She smiled. “Couple more days, babe, then back to normality.”
“Hope so.” He took another swig of his drink. “I really do.”
“What about this?” Nicky asked, kneeling down and holding up a DVD.
Richard, lying on the couch, lazily tilted his head and saw the title: Ghost. His face tightened as he shook his head.
Rolling her eyes, she returned the movie and went back to the cupboard. “What about Pride and Prejudice?” she suggested, with a mischievous expression.
“Ha ha—very funny,” he said.
Rolling her eyes again, she sighed loudly. “I’ve had enough of this. You look. My knees are killing me.”
“All right, let’s watch Ghost then,” he said, defeated. “But tomorrow I’m picking the film when we go to the cinema.” He turned his head back to watch the TV. “And I promise you it’ll be a blood-and-guts action movie.”
“Fine,” she said. He knew she wasn’t really listening as she excitedly walked over to the DVD player. Crouching down, she slotted the disc into the machine, beaming. “I love this film. Haven’t seen it in years.”
Nicky climbed beside him on the couch, draping her arm over his chest. He started to stroke her hand as she shuffled to get comfortable.
Despite its being a movie about a ghost, Richard managed to shut out his problems for a couple of hours, almost annoyed at himself for enjoying such a film.
As the end-credits rolled, Nicky picked up the remote control and stopped the movie. Yawning, she turned to face him; Richard’s eyes were heavy. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She told him, patronizingly, like a mother getting her child to eat vegetables. “We should make every Saturday ‘chick-flick’ night. What do you think?”
Forcing a smile, he shook his head. “No chance. How about Saturday night becomes Schwarzenegger night instead? You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Very funny.” She kissed his lips and climbed up off the couch, pressing down on his stomach in the process, causing him to quietly grunt.
Yawning loudly, he stretched out his arms. “What time is it?” he mumbled.
Glancing at her watch, she replied, “Five to twelve.”
“I’m knackered.” He held out his hand. “Help me up, babe.”
Smiling, she grabbed his hand and attempted to pull him up. “You’re too fat,” she jokingly pointed out, struggling to speak. With no chance of success, Richard reluctantly got up.
“It’s all muscle, babe,” he retorted, flexing his bicep hard.
Nicky fake-laughed as she headed for the door. “In your dreams.”
After turning off the TV and lights, Nicky retreated up the stairs, followed closely behind by Richard.
Lying in bed, Richard pulled Nicky close. His lips met hers as he stroked her lower back delicately, moving slowly down onto her soft hips. She moved her hand over to his thigh, grazing it gently as she shifted even closer to him.
This was the first time they had made love in almost three months.
Shortly after, Nicky had fallen asleep, leaving Richard looking up at the ceiling, completely awake. He was all alone once again.
Not even sex could bring on a decent night’s sleep. Would he ever go back to the way things were? Or would he have to endure the rest of his time in this house, alone and terrified?
The wind outside howled against the slightly ajar window. Pulling the quilt up to his neck, he could feel his muscles start to tense up. He explored the darkened room with just his eyes, hoping, praying, that Christina Long wasn’t crouched down in the corner, watching, waiting to pounce.