Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 143633 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 718(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143633 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 718(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Rosie had chosen and ordered a dress for the evening a few days ago, receiving the parcel with a squeal, but I hadn’t seen it yet. She’d dashed off to the bathroom to try it on with a no! It’ll be a surprise! before I could catch sight of her. I couldn’t wait much longer. I knew it would drive me insane.
We left the city and hit the motorway to a whole host of horn beeps, waves and pointing fingers as other drivers caught sight of our vehicle, but I found I was laughing and waving back, and so was Peter. We were a spectacle, but I didn’t care – not even about pictures. People were taking photos of the car, but I couldn’t give a toss. Genuinely.
The other guests in the hotel courtyard had a slightly more reserved response than our fellow road users. One very demure looking older lady elbowed her husband as they looked over at us, but I didn’t hold back. I raised my hand and smiled with a good day to you, and we set off with our cases to the main reception.
A polite young man checked us in and asked for our vehicle details. It amused me when I gave the simple answer of the one with a green dick sprayed on the bonnet, rather than the registration number, and Rosie gripped my arm, laughing with me as he handed over our room keys.
“Here we go,” I said to Lola and Peter as I handed over theirs, and we took the lift together to our suites on the upper floor. Even the corridor was spectacular, with its high chandeliered ceilings and grand mirrors along the wall, and it was a further reminder of the life I used to take for granted. So many extravagant and beautiful locations I’d barely noticed, yet Rosie was there alongside me, staring up at the ceiling as though she was viewing heaven itself.
I was smiling as I opened our suite door, and gave a see you shortly to Peter and Lola. I half expected Rosie to dart around like an excited child when she saw the full scope of the place, but she didn’t. She was a graceful little swan as she took dainty steps around the suite with her beautiful eyes wide behind her glasses.
“I just can’t believe this.”
“You better had, sweetheart. You deserve it.”
She ran her hand across one of the dressers, as though she was in a dream. The bed was huge and plush, and the TV on the wall was like a cinema screen, and the bathroom was marble and decadent. The views from the huge window were stunning, showing the city in full glory. I watched Rosie as she took a look.
“Wow,” she said.
“Indeed. London is a great city.”
“I wish my mum could see this, too,” my angel said, and her breath hitched. “She’d love it so much.”
Rosie’s selflessness touched me, right in the ribs. I wrapped my arms around her tight.
“Maybe one day she will. I hope so. I really do.”
That wasn’t why I wanted Beverly to accept our relationship, though. Money and extravagance meant nothing compared to the love I felt for her daughter. That was the acceptance I truly wanted from her. If only she knew the real strength of my adoration for her little girl. The way she brought me joy from even the slightest smile. The way she pushed her glasses up her nose. Her sweet laugh, and the way she’d sigh in my arms every night, content as she drifted into dreamland.
Maybe one day soon she would. I already had my plans on the horizon, but once again, my cards were very, very close to my chest. That feeling, at least, was familiar.
I began unpacking our cases as Rosie stood at the window, still admiring the view.
“We’re going to have an incredible time,” I told her. “I promise.”
She turned and grinned at me, with the sunlight from the window catching her hair.
“I already am.”
I took out my new suit, still in its premier casing, hanging it up on the wardrobe door. Rosie wasn’t the only one who’d be dressed for the occasion. I’d ventured into town to have my new outfit tailored while she was at college.
“Ah, ah, no!” I chided as she approached the suit cover. “No peeking. We’ll both surprise each other tonight.”
“But I want to see!” she said, and I fake wrestled her, bundling her down onto the bed where I pinned her arms over her head.
“I said, no,” I told her, and she arched up, pouting as she wrapped her legs around my waist.
Jesus Christ, at that I was already done for. I was already kissing her when her phone started ringing in her bag.
“That will probably be Lola,” she said between kisses.
“I don’t give a fuck,” I said, and carried on.