62 Days

by Jessie M.

  “I know we’ve only been together for a couple of weeks but I’d like you to move in with me. Will you think about it?” Mark suddenly asks me.

  “Let’s go and get all my things right now.” I turn on my back and look up at him with a beaming, joyful smile.

  “Really?”

  “Really – then I think we should stop off on the way back here and you can meet my parents if you like…”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  “Well I am now.” I was quite aware that I hadn’t. Another hangover from the Jon affair. He never wanted to meet my parents and never wanted to visit them once he had. I think he saw them three times altogether in two years.

  We drove over to my apartment and loaded up the car with just about everything we could fit in including my battered old teddy bear and three surviving pot plants.

  “You should rent it out, keep it as an investment. Your tenants can pay the mortgage for you.” Mark explained what he thought I should do with my no longer needed apartment.

  “Okay, that’s a good idea. I’ll clean it up next week and get a letting agent, shall I?” I was quite looking forward to being a landlady…

  “That’s what I would do, they’ll handle it all for you for one months rental per year.”

  We drove on to my parents and knock at the door. Mum is very surprised at the sudden appearance of Mark and myself on her doorstep. I get a glaring look which clearly says, you should have called first Ray, the house isn’t at it’s best. Not that we care.

  She fusses around making him coffee and giving him a huge slice of her own home made cake. I bite the bullet and tell them I am just about to move into his house. Mum and dad are looking at me in wide eyed surprise. I look at Mark and he is smiling. In between stuffing his face with fruit cake. He really loves the stuff. Mum’ll be ecstatic.

  We sit and chat for a while about this and that. Dad asks him about his company and he asks dad about his students and they agree on the terrible state of the education system.

  I suggest we go as we have to move my stuff in and it is getting late. We make plans to go back for Sunday lunch.

  We get back to his, I mean our house and I busy myself putting all my clothes and shoes away in one of the spare rooms. I put some of my things in the bathroom and find a few spare drawers for the rest of it. I think all of my possessions will disappear very easily in this rather large four bedroom house. I go downstairs for some more stuff.

  “Why did you choose such a large house?” I ask him curiously.

  “Just in case I needed it one day. I don’t like moving much, it’s a lot of hassle.”

  “So this is your house forever is it?”

  “Unless you don’t want to stay here for some reason.”

  “Well I love it, there’s no chance of that!” I also love the fact that he’d move out if I wanted to.

  “That’s good. Now stop faffing about moving in for a while, let’s have a drink and then we can do something nice together.”

  “I was rather enjoying my faffing, but I’ll stop now and have a drink and whatever…”

  He produces a large bottle of expensive looking champagne out of his fridge.

  “Mark no… Champagne makes me really drunk. You’ll have to drink most of it.”

  “In that case we can both get a little drunk. Because I think the fact that we are now cohabiting is cause for a celebration.”

  “Okay, you’ve talked me into it. Let’s take it upstairs then we won’t have to fall up them afterwards.”

  “Good idea… up you go, I’ll bring the drink.”

  I sit on the bed and wait for him to come up. He seems to be taking a while but eventually he appears with everything on a tray and some other things as well.

  “What’s this, a little moving in love picnic…?”

  “Something like that.”

  I stand up and take a look. Drink, glasses, some chocolates, some strawberries and a six inch by four inch box of something with a bow on it.

  “This is so sweet. What’s in the box?”

  “It’s a little surprise for later.” He gives me a big smile. And puts down the tray.

  “Well I just love surprises.” I give him a grateful kiss and pull him down with me on the bed.

  “I didn’t expect you to move in quite so fast so I wasn’t very organised. I had to make do with what I could find in the fridge.”

  “I am over the moon to be moved in so fast. I don’t care what we celebrate with.”

  “What would you like first then? A drink, a strawberry or a big chocolate.” He asks as he pours the champagne out.

  “I’ll have all three.” I pop a chocolate and strawberry in my mouth and take a big fizzy gulp of my champagne. “Well that was lovely. Fizzy, strawberry chocolate. Your turn now.”

  “I might just have a go at that.” Mark goes for the triple oral heaven as well.

  We have a fun filled strawberry champers choco fest and then drink all the rest of the drink. I am definitely feeling a little lightheaded. I can see Mark is a touch glassy eyed as well. We then have a rather raunchy half drunk sex filled session on our bed to conclude our little love picnic.

  “So that’s it now. I’m officially moved in am I?” I lay back exhausted from our hot romp.

  “You are.”

  “It’s a shame we have to go to work tomorrow, isn’t it?”

  “Two days to struggle through and then I’m yours to play with.”

  “Is it really a struggle for you?”

  “Sometimes. There’s way too much going on in my head.”

  “Promote someone as your deputy and delegate some of it then.”

  “I know I should, I just can’t seem to get round to it.”

  “Tell Caroline she’s it… there, done.”

  “Caroline is an acquisitions expert. I don’t think she knows the first thing about running a business.”

  “Well neither did you to begin with. Give her some simple things to do, pass other things over gradually. Let her deal with your accountants, admin, I don’t know, there must be a lot she can do, surely? Better still you can keep doing the things you like and give her the things you don’t… Mark, I’m sure she’ll do a good job, especially if she gets more money… that usually works wonders on people’s enthusiasm for learning new things and taking on extra responsibility.”

  “You know what? You’re absolutely right. Caroline is going to be promoted tomorrow morning, whether she likes it or not.”

  “Oh she’ll like it, I’m sure of that.”

  “A huge weight has been lifted fom my head already. Rachel Olivia Collins, what a wonder you are.”

  “Helping overstressed executives manage their workload is one of my specialities.”

  My phone suddenly bleeps and I pick it up. It’s Suze of course.

  “How’s things?”

  “How about this … I’ve just moved in with Mark.”

  “Well he’s a fast worker – he’ll have the ring on your finger before the week is out.”

  “What is it with you – shut up about that.”

  “I like deep purple, silver grey or magenta, when you get round to choosing the bridesmaids dresses.”

  “Stop it. He’s right next to me. Come round tomorrow at 7 for a drink and a chat.”

  “And SB?”

  “OK.”

  Mark was watching me smiling like an idiot and texting back and forth like mad on my phone. I stopped smiling quickly.

  “It’s just Suze. We were having a quick chat. I asked her round tomorrow evening at 7 for dinner. Is that okay?”

  “That’s fine with me. You can have whoever you want round. It’s your place too now. You don’t need my permission.”

  “You’ll have to suffer my spaghetti bolognese because for some inexplicable reason Suze loves it.”

  “I’m sure it’s lovely, everything else you do is.”

  “My cooking isn’t that great I can assure you. I haven’t got a c
lue.”

  “I can show you some things sometime, if you want me to?”

  “I’d love that” Mr sexy chef offering to show me his hotter than hot food tips… I’m suddenly feeling full of cooking desire. “You’re such a sweetie.”

  “I know.”

  My gaze travels across to the box with a bow for the hundredth time tonight. “So… what the bloody hell is in that box?” I can’t wait another second.

  “Ah well, that’s something a little special for you.”

  I can see it’s far too big for a ring, so I can relax a little.

  “Can I open it then?”

  “Yes, go on…”

  I am quite excited as I open it. I have absolutely no idea what it could be. I untie it slowly savouring the moment. I see another lovely box inside with the word Rolex on it.

  “Oh my, you’ve bought me a Rolex watch?”

  “Yes, I hope you like it.”

  I open it up. It’s a DateJust 36 diamond and pink flower ladies Rolex watch. My eyes are completely watch lovestruck. “I really love it. It’s so beautiful. Put it on me…”

  I get it out of the box and he puts it on. “Come here Mr Lovely. I want to say thank you for my rather extravagant moving in present.” I am officially over the moon twice in one day.

  ***

  Mark arrived home on Thursday evening and told me how he had gone ahead with my suggestion and promoted Caroline to Head of Operations and she had been very pleased indeed. Especially when she saw how much her salary increased. He had given her a lot of his work straight away and had some other things to give her next week.

  I was busy cooking up my special SB ready for Suze’s arrival.

  She turned up on the dot. Suze is a very punctual person. I get a bear hug on the doorstep. Mark was upstairs when I let her in.

  “You look like the cat that got the cream.” Suze said smiling widely.

  “Well I have.”

  She spotted my new watch within a nanosecond of her arrival. Not much gets past Suze. She has eyes like a hawk. She gripped my arm in a vice like manner and looked at it.

  “My God Ray, that’s a Rolex DateJust… when did he give you that?”

  “Last night as a moving in present.”

  She got out her phone and flicked about on it.

  “What are you doing?” I asked her curiously.

  She showed me my watch on eBay. Suze knows a lot about expensive things.

  “That’s at least twelve thousand pounds worth of watch on your wrist. Be careful with it!”

  I thought it might be expensive, but that was a lot… “I will.” I just about managed to splutter.

  “So where’s Mr hot stuff then?”

  I called him down.

  “Hello Suzanne.” He gave her a big smile and I don’t believe it, she is blushing. I’ve never seen Suze blush in my life!

  “Hello Mark.” She smiled back a little shyly, all pink cheeked. I can see she is trying very hard not to lust over my boyfriend. She seemed to be having trouble though.

  I finished cooking the spaghetti while Mark poured us all a small drink. The three of us sat down to eat.

  “Well, this was a rather sudden turn of events. You moving in here I mean.” Suze announced.

  “It certainly was, I didn’t need to be asked twice, did I Mark?”

  “You hardly needed to be asked once.” He gave me a big smile. “She had me in the car collecting her things the second I suggested she might like to think about it.” He said to Suze.

  “Well I can’t help it if I love you to pieces.” I protested.

  “I’m very happy you’re here and that you’re so decisive Ray.”

  We continue to chat about this and that, Sam and Suze and arranging a dinner date in the future. We finally finish our meal.

  “Well you surpassed yourself today. Your SB was fab.” Suze is definitely my number one fan.

  “I think so too.” Mark added genuinely.

  I am glowing with pride for my small culinary achievement, even if it is mainly out of a jar.

  “So what have you two got planned for the weekend?” Suze asked with a wicked little smile directed at me.

  I resisted the urge to kick her under the table.

  “Nothing much. Just lazing around in here” Mark replied with a little grin in her direction.

  I gave Suze a ‘See, no marriage proposal likely to be going on here’ look.

  We took all the plates through to the kitchen and Mark tidied up whilst I gave Suze the grand tour.

  We went upstairs and were finally standing in our bathroom when Suze suddenly said “It’s all great, the house, you two… he’s so lovely I could eat him.”

  “I know.” I replied. “I eat him a lot, one way or another.” She gave me a big wide eyed ‘oh really’ look. I don’t usually say things like that.

  “I have to be going now, seeing Sam later, but call me when it happens, okay?”

  “Oh for God’s sake. Have you got a crystal ball or something?”

  “No, just fantastic intuition.”

  “Well I’m telling you your intuition is way out of whack in this case. I don’t think he wants to get married. He had a bad experience not that long ago.”

  “You can say what you like, I’m sticking with my intuition. Give me a call, okay?”

  I laugh. I’m now convinced. She really is nuts.

  TWENTY FOUR

  Friday night is here. We are both so looking forward to our first weekend cohabiting.

  It is a very warm September evening, we seem to be in the middle of a mini heatwave. We are sitting outside on the deck watching the sunset with a drink. Mark suddenly asks me a question.

  “Do you want to have children?”

  Oh heavens, this is a big one… “Well yes, of course I do.” I hope this is the right answer and that he isn’t of the same mind as his friend Daniel. Children are so important to me.

  “What shall we call ours?”

  I nearly choked on my G & T. “I don’t know. That’s something for a later date, isn’t it?”

  “I like Joshua and Nathan for boys and Emma and Sophie for girls.” Mark carried on.

  “Yes, they’re very sweet names. We can think about that one day.” This is a very strange and rather premature conversation I think to myself.

  But it’s about to get stranger.

  “Can we think about it now?”

  “Mark are you being serious?”

  “I’ve never been more serious.”

  “You would actually like to have children now?”

  “That just about sums it up.”

  “But why the rush?”

  “Well… I love kids. I don’t want to be an older parent. I really want to have them with you… I can’t see any reason to wait for years, or even months.”

  “But I’ve only known you a few weeks and I’ve just moved in…” I am very surprised at Mark’s broodiness. I would never have thought this about him. I wonder if Charlotte turning up pregnant the other day has tipped him over the edge.

  “Is that a definite no then?”

  “No, I haven’t decided yet. I’m a little stunned. Can I have a while to think about it?”

  “You don’t have to give me an answer this second.”

  My mind is a whirl. Suze got this a little wrong. He might be proposing this weekend, but not marriage. It seems he wants a family first. There’s nothing like the new modern back to front way of doing things, is there?

  I go to bed in a strange mood. I don’t know if I’m ready to be a parent yet. I know I’m more than old enough in terms of years, but I rather hoped to have some time with Mark on our own before little Marks and Rachels start to appear.

  He turns towards me. “I’m sorry Ray. I shouldn’t have sprung it on you so suddenly. It’s not fair on you.”

  “That’s okay, I’ve got over the surprise now. At least I know you want them, unlike your friend Daniel. How’s that progressing anyway?”

&
nbsp; “He’s reconsidering.”

  “Well that’s good of him.”

  “It’s a big issue in his mind. He was adopted. I’m sure that has something to do with it.”

  “I hope he makes the right choice and soon.”

  “I think he will. Perhaps it was the initial shock that caused his bad reaction.”

  “Perhaps. I suppose he deserves the benefit of the doubt” I’m not convinced. I think Daniel believes having children will cramp his lifestyle. But who knows, I could be wrong. I often am.

  We lay there quietly for a while staring at the ceiling. I am trying to get my head around having a baby with Mark sometime soon. I’m warming to the idea a little now the shock has worn off.

  “Rachel, can I ask you something else?” He leans over me and gives me a lovely kiss.

  “Mmmm, ask away.”

  “Will you marry me?”

  “I just don’t believe you!”

  “Is that a yes or a no?” He is smiling at me but his eyes are very serious.

  “I’m still trying to process the children idea and now you spring another big shocker on me!” Okay Suze you and your intuition were spot on, I’ll call you tomorrow…

  “I know it’s a lot to take in but I needed to ask my questions this way round. To make sure we wanted the same things… So, what’s your answer?”

  “This question has a very easy answer and that is yes.”

  I get a rather long passionate kiss for my acceptance of Mark’s rather unconventional and understated lying down proposal.

  “When shall we do it?”

  “Won’t your mother expect a huge formal affair? They take a long time to arrange.”

  “What’s my mother got to do with it? It’s our wedding and we can do whatever we want. I’m sure Cameron will want a wedding like that anyway. She can go mad with her. What do you want?”

  “What about a beach wedding somewhere beautiful with close family and some friends.”

  “Okay, that sounds good. What about end of November? That’s just over 2 months. Long enough?”

  “Long enough for me to get a dress, a bikini and some sunscreen, I think.”

  Mark is a very determined person I have recently found out. When he wants something, he gets it, somehow or other and usually pretty fast.

  I put my arms around him and pull him close. “What a week this is turning out to be. Newly cohabiting, just engaged, possibly prospective parents… Got anything else up your sleeve, a weekend climbing Mount Everest or a honeymoon on Mars?”