.'

'Rubbish. You look lovely to me.'

'You're prejudiced,' she told him. 'You have no idea how people should look when invited out for Sunday lunch.'

'It isn't even Sunday. Come on then. Let's go and face the crowd. But we won't stay all afternoon. We'll get off soon after we've eaten. I want you to myself for a bit.'She smiled at him and nodded her head.

As it turned out, Mike was asked to play the piano for everyone to have a sing song. It was all fun and they enjoyed themselves. Someone overheard her singing and asked her to sing alone.

'I'm not sure what I can sing,' she said feeling rather shy. 'I'd really rather not, actually.'

'Mike, you sing with her. You've got a good voice.'

'Okay. Give us a minute.' They chatted quietly and decided to sing something from the older charts they both knew. 'Okay everyone. This is from last years charts. With suitable apologies to Declan.' After a false start, they soon got the number going properly and sang the words without hesitating. There was great applause all round and calls for more.

'Sorry,' Mike said. 'But we really have to go now. It's been great to see you all again.' They made their farewells.

'Goodbye and thank you very much for a delicious lunch. I really enjoyed it.' His mother kissed her as she was leaving.

'Bye Mum, Dad. I'll see you later.'

They left, driving back through the country lanes. Soon they were back at Joanne's home and he stopped outside.

'Am I invited in?' he asked.

'Course you are. Don't you have to be somewhere though?'

'Well not really. I'd like to spend the evening alone with you. If you don't mind too much.'

'I'd be delighted. I was only going to watch something. A DVD or something.'

'That sounds great. A nice quiet evening, just you and a DVD. Perfect.'

They went inside and soon settled down in front of the television.

'I'm not sure what sort of thing you'd like? Romantic Comedy is my cup of tea but there are several different ones you can choose from.' He actually chose one of her favourites so she was very happy. They cuddled close together on the sofa to watch it and both of them fell asleep. He woke up and jumped.

'Where am I?' he asked. 'Oh yes. A nice movie and look at me, I fall asleep.'

'Less chat please,' Joanne managed to mutter.

'Shall I make us a coffee?'

'Okay. If you must move.' She flopped over to lie down and waited for him to sort out the coffee. She almost fell asleep again.

'Come on you. Coffee and I found some crackers and cheese. Thought you may need a snack to keep you going.'

'You're incorrigible aren't you? Never can eat enough.' She sat up smiling at him. 'How on earth did your Mum ever manage with you?'

'She manages pretty well really.' He looked pretty dismal and sighed rather a lot.

'What's wrong?' she asked him.

'Oh you know. You don't really want to hear about it. Shall we watch something else?'

'I'd rather hear what's bugging you.'

'It's just that ... well, Dad doesn't seem to want to listen to us. Sally and I just know that unless we try to expand the business, we're going to go down the pan.'

'But he seemed a pretty decent guy, your father. Why wouldn't he want to expand the business for goodness sake?'

'He's afraid that any further investment would be lost. Money wasted. I don't get nearly enough for what I do. Hence the escort agency.'

'Ah yes, the dreaded escort agency. I really hate you doing that you know.'