“Nothing.”
“Susan, how did you end up with not just the one vegetarian freak, but three weirdos of their own variety?”
Mum gave him a firm slap to the back of his head as she laughed at him. “Seems like I now have four, not three!”
“I wouldn’t talk about
Quincy like that, otherwise she’ll never shack up with him.” He looked over at me and shrugged at my glare.
“It’s not them I’m worried about,” She pointed at a very docile Dorian. “It’s her.”
Dorian sat up straight at mum’s comment. Her cheeks went bright red and her hands wrapped tight around her glass. “I am here, barely, but still here.”
“You alright?” I asked her as she looked over at a dozing Quincy.
“Yup, I have this malpractice case that’s eating up all my time and going nowhere. I was up till shit o’clock because my expert witness is LA based and the solicitor on the case was conveniently sick. This whole case is ridiculous. Why can’t people just be happy with what God gave them? Sure, I’d love to have tits the size of melons, but you know what? The hassle when one of them pops and you end up with fuck all just isn’t worth it!” She downed the rest of her now warm and flat champagne.
“Language! How is it that I managed to raise the pottiest mouthed people in the City of London?” Mum groaned.
“Sorry, rant over. And you,” she pointed at Jake, “Can shut up and keep your opinion to yourself. Just keep cooking!”
“Okay, what did I miss?” Quincy sat up as she looked around a very quiet and still kitchen.
“She’s lost the fucking plot.” Jake shrugged at mum as he got back to cooking, seemingly unfazed. “I wasn’t going to give her my opinion anyway. She wouldn’t listen, so what’s the point?”
“Mum, make her a coffee and please throw her something to stuff her mouth with. She’s clearly in need of feeding.” I slid from my stool and picked Quincy up off hers giving her a quick peck as I set her down in front of me. “Let’s go get showered and wake you up. We need to get ready for dinner before she starts chomping at everyone.”
“Okay.” She sighed as she smiled up at me. “Dory, if you’re going to chomp at anyone, just make sure it’s Edith. Maybe you could gnaw your frustrations out on her.”
“Dory?” Jake burst out laughing.
Quincy turned to him quickly. “Shut the fuck up before I kick you out.”
“It’s not your house yet!”
“More mine than yours, and you don’t technically even do Christmas so just hush and stick to the cooking.” She stuck her tongue out at him as I walked her out of the kitchen and Dorian sang an “Amen!”
Both of the girls, Daniel and Willow were playing some sort of board game I hadn’t seen before. Dad and Liam were talking about football as per usual. It was all so normal and sweet, until I met Edith’s glare from one of the dark blue armchairs.
She had a tea for one set up in front of her on the coffee table and a plate of finger sandwiches she clearly hadn’t touched. Whoever had gone all out for her was a nicer person than I was. I’d just have given her a mug of tea and left her to it.
I kept walking Quincy past the lounge to our bedroom. Someone had obviously tidied up after we’d left. I’d put my money on mum having been the one to do it too. The bed looked like it’d been remade by her. It was creaseless and everything was symmetrically perfect. Definitely mum.
Quincy wandered into the bathroom, her footsteps a little heavier than usual as I followed behind her. She looked exhausted. I put the shower on to warm the water as she looked up at me from the edge of the bath. “So, babe, how’re you going to wake me up?”
Quincy
I’m not going to lie, when I asked how he was going to wake me up, I was hinting at sex. I was thinking a lot about sex lately. Mostly because every time I thought about Jamie, which was non-stop, I also thought of all the ways he made me stop thinking. And I really needed to stop thinking right now.
Today had gone from almost perfect to thinking about Theo, and Jenna’s situation. I was still uncomfortable with her decision, but at the end of the day it was her life and her body, and regardless of what I thought, it was her choice that mattered. What she wanted mattered. Sam wasn’t pleased either, but she had a plan and I just needed to be ready for when I was needed, if I was needed.
I closed my eyes and moaned as Jamie massaged the shampoo into my hair. His fingers pressing all the right places around my cranium. So, maybe there was no sex, but this was good. The way he was supporting my body with his was just the contact I needed. It was soothing and it was perfect the way his muscled body fit soundly into my soft curves. The way my shoulders fit exactly across his strong chest. The way he could just tilt his head forwards and his mouth pressed into that spot on my neck. We just fit. Seamlessly.
I could hear myself humming as his fingertips moved lower to my nape and then swirled all the way up my hairline to my temples. Even with such a menial task, such as washing my hair he was giving. And no matter how much of himself he gave me, it was never enough. I wanted more and more until I could burst. Until I was so full I was stretching at the seams just for him. It was greedy and needy, but I couldn’t help it. That’s how he made me feel. He wasn’t an addiction, because if he were I could overcome him…I could live without him. And I couldn’t. I didn’t just crave him, I needed him. The same kind of deep seeded and involuntary need as air, water, warmth and light.
Just the thought of being without him was enough to make me want to scream in agony. The need I had for him was intense and brutal—unforgiving and unforgettable. It was always there reminding me and my heart and my soul of all the good he made me feel and all the hell I would feel if I ever lost him.
He pulled me tighter against him and walked us backwards into the warm water. My head lolling back on his shoulder as his hands rubbed the shampoo suds into my skin. Slowly they travelled back up my body to my neck where he kneaded his way up my trapezius. His thumbs applying just the right amount of pressure on either side of my vertebrae. It was sublime. I could feel my knees buckling as he worked my muscles. The stress headache that’d been threatening dissipating.