“She’s not babysitting you, she’s keeping you company, it was nice of her to offer.”
“She didn’t offer. You ordered her, neither Stella nor I were consulted. But no worries, Stell’s good company, we might even head down Main Street after we eat.” I suppress a smile and wait for his reply.
“You will do no such fucking thing. Indian, then home, no Main Street, not without me, we’ve seen what happens when you and Stell hit Main Street unaccompanied. Eat your food then get your arses home, better still, get a takeout. Yeah, takeout, do they deliver? Get it delivered.”
“Do you just want to lock me in now? Stop with the worrying Gabe, I won’t drive too far, I will keep my phone fully charged, switched on, ringtone volume set to max and within my reach at all times. Go, now, leave me. I love you.”
I wrap my arms around his neck as he lets out a big sigh as he pulls me in for a cuddle. “I love you too baby, I miss you already, I’ll call when I land. Just…” He swallows hard and seems to struggle for the right words for a few seconds. “Thank you for this morning, thank you for loving me, thank you for teaching me to love myself.”
He cups my face in his hands and brushes his thumbs over my cheekbones. I blink away a tear and it rolls over his thumb, he instantly sucks it into his mouth, making me smile. “Go, I love you.”
He kisses my nose and turns and grabs his overnight bag and briefcase and leaves. I treat myself to another coffee, grab my newly acquired Kindle and head back to bed.
CHAPTER 27
Jemma has been cutting and colouring my hair since I was about fifteen, hairdressing is all she has ever wanted to do since the very first time that I met her when we were about thirteen and I had just arrived from England, it was Jemma that finally convinced me to embrace my auburn curls, which, I’ve got to admit I spent most of my early life hating; my hair had been the cause of so much name calling and so many nick names that I was determined to change the colour as soon as I was old enough so for about a year I became Jemma’s guinea pig, I was blonde, I was black, I was a strange shade of bluish black when her experimentation all went wrong one time, I was copper orange, which sort of defeated the object and eventually we got it back to my original reddish, auburn by cutting it all off and starting again, it’s the one and only time in my life I have had short hair and I hated it, anyway, it grew back and I decided then and there that I wouldn’t mess with the colour that mother nature intended for me again. Aside from the half head of foils that I have had done twice a year for about the last ten years now, and that’s exactly what I was booked in for today.
Jemma had got herself a hairdressing apprenticeship straight from school; she had gone to college, served her time and qualified with bells on. She worked as a mobile stylist when the kids were little and then when they had started school her and Max had taken out a massive loan on the house and set her up in her own salon, fifteen years later she has three salons and employs over fifty people; all of her salons now have beauty rooms attached, where you can get anything from an eyelash tint, cosmetic tattoo, to a plain old manicure and business is booming.
I have my hair cut and coloured, I have a mani, a pedi and both sets of nails painted with shellac in a nice shade of dark red, I get my eyebrows waxed and both them and my eyelashes tinted; by the time I leave, four hours later, I am feeling like a million dollars and I’m chilled out to the max; Gabe called earlier to let me know he had landed safely and that he missed me, Jemma kindly took a photo of me with tinfoil on my head and sent it to him.
He messaged back.
You look beautiful, I love you
Twenty seconds later Gabe calls my phone, I don’t even get chance to speak. “Lauren, are the chemicals in that hair colour safe for the babies?’
“What? Yes.” Shit… I have no idea!
“You’re sure? I’ve googled it; I can’t really find anything that says it’s dangerous or safe.”
I pass the phone to Jemma. “Please tell Mr Neurotic that my highlights aren’t harming the babies.”
She looks at me confused and shrugs. “Hey Gabe, I’m using a low odour, ammonia free, hair lightener. Yes Gabe…. Gabe, I’ve been doing this a long time, I have coloured the hair of pregnant women before. No, I know the others aren’t your pregnant woman but your pregnant woman happens to be my best friend so all due care will be taken.”
She shakes her head and smiles as she passes the phone back. “Gabe, you really do need to chill out a little bit, we have another seven months to go and I would prefer you to be alive and well when these babies arrive and not to have worried yourself into an early grave.”
“I’m sorry, I, it’s just… I love you, keep your phone close, I will call you after my meeting.”