The Perfect Job By: Auds

*Chapter 51*

David and Janice were thinking of flying home to the States as they now had the next couple of months off since they were no longer doing the tour and they thought it would be a good time to get the nursery sorted for the baby coming. They wanted to talk it over with Carlos first though, if he would prefer them to stay in London until Michelle was better, then they would do. Everyone was coming over to theirs for dinner that night, he would talk to them then. He looked over to where Janice was making herself busy in the kitchen, she seemed to have developed an obsession for cleaning things. His mum had laughed when he’d told her and said that was what was called ‘nesting’ it happened to pregnant women who started clearing out the old stuff they had been keeping for ages and making more room for the new stuff that the baby would need. He had said “But why is she doing it here, we’re going to be having the baby in America.” His mum had just laughed at him again and told him that it was a women thing, men weren’t meant to understand it. He got up and went over to her putting his arms round her waist and over her stomach which was starting to show a bump. She smiled as she felt his breath on her neck and turned to look at him. “Can I help you with something?” she asked with a smile. David just looked at her and said Yeah, I thought of something else that needed a good clean and thought you might like to help me do it.” He tried to keep his face straight, but she could see the sides of his mouth twitching. “Oh, have you now, and what exactly would that be?” she asked, her eyes twinkling. He leant forward and whispered something in her ear then kissed her and walked away leaving her standing there with a grin on her face. She put down the cloth she was holding and followed him through to the bathroom shutting the door behind her.

A few hours later they were all sitting round a table in the dining room enjoying the dinner Janice had made and just enjoying the company. After they had finished and had cleared up David went to sit beside Carlos and said “How was she today?” Carlos smiled at him and said “She was better, they’re going to be letting her out of the hospital soon, they say she doesn’t need to be there anymore.” David smiled back at him and said “That’s wonderful news, is she speaking yet?” He shook his head. “No, but they’re not too worried about it, they say it will just take time and being at home might bring back some of the happier memories.” David nodded and said “Have you cleaned up the flat for her and removed any trace of…” He trailed off as the look on Carlos’ face changed. He nodded his head slowly and said “I’ve scrubbed the place from top to bottom for her, but I don’t know if she’s going to cope with being back where he first took her.” David sighed and said “I’m sorry man, this must be so hard for you.” Carlos shook his head and said “Actually its not, I’m doing okay and I know that I just need to keep talking to her and she’ll start remembering the good times we had together.” He looked round at all the others and said “Actually I wanted to ask you all a favour.” He stood up and went nearer the others and David followed. He sat down next to Janice and waited to see what Carlos was going to say. He stood in front of them all and said “I was wondering if you guys would come to the hospital with me tomorrow and sing a couple of songs with me for Michelle. I did think of just taking her a cd so she could play it, but then I thought it would be better if we all actually sang for her, that is if you don’t mind?” he looked round at them all as they all said straight away “Of course we will man, we don’t mind at all, what time do you want us there for?” “In the afternoon I think, and thanks guys.” he said. David looked at him and said “I hope this will make her remember things a bit more clearly for you.” he paused then said “Janice and I were wondering if you would mind us going home for the rest of our time off as we thought it would be a good time to decorate the nursery and stuff. But if you would prefer us to be here, we will stay.” Carlos shook his head and said “no, I don’t mind at all, you can go anytime you want, after tomorrow” and smiled. David gave him a hug and said “Thanks man, we just wanted to check with you first.”

*The next Day*

It was just after lunch when everyone arrived at the hospital, Carlos had of course been there all morning and he had told her that the others were coming in to see her, but hadn’t mentioned the singing part. They all walked into the ward she was in, and the girls all hugged her and then sat down. Carlos said softly to her “Michelle, the guys have come in today so that we can sing for you. You loved to hear us sing and I remember you moaning in Edinburgh that the tour was nearly over and you wouldn’t get to hear us sing every night afterwards.” Michelle was looking straight in front of her and never moved. He turned and said to the guys “Are you ready?” They nodded and then started to sing Si Tu Me Amas. They were singing it without any music, just acapella. They also sang Regressa A Mi and Isabel. They noticed that a crowd of nurses had appeared at the doorway and were listening to them as well. They carried on with Everytime I Look At You and the last one they were going to do, The Man You Love. Auds smiled to herself as she remembered the night Urs had sung it to her during the tour. It was during this song that Michelle turned to look at them all properly and looking at Carlos she said in a quiet voice “Carlos” They all stopped singing straight away and Carlos went to her side and said “Yes babe, I’m here.” She looked at his face then said “Don’t call me babe, that’s what he called me.” then she turned away again. He looked at the others and could see the looks on their faces. She turned back to him then and he could see her face was wet with tears. He wanted to wipe them away, but didn’t think she would want him touching her. He took his hankie from his pocket and handed it to her. She took it and gave him a weak smile then said “Is it true?” He looked puzzled and said “Is what true?” “Everything you’ve been talking about this week, about us and things we did and places we have been to?” Carlos smiled and nodded his head saying “Yes, every word.”

The others smiled at the way Michelle was looking at Carlos and quietly said goodbye and left the two of them alone together. They walked out of the hospital each couple holding hands and Seb said “That’s a good thing isn’t it?” Sonia looked at him and said “What’s that hun?” “That the first thing she said in over a week was Carlos” he replied. Urs nodded and said “And the way she asked him if everything he’d said was true.” “It was like she was starting to maybe believe what he was telling her.” finished Auds. David laughed at the two of them and said “When did you two start finishing each others sentences?” The others laughed and Auds blushed. Urs smiled and said “I think right now.” they had reached the car park by now and all got into the two cars they had used to get there still laughing.

*Chapter 52*

Back in the ward Carlos was talking to Michelle, but this time she was talking back to him. He stopped talking as he noticed her just staring at him and said “I was so worried about you Michelle, the moment I found out what had happened I shattered into pieces.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath then said “He told me you didn’t care, that you were too busy in America with the tour to come and help me.” She opened her eyes and Carlos could see the pain that was in them and he said “Shush, you don’t have to talk about it yet if you don’t want to.” She shook her head and said “I want to, I need to please.” He nodded and said “You just talk and I’ll listen and won’t say anything until you’re finished.” She smiled and said “Thank you.” She took a deep breath and then said “I was walking home from work one day. I had booked some time off to go and see mum because I haven’t seen her in ages and I took out my phone to call you and tell you that, so that you would know where I was, but my battery was dead. I got home and poured myself a glass of wine and picked up the house phone to call you when I heard his voice from behind me.” She trembled a little then said “I turned to see him and he told me about the letter he had sent you and that you had got it the day before you left for America.” Carlos dropped his head in shame then looked back up at her as she carried on “I didn’t believe him and told him so, then he hit me and said every time I talked back to him he would do it again. He made me get a bag and then took me down to the car he was using. Then when we were out of sight of people he tied my hands together and put a blindfold over my eyes.” She stopped for a minute and wiped the tears away. “We drove for what seemed ages and then we stopped. He got out and made me get out as well and he led me inside a building and told me to sit down. Then he pulled me up so I was sitting and took the blindfold off. We were in a small room, just a bed and table.” Carlos nodded, he remembered the room well. “He untied my arms and I thought he was going to let me be, but then he tied them up again, this time to the bedpost. He said he didn’t trust me anymore not to run off on him.” She looked at Carlos and saw that he had tears running down his face. He wiped them away with his sleeve and smiled encouragingly at her. She half smiled back then said “He kept coming in with food and water, but I didn’t trust him to have not done something to them, so I never touched anything. I got so tired and thirsty and hungry. But I was determined not to touch anything until you came and got me. Then he came in and told me he had spoken to you and that you had said you couldn’t leave America just then because of your tour commitments, I didn’t believe him until he showed me my phone and said I don’t suppose I have to ask why he calls you Red. That’s when I started to believe him. Only you and I know that you call me Red, how would he have known that if he hadn’t spoken to you.” She looked up at Carlos again who’s face had gone white and she could see him clenching his hands really tightly. “He left it at that for a couple of days, never mentioned you again, he was giving me plenty of time alone to think about it and it worked. I tried to remember that you loved me, but then I thought of how he had known you called me Red and I started to doubt you.” she carried on. “Then he came back into the room one day smiling and said he had been talking to you again and that you had said to tell me the tour was going great and you had tried phoning, but my phone was off. I told him I didn’t believe him and he said that was up to me, but if I was waiting for you to come, I would be waiting a long time, then he told me how he was the only one that ever cared for me and kissed me. That’s when I let the tears fall properly and let it into my head that you really weren’t coming for me.” Carlos had got up and had been leaning against the wall and when he heard that he punched the wall in anger. Michelle looked at him and he sat down again and said “I’m sorry, I can’t believe he made you go through all that, I wish I had hit him harder than I did now.” She looked at him sadly then said “I gave up at that moment, I knew you weren’t coming for me, so there was no reason for me to fight anymore. I stopped speaking to him and he would come in and talk to me then go away again, until the day the police found us. He was going to..to..” She couldn’t say it. “But then the door burst open and the policemen arrived and then I saw Simon and you as well. I couldn’t look at you, I didn’t know why you had come, if you didn’t care, why had you come and then Simon spoke to me and I ended up in here and then you sat there all week and spoke to me, told me things that I started to remember and when the guys came in to sing today I knew that I had to speak again, to tell you what had happened.”

She looked at him and saw that he was crying again and she said “Carlos, please tell me what he said wasn’t true, you didn’t just leave me there did you?” Carlos shook his head and said “I didn’t just leave you there, I tried so hard to get back home to find you, but it was only thanks to Auds that we got out of the tour and were able to come back.” She smiled and then said “Why didn’t you tell me about the letter?” He looked guilty and said “I didn’t open it when it arrived, I was running late and just dropped it into the case and never thought about it again until we got to America the next night. I was so scared when I finally opened it, I tried phoning you so many times, but couldn’t get you, eventually Auds got it out of me what was wrong and we phoned Simon to check on you, but he had you by then.” He looked at her and saw that she was looking really tired. He said “I think you need to get some rest, I’ll leave you alone for a while and we’ll talk more when you’re awake again.” She nodded and said “Thank you, for being here.” then she smiled at him and closed her eyes. She was soon asleep and Carlos waited until he was sure she was properly asleep then stood up and said softly “I love you Michelle” and walked out of the ward.

*Chapter 53*

Carlos went home, had a shower and got some sleep then went round to see each of they guys to thank them again for going to the hospital and singing with him and letting them know what had happened after they had left. Then he went back to the hospital and found Michelle sitting on her bed, dressed and with her bag packed. He smiled and said “Are you going somewhere?” She nodded and said “They’re letting me go home, I was just waiting for you to come back before I went.” He sat down beside her and said “That’s great news, are you alright about going back there?” she looked down and said “Honestly, I don’t know, but I’m not going to let him ruin my life, I got over him once and I can do it again.” She looked up to see Carlos smiling and he said “Lets go then.” They arrived at the flat and Carlos let them in with his key. They walked through and sat down on the sofa. Michelle looked around her, the sofa had been cleaned and the stain gone. She looked at all the photo frames around the room and picked up the same one Carlos had, of the two of them together. She stared at it and then said “We look happy there, I don’t remember this.” Carlos took it from her and told her all about the day it had been taken and what they had got up to. When he had finished she said “How did you really feel Carlos, when I was missing?”

He took a deep breath and said “I just shattered into pieces, I totally went crazy. The day I got the letter I was running very late, I was trying to finish my packing, so I just flung it into the case along with the other letters I had got that day and then shut the case and forgot all about it until I got to the hotel and unpacked the next night. When I opened I sank onto the bed in shock. First thing i did was get my phone and try and phone you, but you didn’t answer and I tried the house phone and you didn’t answer it either. I didn’t know what to do, so I sat there for ages just kinda stuck to the spot then my phone rang and I thought it was you, but it wasn’t it was one of the guys wondering where I was, as I was meant to be with them doing something, I can’t remember what though, so I went down and tried to concentrate on what we were doing.” He looked at Michelle and saw that she was looking at the picture of them she was holding. He took a deep breath and continued “I couldn’t sleep that night, all I could see in my head was the image of what he had said he was going to do to you. I tried so many times over the next couple of days to phone you, but you never answered your phones and I was really getting bad. The guys could see how bad I was getting, but didn’t know why and Auds tried to talk to me, but I couldn’t talk to her, I didn’t know what to say and the guys all appeared and I just walked away. She spent the rest of the night shouting at them, they didn’t know what they had done wrong. But, she came to my room the next morning, I was still in bed, although I couldn’t sleep, was just lying there and she made me tell her everything and she phoned Simon who went to look for you, he was going to give you some protection for when I wasn’t there, but he couldn’t find you. He went to your work, he phoned your mum, he even went to your neighbours.” She looked at him then and said “I thought you didn’t care, that’s why you hadn’t warned me.” Carlos shook his head so hard it he almost hurt himself and said “I care more about you Michelle, than I do about anything else in my life, including the group.” he carried on then saying “I got a phone call from him, but I had thought it was you because Red had come up on my screen and I said OMG Red, I am so happy to hear from you, I’ve been so worried. Then his voice said Red, is that what you call her? And he started telling me that you didn’t mean anything to me, cos if you did I would be back home looking for you. I starting shouting and swearing at him in Spanish and Steve took the phone off me and told him the police had been called and were looking for him.” Michelle had tears running down her face. “So that’s how he knew you called me Red. I was wondering how he knew that.”

He nodded then said “I totally went to pieces after that, couldn’t remember what I was singing, losing my temper all the time and I wouldn’t listen to the guys, I became very distant towards them, it was only Auds who could get through to me most of the time. I did the shows at night with no enthusiasm at all, I must of made such a bad impression on the crowd, cos it was plainly obvious that I wasn’t wanting to be there. Eventually, I’d had enough and I waited til everyone was sleeping, one of them always stayed in with me to make sure I was alright, and I ran off, got a taxi to the airport and tried to come home, but they wouldn’t let me on the plane without my passport, which Steve had taken off me, in case I did that probably. Urs found me arguing with this poor woman and dragged me away and they managed to get me back to the hotel where Auds was talking to Barbara and then I talked to her for an hour and she could see how I was feeling and she let us out of the tour. I could finally get home and start looking for you.” He looked at Michelle who was still crying, but she smiled at him and he said “Simon picked us up at the airport and took us straight to the police station where I was filled in on everything they had found so far then he dropped us all of at our flats, but I came here, I needed to be close to you and I took that picture you’re holding and went to sleep with it in your bed. Then in the middle of the night Simon appeared saying the police had possibly found you and were waiting for us. Then we found you and when you wouldn’t look at me, I felt like he had won, like he had done what he’d said he was going to do and turn you against me. My heart broke again right then, but I knew I would never give up on you and I sat beside you for the whole last week trying to remind you of the times we have had together. The only constant thing going through my head the whole time was ‘Its all my fault’ If I had opened the letter before I left, if I hadn’t put it in the case and just my pocket and read it sooner.” He leaned back against the sofa and said “That’s how I felt when you were missing.”

Michelle turned to face him properly and said “I can’t believe I let him make me believe you didn’t care, that you weren’t coming. I am so sorry that I let myself believe that you didn’t care and I am so sorry for everything.” She reached out and put a hand on his arm and said “Can we make a fresh start? Go back to when we were happy and nothing would ever come between us?” Carlos couldn’t keep the smile of his face and said “That would make me the happiest man around.” and he put a hand over hers and they sat like that for a while in silence.

It was a week later when they heard from the police that Jake was going to be kept in custody until his hearing. He was being charged with kidnapping and attempted assault and they were hoping that Michelle would be able to be there and testify against him. They reckoned that he would be going away for a long time. Carlos could see the change in Michelle’s face as they were being told this. They had spent most of the week together, just talking and really getting themselves back to the way they had been, and the thought of having to see him again, even if it was to see him get put away, made her feel scared again. The hearing was going to be on the last week of the time off the guys had and they all said that they would come with them for support.

*The Hearing*

It had been going on for a few days now and the next day was going to be when he got given his sentence. Everyone had spoken who was going to and Michelle had been wonderful, bit shaky and nervous, but she told everyone what she had been through and what he had done. They were all standing outside the court waiting to be called in when David and Janice appeared. They had spent the last month in America and they hadn’t said they were coming back. Carlos stared at them and said “When did you two get back?” “Just this morning, we landed and went to get changed then came straight here.” said David. Janice nodded and said “We wanted to be here to see Jake get everything he deserved.” Michelle hugged them both and said “I can’t believe how lucky I was to meet all of you.” They were called in just then and they all went and took their seats while Michelle sat just holding Carlos’ hand tightly. He smiled at her and whispered something to her. She nodded and loosened her grip slightly. They could see Jake sitting beside his solicitor who was saying something to him. All of a sudden he turned round and looking at Michelle he smiled as if nothing bad was about to happen to him. She tightened her grip on Carlos again as she could tell he was about to do something. The judge appeared then and everyone stood up and waited for him to sit down. He looked around the room and said “Over the last few days we have heard about the actions of a man who thought nothing of taking another person out of her home and keeping her tied up for over a week. He thought that as he had once been in a relationship with this person that he could just walk back into her life and take her away from everything she had and everyone she loved. His excuse was that he still loved her. He didn’t care that she had moved on and had actually started a new relationship with someone that she loved. He never gave any thought to the hurt he would cause to that person and to her friends and family. He was only thinking about himself and it was only himself he was thinking about when he was about to physically force himself onto her just before the police arrived. It is my thinking that this man must have some sort of physcological problems and that he is not fit to be let back into the community until he has treatment for his problems.” He motioned to Jake and his solicitor to stand up then he said “It is with this summary that I sentence you to 7 years imprisonment and you have to meet with a pyschiatrist once a week until a point when they say you don’t need to see them anymore.” He looked at guards who came and took him away through a door and out of sight. He left the courtroom himself then and Carlos put his arm round Michelle and said “Its finally over, you won’t have to worry about him again.” She nodded but couldn’t say anything as she was trying not to cry. “He got what he deserved, 7 years of his life taken away from him” said Urs. David nodded and said “Lets see how he likes being locked up away from everything he knows and loves.” Michelle smiled and said “Thank you so much for all being here today.” They all gave her a quick hug then they got up and started to leave. They walked out into the sunshine and down the steps. Just as they reached the bottom they saw the guards leading Jake to a police van for transporting him to the prison. Carlos pulled Michelle close into him and Jake noticed this and all of a sudden he kicked one of the guards and took the other one’s gun and fired a shot towards them dropping it straight afterwards. The guards quickly grabbed him and threw him into the van shutting the doors behind him.

*Chapter 54*

Seb picked himself up from the ground and quickly said “Is everyone okay? Sonia, Urs, David, Carlos, Auds, Michelle, Janice?” One by one they all stood up and said they were okay except for Janice. David turned to look for her and saw that she was lying on the ground holding her stomach and her hand was covered in blood. “No, oh god Janice.” he dropped down beside her and tried to see where the blood was coming from. He had tears running down his face and he was trying to keep her still. Sonia had called for an ambulance and Michelle was just staring at them and said “He’s never going to go away, he’s never going to leave me alone and now he’s hurting you guys as well.” then she turned and ran away. Carlos looked after her then at David and Janice and didn’t know what to do. Urs said “Its okay Carlos, go after her, we’ll be here with David.” He nodded and ran off after Michelle. Auds clung to Urs, she didn’t know what to do or say. David was talking to Janice trying to keep her awake then she looked at him and lifting a hand to his face said quietly “If you have to choose David, choose the baby. I know you will be a wonderful daddy to it.” David shook his head and said “No, I’m not going to lose either of you, okay.” They could hear the sirens of the ambulance as it arrived and they got her onto a stretcher and into it with David going with her.

The others quickly jumped into their cars and followed the ambulance to the hospital. Auds shuddered and said “I really hate hospitals and we have spent too much time in them lately.” Urs pulled her into him and said “I know babe, things haven’t been going too well for everyone lately. But that has to change soon, it can’t stay like this forever.” Seb pulled into the car park and they all got out and made their way in to find David. They saw him standing in the distance and went up to him. He turned and said “They’ve taken her into surgery. I can’t lose them now, not after nearly losing the baby already.” Sonia gave him a hug and said “Jan is a fighter David, you know that and so is the baby. They’ll both make it through this.” He sat down on a seat behind him and said “I know, I just need to think positively. But what if she’s right. What if they can only save one of them. How do I choose between the woman I love and the baby that she is carrying? Its far to early for the baby to be born, she’s only 5 and a half months pregnant.” He let a tear run down his face and Urs and Seb exchanged worried looks. They sat there for an hour in silence then the surgeon came in and said “Mr Millar?” David stood up and said “Please tell me they’re both okay?” The surgeon looked at David and said “We managed to stop the bleeding, it wasn’t as bad as it first looked. She wasn’t actually shot in the stomach, she was hit in her side and we have given her blood to replace what she has lost and she will be alright after a few days rest.” David smiled shakily and said “I really thought I was going to lose her, thank you doctor. What about the baby, is it okay?” “It was touch and go for a while, the baby went into distress at everything happening and we thought we were going to have to deliver it.” David shook his head and said “You can’t, its too early.” The surgeon nodded and said “We know, and its very lucky that we managed to calm the baby down, so we didn’t have to do that.” David sighed deeply. “However, any more stress to the mothers body may cause problems, so we would prefer it if she did as little travelling as possible and preferably be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy.” David nodded and said "Thank you so much, for everything. Can I see her now?” The surgeon nodded and said “She’s been put into a side room and she’s still under the sedation, but she should come out of that soon. I’ll show you where she is.” and he opened the door and they walked out. Auds unwrapped herself from Urs arms and said “I’m going to go phone Carlos and tell him the news, so that he can tell Michelle that Jake didn’t hurt either of them.” Urs nodded and kissing her said “Don’t be long hun, I prefer knowing where you are just now.” Seb nodded in agreement with that and said the same to Sonia. Auds smiled at Urs then left the room.

Carlos had followed Michelle and caught up with her outside a small bar. He made her go inside and talk to him and it was in there that he got the phone call. He talked for a few minutes then hanging up said “That was Auds, Janice is going to be fine, it wasn’t as serious as it looked and the baby gave them a scare, but as long as Janice doesn’t do anything silly for the rest of her time it will be fine as well.” Michelle burst into tears and Carlos pulled her into his arms and just let her cry. When she had stopped she pulled back and said “Oh god, I am sorry for all the trouble I have caused for you all over the last few months. I bet you wish you had never met me now?” Carlos took her face in his hands and made her look at him then said “Michelle, I have never been as happy in my life as I am when I am with you. You make my life complete and I never want to go through a day without you in it. I love you and I want you to be my wife.” Michelle stared at him in shock and said “Did you just ask me to marry you?” Carlos blushed and said “Yes, I think I did.” He got off his seat and went down on one knee and said “Michelle, I love you more than anything in the world, will you marry me?” She looked down at him and saw the love in his eyes and she said “I love you too Carlos and if you can put up with all my moods and disappearances when something goes wrong, I would love to marry you.” Carlos grinned and said “I wouldn’t change a thing about you, those things are what makes you you!” He got up and pulled her into him and kissed her gently then holding his arm out for her said “Lets go and see the others Mrs Marin.” Michelle blushed then took his arm and they walked out of the bar and headed to meet the others.

A few hours later everyone except David who was still at the hospital with Janice met up for a meal and to talk over things that were going to happen now that they were going back to work in the next few days. When Carlos and Michelle arrived everyone looked at her and smiled then Urs said “Have you and Carlos sorted out everything? none of this was your fault you know, these things happen.” Michelle nodded and said “Yeah, we talked and he made me realise just how much I meant to him.” she turned and smiled at Carlos who smiled back and then kissed her. She turned back to the others and Auds and Sonia looked at each other then Sonia said “What’s with the constant smile? What did he do to show you how much he meant to you?” Michelle went red and looked at Carlos who nodded and she turned to them and said “He asked me to marry him.” Auds and Sonia screamed and hugged Michelle then said “What’s the ring like?” Carlos said “I didn’t have one, it wasn’t planned at all, but this way I can get her a ring I know she will love as we can pick it together.” Urs and Seb grinned and hugged Carlos and said “Congratulations.” then they all sat down and ordered dinner and a bottle of champagne to celebrate with.

*Chapter 55*

David was sitting with Janice in the hospital and they were talking about what would happen when he went back to America to start promoting the new album. “I’m not risking losing either of you again Jan, you will have to stay here in London while I’m away, and you have to promise me that you will stay in bed and not do anything silly when I’m away as well.” said David. Janice looked at his face and saw how worried he was and she said “But we just did the nursery in America, we haven’t got one here.” David shook his head and said “We will go back to America when you have the baby, but you are not flying all that way just now. You heard the doctor, you have to stay still and stress free.” “But I just want to be with you David, I need to be with you, I won’t be able to get through this without you here.” she said. David sat beside her on the bed and put his arm round her and said “I want to be with you too baby, but I won’t be over there for long, a couple of weeks at the most, just til we do all our appearances on the various tv shows, then we will be back over here doing the same thing on tv shows over here.” “And, I’ll be here as well, I’ll keep you company hun.” They both looked up to see Michelle standing there. She looked at Janice and said “I am so sorry for what he did Janice. I would never have forgiven myself if you had lost the baby or if anything had happened to you.” She felt an arm go round her and turned to see Carlos had appeared. Janice said “Come and sit here Michelle.” pointing to the chair beside the bed. She did so and Janice said “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Jake is now locked up and he will stay that way for a very long time and you won’t have to worry anymore. The baby and I are going to be just fine and with you keeping an eye on us, we’ll be even better.” she smiled at her and reached over to give her a hug. Carlos came and stood beside Michelle and putting a hand on her shoulder said “Do you want to tell them or shall I?” David and Janice looked worried and David said “Tell us what?” Michelle grinned and said “You do it hun, I told the others.” Carlos nodded then said “I asked Michelle to marry me and she said yes.” David grinned and said “Congrats both of you.” and he went round and hugged them both and Janice grinned and said “This is good, we can sit and plan it all when they’re away and we have to stay here.” and they started chatting away. David and Carlos walked away a bit and David said “This is wonderful, I was having a hard time convincing her to stay here and in bed while we go back to America, but now she’s got something to focus on, it shouldn’t be so hard on her.” Carlos smiled and said “I was a bit worried about leaving Michelle as well, but now they both have something to keep themselves busy with. I think they’ll be fine.”

Seb and Sonia had gone back to their flat and were having a bottle of wine before they went to bed. They curled up on the sofa together and Seb said “I can’t believe Carlos and Michelle are getting married. I thought Urs would be the next to ask Auds, especially with everything he has been up to lately.” Sonia looked at him strangely and said “What has he been up to lately?” Seb looked guilty suddenly and said “I wasn’t meant to say anything, I can’t tell you, I’m sorry mon cherie.” She turned to face him and started to open the buttons on his shirt then ran a finger slowly over his chest and placed some kisses on his neck and down over his chest. She lifted her head and kissed him on the lips deepening the kiss as she felt his hands tighten around her and pull her close. He ran a hand through her hair and then tried to lift her top off over her head when she pulled away from him and said “I’m not going any further unless you tell me what Urs has been up to.” and she grinned. Seb groaned and said “I never knew my wife was so evil. I can’t tell you what he’s been up to, I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone.” Sonia pouted and breaking the hold his hands had on her stood up and said “And I promise you that I won’t tell anyone.” she gave him a look she knew he wouldn’t be able to resist and he sighed and said “Okay, but you have to keep this quiet.” She nodded and he reached out and pulled her back down to where she had been and told her everything Urs had told him then he lifted her up and carried her through to their bedroom to finish off what she had stopped.

The next few days passed really quickly and Janice had been let home and David had everything sorted for her so that she didn’t have to get out of the bed. She still wasn’t happy about it, but she had realised that she had to follow the doctors orders when she had tried to walk down the ward corridor to meet David one day and had almost collapsed. She just wasn’t strong enough to do anything other than lie or sit in the bed. It was only for 3 months and she knew that he would be there for most of it, it was just going to be the next couple of weeks he would be away. She didn’t know why she was so unlucky. The last time she had been ill, she was in America and David in London and this time she was in London and he was going to be in America. At least Michelle would be there, she wasn’t going to travel with Carlos, she was going to go back to work after everything that had happened and try and get her life back to normal and they were going to start planning her wedding. The day finally came and David was packing his things while Janice watched him from the bed looking sad. He looked up and saw her watching him and smiled then moving to sit beside her he put his arm round her and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Don’t look so sad babe, I’ll be back before you notice I’ve even gone and you’ll be so busy with Michelle that the time will fly by.” Janice frowned and said “But I’ll only see her at night, she’ll be at work all day. What am I going to do then?” David rubbed his hand over her cheek softly and said with a grin “Sleep, cos once the baby comes you won’t be getting much of that.” She hit him and said “I hope that doesn’t mean that you’re going to sleep through all the screaming and make me get up all the time?” He grinned at her and said “Well, you know how deeply I sleep babe, I’ll probably never hear the noise anyway.” Janice smiled then said “Well, if the baby has half of your voice, I’m sure it will be able to scream really loudly.” David laughed and said “Oh my, can you imagine it.” he grinned and then looking down at her said “Seriously Jan, I’m gonna be there all the way with you, changing nappies, sleepless nights everything.” Janice smiled back and said “Glad to hear it.” There was a knock on the door then and David groaned and said sadly “That’ll be Urs and Auds, they said they would pick me up on the way to the airport.” He stood up and went to let them in, Auds went straight to Janice and asked her how she was. She smiled and said “I’ll be fine once David’s back here.” Auds gave her a hug and said “Don’t worry babe, he’ll call you every night and I’ll even show him how to use the computer and you can message each other.” Janice laughed and said “In all the years I’ve known Davey he’s never figured out the computer, I’ll be okay, I’m just being silly, thanks Auds.” David came over then and said “Its time for me to go babe, you take care and please stay here.” Janice nodded and said “I will, I’ve got the phone, tv remote, laptop and Michelle has a key to let herself in with, only time I’ll need to move is when I go to the bathroom.” she sat up straighter and he pulled her into a tight hug. “I’ll phone you when we get to America and I will be back in two weeks.” He kissed her then they pulled apart and he picked up his bag and kissing her again he followed Auds and Urs out the flat.

*Chapter 56*

The next couple of months passed by quickly, David had returned from America and had found Janice and Michelle deep in wedding plans. He’d grinned and said “I can always go away and leave you alone again if you’d rather carry on with your planning.” Janice had said “Don’t worry hun, we can still do it with you here, you can help us choose the flowers, invites, the cake etc..” then laughed at the look on his face. The guys were busy doing the UK promotion for the new album which they had called Siempre and Sonia and Auds spent a lot of time with Janice who although bored of lying in bed, didn’t seem to mind it as much when David was beside her.

David was away at a meeting at the record company and Sonia was with Janice and Michelle having some lunch. Janice pushed the covers off her and stood up and rubbed her back first then her bump which was now quite big as she was almost 8 months pregnant. Sonia looked at her and said “Are you alright Jan?” She nodded and said “My back is just sore because I’m lying on it all the time. I’m going to the bathroom.” Sonia nodded and helped Michelle carry the dishes through to the kitchen. She looked at Michelle and said “You’ve spent more time with her lately than we have, do you really think that she’s okay? She doesn’t look that great.” Michelle sighed and said “No, she’s been like this for the last few days, but insists that everything is alright. David is worried about her, thinks she is unhappy and is regretting having the baby.” Sonia looked shocked and opened her mouth to say something when they heard a crash. They ran through to the bedroom and found Janice leaning against the wall with one hand and the picture that had been there was lying on the floor in bits. "Janice” said Michelle. Sonia looked at her bent over and said “What’s wrong hun, tell us please.” Janice managed to lift her head and say “I think the baby is coming.” Michelle looked at Sonia in shock then grabbed the phone and called an ambulance. Sonia went to try and help Janice and after Michelle had phoned the ambulance she tried ringing both David and Auds but both had their phones off so she left them both a quick txt message. By this time the ambulance had arrived and they got Janice into it and went with her to the hospital. An hour later the guys were just coming out of their meeting and Seb, Carlos, Urs and Auds were going to get something to eat whilst David was going home. He got into his car and switched on his phone. He was about to drive off when the text message appeared. He opened it then stared at the screen for a few minutes trying to take in the words.. The baby is coming, taken Jan to the hospital. Michelle .. He suddenly threw the phone down and drove as fast as he could to the hospital. He parked up and ran inside, he found Sonia and Michelle in the maternity wing sitting outside a room and they told him to go straight in as she kept asking for him.

The others had finished eating and had gone their separate ways, Carlos and Seb heading for home and Auds and Urs were walking down a street hand in hand talking away to each other. Urs came to a stop suddenly and Auds turned to look at him. He had stopped outside a jewellers and was looking in the window. “What are you doing Urs, why have we stopped?” He pulled Auds in front of him and putting his arms through hers pointed at something in the window and said “I think that would look perfect on you babe.” Auds turned her head to look at him and was met by a kiss. He took her hand and led her into the shop. He smiled at the shopkeeper and said “I’d like to see the necklace in the window please.” and kissed Auds again to stop her protests. The guy went away to get it and Urs said “I want you to have nice things.” Auds shook her head and said “Did you see the price of it, you can’t buy it, I won’t let you.” Urs grinned and said “I’m not going to argue with you.” Auds sighed as the man came back with it and Urs placed it round her neck and held a mirror up for her to see it. She had to admit to him that it was very nice. Urs smiled and said “Am I not always right?” Auds laughed and said “Um no.” Urs took it off her and handing it to the guy said “We’ll take it thanks.” Auds shook her head and said “I’ll wait for you outside.” and walked off outside leaving him alone in the shop. Urs smiled at the man and then said “I’ll take the other thing you’ve been keeping for me as well please.” The man nodded and went through the back and came back with a small box and handing it to him said “She’s just as lovely as you described her and that will suit her very well.” Urs smiled then paid for everything and went to find Auds. They walked further down the street holding hands again then Urs whispered something in Auds ear and she grinned and hailed a cab to take them home. They got inside their flat and dumped their jackets and bags where they stood and Urs caught Auds round the waist and pulled her in tight to him and kissed her on the mouth, softly at first then harder when her arms went round his neck and up into his curly hair. He pulled back slightly and started trailing kisses down her neck and along her shoulder. She moaned and ran her hands down his chest to the bottom of his t shirt and pulled it up and over his head, her shirt following quickly. They started walking backwards slowly heading for the bedroom not letting go of each other at all, they fell backwards onto the bed laughing as Auds landed on top of Urs. They quickly stripped of the rest of their clothes and took each other to a place they never wanted to leave.

They both woke to the sound of the doorbell ringing loudly and constantly. Urs groaned and turned over and Auds got out of the bed and pulling on Urs t shirt went to answer it. Carlos, Seb, Sonia and Michelle were standing there. They took one look at her appearance and messed up hair and Sonia said “That explains why neither of them answered their phones.” The others laughed and all walked in leaving Auds standing at the door. She shut it and followed them through, Urs walked through in a pair of jeans and sat down pulling Auds onto his knee and said “What’s up guys?” They all looked at each other and Carlos said “Oh, not much, Janice had the baby, that’s about it.” Auds looked at them and said “Seriously? You’re kidding?” Sonia shook her head and said “No, we’re serious, she went into labour at lunchtime and had the baby about an hour ago.” “That’s wonderful news, how is she, how’s the baby, she’s early, why didn’t you let us know?” asked Auds all at once. They all laughed then Michelle said “She’s fine, tired, but fine, the baby is a girl and yes, she is a month early, but she seems to be okay and we tried to let you know, but neither of you answered your phones.” Auds and Urs both blushed and Urs said “We were a bit distracted.” “So we noticed.” said Seb. Auds turned to look at Urs and said “We’ll have to go and see them babe.” Urs nodded and said “We’ll need to get dressed first though.” then grinned when she hit him. The others left then and Auds and Urs both had a quick shower and got dressed then headed for the hospital stopping off to buy something for the baby on the way.

They arrived at the hospital and walked into the room Janice was in and saw her and David sitting together. They both looked up and smiled at them when they said “Hello.” David grinned and said “They finally got hold of you then.” Auds blushed and Urs said “Yeah, they turned up at the flat to tell us.” Auds nodded and said “I’m sorry we weren’t here earlier guys, we were otherwise occupied.” Janice laughed and said “I think we’ve found the only thing that makes Urs late.” They all laughed then Auds said “So, where is she then?” David smiled widely and said “They’ve taken her to give her a proper check over since she decided to appear early. She’ll be back soon.” Auds and Urs sat down on some chairs beside the bed and they started chatting away to pass the time, Auds gave the teddy they had bought to David who put it inside the baby’s bed. A while later a nurse came in carrying the baby and smiling at them all said “She is one very healthy and happy baby. You should be really happy, not many babies born a month early are as healthy.” then handing her back to Janice she left the room. Janice looked up at Auds and said “You want to hold her?” Auds smiled and said “Thought you were never going to ask.” She handed her over and Auds looked down at her sleeping and said “She’s beautiful Jan, I think she got your looks.” Urs said “Well that’s good, I would feel sorry for her if she looked like David.” David looked at him then saw the grin on his face and laughed. Auds passed her over to Urs as Janice said “As long as she hasn’t got David’s lungs, I’ll be happy.” Auds grinned then said “Have you got a name for her yet?” David and Janice looked at each other and smiled then David said “We’re going to call her Brianna with Jade as her middle name.” “Aww, that is a gorgeous name guys.” said Auds. Janice smiled and said “Thanks, we thought a lot about it and we both liked that name for a girl.” then she laughed as Urs quickly handed her to David cos she had opened her eyes then let out a scream. David handed her to Janice who said “She’s probably wanting fed.” Auds stood up then and said We’ll leave you alone then, she’s really beautiful guys. Is there anything we can do for you while you’re in here?” They both shook their heads so they said goodbye and left them alone.

A week had passed and Janice and Brianna were being allowed home. David had gone to pick her up while the others were at their flat getting the welcome home party ready. They had all got together over the week to get their spare room decorated for the baby to sleep in as they hadn’t done it yet as she hadn’t been expected early. They heard the key in the lock and then David walked in carrying a load of bags and Janice followed carrying Brianna. She looked surprised to see everyone there and Sonia said “You didn’t think we were going to let this little one off without a proper welcome to the family.” then smiled as she watched Seb who had quickly taken her off Janice. He was being so gentle with her and she had wrapped her hand round his little finger and didn’t appear to want to let go. They didn’t stay long as they could see that Janice was tired and wanted to get Brianna settled. They all gave them both a hug and then left the three of them to their first night at home together.

*Chapter 57*

Michelle and Carlos were still trying to pick a date that would fit into Carlos’ schedule for them to get married on. They were going to meet up with Auds and Simon later that day for a meeting to discuss it and then they were going to fly to Spain for a couple of days to look at venues when they knew what date it was going to be on. She looked at Carlos and said “Now I know how Sonia and Seb must have felt when they were trying to get their wedding organised.” Carlos smiled and kissed her gently and said “It will all work out fine babe, and it will be the most wonderful day ever.” She leaned into him as she picked up the brochures for some of the places his mother had sent over for them to look at. “These are all gorgeous hun, how are we supposed to pick one of them?” He put his arm round her and said “We will just take all these with us when we go over and we will visit them all, I’m sure we’ll know straight away when we find the one we both want.” She nodded her head and said “You’re right. I just need to be patient, not something I’m good at.” He grinned and “Another reason why I love you so much.” They sat there and looked through some more of the leaflets until it was time for them to leave for the meeting.

Sonia was in the kitchen making some dinner for herself and Seb while he was on his laptop checking out the forum and picking up a few pm’s. She came through and said “Anything exciting happening on the forum?” He turned and said “Just the usual information about our tv appearances and stuff and apparently GMTV have started a poll to see which member of IL Divo is the sexiest.” Sonia looked interested and said “Oh yeah, and who’s winning?” Seb turned to check and then said “Urs is at the moment, but you should see the topic about it, my sirens seem to be doing their best to get me on top.” Sonia tried to hide the grin appearing on her face and Seb looked at her and said “What?” She tried to keep her face straight and said “Nothing.” He shook his head and said “I think I know by now when my wife is hiding something.” he stood up and walked over to her and put his arms round her and said again “What?” She smiled at him sweetly and kissing him said “Nothing.” She started to squirm as he started tickling her and said “Stop it, that’s not fair, you know I can’t stand being tickled.” he nodded and laughed as she tried to get away from him. “Tell me what you were grinning about and I’ll let you go.” Sonia shook her head and said “It was nothing.” Seb watched her as the tears were running down her face from laughing and he carried on knowing that she would give in, she always did when he did this. “Okay, Okay, I’ll tell you, just stop please.” she begged. He stopped for a minute and let her catch her breath and then said “Are you sure? I can always carry on if you’re not sure.” and went to start again. Sonia grabbed his hands and said “I’m sure, I’ll tell you.” and grinned as he pulled himself up straight and let her sit up. She sat silently for a few minutes then said “The minute you said that your siren’s seemed to be doing their best to get you on top, I just thought that that was a very nice place to be.” and she grinned. Seb looked at her funny and said “I don’t understand.” Sonia laughed and said “Well, how about I show you what I mean babe, that way I’m sure you will understand what I meant.” and she leaned forward and kissed his lips gently then deepening it as his arms went round her neck and pulled her in closer. He leaned back on the couch and pulled her with him running his hands down over her back and up underneath her top. They pulled apart for a minute and Sonia said “Like I said, a very nice place to be, on top of you.” then laughed. Seb blushed and said “You don’t think that’s what they meant do you?” Sonia tried not to laugh and said “I don’t think so hun, they just wanted you to be on top of the list.” He sighed and said “That’s alright then, there’s only one woman I want on top of me and she is already there.” then he kissed her again and sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder and they just lay there for a while in each others arms.

Michelle and Carlos collapsed onto the sofa in Carlos’ flat. They had spent the last few days going round looking at possible venues for the wedding in Spain and were now exhausted. Michelle got up and went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of red wine and two glasses then went back through and sat down beside Carlos. She poured two glasses and handed him one then said “I’m too tired to cook tonight hun, do you want to do it?” Carlos almost choked on his wine and said “You want me to cook? Seb and David are the cooks out of us four, I just burn things.” Michelle looked at him and grinned. Carlos shook his head slowly and said “You really want me to cook?” Michelle laughed and said “Maybe not, how about we order takeaway instead?” Carlos leaned over and kissed her then said “Best idea you’ve had all day my darling.” and he picked up the phone saying “I think I fancy a curry” then he looked at Michelle and saw the frown and said “What’s wrong?” She sighed and said “Its nothing really, I just felt more like a Chinese.” Carlos could see the grin on her face and said “Is that so mi querido?” She nodded and said “I don’t know why, I just feel like Chinese tonight.” She smiled sweetly at him and said “Would you mind awfully if we had one?” then she leaned over and placed a kiss on his lips. He sighed and said “Not at all, if that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll have.” He picked up the phone again and dialled a number and ordered what they wanted. Michelle had got up and walked off while he was doing this so he went to find her. He went into the bedroom and heard water running in the bathroom. He smiled to himself as he realised she was in the shower. He quickly stripped of his clothes and walking through the door he opened the shower door letting all the steam out and joined her. She had her back to him and was shocked when she felt these arms going round her waist then she relaxed when she felt him kissing her shoulder and down her skin. He reached out and took the sponge out of her hands and putting shower gel on it started to rub it over her back with one hand whilst still kissing her. He could feel her hands gripping his bare thighs to give her support and he let the sponge fall to the floor and he took her hands and turned her so that she was facing him and he kissed her on the mouth then pushing her gently back against the shower wall he let his hands roam all over her body and she moaned at the sensations both his hands and the water were having on her. They made love right there and then he helped her out of the shower, wrapped a towel round her and carried her through to the bedroom and started all over again. They were just getting up when the doorbell rang. Carlos put on a robe and went to open it and came back with the takeaway. Michelle grinned and said “Food, I’ve suddenly got really hungry, I don’t know what could have made me work up such a hunger.” then let out a shriek as Carlos hit her on the bottom and said “I have no idea, but its made me pretty hungry as well.” then winked at her. They got some plates and the unfinished bottle of wine and settled down to eat it.

Sonia and Seb were having their first disagreement as a married couple. They had just decided to redecorate their flat, so that they started their married life with a new and fresh look to the house. They had spent hours picking what they would like together and she had sent him off to the shops with a specific list of things to buy and he had come back with bags full of stuff, but nothing that had actually been on the list. She pulled things out of the bags, looked at them then put it to one side and pulled something else out and did the same. She did this until all the bags were empty and then looked at Seb who had sat down and was watching her. “Do you still have the list Seb?” she asked quietly. He nodded and took it out of his pocket and handed it to her. She opened it and said the first few things that were on it then looked at Seb and said “Where are they?” she read out another couple of things and again asked “Where are they?” She finished off the list and looking at Seb who was starting to look a bit worried said “Where are they and what do we need all this stuff for?” He looked at the stuff and said “I thought it was all really nice and the lady in the shop said it was all the latest stuff, just new in and wouldn’t be around long so I had to get it then if I wanted it as she wasn’t allowed to keep things back for customers.” Sonia shook her head and said “So, instead of listening to your wife and getting all the stuff that we had both agreed on, you listened to some other woman who’s job is probably to pick up on guys who look like they could be talked round easily and make them think that they want all the crap that they can’t sell by telling them that its new, will sell really quickly and that they have to take away with them straight away.” She looked towards him and said “Oh, and I suppose she was pretty as well, fluttered her eyelashes at you, recognised who you were and took full advantage of it. I thought you were above that sort of thing Seb, I thought you were smarter than most other men, but obviously I was wrong.” She dropped the list and said “I’m going for a walk and I don’t want to come back and find all this stuff still here.” then she grabbed her keys and jacket and left the flat. Seb looked at the closed door and wondered what the hell had just happened. She couldn’t be upset over just this surely. He sighed and picked up the list, put it back in his pocket and started packing all the stuff back into bags and headed back to the shop he had got it all from.

Sonia was walking through the park and sat herself down on a bench that she was just passing. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, she had just blown up at Seb for such a little thing and that wasn’t like her. She felt like things hadn’t been right between them the last couple of weeks and she didn’t know what to do about it. She wished the other girls were around for her to talk to, but Auds and Janice were in London and Michelle was in Spain while her and Seb were in Paris taking the chance to get the flat decorated. They were due in America in the next few days though for some tv appearances, so she would be able to talk to them then. She sat there for a while just thinking about things and then she got up and continued her walk through the park. She had to admit that she missed Paris more than she thought she would have. She didn’t regret her decision to spend more time with Seb, that she loved, she just wished they got to spend more time in Paris than they did. It was getting dark so she thought she had better head home and try and sort things out with Seb. She looked at her watch and realised she had been out for over 4 hours. She got back to the flat and stood outside the door for a minute before putting her key in and opening the door. When she walked into the living room she stood still and looked round her in shock. She went into the bedroom and couldn’t believe it. She felt Seb’s arms go round her waist and his breath on her neck and he said “I’m sorry for earlier babe, I don’t know what I was thinking off. I took all the stuff back and told the lady I didn’t want it as you didn’t like it. You should have seen her face.” he turned her round to face him and said “I then went and got everything on the list and I put it all up and got it all ready for you when you got back.” he kissed her and said “Are you okay babe? Its not like you to get so upset over something like that.” She sighed and kissing him back said “I don’t know Seb, I really don’t know. I just feel like something’s changed since we got married. And I miss Paris and even though I only saw them last week I’m missing having the girls around to talk to.” Seb pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight then pulled back and said “I’m sorry, I feel like you gave up living in Paris for me, so that I would stay with the guys and I don’t want you to be unhappy babe, your happiness means more to me than anything.” Sonia took his hand and led Seb into the room properly and sat them both down on the bed and said “I’m not unhappy, I’m with you everyday and I am always happy when i’m with you and I love being with the girls as well. If I was to stay in Paris without you, then i would be unhappy.” She ran a hand over his cheek and kissed him softly and said “I think its because we’ve been able to stay in one place for more than a day or two and we’re doing things like decorating. We’re not living in hotel rooms and travelling every other day. We have no time to think properly then.” Seb pulled her close and said “I had no idea you felt like this cherie.” They sat there for a while just holding each other. Seb wasn’t sure he had got to the bottom of what was bothering her, but he would leave it for now and hope that she would talk to the girls when they all saw each other again in America.
The next few days passed and Sonia never mentioned what had happened again, so Seb just left it. They were just getting their bags packed. Their flight to America left in 4 hours. She looked round the flat and felt a tinge of sadness creep in when she saw how lovely they had made it look in the last week and now they were leaving it again. She put the last thing she needed into the case and shutting the lid over zipped it shut. She then walked over to the window and stood there looking out at the view. Seb looked up and he frowned. He wished she would tell him what was really wrong with her, but he knew from experience that if she wanted to talk she would and if she didn’t she wouldn’t. He walked over to her and just placed an arm round her shoulders and she laid her head on his shoulder. They stood there in silence for a while then he heard her sniff and he looked down at her and saw that she had a tear running down her face. He lifted her head gently and said “Sonia, please tell me what’s wrong?” She shook her head and said “Its nothing, I’m just being stupid and sentimental.” She looked away and he said “You would tell me if there was something wrong wouldn’t you.” She looked at him and said “Of course I would, you know that. I just don’t feel like talking right now.” She looked at her watch and said “We’d better hurry up if we’re going to catch this plane.” and she moved away from him and started putting all their bags into the hall and she shouted at him “Did you call the cab?” He sighed and picked up his case said “yes, it should be here soon.” and he joined her in the hall to wait for it.

*Chapter 58*

They landed in Chicago and made their way to the hotel. They checked into their room and went down to ask if any of the others had arrived. They hadn’t, so they went to the dining room and ordered some lunch while Sonia sent a text message to all the girls asking where they were. She smiled as her phone beeped almost straight away and she laughed as she read out the words ‘Turn around’ She looked up and saw Seb grinning and she turned round to see Michelle and Carlos standing just behind them. She got up and went to give Michelle a hug first then Carlos. They joined them at the table and were catching up on all the gossip when she got another two messages. ‘Just landed, see you in 10 minutes. Auds xx’ and ‘Do you know how much more stuff we need to carry for the baby!! We’ll see you soon. Jan x’ The girls laughed at Janice’s message and Seb looked happy to see that Sonia was smiling again. They stood up and Sonia said “We’re going to go look at all the stuff Michelle and Carlos have decided on for the wedding, see you later babe.” and kissed him quickly as Michelle did the same to Carlos. He watched her leave and hoped that maybe whatever was bugging her would go away now that she was around the girls again, either that or she would talk to them about it. He jumped as Carlos poked him in the side. “Oww, what did you do that for?” he complained. Carlos laughed and said “You went off into a dreamland there.” Seb sighed and said “I was just thinking how nice it was to see Sonia smiling and laughing again.” Carlos looked at him strange and said “You haven’t been having problems have you?” He was about to say something when Urs and Auds walked in. They joined them and Urs sat down and Seb told Auds where the girls were and she ran off to join them. “So?” said Carlos to Seb. Urs looked confused and said “Whats going on?” “Sonia and I had an argument the other day, a really stupid argument which was my fault, but she made so much more of a fuss about it than she normally would have then walked off and left me alone for over 4 hours.” said Seb looking around at the shocked faces of his two friends. “Has she said anything since?” asked Urs. “Did you make up when she got back?” said Carlos. Seb shook his head and said “No, she hasn’t said anything since then, we did kinda make up, I apologised for being stupid and she told me stuff I didn’t realise. But this morning as we were getting ready to leave, she was crying. She wouldn’t tell me why, just that she didn’t feel like talking. Then made a big fuss about getting all the bags ready for the taxi coming. I’m hoping that she will talk to the girls and will tell them what she won’t tell me.” Urs smiled at him and said “I’m sure she will and they’ll sort it out between them. Seb smiled back and said “Thanks guys.” then smiled even more when he spotted David and Janice coming through the door, David pushing a pram. He got up and gave Janice a hug and looked in the pram at Brianna. Janice smiled and said “She’s sleeping Seb, you can hold her later.” He smiled and said “I’m sure she’s grown since we saw her last week.” David smiled broadly and said “She has, the doctors and midwives are very happy with her.” Janice kissed David then taking the pram off him said “I’m going to go find the girls, I’ll see you later.” David nodded and Carlos said “They’re in our room, looking at wedding stuff.” Janice smiled and left them to it.

Janice knocked on the door of the room Carlos had said they were in and had to tell the girls quickly not to speak so loudly as Brianna was sleeping. They all looked in at her and smiled then Auds said “How are you getting on with her?” Janice grinned and said “It was a bit different at first, we were both so nervous about letting her sleep for too long in case something was wrong. We soon discovered though that she would let us know when she wanted something and she definitely got David lungs!! But we got into a routine pretty quickly and its been fine. David’s so good with her, you can tell already that she’s going to be a daddy’s girl.” The girls laughed and making sure she was still sleeping Janice sat down and said “So, how is everyone else? Seems like ages since I saw you all.” Michelle passed over all the pictures of the places her and Carlos had visited and then showed her the brochure of the place they had decided on and had booked for the wedding. Auds and Sonia had already seen it so they waited to see her reaction before saying anything. She looked at the pictures then looked up at Michelle and said “Omg hun, that is absolutely gorgeous, where is it?” “Its in Madrid and its called the Westin Palace Madrid Hotel. The rooms are gorgeous and they do the ceremony in the hotel chapel as well as the reception in one of their banquet halls.”


She handed the pictures back to Michelle and said "Sounds like you had a lovely time in Spain hun." she nodded and said "Yeah, i did. It was nice just to spend some time alone with Carlos, but i missed you girls as well."

Auds turned to Sonia and said "How about you? Did you have a nice time being back home in Paris?" To their shock Sonia shook her head and said "No, not really." Janice said "Why hun, what happened?" "There's nothing wrong with you and Seb is there?" asked Michelle. Sonia sighed and said "I don't know. We had an argument the other day, a really stupid one that i started for no reason at all. Then i walked off on him and left him alone for over 4 hours. When i got back, he had done the most amazing thing and it made me fall in love with him again. But there is something that doesn't feel right. I can't explain it cos i don't know what it is exactly." Auds reached over and gave her a hug and said "When did you start feeling like this and does Seb know how you're feeling?" She nodded and said "He's worried, i was crying this morning when we were getting ready to leave and he didn't know what to do as i wouldn't talk to him. I'm not sure when it really started, but i feel like things have changed since we got married. I have this feeling that something’s missing from my life and i think it was just being back in Paris and being in his/our flat which we redecorated. That’s what the argument was over, we'd spent hours picking stuff together and i sent him off to get it with a list and he came back with a pile of stuff that wasn't on the list and i just started shouting at him, accusing him of listening more to other women than he did his own wife and then i walked out the door and started walking through the park then i sat down on a bench for ages just thinking and wishing you girls were around for me to speak to, but you weren't and i felt so alone." Janice got up and moved closer to her and said "You should have phoned one of us Sonia, you're never alone, even if we're not actually with you at the time, we're still there for you." She gave her a hug and Sonia was about to speak when there was a cry from the pram. Janice went over to it and picked Brianna up and cradled her in her arms and started soothing her and rocking her. She looked back to Sonia and said "Sorry hun, what were you going to say?" "I never noticed it before the guys stopped working. We were always on the move, always doing something. Then with everything that happened to Michelle and Carlos causing the tour to Barbara to finish early, i found myself in London doing nothing all day, every day. We were living in Seb's flat which didn't help. I thought i would feel better when we got back to Paris, in our own house. But i didn't, we decided to decorate, make it look new to go with our new life as a married couple, but it didn't make me any happier." she stopped and looked round at the girls who until a year ago she hadn't even known, but whom she now called her best friends. Michelle said "How exactly do you feel Sonia, not right now, when you're alone or just with Seb somewhere?" She frowned and thought for a few minutes then said "Lonely, sad, miserable even. I miss the company of others, the routine of getting up in the mornings and knowing what i'm doing, that i'll be seeing people and won't be spending yet another day by myself indoors.." Auds shook her head and looked sad then said "Sounds like you're missing having a job hun, do you miss the hospital much?" She shook her head and said "No, well, maybe a little bit, but i couldn't stay there after you came to see me, i couldn't let Seb leave the group, he'd have been so miserable being at home all the time." Janice had sat down again and said "So you gave up your job and your whole life pretty much to be with him and have made yourself miserable instead." "I am so sorry Sonia, this is all my fault." said Auds. "No, it isn't Auds, please believe that, it is not your fault. I couldn't go back to the hospital now anyway. I couldn't stay at home by myself when Seb travels, i'd miss him and you girls too much and i don't think he would want me to anyway." she looked round at the girls and said "Its different for you girls, you work with them Auds, you're their P.A. Jan, you have been doing your work through email and fax since you were pregnant and Michelle, you don't travel with Carlos all the time and you still have a job in London." Michelle said "You have to tell Seb all this, he needs to know how you feel." She shook her head and said "I can't, how can i tell him that i miss my life the way it was. It was my choice to leave everything to be with him so i just have to put up with things the way they are now. I don't feel it so much when we're all together like this, when the guys are working. Its when they're not and we all go our separate ways and with a new tour coming up next year, that won't happen too often." Auds shook her head and said "He is going to want to know something hun, like you said he is already worried. You can't just keep on not talking to him, that’s just going to make things worse." Janice and Michelle nodded in agreement. Sonia sighed and said "I'll think of something and i'll talk to him later. I think we should go and see what they're up to though, we've talked about me long enough." She stood up and moved towards the door. The others got up and followed her out of the room.

*Chapter 59*

The guys hadn't moved from where they were when the girls had all left and they all smiled as they sat down beside them. Seb kissed Sonia and said "You feeling better now babe?" Sonia smiled and nodded then said "We need to talk later though." Seb looked at her and nodded his head and said "Oui, the guys want us all to have dinner together, but we can leave after that and go talk then." Sonia smiled at him and cuddled herself into his side and he put his arm round her. The other girls looked at each other and smiled at the two of them. They all agreed to meet up later for dinner then went off to their own rooms. Urs was getting ready to go spend some time in the gym and Auds was sitting on the bed looking up some stuff on her laptop. He went over and said "You look awfully serious babe, what’s up?" She turned and looked at him then said "Nothing for you to worry about babe. I'm just having a look round to see what’s on offer. You going to the gym." He nodded and said "Fancy coming with me?" She grinned and said "No thank you, i think i'll take a bath and do some reading. but you enjoy yourself hun." He grinned as he said "I'm going to the gym, of course i will." She kissed him then picking up her book she went to run her bath. Urs quickly took a look at what she had been reading on her laptop and got a shock when he realised what he was looking at. He heard her coming back and moved away from the bed shouting "I'll see you later." then walked out the door worried about what he'd seen. Auds smiled at the closing door and then picked up a pen and wrote down something and then shut her laptop down and put the paper down reminding herself to phone Simon later about it.

Urs had been down in the gym for about an hour and he just wasn't in the mood for it anymore. He couldn't get out of his mind what he had seen on the laptop. He didn't know that Auds had been thinking about that and he didn't know how he felt about it. No, that’s a lie, he did know, he just didn't want to think about it as it hurt too much. Maybe he was going to have to do what he had been planning for that special day sooner, he needed to talk to Seb about it, maybe he could talk to him after dinner. He gave up on trying to enjoy himself and headed back up to the room to take a shower, he kind of hoped that Auds wouldn't be there as he didn't know if he could act like nothing was wrong. He entered the room and discovered a note from her saying she'd gone out with the girls and would see him for dinner later. He sat down on the bed and thought for a minute then picked up his phone and called Seb and asked him to come over in about 20 minutes as he needed to talk to him. He stripped of his gym clothes and walked through to the bathroom and switched on the shower and stood under it letting the hot water just hit him. He finally turned the water off and got out and stood in front of the mirror, his body dripping water onto the floor, he picked up a towel and started to dry his curls with it. He wrapped it round his waist then heard a knock on the door and Seb walked in. He walked out and said "Hey man, thanks for coming." Seb smiled and said "No problem, what’s up?" Urs sighed and said "Wait til i get dressed then i'll fill you in." Seb nodded as Urs picked up some clothes and went back into the bathroom, he emerged a couple of minutes later in a t-shirt and jeans and said "I need to do what i've been planning sooner, but i don't know when." Seb looked surprised "But why, i thought you said it had to be that date, cos it had a special meaning to both of you." Urs nodded and said "It does, that’s why i chose it, but i discovered something earlier that has made me worried and i thought maybe doing it sooner might change her mind." Seb looked confused and said "You've lost me Urs, what are you talking about?" He sighed and said "Auds was looking up stuff on her laptop earlier and then she left it open while she went for a bath and i looked to see what it was and saw a page with job vacancies on it. She came back then and i left it, but why is she looking at jobs? she didn't say she was planning on leaving us and if she gets another job, she won't be able to travel with us and me. We'll never see each other, so i thought if i did this sooner rather than later it might make her change her mind about leaving." Seb stared at him and said "Are you sure you've got it right Urs, she might not even be looking at them for her. I can't see Auds wanting to leave the job she has now and i don't think Simon would let her leave anyway, you know how much he thinks of her." Urs nodded and looked thoughtful then said "I still don't want to take the chance, but i can't think of another time to do it." Seb grinned and said "fancy a drink? we can talk this all over down in the bar." Urs nodded and picking up his wallet and room key they went down to the bar.


A couple of hours had past and the girls were just walking back into the hotel after doing some shopping and they saw Urs and Seb coming out of the bar. They two men groaned when they saw the amount of bags the girls had between them and Seb said "Why is it that you girls always have to buy something when you go out, why can't you just window shop like everyone else?" the girls laughed and Auds said "Didn't you know Sebastien, that shopping is the one thing that relieves stress for women." Urs looked at Seb and then said "And what would you have to be stressed about babe?" Auds rolled her eyes and shook her head and said "You have no idea how stressful it is looking after you four all the time." and she walked off with the other girls following leaving Seb and Urs staring after them. Urs turned to look at Seb and said "If that’s why she is wanting to leave, we are going to have to start doing what we're told when we're told. No more fooling around." Seb snorted and said "You try telling that to David and Carlos." Urs glared at him and said "I will, right now, come on." and he dragged Seb off to find the other guys. He knocked on Carlos's door and when he opened it dragged him out and said "We need to speak to you and David." and walked off towards David's room. Carlos looked at Seb who shook his head and followed him. Carlos grabbed his room key and shutting his door walked after them wondering what was going on. He walked into David's room which Urs had just barged into and sat down looking as confused as David did. "What is going on Urs, why are you so upset looking?" asked David. He stopped pacing and looked at Seb who shook his head and shrugged his shoulders then said "I need you two to stop fooling about and playing up for Auds, you have to do everything she asks when she asks, okay." David looked at Carlos and then said "What? We don't play up for Auds." Carlos nodded "Steve yes, but not Auds. We always do what she tells us to, what’s going on?" Urs sank into a chair and put his head in his hands. Seb said "He found out that she was looking at job adverts on her laptop this morning and instead of asking her why, he's convinced that she's wanting to leave us and he's never going to see her again." David sighed and said "Urs, why do you always have to make things out to be more than they are? Talk to her and ask her why she was looking at them, she might just be doing something for Simon." Carlos agreed and said "Why would she want to leave us anyway, she gets paid to travel round the world with four wonderful guys, one of whom she is going out with. She's not daft, she wouldn't give that up." Urs lifted his head and said "But downstairs she just said that we have no idea how stressful it is looking after us four all the time. If we try to make it less stressful for her, she may reconsider and stay." The others looked at each other and David said "Okay, we'll be good for Auds and try to make things less stressful for her, but i still think you should just talk to her and find out why she is looking at new jobs.

*Chapter 60*

A couple of days later Auds was worried, something was going on, it had to be. The guys were being good, too good in fact, they had to be up to something. They did what they were asked when they were asked with no moaning, they kept asking if there was anything they could do to help her and the most intriguing they had all started showing up on time, even David. She knew it was probably nothing to worry about, hell she worried about them when they weren't behaving, so why was she worried now that they were. She shouted over to Seb asking if she could speak to him and he ran over straight away "What’s wrong Auds, you need me to do something for you?" Auds shook her head and said "I want to know what’s going on?" He looked at her with a funny look on his face and said "What do you mean?" "What’s going on with you and the guys? You're being good, you're not moaning and you're all turning up on time." Seb lowered his head to try and hide the smile forming on his lips then he said "I think you're imagining things Auds, we're not any different to how we normally are." They looked over to where David and Carlos were play fighting and she laughed and said "Maybe you're right, thanks Seb." He smiled and went back over to the guys and said to Urs "She's wondering why we're being so good." Urs grinned and said "What did you say?" "I just told her she was imagining things and pointed out David and Carlos fighting in the corner." and they both laughed. Urs watched Seb for a minute as he went quiet then said "Did you ever find out what was wrong with Sonia?" He shook his head sadly and said "We were going to talk the night we arrived after dinner, but it never happened. She does seem happier now that she's back with the girls though." Urs smiled and said "That’s good, but i would still try and talk to her, cos you were really worried the other day." Seb nodded. "I will, i just need to find the right time. How about you, have you picked the date you want to do your thing with Auds yet?" Urs nodded and opened his mouth to say something when they heard Auds shout for them. They all went over and she shook her head in amazement. Seb and Urs smiled at each other. "Its time to go and please remember to try and act like grown ups." said Auds.

Auds watched them for a minute from where she stood off camera and smiled as Urs laughed at something the interviewer had said. She never tired of watching them perform or do interviews, they somehow always seemed to come up with new ways of answering questions they'd been asked loads of times already. She suddenly remembered that she had to phone Simon so she looked at them one last time then went and found a quiet room and took out her phone and dialled his number. He answered and she started talking to him about the jobs she had been looking at. She must have been there talking to him for a while as the guys had finished their interview and had come off before they performed. Urs had gone looking for her and heard her voice in a room. He was about to go in when he heard her say "Yeah, that’s the one i was looking at Simon... i think it would be better for everyone if i did it....no, i don't know how he's going to take it, but i would hope he would be happy.....okay, thanks for listening and i'll get back to you about it when i know more, thanks Simon." And she hung up and standing up moved towards the door. Urs quickly moved away and headed back to the others and he sat down and tried hard not to let himself cry. Seb looked at his face and nudging David said "What’s up Urs?" He shook his head and didn't say anything which made David and Seb sit down beside him and David said "hey mate, you can tell us, what’s wrong?" Urs took a deep breath and said "She's really doing it, she's really leaving us." he wiped a stray tear that ran down his cheek. David looked shocked and said "How do you know? did you talk to her?" He shook his head and said "I just heard her talking to Simon on the phone, she said she thought it would be better for everyone if she did it and she didn't know how i was going to take it, but she hoped i would be happy and that she would get back to him when she knew more." he dropped his head and David looked at Seb and neither of them knew what to say. Carlos came over then and said "They're ready for us to sing now." Urs stood up and took another deep breath then made his way over to the studio floor. Carlos stared at the other two who both said at the same time "We'll tell you later." They did their performance of Without You and although it seemed to everyone else that it was very good Auds could tell from her spot that she was back watching them from that something wasn't right. After they had got changed and were headed back to the hotel Auds looked round at them and said "Tell me the truth, are you guys alright? you may have fooled everyone else there, but i could see your hearts weren't in that performance. What happened between the interview and it?" The guys looked at each other and Carlos shrugged as he didn't know himself yet. The car had just stopped and Seb reached over and gave her a quick hug saying "Its up to you Auds, but i'm just letting you know we'll miss you." and he got out of the car and went into the hotel. David nodded in agreement and said "he's right, we can't stop you, but we will miss you." and also got out of the car. She looked at Urs who wouldn't look at her and at Carlos who looked almost as confused as she did. She got out of the car and walked after Seb and David and said "What are you two talking about? What’s up to me and why are you going to miss me?"

Sonia was upstairs with Michelle, they had been talking more about how she felt and they looked up in surprise when Auds walked in to the room and slammed the door behind her. Sonia grinned and said "You're lucky Janice isn't here, she'd have killed you, she's only just got Brianna to sleep, she's been crying all night since you left." Michelle looked at her and saw how upset she looked and said "What’s wrong Auds?" Auds sighed and said "I don't know, i really don't know what to do anymore. The guys have been acting all weird since we got here and tonight was just beyond weird. David and Seb both just said to me downstairs they understand that its up to me, but they will miss me, Urs won't look at me and Carlos doesn't even look like he knows what’s going on." Sonia looked confused and said "I don't know what’s going on either, you totally lost me hun. Are you going somewhere?" Auds shook her head and said "No, and when i asked David and Seb what they meant, they wouldn't tell me. In fact it looked like they were about to burst into tears." Michelle said "Well, i think that you need to go talk to Urs and find out what’s going on." Sonia nodded and said "And i'll go talk to Seb and see if i can get him to tell me." Auds stood up and said "You're right, thanks girls. I'll see you in the morning." and hugged them both and her and Sonia left Michelle to go and find Seb and Urs.

*Chapter 61*

She went to their room and let herself in, she heard the shower running and sat down and thought about what she was going to say while she waited for him to finish up and come to bed. Finally the door opened and he walked out wearing just a towel round his waist and he stopped and said ”Auds” as he saw her sitting there. She smiled and said “Hey babe.” He started to look through his bags for something and Auds said “Urs, come and sit with me, we need to talk.” Urs felt his heart sink and he knew this was it, she was finally telling him she was leaving. He turned slowly and went to sit beside her on the bed. She took his hands in hers and said “Baby, I know there’s something bothering you and the others, talk to me please, tell me what it is?” He looked at her in surprise then stroking his thumbs over the back of her hand said "When were you going to tell us? We’re not happy because we don’t want to lose you, I don’t want to lose you, I love you too much not to see you everyday.” Auds frowned and said “What are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere, why does everyone think I’m leaving?” Urs sighed and said “But I saw them on your laptop the other day when you were in the bath and I heard you speaking to Simon earlier about them, you can’t hide it anymore, I just don’t know why you feel like you need a new job, are we that bad to work with?” He looked up at Auds who had a stunned look on her face. She opened her mouth to speak then closed it again. She shook her head and said “How can someone so smart and intelligent be so stupid? I’m not looking for a new job, I’m already in my dream job.” “Then why were you looking at jobs?” asked Urs looking very confused. “I was looking for Sonia, she is missing her old life, but doesn’t want to tell Seb in case it makes him feel bad about her giving up everything for him.” she told him everything Sonia had told her and the other girls. Urs let a smile creep onto his face and said “So, the he you were talking to Simon about earlier was Seb, not me.” Auds nodded and he grinned and said “So you’re staying with us?” She smiled and said “I would never leave you guys. I get paid to travel the world with my very sexy boyfriend and his three brothers. I’m not stupid enough to give that up.” Urs grinned and said “That’s what Carlos said.” She stared at him and said “Is this why you four have started being so good?” Urs blushed and nodded. “I begged them to behave after you said how stressful it was looking after us four all the time, i thought if we all did as you asked and made your life easier you wouldn’t leave.” Auds pulled him into a hug and said “That is so sweet and I love you even more for it.” then kissed him gently on the lips deepening it as his fingers entwined themselves in her hair.

Seb was down in the bar with Carlos and that’s where Sonia found him. She sat down and said “What is going on with you lot? Auds just came upstairs in a foul mood saying you and David both said you’d miss her, but wouldn’t tell her why.” Seb looked at Carlos who had been filled in on the phone call to Simon and said “She’s leaving Sonia, Urs found her looking at jobs on her laptop and she was on the phone to Simon confirming it earlier tonight.” Sonia shook her head and said “No she isn’t, I just asked her if she was going somewhere and she denied it.” “She probably doesn’t want to tell anyone until she tells Urs, he’s going to be heartbroken and hearing it from anyone else wouldn’t be fair on him.” said Carlos. Sonia looked down and said “I still don’t believe it and Simon wouldn’t want to give her up, he wouldn’t let her the last time she tried, so why would he this time?” Seb put his arm round her and said “I think if Auds really wants to go, he’s not going to be able to stop her, she’s too much like him, very stubborn and gets what she wants every time.” She nodded her head in agreement sadly and said “Come on hun, lets go to bed and I’ll try talking to Auds in the morning and see what’s going on.” He smiled and said “Okay babe.” they stood up as did Carlos, not wanting to stay up if everyone else was going and walked to the lifts. They went to their own room after getting out of the lift saying goodnight to Carlos.

The next morning came and went so quickly that Sonia never had time to talk to Auds and it was almost dinnertime before she had a chance to speak to her. She was down in the hotel foyer waiting for the guys to appear to go off to their next TV show. Auds looked up and smiled at her as she approached and sat down beside her. “Hey Auds, can I talk to you for a minute?” “Sure hun, is everything okay?” she asked looking worried. Sonia smiled then said “Yeah, thanks Auds, but I’m worried about you, why are you leaving the guys for a new job?” Auds closed her eyes and sighed deeply then said “I am not leaving the guys, I am not looking for a new job, I told Urs all this last night, did he not tell the others yet?” Sonia shook her head and said “He can’t have, Seb still thinks you’re leaving and so does Carlos.” Auds was about to say something when the guys all appeared and she waited til they were in front of her and then said “Right, you lot listen to me, cos I’m getting sick of saying this and am only going to say it one more time.” The guys looked at her in surprise before she carried on. “I am NOT leaving for a new job, I am NOT leaving you guys and I DON’T intend to ever leave you guys and I don’t want to hear about it again.” Urs smiled and said “Oh, I forgot to tell you all that, she told me last night and explained what she was really doing.” David rolled his eyes at him and said “Thanks for letting us know.” Urs blushed and said “Sorry, but we have been busy today, I didn’t have time.” Carlos laughed then said “Well, I’m glad you’re staying Auds, it wouldn’t be the same without you here.” Seb nodded and said “ I agree, but what were you doing then if you aren’t leaving?” Auds glanced at Urs then said “I need to talk to you about that later, you too Sonia.” she looked at them and saw surprise in their faces then they both nodded and said “Sure.” Auds stood up then and said “Right, we’d better get moving, are you coming Sonia?” She shook her head and said “No, I’m going to get something to eat with the girls.” Auds smiled and followed the guys out.

*Chapter 62*

A few hours later they were all back at the hotel and sitting in the bar except David who had gone up to see Janice and Brianna. Sonia and Michelle had come down to meet them and Auds had taken Seb and Sonia to a different table and was talking to them. “I know you told us this in private Sonia, you didn’t want Seb to know how you were feeling.” Sonia shuffled nervously in her chair whilst Seb looked at her with a worried look on his face. “But, I was thinking about it afterwards and I started looking around to see if I could come up with some way to help. I know that you wouldn’t want to be away from Seb for too long at a time and I know that he won’t want you to be away at all.” Seb looked at her and said “Auds, you’re rambling.” She sighed and said “I know, I do it when I get nervous and this is making me very nervous because I don’t know how you’re both going to react and I don’t want to hurt either of you or do anything that may hurt either of you.” “Auds, you’re doing it again.” said Sonia. “Just calm down and tell us what you’re talking about.” she continued. Auds nodded and said “I’ve been looking at jobs that I thought you might like Sonia because when you described how you were feeling to us, it sounded like you missed having a proper routine in your life, getting up and going to work and not being stuck in the house all the time.” She looked at Sonia who had looked down at her hands and Seb who had such a shocked look on his face. “Is that true, is that really how you feel.” he asked her. She looked at him and nodded her head slightly then said “I didn’t know how to tell you in case It made you feel bad as you were the reason I gave everything up for, but I’m alright when I’m around everyone and we’re travelling, I just found it hard when we were back home in Paris and I never saw anyone other than you and little things started to annoy me, which is why I started that argument over the shopping. I shouldn’t have said the things I did and it just made me feel worse knowing that I was being horrible to you because of how I was feeling.” Seb put his arm round her and pulled her in close to him and said “I’m so sorry babe, I never wanted to do anything to make you unhappy, you should have told me how you were feeling, we could have worked something out.” he looked at Auds and said “You’re right, I don’t want her to be away from me for too long, but I don’t want her to be sad either. You must have come up with something if you’re telling us this, so what have you found for her?”

Auds pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and said “I know this isn’t what you’ve done before, but there is a opening for a part-time Media Assistant in Simon’s department. I’ve talked it through with him and he explained everything about what it entails and he said even though you have had no experience in that type of position before doesn’t mean you can’t do it.” She passed the bit of paper with all the details on it to Sonia and smiled at the look on her face. “Don’t worry hun, Simon said he will personally take you under his wing and teach you all you need to know. But you’re smart Sonia, you’ll pick it up in no time.” Seb was looking over Sonia’s shoulder at the information and said “You said it was part time, there’s no mention of hours here, how long would she be away for at a time?” “Again, I’ve talked with Simon about this, he knows how much you two need to be together and he is willing for Sonia to work flexible hours which means that when you guys are out of the country for more than a few weeks at a time she can go with you. If you are only out of the country for a week or two then she will stay in London and work and when you guys are in London as you are quite a lot, being based there, then she will also work as well. So basically, she will still be able to be with you for most of the time, its just when you go away for short trips that she won’t go with you and as the job is part time anyway, when she is not there, there will be another part time person to do the job.” She looked at Sonia and said “Its up to you babe, I just thought you might find it interesting and at least in London you will have Michelle around and Simon to help you at work. I’ll leave you and Seb to talk about it. Just let me know when you come to a decision so I can let Simon know.” She stood up and went to walk back to the others and stopped when Sonia said “Auds…thank you.” Auds grinned and said “Its nothing, I like being able to help and make people happy.” then she walked back to the table the other guys were at and sat down beside Urs who said something to her and she nodded and kissed him.

*A week later*

Sonia and Seb had discussed the job offer and had decided that she should do it as they wouldn’t get another offer that would fit around the guys lifestyle as well.

Urs had also come to a decision and he was planning on finally doing what he had planned for Auds. It was all set for that night, they didn’t have any shows or appearances to be at, so he was taking her out for dinner. He was getting ready and he could hear her in the shower and he had to fight hard to stop himself from going and joining her. He smiled to himself as he thought about what he was going to do and he took out the little box and opening it looked at it again. It was perfect for her and he knew she would love it. He quickly put it back in his jacket pocket when he heard the shower switch off and carried on getting dressed. Auds came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and smiled at the sight of Urs wearing only his boxer shorts and his shirt still open and he was putting his tie round his neck. She walked up slowly behind him and said softly “You have such a funny way of getting dressed.” her voice made him jump and he turned round to face her. He looked her up and down and said “If we didn’t have a table booked you wouldn’t be wearing that towel for much longer.” and he kissed her on the mouth. She pulled back and said “Well, as I wasn’t planning on wearing it to dinner I won’t be wearing it for long anyway.” and stepping back a bit pulled it off and threw it on the floor. Urs moaned softly and closed his eyes to stop himself from being distracted. He opened them again when he heard her say “Can you tie this for me please babe?” She had her back to him and was holding her hair out of the way so he could pull the zip up on her dress. He did it up then placed a soft kiss on each of her bare shoulders. She turned around and he saw that she was wearing his favourite dress of hers. It was long, right down to the floor, a deep purple colour and had a low cut neckline. She smiled at him and said “thank you.” and kissed him softly before walking away to finish getting ready. Urs closed his eyes and took a deep breath, it was going to be a long night and he wasn’t sure if he could cope with how nervous he was suddenly feeling.

They finished getting ready and left the hotel where Auds discovered Urs had one of those horse drawn carriages waiting for them. She waited til they were both sitting then said “What is all this for?” He shook his head and said “I just felt like planning a special night for you, you deserve it baby.” then he put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned her head on his shoulder and they stayed like that until they reached the restaurant. They walked in and she saw that it was empty apart from them and the few waiters standing about. She said “What are you up to?” He pulled her seat out for her and said “What makes you think I’m up to something? Can’t I just treat my gorgeous girlfriend to a romantic night out?” Auds looked at him and said “I don’t know, something just doesn’t feel right.” she sat down then and he went and sat opposite her. They had a wonderful meal with plenty of wine and talked about everything they could think of then after it was all cleared away Urs said “I wrote a song for you Auds, would you mind if I sang it to you?” Auds shook her head and said “Omg hun, I would love to hear it.” Urs stood up and went to stand in front of her and then clearing his throat started to sing softly.

“A one way street that never ends
No roundabouts or sudden bends
My head arrives in a place that's new
But my heart is still with you, but my heart is still with you
A crowed room or an empty space
Thoughts of you I can't erase
The answer is I can't go back
Coz you don't wanna feel like that
And I don't wanna feel like that

but something’s are worthwhile
fighting for
And baby I just can't let you go

Chorus
And I don't wanna stop
And I don't wanna quit
And I don't wanna end this thing with you
Coz I just wanna start and never wanna stop this thing
I got with you cos I
I never wanna stop
yeah I never wanna stop

Lovers drown or drift away
The colours fade and turn to grey
Lets draw the line and face the fact
That we don't wanna be like that
Coz we don't wanna be like that

You're one thing that's worthwhile
fighting for
And baby I just can't let you go

chorus
And I don't wanna stop
And I don't wanna quit
And I don't wanna end this thing with you
Coz I just wanna start and never wanna stop this thing
I got with you cos I
I never wanna stop
yeah I never wanna stop

And I just wanna breathe
And I don't wanna live without you
next to me
Coz I just need to know
Come on let me know
Is it real or is it not?
If it's true then baby I don't wanna stop
I don't wanna stop.”

He finished singing and looked at Auds who had tears running down her face and then went down onto one knee and said “Like I said in the song, I don’t wanna stop this thing we have. I love you more than anything in the world Auds and I almost lost you once, but I got you back and I’m not going to throw away this second chance. “ He stopped and reached into his pocket and took out the box. He opened it and looking at Auds again said “Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

She just sat there with a hand over her mouth and tears running down her face and then wiping away the tears took one of his hands and said….”

*Chapter 63*

“Yes, yes, yes, I would love to become your wife Urs” and she threw her arms round his neck and pulled him closer to kiss him. He pulled back and said “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought we might have dessert back at the hotel, alone in our room.” Auds grinned and said “I don’t mind at all, are we ready to leave?” Urs laughed and standing up he held out his hand and she took it and after Urs thanked the waiters and paid for the meal they left and got back into the carriage that was waiting to take them back to the hotel. They arrived after what seemed like forever and they walked into the hotel and saw the other guys in the bar, but carried on towards the lift. Once inside it Urs pressed Auds against the wall and kissed her deeply. He moaned as he felt her hands on his bottom. They pulled apart as the lift stopped and an old couple got in. Urs smiled at Auds and took her hand whilst waiting to get out. They walked out the opening doors and walked towards their room, Urs opening the door and letting her walk inside. He quickly followed shutting the door behind him and found Auds standing out on the balcony. He went up behind her and pulled the clip out of her hair to let it fall loose and then he put his arms round her waist and bent his head to start kissing her bare shoulders and down her arms. He pulled the zip of her dress down and turned her round to face him then walking slowly back inside the room with her he slowly let it fall to the floor. He let his eyes move slowly up and down her body taking everything in as if it was the first time he was seeing it. She started to pull his tie open and threw it off then started to open his buttons one by one and slipped it off his shoulders and started to run her hands over his chest. He moved them both gently backwards until she was leaning against the side of the bed. He stepped back slightly and took of his trousers and boxer shorts never taking his eyes of her as she removed the remainder of her clothes as well and lay down on the bed. He lay down beside her and took her in his arms and whispered something to her, she nodded and he then made love to her in a way he had never done before and making her wish it would never end and they could stay like that forever.

Auds woke up a few hours later and saw the light just starting to break through the darkness. She turned over and saw Urs lying sleeping beside her then she looked down at her finger and smiled at the ring. It was gorgeous and it had fitted as if it had been made just for her. She lay her head back on the pillow and smiled as the movement made him stir. She ran a finger over his lips and followed it with her lips. She felt his hands go up round her neck keeping her stuck there and she smiled into his mouth. He released her and she pulled back and looked at him properly. She loved the way he looked when he had just woken up, his eyes still slightly sleepy and his hair in masses of curls falling over his face all messed up. He smiled at her and said “Good morning Mrs Buhler.” Auds grinned and said “Not yet, but it sounds good.” He sat up and pulled her in front of him so she was leaning on him and said “When are you going to tell the girls?” Auds smiled and said "I thought I wouldn’t, not just yet. We’re all going to Paris next week to get Michelle’s dress and the bridesmaids dresses from Martha’s shop. I thought I would surprise them and tell them then and pick my dress that day as well.” She looked upwards at Urs and he kissed her softly and said “In that case, I won’t tell the guys either in case they let it slip.” Auds looked at the ring again and said “It will feel funny not wearing it, even after just one night, it feels like its been there forever.” “Why don’t you put it on a chain and wear it round your neck then, under your clothes, that way it will still be with you, but the others won’t see it.” suggested Urs. She smiled to herself and said “That’s a wonderful idea babe and do you know what I think is another wonderful idea?” Urs looked down at the top of her head and said “Whats that?” Auds pulled herself up and turned to face Urs properly and said “I think we should offer to have Brianna one night for David and Janice, let them have a night to themselves.” Urs nodded and kissed her then said “Wonderful idea, I’ll ask David when he wants us to have her.” Auds got of the bed then despite Urs attempts to grab her and pull her back down and walked over to the bathroom door. “Auds, come back to bed, its still early, we don’t have to be up yet.” “Yes, we do Urs, you’re on the Early Show this morning, we have to be there soon.” Urs groaned and said “But, we haven’t finished celebrating yet.” Auds said “Well, I don’t know about you, but I need a shower.” then winked at him as she walked through the door. He heard the water start running and smiling to himself got out of the bed and went to join her.

An hour later they made it downstairs to find everyone waiting for them in the foyer. The girls took one look at Auds and said at the same time “What happened last night?” She looked at them and said “Nothing happened, we went for a meal then came back to the hotel and went to bed. What makes you think something happened?” Janice shook her head and said “You have the same look about you as Sonia and Michelle did when Seb and Carlos proposed. He asked you to marry him, didn’t he?” Auds looked at Urs and the two of them started laughing. After they managed to calm themselves down Urs said “I’m sorry to disappoint you girls, but I didn’t ask Auds to marry me last night. We simply went out for a meal and enjoyed the night together.” Sonia frowned and said “Something happened, I can tell and don’t say it was just a meal, cos it can’t have been.” Auds sighed then said “Okay, you got us, something did happen.” Urs stared at Auds confused then relaxed as she winked at him. “Urs wrote a beautiful song for me and sang it to me after we had finished our meal. It had me in tears, it was so beautiful.” she continued. The other girls sighed and Michelle said “Aww, that’s so romantic, I knew something had happened.” Auds smiled and said “Yeah, Right, are we ready to go?” The guys all nodded and kissing their respective ladies all left for the show.” The girls watched them leave and saw how Urs had curled his arm round Auds waist and pulled her in close and Sonia said “He definitely did more than just write a song and sing it for her last night.” The others nodded in agreement and headed towards the dining room for some breakfast and further discussion on what Urs and Auds had got up to the night before.

A few days later and they were finished in America and were on a plane back to London for a few days. Sonia was going to go see Simon with Auds and go over the job details and find out when he wanted her to start. Then the guys had a few days off and the girls were going to Paris to choose Michelle’s wedding dress.

That night however Auds and Urs were having Brianna over to stay with them so that David and Janice could have a night to themselves. They were talking about ideas for their wedding when their doorbell rang and Urs went to answer it. He found David carrying Brianna and holding a whole pile of bags. He took the bags and let David inside and followed him through to the sitting room where Auds had already taken Brianna and was sitting holding her. David grinned at Urs and said “She’s a natural with her, you should be careful, she’ll be wanting one of her own soon.” Urs grinned and said “Nothing would make me happier than to be a dad and I know she‘s a natural, we just need to get our wedding out of the way first.” then put a hand over his mouth when he realised what he’d said. He looked at Auds quickly and was relieved to see she hadn’t heard him and pulling David into the kitchen said “Please, don’t let on that you know, Auds wants to tell the girls when they go pick Michelle’s dress next week. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.” David grinned and gave him a big hug and said quietly “Congratulations man, you two deserve it after everything you’ve been through. When did you ask her?” Urs laughed “The other night, the one where the girls seemed to think that I had proposed to her and we denied it.” David started laughing and said “Janice still hasn’t given up trying to figure out what happened that night, she’s positive that you did something other than just write a song for Auds. I won’t let on that I know anything, I promise.” Just then Auds came through and said “What are you two up to in here?” David smiled as he saw Brianna sleeping and said “How do you do that? It takes Janice ages to get her to sleep.” She grinned and said “I guess its just experience.” David and Urs looked at each other and then at Auds and Urs said “Um, something you want to tell me hun?” She looked at him funny and said “No, what are you talking about?” “You said it was just experience that made you get her to sleep so fast.” said David answering for Urs. Auds laughed softly and said “Nieces and nephews babe” Urs blushed and said “Ahh, okay, I knew that as well.” David laughed and said “I’ll leave you alone now, I left Janice getting ready.” Auds smiled and said “Where are you taking her?” “I booked a table at The Terrace Restaurant above Piccadilly Circus and then who knows.” smiled David. “Thanks for doing this guys, we haven’t had a night to ourselves since this wee one came along.” he kissed Brianna softly on the cheek and then left them to it.

*Chapter 64*

A couple of hours later him and Janice were sitting in the restaurant enjoying their meal. David smiled as Janice checked her phone for about the 20th time and said “Relax Jan, she’ll be fine with Auds and Urs.” She blushed and said “I’m sorry, I know that, its just the first time we’ve left her and I’m so used to listening out for her crying.” He smiled again and took her hands and said “Just relax and enjoy yourself.” and he leaned over and kissed her. She smiled and nodded then said “Have you decided what you want for dessert?” David grinned and said “Yes, but its not on the menu” and winked at her. She blushed and said “Behave, we’re sitting in a restaurant surrounded by people.” He grinned and said “Okay, I’ll behave, but only until we get home.” and laughed as she blushed again. They finished their meal and went for a walk arm in arm down through Piccadilly Circus and ending up in Covent Garden. The had a drink in a small, quiet bar they found and then they headed back to their place. Once they were inside David made Janice sit down in the living room and putting some music on went through to the kitchen and got a bottle of wine out of the fridge and two glasses. He came back through and saw that Janice had taken her shoes off and had curled her legs underneath her. She looked at David as he sat down beside her putting everything down on the table beside him. He picked up a glass and poured some wine into it and handed it to her then poured some into the other glass and turning back said “I love you.” She smiled at him and said “I love you too.” He watched her as she took a sip of the wine and then heard the song that had started and putting his glass down, took hers of her and stood up and held out his hand to her saying “Will you dance with me babe? She smiled and said “Of course I will” and taking his hand stood up. He pulled her in close to her and she laid her head on his shoulder and they stayed like that for a while just dancing to the music. As the song was ending she lifted her head and kissed him, softly at first then more deeply as he responded. She let her hands wander over his back then started to pull his shirt out of his trousers and her hands went underneath it onto his bare skin. He shivered at her touch and pulled her even closer to him not breaking the kiss. He pulled back then and opened the top few buttons on her shirt revealing some bare skin. He bent down and started to place little kisses over her neck and shoulders and down towards her chest. He pulled open the rest of the buttons and threw the shirt to one side then carried on trailing kisses over her chest and stomach making her moan softly.

All of a sudden he scooped her up and carried her through to the bedroom where he placed her gently on the bed and sat over the top of her. She reached up and pulled his shirt over his head not bothering to open the buttons and ran her hands over his chest. He lay down leaning on his elbows so that they were almost touching, but not quite. She curled her arms round his neck and he ran one hand over her thigh and down her leg until he reached the bottom of her skirt and ran the hand back up underneath the skirt. He heard Janice take a deep breath as his hand got nearer her thigh again and started to stroke it. This was too much for Janice who quickly rolled over so that David was lying on the bed and she was on top of him. He grinned up at her and she took one finger and started tracing a line over his chest and stomach with it, she stopped when she reached the top of his trousers and quickly untied the button and opened the zip. He moved slightly so she could pull them off and saw that he wasn’t wearing any underwear. She smiled and said “Naughty boy” His hands were on her waist trying to pull the skirt down and she laughed and said “You have to open it first hun.” she opened the buttons and threw it off then turning to face him saw that his eyes had grown darker and he pulled her down so that she was lying on top of him and kissed her passionately. They spent the next few hours taking each other to heaven and back. Eventually they fell asleep in each others arms. David woke up first in the morning and watched Janice sleeping for a few minutes then crawling out from under her arm gently he got out of bed and went to go make some breakfast for them both. He came back with a tray full of stuff and laying it down he got back into bed and kissed Janice softly to wake her up. She stirred and opened her eyes slowly to see him watching her. She smiled and said “That is so lovely to see first thing in the morning.” He grinned and leaned over and picked up the rose he had on the tray and handed it to her. “A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman.” he smiled. Janice took the flower and kissed him as a thank you. She tried to pull David closer but he pulled away and said “If we go there breakfast will get cold.” Janice pulled him close and said “I’d rather have you now and a cold breakfast later.” David grinned and got back into bed.

A couple of days later Auds and Sonia were just arriving outside the Sony Bmg offices and they made their way inside and up to Simon’s office. Auds smiled at his secretary and said “Hello” then said why they were there. They sat down for a few minutes then Simon appeared and let them into his office. They sat down and he said “Its good to see you both again, how are things with the guys?” Auds smiled and said “They’re fine, they are all glad to be back here for a few days, only time they don’t have to stay in a hotel.” he laughed and said “That’s true.” then looking at Sonia he said “Don’t look so nervous, you’ll be fine once we go over everything.” Sonia nodded her head slowly and said “Thank you Simon, for doing this, it means a lot to me and Seb.” He smiled and said “I wouldn’t have suggested it to Auds if I didn’t think you could do it. Now, lets get on shall we?” The girls nodded and they spent the next few hours going over everything the job entailed and explaining anything Sonia didn’t completely understand. They also decided that she would start the following week when the guys were on a break and they would be in London. It was just coming up for lunchtime when Auds phone beeped. She opened it and saw a message from Urs. “Urs and Seb are waiting downstairs to take us for lunch.” Simon smiled and said “We are pretty much finished here, off you go and I’ll see you next week Sonia.” She nodded and said “Thank you again.” then they left his office and headed downstairs.

They had just come out of the lift and were walking towards the guys when Auds stopped and stood still just staring ahead of her. Sonia looked back and saw that she’d stopped and went back to her and said “Auds, you okay?” She shook her head and said “What the hell does she think she is doing?” Sonia looked lost and said “Who?” “Nyree, she’s talking to Urs and Seb.” Sonia looked round and saw the guys laughing at something this girl standing beside them was saying. She turned back to Auds and said “That’s Nyree?” Auds nodded and started walking towards them again. When she reached them Nyree had her back to them and Auds grabbed her arm and spun her round and said “What do you think you are doing? What have you said to them?” Nyree’s face went pale and she said “Auds, I didn’t realise you were here.” “I can see that, not even you would be stupid enough to try anything if you knew the guys girlfriend was around.” said Auds. Urs was looking at them confused and putting his arm round Auds said “Who is this babe?” Still glaring at her Auds said “This person that you’ve been talking to is Nyree.” She could feel the change in Urs at the mention of her name and said “Don’t waste any more time on her, lets just go.” she tried to get him out of the door but he wouldn’t move. She looked at Seb for help who said something quietly to Urs and then pushed him towards the door. Her and Sonia walked out after them and Auds said “I’m sorry, I forgot we might see her.” Urs put his arm round her and said “I’m sorry as well hun, she never said who she was and we never asked.” She shook her head and said “Lets forget about her, can we go for lunch now and talk about something different?”

They found a small café and had lunch in there, but Auds remained quiet and distant throughout it. Seb and Sonia left to go do some shopping and Auds and Urs went back to their apartment. Once inside Urs sat down but Auds went into the kitchen and started emptying cupboards out and banging stuff. He went and stood in the doorway watching her. “Auds.” she carried on and he said it again “Auds.” she stopped and he went inside and said “Look at me please?” She never turned round so he sat down behind her and he pulled her gently backwards into his arms and he saw that she was crying. He put his arms round her tightly and hugged her close and just waited for her to stop then he wiped her eyes dry for her and she said “I’m sorry, I didn’t think she would still get to me, but when I saw her standing there talking to you I thought, actually I don’t think I thought anything, I just went all cold inside at the sight of her.” He kissed the top of her head softly and said “When you said who it was my first thought was making her pay for what she put you through back at the beginning, but then Seb told me not to give her the satisfaction of knowing how much hurt she caused you and me back then and he pushed me towards the door.” Auds nodded and turning to look at him properly said “I don’t ever want to feel like I did back then again, but seeing her today standing talking to you as if she didn’t know how much pain she had caused just brought it all back to me, the feelings of insecurity she planted about how you didn’t care, the plane crash which only happened because I had gone back to London to deal with stuff she had made me discover about myself.” Urs looked at her and said “Baby, that is all in the past, we’re much stronger now, we’ve come through a lot worse than that and are still together, we’re even getting married.” Auds shook her head and said “I don’t know Urs, I really don’t know. I need to get out of here, I need to do a lot of thinking.” she stood up and headed for the door picking up her jacket. Urs followed her and she said “No, don’t come with me, I want to be alone.” then she walked out of the door and left Urs standing there hoping desperately that his world wasn’t about to come crashing down around him.
He went and sat down and picked up the phone and dialled a number then said “Hey, I need to talk to you, are you free to come over right now?” then hung up.

*Chapter 65*

Half an hour later he opened the door and let David in. He walked back to the living room and sat down where he had been since Auds left and picked up the bottle of wine and poured some more into his glass. David followed him through and looking around him at the mess in the kitchen and the state Urs appeared to be in he said “Urs, what’s happened? Where’s Auds?” He looked at David and said “ I don’t know, she went out, said she had lots of thinking to do, wouldn’t let me go with her.” David sat down and said “Why, what happened? You two were fine the other day when you said you were getting married.” Urs sighed and nodded his head slowly then said “You know how Sonia and Auds were meeting with Simon this morning to go over Sonia’s new job.” David nodded and Urs carried on “Well, Seb and I thought we would go and surprise them and turn up and take them for lunch. But when we got there they weren’t finished yet, so I sent her a txt to let her know we were there and then this woman came along and started talking to us. We didn’t know who she was and she didn’t offer her name.” David sighed and said “What happened, who was she?” Urs sighed and said “Do you remember away back when she started working for us and we had just got together thanks to you three and then the next night she ran away from the arena because of a phone call?” David nodded and said “Yeah, some friend of hers had told her that you didn’t care about her and she believed her.” Urs nodded and said “Well, this woman turned out to be her.” David looked at him in shock and said “And Auds caught you talking to her.” Urs nodded again “She came up and asked her what she thought she was doing and when I found out who it was, Seb had to actually push me out of the door to get me to leave.” David sighed and said “What did Auds say?” “Nothing, she sat through lunch in silence then we came back here and she started to clear out the cupboards and bang things. I made her stop and talk to me and she said that seeing her again had brought back all the doubts and insecurities she’d planted in her before and she needed to be alone to think over a lot of things including us getting married.” He ran a hand through his hair and poured the last of the wine into his glass and said “I can’t lose her again David, I can’t live my life without her in it. I just stood there and watched her walk out the door and knew that my world could change for the worse all of a sudden because of that woman and I can’t do a thing to stop it.” He leaned back against the couch and just stared in front of him letting a stray tear run down his cheek. David looked at Urs, his friend, his brother who seemed to be crumbling before him. He said “Now listen to me Urs, you’re not going to lose Auds, you know how much she loves you and she knows how much you love her. She’s just needing to realise that again. Once she’s done her thinking she’s going to come straight back to you and things will go back to the way they were.” Urs turned his head to look at him and said “I really hope that’s true, but I have this horrible feeling that its not going to work like that.” David shook his head “Come on now, you can’t think like that, you have to be positive and I know its easy for me to say, but its true. Come on, lets get out of here and get some air” Urs shook his head “I have to wait here for her to come back.” “No, you don’t, you need to go out and get some air, clear your head a bit.” He picked up the empty wine bottle and said “Did you drink all of this by yourself?” Urs nodded. David frowned and went through to the kitchen, put it in the bin and came back saying “That is not the way to solve problems, it only blocks out the pain, you should know that from when Seb tried it. Now, come on, we’re going out.” he handed Urs his coat and got his own one on. Urs looked at him then stood up and put his coat on and they left the flat.

Meanwhile Auds was sitting in a little café having a coffee. She had walked for ages and had kept coming to the same conclusion about her and Urs. She knew he said he loved her, she really did. It just didn’t seem the same to her though. He was this famous singer in a multi million selling group and she was nothing, just a woman hired to look after them. She took a drink of her coffee and took a deep breath before getting up and heading back for the apartment. She knew what she needed to do, she just wasn’t looking forward to it as she knew Urs wouldn’t like it. She looked around realising for the first time that it was pretty dark, she must have been wandering all day. She let herself into their place and found Urs lying on the couch with a blanket over him asleep. She watched him for a while and decided that he looked really peaceful and that she should leave him that way for as long as she could. She went through to the bedroom and pulled out the bag she always took with her when they travelled and started to quietly put all her stuff into it then putting a picture of the two of them on the top she closed it and carried it through to the hall and put it down by the door. She then sat down at the kitchen table and started to write a letter for Urs. She put it in an envelope, sealed it and wrote his name on the front then she stood up, looked at him one more time then picked up her bag and walked back out the door. She didn’t know where she was going, she just knew she couldn’t stay there.

Later on Urs woke up and remembering what happened and why he was sleeping on the couch he stretched and went through to the bedroom to talk to Auds and discovered it was empty. He went back through to the living room and she wasn’t there either so he went into the kitchen and he saw the letter for him sitting on the table. He walked slowly towards it and picking it up he shivered knowing it wasn’t going to be good news. He walked back through into the bedroom and got into the bed before he opened it.


Urs,

I did have every intention of telling you this to your face, but when I got back you were sleeping and looked so peaceful that I thought I should leave you like that for as long as I could. I’m not sure why I feel like this all of a sudden, because I have never been happier than when I have been with you. I just need more time to think about it alone, that is why I have decided to go away for a few days, I haven’t told anyone where I’m going, so don’t torment the others for information as they don’t know anything. I will come back when I have come to a decision about how I feel, until then I don’t want you to worry about me, please don’t do anything stupid and please don’t try to find me or call me.

Love Audsxx


Urs stared at the paper and couldn’t believe it was happening again. He reached out and picked up the phone and dialled the same number he’d rung earlier and waited for a while then heard a very drowsy sounding voice say “Hello” and he said “She’s gone David.” “I mean, she came home when I was sleeping, packed a bag, left me a letter and left again.” He listened to him for a minute then said “Okay, I’ll see you soon and thanks man.” then hung up and waited for him to arrive. Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door and he opened it to find David and Janice carrying a sleeping Brianna. He looked at them as they walked in and said “You didn’t all need to come.” David smiled and said “She wanted to come, when I told her Auds had left she wouldn’t stay at home.” Janice looked at Urs and said “Why did she leave, what happened.” He looked at David who shook his head and said “I didn’t tell her anything, I thought Auds would come home and things would be fine again with you both.” Urs sighed and handed the note over to David to read while he told Janice everything that had happened that morning. David gave the note to Janice and said “But that’s not all bad, she said she is only going away for a few days and she will be back and she even signed it with the word ‘love’” Urs nodded and said “But this is the second time she’s walked out on me. She can’t love me that much if she keeps walking away when things like this happen.” Janice looked at him and said “Urs, the girls and I spend a lot of time with her and all she ever talks about is you, all we all talk about is our men actually, but Auds especially never shuts up about how much she loves you and I don’t think she has left you, she’s just taking a few days away to think over her feelings properly. She hasn’t told anyone because she knows you’ve got a few days off and she doesn’t have to worry about getting you places and because she knows if she told you where she was going you would probably go after her. Just let her have these few days to herself and wait for her to come back and then talk to her.”

David nodded in agreement then said “She’s right, if you don’t want to be alone while she’s away you can always come and stay with us, can’t he Jan?” She nodded and said “Of course you can, just don’t you go starting to doubt her feelings for you, she’s doing that enough for both of you.” He smiled and said “I know, I just don’t know how her feelings work as they seem to change so quickly.” David laughed and said “That’s women for you, they never know what they want.” then grinned as Janice hit him. “Thanks guys for coming over, it actually makes more sense the way Janice said it. I was looking at the letter as a goodbye note not even seeing the words I will be back. I think I’ll be okay by myself, I’d rather be here when she comes back anyway.” Janice smiled and gave him a hug then said “Okay, we’ll leave you alone then and don’t worry about her.” He nodded and said he would go over for lunch with them the next day and he let them out and then went and got back into the bed.

*Chapter 66*

Auds had somehow ended up at the airport and she went up to the desk and asked where the next flight leaving was going to and was there any seats available. She bought a ticket and boarded the plane not really paying attention to where she was or even where she was going and was surprised when she found herself getting of the plane a couple of hours later in Paris. She found the nearest hotel and booked herself a room then lay down on the bed and tried to get some sleep. Thoughts of Urs running through her head prevented that from happening though. She knew she should have woken him up and told him she was leaving, but she hadn’t wanted to see the look on his face again, she still remembered it from the last time she had walked out on him and he hadn’t even done anything this time, it was all her doing. She got up and took a long shower and then got into the bed properly hoping she would be able to sleep this time. She must have done as she woke up to the room filled with sunlight. She got showered and dressed then went down and had some breakfast then she went for a walk.

She spent the next few days just walking and thinking and she always seemed to end up in the same place. She had found a little coffee shop which made wonderful coffee and she always spent some time in their everyday just sitting and thinking. It was her fourth day there and she had just sat down with her coffee and was lost in thought when she suddenly heard a voice saying her name. She looked up confused, she didn’t know anyone here and none of the guys knew where she was. She found herself looking at Martha. “Auds, I thought it was you, how long have you been in Paris?” Auds smiled as Martha sat down and said “About four days now.” “That’s great, are you here with Urs or the girls?” she asked. Auds face changed and she shook her head saying “I’m here by myself, I walked out on Urs and none of them know where I am.” Martha couldn’t keep the shocked look of her face and said “You walked out on Urs? Why? When? I only saw the two of you together that night at the wedding, but you looked like you were made for each other.” Auds lowered her head and looked at the table and Martha said “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. You don’t even know me really.” Auds smiled at her and said “Its not that, its just hard to explain because I don’t really know myself. This isn’t the first time I’ve walked out on him, it’s the third.” She laughed at the look on Martha’s face then said “Sorry, didn’t mean to laugh, but your face is a picture.” “I’m just trying to figure out how you can be going out with someone like Urs and walk out on him, more than once. But that means you must always go back to him.” said Martha. Auds nodded. “The first time was when we had only been together for a day and I had doubts put into my head about why he was with me when we’d only known each other for a week. But I realised quickly that those doubts were stupid. The second time was after we’d been together for a couple of months, he really hurt me and I walked out for over a week, not telling anyone where I was. He went to pieces, wouldn’t talk to the guys, stopped eating, stopped performing the way he normally did and stopped sleeping as well. He tried to find me, but they were still on tour in America and he couldn’t get away. It took us a long time to get over that one, but fate must have decided we were meant to be together and we made up eventually.” She looked at Martha and said “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping all this on you, you must be wishing you had never spotted me now.” Martha shook her head and said “No, I’m not and don’t worry about it, you obviously need to talk, so just carry on and I’ll listen.” Auds smiled at her gratefully and said “Thanks hun, I think that maybe I did need to talk, but I couldn’t have done it with the girls or the guys, they know me too well.” Martha smiled and said “Well carry on, I don’t mind really. What made you leave him again?” Auds sighed and said “I met an old friend, my ex best friend, she was talking to Urs and Seb and I just lost it. Started to remember all the doubts and insecurities from the first time I walked out on him and I guess I couldn’t cope. I did leave him a letter saying I would only be gone for a few days and would come back, that I just needed time to think and that’s about it, my whole sorry story. The sad thing about it all is that just a few days before that he asked me to marry him and I said yes”

Martha looked at her and said “Well, before I say what I think, do you want another coffee? That one must be cold by now.” Auds smiled and nodded her head and said “Thanks Martha.” Martha only smiled then left to go get some fresh coffee.” She came back pretty quickly and sat down then said “I thinks its pretty obvious that Urs loves you more than anything else in his life, from the night I saw you two together, from the way you said he fell apart when you walked out the second time and from the fact that he asked you to marry him.” Auds nodded and Martha said “And I think that you love him exactly the same don’t you?” Auds nodded again and said “I really do love him, I can’t imagine living without him.” Martha smiled and said “Then why are you still sitting here?” Auds smiled and said “Its not that easy, I don’t know why I do it, sometimes I don’t even realise I am doing it, but nearly every time we settle down and become really happy I have to do something to prove that he doesn’t love me as much as he says he does.” Martha looked confused “But why? If you are both really happy with each other then what makes you feel you have to do that?” she asked. Auds shook her head “I don’t know” “You must know, if you keep doing it there must be something that’s making you do it.” said Martha. Auds sighed then said “I think its because of who he is and who I am. Why would someone as multi talented and as successful and as gorgeous as Urs want to be with someone like me? I was only hired to look after the four of them, not to fall in love and marry one of them. That sort of thing only happens in fairytales, not in real life.” Martha shook her head and said “That has to be the most stupidest thing I have heard in a long time, you can’t help who you fall in love with, and if the guy that falls in love with you happens to be a very famous, very handsome member of a very well known band then that’s just a bonus. You aren’t going out with ‘Urs Buhler of IL Divo’ the Swiss Rock God that all his fans would love to go out with. You’re going out with Urs Buhler, the man himself. You see him away from IL Divo and you know the real him, the guy that does have other interests than just singing. And most importantly you go to sleep with him at night and wake up with him in the mornings. And I can’t say I know too much about him, but I don’t think he would do that with somebody who he didn’t love with all his heart and want to be with for the rest of his life.” She looked at Auds who was staring at the table. She took a deep breath and then said “You’re right, everything you just said was right and he wouldn’t have asked me to marry him if he didn’t love me. I just need to figure it all out in my head first before I can go back to him. Martha shook her head and said “But you will go back to him and you will stay with him and not run off again when things get too happy? Auds looked at her and said “I don’t know.” Martha looked at the time and said “I have to go hun, I’m really sorry, but can I meet you here for lunch tomorrow and we can talk some more then?” Auds nodded and said “Sure and thanks for listening to me.” Martha smiled and said “No problem hun and I’ll see you here at lunchtime tomorrow.” then she walked off leaving Auds to her thoughts and went straight to her shop.

She pulled out her book of records where she kept all the details of past customers and looked back a few months and found what she was looking for. She picked up the phone and dialled the number then waited for it to be answered. She heard a “Hello” and said “Oh, hello, um, I don’t know if you will remember me, but its Martha here, the lady who you bought your wedding dress from in Paris. This is Sonia, am I right?” There was silence at the other end of the phone for a minute then she heard “Yes, it is Sonia and of course I remember you Martha, we’re actually all coming to see you in a few days, we need another wedding dress. What can I do for you?” Martha smiled to herself then said “I need you to give a message to Urs for me, I came across Auds today sitting in a coffee shop and she told me everything that had happened and we had a good chat and I think that he should come out and talk to her.” She could hear Sonia talking to someone in the background and then she heard her say “Thank you for letting us know Martha, Seb is just going to phone Urs and tell him. He really isn’t coping as well as he is trying to, do you know where she is staying?” “No, I don’t sorry, but I am meeting her for lunch tomorrow, so if you can let me know when Urs gets in I can meet him at the airport and take him to her.” she said. She could hear her passing that on to Seb and then “That’s great Martha, Seb said to say Urs says Thank you very much and I’ll give you a phone back when he books his flight.” Martha smiled and said “No problem, I don’t think Auds is coping too well either, she needs him as much as he needs her, but she is just too stubborn to realise it.” Sonia laughed and said “Even you can tell that and you’ve only met her twice. We just need to get her to realise it now. Thanks again and I’ll let you know what time Urs gets in.” then she hung up.

The next morning Martha got ready to go out and then grinned when she realised where she was going, it was something she had dreamed of doing for a long time, but had never actually thought she would be doing it. She was heading to the airport to pick up Urs from IL Divo. She felt a bit bad for giving away Auds hiding place to them, but she needed to realise that he loved her and would do anything for her and it didn’t seem like she was going to do that by herself. She arrived and parked the car then went in to wait for him, she was slightly early and discovered that his flight was going to be late so she went and had a coffee while she waited. Finally she heard the announcement that his flight had landed and she wandered along to the arrivals suite suddenly quite nervous. The doors opened and people started to walk through then he walked through looking at all the people waiting and he smiled when he saw her and walked up to her and said “Hey Martha.” and gave her a hug. She said “Hey Urs” and they went to get the car as he had no luggage to pick up. Once on the way he said “Thank you so much for letting me know you saw Auds. I have been going crazy sitting at home not knowing where she was although the others were good, they kept coming over and making sure I wasn’t doing anything I shouldn’t be.” He gave a weak smile then as he looked at Martha and said “Did she mention me at all, when you were talking?” She slowed down and stopped at a set of traffic lights and turned to him and said “She never mentioned anything else, she loves you so much, she just needs to realise it.” She moved off again and then said “She has this theory that she isn’t suitable for you as she is nothing, just an ordinary girl who was asked to look after you four, whilst you are famous, gorgeous, multitalented and more and could have anyone you wanted so why pick her.” Urs shook his head and said “I don’t know where she gets these ideas from, I picked her because I fell in love with her the very first time I saw her and she knows that, we’ve been through that so many times.” he sighed and said “Does she know I’m coming today?” Martha shook her head and said “No, I thought she wouldn’t come if she knew I had phoned you. Maybe it would be better if I went in by myself first then you came in say 5 minutes later.” He nodded and they spent the rest of the trip in silence.

They arrived at the place where the coffee shop was and Martha parked and said “I’m a bit early, she may not be here yet. I’ll go and check and if she isn’t you’d better wait in the car until she arrives then follow her in. He nodded and she got out and made her way over to the entrance, she looked in and saw that she wasn’t there and turned to shake her head at Urs. He nodded and watched as she went inside then waited for Auds to appear. He didn’t have to wait long as he saw her walking down the street and enter in the doorway. He waited for 5 minutes then he got out of the car, walked to the door stopping to look inside first. She was sitting with her back to the doorway and was talking to Martha. He took a deep breath then walked inside. He stood behind her and said “Auds.” He saw her body freeze then she turned round slowly and looked at him. “Urs, how did you find me?” he sat down and said “Don’t be mad at her, Martha phoned Sonia yesterday and told her she’d seen you and Seb phoned me to let me know and I flew here straight away.” She looked at Martha who looked guilty and said “I’ll leave you two to talk and sort things out.” and left the table moving to sit at one further away. Auds looked at Urs and said “I’m sorry, I should have woken you up and told you I was going.” He shook his head and said “You shouldn’t have gone at all, you should have told me how you felt and we could have talked it through together.” She lowered her head then said “I know, I just panicked and I started to think that I wasn’t good enough for you and wondering why you were wanting to be with me.” He reached over and lifted her face with his hand so she was looking at him and said “You know why I want to be with you, I have told you so many times why I want to be with you.” She sighed and said “Yes, but how do I fully know that you mean it?” then looked right into his eyes. Urs suddenly realised what she was doing and knew what he had to do. He sighed deeply and said “You’re right, about everything. I don’t think that you’re right for me and I don’t know why I even thought you were. I have spent the last few months of my life trying to hold on to somebody that I thought I loved, a woman who I hoped would bring me happiness but only succeeded in making me miserable.” Auds stared at him in shock and opened her mouth to say something when he carried on, his voice getting louder as he spoke “Did you ever think how I felt when you kept walking out on me, how much pain I was in knowing how much I thought I loved you and needed you? No, you just thought of yourself and how you felt. Even when you were with me I was just waiting for the next outburst that would make you leave. I thought if I asked you to marry me that might make you want to stay with me, but no, you still ran off and I’m sick of it. I’m not going to sit around any longer waiting for you to realise that you do love me and then welcome you back with open arms again. I’m tired of living my life in fear of whether you’re going to be there when I wake up or not. Its time for me to move on with my life and to find myself a woman who deserves my love and is willing to stick around when things get hard.” then he stood up and said “I’ll move my things out of the flat and be gone by the time you come back.” then walked out of the shop. Auds sat there in shock and then burst into tears. Martha came over and said “Stay here, I’ll be back in a minute” then ran out the door shouting after Urs.

She found him leaning against the wall a few doors up from the shop with his head in his hands and said “What the hell was that? I told you she was here so you could make things better not worse. She is in tears in there and you just walk out on her, what was all that you told me in the car on the way here? Was it all lies?” She stopped as he lifted his head and saw that he had tears running down his face. He wiped them away and said “That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but it had to be done. I realised when she looked me right in the eyes that she was just waiting for me to say it was alright and that I would take her back. But that’s what I have done before and it doesn’t make her realise how much she means to me cos she will just do it again.” “So you told her all that stuff to make her think you had just dumped her and to make her realise by herself exactly how much you did mean to her.” Martha finished for him. He nodded and said “It was so hard to say all that and then walk away from her. Will you look after her for me?” She nodded and said “But where will you go?” He looked back towards the shop door and said “I’m going home, to clear my stuff out of the flat before she gets back. I’ll stay with one of the guys if they’ll have me.” Martha looked at his face and saw how hard the next while was going to be on him and gave him a hug. “Take care of yourself and don’t let this drag on for too long or you may just end up losing her for real.” He smiled and said “Thanks for everything Martha.” then hailed a taxi and headed back to the airport.

*Chapter 67*

Martha went back inside where Auds was still sitting frozen to the spot with tears running down her face. She looked up at Martha and looked away again when she shook her head. “He wouldn’t come back, he’s heading back to the airport to fly home again.” She sat down beside Auds and said “I am so sorry hun, I feel like this is my fault as I interfered and told him where you were and now this happened.” Auds shook her head but didn’t say anything. Martha said “Come on, lets get you out of here, what hotel are you staying at?” Auds muttered something quietly and Martha said “Okay.” and made her get up and walk out to the car. She drove them both to the hotel and they went up to Auds room where she just lay down on the bed and curled up crying . She fell asleep after a while and Martha switched the tv on to pass the time. She must have fallen asleep as well as she woke up later and found the room in darkness. She stretched out of the position she had got herself into and looked over at the bed. Auds was sitting up just staring at something. She got up and went to see what it was, she sat down beside Auds and asked her what she was looking at. Auds handed it to her and taking it she saw that it was a photo of her and Urs looking very happy. Her heart went out to Auds and she handed it back saying “What are you going to do now?” She looked at the photo and said “Go home I guess, go back to work and try and talk to him.” She looked at Martha then and said “I’ve been such an idiot, I’ve pushed him away so many times and now he’s had enough and I’ve lost him for good.” she started crying again and Martha pulled her into a hug just letting her cry. She hoped Urs knew what he was doing as she could see this ending up all wrong and both of them hurting badly. Finally Auds stopped crying and she wiped her eyes and said “I’m sorry about all this hun, I’ll phone and get a flight home now. I can’t hide away for ever.” Martha nodded and said “I’ll drive you to the airport when you go hun.” Auds smiled and said “Thanks Martha” then went to book herself a seat on the next flight home. She managed to get on a flight the next morning and she started packing her stuff and just sat up talking to Martha until they were ready to go. They went to the airport and Auds got on her plane after hugging Martha and thanking her for everything.

She landed in London a couple of hours later and after collecting her bags walked through the lounge and found Sonia, Michelle and Janice waiting for her. She saw them all standing there and couldn’t stop herself from crying. They all ran towards her and Sonia pulled her into a hug and let her cry. They sat down and Auds said “How did you know I was coming back today?” Martha phoned to let me know, she thought you could do with seeing a friendly face when you got here.” said Sonia. Auds nodded and said “I am so glad you’re here, I’ve messed everything up and I’ve lost him for good. How is he?” she asked in general not knowing where he was staying. Janice looked sad and said “He’s still upset, but he is saying he is happy to be single again, he’s staying with me and David until he gets himself sorted with a new place.” she looked uncomfortable about having to tell her that and Auds said “Don’t worry Jan, I had a feeling he would go to David. I’ll just have to get used to being alone in the flat again.” Michelle looked at her and said “Are you not going to try and talk to him Auds? I’m sure you can work things out, they can’t be that bad.” Auds sniffed and said “At the moment no, you didn’t hear the things he said, he doesn’t want to be with me, I made him miserable all the time, he was sick of living in fear and it was time for him to move on and find a woman who deserved his love.” The girls looked at each other in shock and Auds said “Did you not know all that?” Janice shook her head “He hasn’t really said a lot about what happened, just that he left you in Paris and told you he didn’t want to be with you anymore.” Auds took a deep breath and said “Would you mind if I went home now, I need to get it over with.” They all nodded and they walked in silence to the car and Janice drove her home. They went in with her and watched as she took in all the empty spaces where his things had been and the empty cupboards and drawers where his clothes had hung. She walked through the lounge and saw a CD sticking out from under a few papers. She pulled it out and saw ‘Song for Auds’ written on it. She opened the box and walked over to the stereo and put it in and pressed play. She sat down as the words she had heard him sing to her the night he had proposed filled the room. Janice looked at the others and then at Auds who was sitting really still and staring into space until the song ended and she pressed play again. Sonia sat down beside her and said “What song is this hun?” Auds turned to look at her and said in a shaky voice “it’s the song that Urs wrote for me and he sung it to me the night he asked me to marry him.” then she turned away again as Sonia looked up at Janice and Michelle who had a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry guys, but I really just want to be alone right now. Thank you for meeting me at the airport, it means so much that you were there.” The girls looked worried about leaving but Auds insisted she would be fine and she would see them the next day. They all gave her a hug and told her to call them if she needed anything then left her alone. She went back to where she had been sitting and kept on listening to her song getting more and more upset each time.

Auds woke up early the next morning and remembered that Urs had left her and she was alone in the flat. She got up and had a shower and some breakfast then left to go and see Simon at home before he left for the office. He looked surprised to see her and led her through to the lounge. They sat down and he said “What’s the matter?“ She smiled at him and said “You haven’t heard from Urs then?” He shook his head and looking worried said “No, I haven’t” She looked down at the ground and said “We’ve split up, he walked out on me.” He stared at her and said “You’re not serious, you’re winding me up, please tell me you’re winding me up?” Auds shook her head and said “The day me and Sonia were in your office, I got all insecure about his feelings for me again and I took off to Paris. He came after me 4 days later and tried to talk me round, but then he just changed and said that he had never really loved me and that I had made his life miserable and he went home and moved all his stuff out of our flat.” He looked at her face and saw how pale she was and said “How are you coping and tell me the truth, not the ‘I’m fine’ version.” She had to laugh as she looked at him and said “How do you know me so well?” then said “Not so well I guess, I really messed up Simon and I pushed him away once too many times and he’s given up on me. He’s staying with David and Janice til he gets himself sorted.” He looked at her and said “Well, its good that he told you where he was staying.” She shook her head and said “He didn’t tell me, Jan did, I haven’t seen or spoken to him since I got back and I’m not sure I want to.” Simon sighed and said “How are you going to cope with working together?” She sniffed and said “It’s going to be hard, but I’ll manage, I promise you Simon, I won’t let it affect me.” He nodded and said “Are you not going to try and work things out at all.” She shook her head and said “He made himself perfectly clear, he said that he was going to find somebody who deserved his love.” Simon shook his head in amazement then said “That guy needs a good talking to, nobody deserves his love more than you do, you two were made for each other.” Auds sighed and said “Obviously not or we’d still be together. Thanks for everything Simon, I don’t know what I would do without you to talk to.” He smiled and said “I’d do anything for you Auds, you know I’m always here for you. You can always come and stay with me for a while if you want the company?” Auds smiled and said “Thanks Simon, but I’ll have to get used to being by myself again sometime.” He nodded and said “Well, you know where I am if you ever want company. Now, I really have to go, are you doing anything today?” She shook her head and said “The guys have a meeting tomorrow then us girls are supposed to be going to get Michelle’s dress before the guys start rehearsing for the new tour.” “Well, you are now, I’m taking you for lunch and we can talk some more.” Auds smiled and said “Okay boss.” He frowned and said “I hope I’m more than just a boss Auds, I hope I’m a friend.” She nodded and said “Of course you are, a really good one.” He smiled and gave her a hug and said “I’ll see you at lunchtime.” then they both left, Auds heading home and Simon to work.

The morning passed quickly and she had all the girls on the phone at some point checking on her. She did some cleaning which kept her busy and then went to meet Simon for lunch. They spent a lovely hour in a small place near the offices and then he went back to work and she went to see Michelle at her work as she needed to ask her something. Michelle looked up when she heard a knock on her office door and smiled when she saw Auds. She went inside and sat down and Michelle said “How are you today hun?” Auds shrugged and said “Coping I guess, I just had lunch with Simon and he’s being great. I came to ask if you would mind if I didn’t come with you and the girls to Paris to get the dresses. I don’t think I could cope with that kind of thing at the moment. You know my details and I know you girls will pick gorgeous dresses for us.” Michelle looked sad and said “Are you sure you won’t come, it won’t be the same without you there.” Auds nodded and said “I’m not good company just now, i‘ll be fine here honestly.” Michelle nodded and said “Okay I understand, if you’re sure.” Auds nodded and stayed a few more minutes then left her to get on with her work. She went back to the flat and tried to concentrate on what she was meant to be doing with the guys the next day, but thoughts of Urs and how they would cope seeing each other kept floating through her mind. She gave up finally and decided to go for a walk. She grabbed her jacket and left the flat. She had been walking for a while when she looked up and realised that she was pretty close to where David and Janice stayed. She walked along their road and came to a stop outside their house and leaned against a wall and looked at it. Urs was in there somewhere, her Urs, the man she loved more than anything in the world. The man who had asked her to marry him. But she had ran off one too many times and he had given up on her, she couldn’t go and speak to him now she knew how he really felt, she was just going to have to try and get on with her life as best as she could now she was alone again. Her mind drifted to thoughts of Nyree and how she would say ‘I told you so’ She took one last look at the house then walked away from it and headed for home. She would see him at work tomorrow and that was far enough away for her to figure out what to do.

Urs was inside the house watching her from an upstairs window and his heart sank when he saw her walk away again. He knew it was a good sign that she had come at all, but he wondered how long it would take her to come and talk to him about it. He looked away as he heard his name being called and he went downstairs to find Janice had dinner ready for them. He smiled at her and sat down. David came in and placed the baby speaker beside himself so he could hear if she woke up then sat down and said “You okay Urs?” he sighed and said “She didn’t come in, she was standing outside looking at the house then she just walked away again.” David looked at Janice and said “Auds was here? Why didn’t you go out and speak to her?” Janice put the plates down in front of them and sat down herself. Urs shook his head and said “If she had wanted to talk she would have come in, she obviously doesn’t want to see me. I was so horrible to her, I’m not surprised she doesn’t want to see me after the things I said, I just hoped it would make her realise a few things but it can’t have.” Janice looked worried and said “I can try and talk to her when we go get the dresses for you if you like?” David shook his head and said “Sorry babe, I forgot to tell you, Michelle phoned earlier, Auds went to see her and asked if she would mind if she didn’t go with you all, didn’t think she could cope with wedding dresses at the moment.” She nodded her head and said “Well, I suppose I wouldn’t want to look at them either if I’d just broken up with my boyfriend.” “Can we talk about something else please?” asked Urs. “When exactly is the wedding, I don’t remember being told, Auds used to deal with all that stuff.” he carried on. Janice smiled and said “Men, you probably do know, its in three weeks, just before you start the tour.” He nodded and said “Oh yeah, its good to see Carlos so happy, him and Michelle deserve it after everything they’ve gone through.” They sat in silence then for a while just eating their meal then they could hear Brianna starting to cry and David got up to go when Urs said “You stay here, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go.” David sat down again and said “Sure.” Urs smiled and left to go get her and David looked at Janice and said “How do you think he’s doing? I’m worried about him.” Janice shook her head and said “Not great I don’t think, Auds told us yesterday that he asked her to marry him, why would he do that one day and then turn round and say he never loved her. David looked at her then said “I knew he’d asked her to marry him and she had said yes. He told me by accident one day last week and made me promise not to say anything as Auds was going to tell you all when you were getting the dresses.” She shook her head again and said “Its so sad, those two have been through so much and they have always made it together, but now its over and I feel so helpless.” David got up and pulled her into a hug and said “Me too babe, but we can’t interfere, they need to work it out themselves.” She sighed and said “You’re right, but its hard watching them both and how are they going to cope when you’re all working again.”

*Chapter 68*

The next couple of weeks passed and Auds and the guys went back to work rehearsing for their upcoming tour. The first day back was hard on both her and Urs with neither of them willing to talk about what happened and only speaking to each other when they had to. They had fallen into a routine after that day though, they did talk to each other, about anything that didn’t involve the two of them, but the others could see they weren’t happy. They had flown to Kuala Lumpar a couple of days after the girls had got back from Paris and were practising for their 2nd tour. Auds watched them singing everyday sometimes with the other girls, but mostly on her own. Steve had been in shock when he found out what happened and kept trying to get them together to talk. She talked to Simon most days on the phone and he was going to fly over to Spain with her for the wedding so she didn’t have to go through it alone. She was going to be going home and picking up some stuff first and then they were going over together. She was walking through the hall they were practising in a couple of days before the wedding when she saw Urs talking to a girl who worked there. They were laughing then she leaned over and gave him a kiss. Auds felt like she had been punched in the stomach, she ran into the toilets and burst into tears. How had she let things get this bad, she hadn’t talked to him and now he had moved on and found himself someone new. She heard the door opening and she went quiet and stayed where she was so she wasn’t seen like this. Two girls started talking and she heard one of them say “You are never going to believe what’s just happened. Urs just asked me if I wanted to go with him to Carlos’s wedding as his partner.” The two girls screamed and then the other girl said something which Auds didn’t hear as she had gone into shock at what she had just heard. She heard the door opening and shutting again and she just sat there for ages trying to figure out what she had just heard. She eventually opened the cubicle door and walked out, washing her face first to make her look better, then went back out into the hall. She went up to Steve and said “Can you cope with this on your own Steve? I’m not feeling too good and am just going to go back to the hotel and get some rest.” He looked at her and said “Yeah, you don’t look so good Auds, why don’t you just talk to him and tell him how you feel. It will make you feel better.” She shook her head and said “Its too late for that now, but thanks Steve.” He gave her a hug and then she gathered up her stuff and left for the hotel. She never came down for dinner that night and flew back to London the next morning.

She spent the day just hiding out in the flat until Simon came to pick her up to go to the airport. He took one look at her and said “What happened, I thought you would have sorted things by now.” She let out a sob and said “He’s invited somebody else to go to the wedding with him, a girl who works in the hall they’ve been using to rehearse in.” He looked at her and then said “He’s done what? How the hell can he be so insensitive when he knows that you will be there. I really need to have a word with him when I see him.” Auds let out another sob and said “Don’t Simon, please. Its my own fault, I never talked to him and it was only when I saw him with her and heard her tell her friend that he’d asked her that I realised how much I really love him and need him. I left it too late and he did what he said he was going to do, move on. I just have to live with it.” He pulled her into a hug and just held her for a while. He didn’t know what to do or say, but he couldn’t let him do this to her, he had to speak to him. He noticed the time then and said to Auds gently that they really had to go. She took a deep breath and nodded. She picked up her bags and they made their way to the airport. In the car Simon said “I will be with you the whole time, don’t worry about it too much.” She smiled at him and said “Thanks Simon, I don’t think I would get through it otherwise.” They landed in Spain and made their way to the hotel Carlos and Michelle had booked out for the wedding. They realised when they went to check in that Auds was still booked into the same room as Urs and they’re wasn’t any free rooms. She didn’t know what to do and refused Simon’s offer to stay in his room. They went into the bar to see if any of the others were there and found the girls. They made their way over to them and sat down beside them, Janice noticed all her bags and said “Why haven’t you put them in your room?” Auds smiled and said “Because I don’t have one, I’m still booked in with Urs and they don’t have any free ones.” “Oh god Auds, I’m sorry, you can stay in our room, David won’t mind.” she said. Auds nodded and said “Thanks hun.” Simon looked around and said “Has he arrived yet? I want to speak to him?” “Simon no, please, I don’t want you to talk to him.” said Auds. He looked at her and said “I’m sorry, I know you don’t, but I can’t just sit back and do nothing, he has to realise what he’s doing to you.” She shook her head as Sonia said “He is here, I’m not sure where he is, but he arrived earlier.” He smiled and said “Thanks, I’ll go and find him, and don’t worry Auds.” She watched as he walked off and then turned back to the girls

Simon walked out of the bar and went up to the reception desk and asked what room number Urs Buhler was in then headed for the lift. He got in and headed for the floor he was on, but never made it to the room as he ran, literally, into a woman who had been carrying a cup of coffee which ended up all over him. He said “For gods sake, can you not watch where you’re going?” then he looked up and saw a woman with auburn hair and brown eyes which were sparkling behind a pair of glasses staring back at him and he calmed down a bit and was about to apologise for snapping when she said “What do you mean by that, I wasn’t the one who ran out of the lift like a madman and you owe me a new coffee.” He stared at her his anger rising again and said “I don’t think so, you owe me a new shirt, this one is ruined.” The girl laughed and said “I’m sure you’ll live without that shirt, its horrible anyway, the coffee makes it look better.” then she walked off leaving him standing there. He didn’t know who she was and he hoped he would never see her again. He looked down at his shirt and went to his own room to get changed forgetting about Urs.

*Chapter 69*

Urs was sitting in his room and Eva, the girl he’d brought with him, was in the shower. He was really miserable and it was a relief to not have to pretend he was happy for a while. He didn’t know what had made him ask her to come with him, she was a nice enough girl, but he was nowhere near over Auds and he was starting to regret doing what he had done in Paris as it seemed to have worked the wrong way. She hadn’t spoken to him since then and him turning up with another girl really wasn’t going to help matters. He took a deep breath as he heard the shower switch off and Eva walked into the room wrapped in a towel. He put a smile on his face and watched her as she got some clothes out of her bag and got dressed. She finished getting ready then turned and smiled at him before walking over and sitting herself on his lap and saying “Are we going down for a drink?” he sighed inwardly as he really didn’t want to go down and sit with the others. They were all mad at him for bringing Eva and it was going be a long day tomorrow and he didn’t think he could cope with it tonight as well. He kissed her and said "How about we have a few drinks up here by ourselves then we have an early night instead?" Then he blinky winked at her which had the effect he had hoped it would. She got off him and went over to the mini bar and took out a couple of bottles and poured them into glasses. Urs took his and drank it in one go. He quickly poured himself another and drank it as well.

Simon had gone back downstairs and was back in the bar with the others. Auds had looked at him when he walked in and said “What did you say to him?” “I didn’t say anything, I met this rude woman on the way who spilt her coffee all over me. I went to change and forgot about him.” he frowned as he thought of her again. Auds sighed in relief and said “Good, now please leave it Simon, this is Carlos and Michelle’s time, we shouldn’t do anything to spoil that. He nodded and said “You’re right, but I am talking to him afterwards though.” He looked away to avoid Auds expression and just then Carlos appeared with a woman by his side and said “Guys, I want you all to meet my cousin, she’s a principal of a private school here in Spain. Her name is Else, can I leave her with you lot while I go and say to hello to everyone else?” Everyone nodded and Simon looked round and found himself staring into the face of the rude girl he’d seen earlier and said sharply “Oh god, not you again, not carrying any coffee this time.”

They spent the rest of the night with each other, Michelle or Carlos appearing now and again to make sure they were alright. The girls were all trying to take Auds mind of everything that was happening and David and Seb had started some conversation about football or rather Seb had started it and David was listening as Seb was trying to convince him to take an interest in it. Simon and Else were sitting beside each other trying not to look at each other although Simon kept sending sly glares at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. She turned to look at him and said “What is your problem?” He gave a half smile and said “Problem? What makes you think I have a problem?” “From the continual glares you’re giving me, you’re worse than the children in my school.” she replied. “Is that so?” said Simon. “Have you spilt coffee over all of them as well then?” he continued. She made a sound in the back of her throat and stood up saying “I have never met anyone so rude in all my life, I’m not staying here to be insulted any longer.” then she walked away from him. He watched her disappear and thought about how sexy she had looked when they were talking and also how infuriating, she wasn‘t afraid to stand up to him and other than Auds, not many people would do that. He smiled and then turned to listen to what David and Seb were talking about. He soon gave up as he realised they were talking about something he not only didn’t understand, but didn’t want to understand. He stood up and told everyone he was off up for the night and he would see them all in the morning.

The next morning arrived and all the guys disappeared while the girls got themselves ready. They had their hair and make up done and then the three girls got into their bridesmaids dresses before helping Michelle into her dress. They stood looking at her and Auds, who hadn’t seen the dress yet, said “You look really beautiful hun, Carlos is going to love you in this.” She smiled at them and said “I still can’t believe I’m actually getting married, I don’t feel like I deserve to be this happy.“ Janice frowned at her and said “Don’t ever say that again, you deserve to be happy more than anyone else and Carlos is a great guy, you couldn’t have got a better one, except maybe David.“ then she laughed. They had a photo taken of the four of them and then one of Michelle on her own.

Then they were ready to go and they made their way down to the room the service was in and the girls went down first one by one then Michelle walked down to stand by Carlos. He leaned in and whispered “You look gorgeous baby.“ to her then smiled. The service was really beautiful and seemed to pass really quickly and then they walked back up the aisle as Mr and Mrs Marin.

They spent the next hour having lots of different photographs taken in various parts of the hotel and gardens before making their way back inside to where the meal had been all set up. Simon found his table and was both annoyed and happy to discover that Else was also sitting at it. He sat down beside her as it was the only seat left and he said “Just remember that your food and drink go in your mouth, not over me.” then looked around to see where everyone else was sitting. He saw the guys sitting not far from them and the girl with Urs. He looked like he was trying to be happy and she was all over him. He also noticed that David and Seb weren’t talking to either of them choosing to talk only to themselves and everyone else on their table. He looked up towards the main table where the girls were sitting and he saw Auds talking to Janice and Sonia. He felt so sorry for her as Urs wasn’t making it easy for her to try and enjoy herself. She had told him in London that if it hadn’t been that it was Michelle and Carlos’ wedding she wouldn’t have gone. She would have stayed away from it.

The day went on and the meal passed with Simon and Else making little snide comments at each other, but Simon staying clean this time. They turned to listen as the speeches were about to start and Carlos stood up and said “First off all I want to thank all of our wonderful bridesmaids and I want to thank my beautiful wife Michelle for sticking with me and agreeing to marry me, by doing that she made me the happiest man alive.” He stopped as everyone clapped. Then he carried on and said “I know its traditionally the best man that gives the speech, but I wanted to say something first and its this. I believe that everybody has one person in the world that is their soul mate, the person they are destined to be with and until they find that one person they won’t be happy with anyone else. When I first saw Michelle I knew straight away that I wanted to see her again and so did she as she followed us from London to Paris just to see me.” then laughed as she blushed. He carried on saying “You all know what I do and I am lucky enough to share that with three of the best friends a guy could have and I know that they have all been lucky enough to find their soulmates as well and although some of them may have gone down rocky roads they have always come together again because they are meant to be and if their road has gone somewhat bumpy again they should know that it doesn’t matter how long it takes for that road to smooth out again, just that it will one day.” He then said “Well that’s enough from me, I’ll pass you over to my best man.” and sat down. Michelle leaned over and said “That was lovely darling, do you think it will work though?” He shrugged his shoulders and looked over at the guys table where Urs had gone quiet and seemed to be thinking about something. Michelle looked down their table to where Auds was and saw that she was trying hard not to cry. Janice looked up at her and smiled sadly and Sonia was saying something to Auds. The rest of the speeches went well and then everyone moved to a different room where the band was getting prepared for the dance. Auds was sitting watching everyone dancing and enjoying themselves when she saw Urs and Eva dancing. She swallowed the lump that had just appeared in her throat and getting up took a walk outside the hotel and into the garden. She had been out there for 5 minutes when she heard someone coming up behind her and she turned and was shocked to see Urs standing there.

He looked at her and said “Am I allowed to say that you look gorgeous today?” She lowered her head and said “I don’t know, wouldn’t your new girlfriend mind?” He nodded and said “I guess she probably would and she isn’t my girlfriend. I am so sorry Auds, I didn’t mean to hurt you with what I said in Paris, I never meant a word of it and it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.” She stared at him and said “Then why do it, why say all those things and then walk away? Do you know how hard is was for me to go back to work with you knowing that you didn’t want me anywhere near you.” He nodded and said “Probably as hard as it was for me to be there watching you hurting and knowing that I was the reason you were hurting.” She looked away not wanting to look at him and said “But you still haven’t said why, why did you say what you did?” “Because I realised sitting in that café that you were just wanting me to say it was alright, that I loved you and always would. I’ve done that before and you still never believed it. So I told you all that so that you would think that you had lost me and would realise how much you loved me.” She nodded and said “Do you know when I realised that? I was being stubborn and I got home and I found the disc with that song you wrote for me on it. I played that disc the whole night and I decided then that if you really hated me that much then I would just let you go and let you move on and find someone who would make you happy. But it was harder than I thought and when I saw you talking to that girl and she kissed you it was like I’d been punched really hard in the stomach and it was at that moment when I realised how much I loved you and needed you in my life. But you had done what you had said you were going to do and I had to live with it.” She wiped a tear away from her face and said “I went back to the hotel after that and wrote you a long letter saying exactly how I was feeling at the time and still do, but I never gave you it as I flew back to London the next morning and then came here.” He wanted to give her a hug, but didn’t think she would let him so he said “Do you still have it? I’d love to read it, if you still want me to?” She sniffed then said “I do, but its up in the room. I can go get it for you and bring it back for you.” He nodded and said “Thanks Auds.” She nodded and said “I’ll go and get it now.” then walked away from him. He stared after her til she had gone out of sight then he went back into the dance room. He went and sat beside David who was watching Seb dancing with Sonia. He said “Where’s Janice?” David looked at him and said “She’s gone up with Brianna.” She’ll be back later and I’ll go up and sit with her. Where’s whatshername?” Urs sighed and said “Her name is Eva and I don’t know where she is and I don’t really care to be honest, it was the most stupidest thing I ever did bringing her here.” David stared at him in surprise and said “You’ve only just realised that?” Urs looked ashamed and said “I’ve been an idiot, I was just talking to Auds outside and told her how I really feel. She told me that she wrote me a letter when she first saw me with Eva about how it made her feel. She’s gone to get me it from her room. Which room is she in do you know?” David nodded and said “She’s with me and Jan, they didn’t have any free rooms and she was still booked in with you.” He sighed and said “I really messed up didn’t I?” David was about to say something when Auds appeared beside them and she handed Urs the letter and said “Please don’t read it with anyone else around, read it when you’re alone.” He nodded and said “Thank you.” then turned to David and said “Would you mind if I went up and sat with Brianna and sent Janice back down so that you two can enjoy the night?” David realising that he wanted to read the letter nodded his head and said “Sure and thanks man. Tell Jan I said it was alright.” Urs nodded and went off to the room. David looked at Auds who had sat down and said “How you coping?” She sighed and said “I was okay until he spoke to me outside and told me why he had said all those things in Paris.” She sniffed and David said “Don’t cry Auds, come on, come and dance with me.” Auds looked at him and started laughing. He frowned and said “If it wasn’t for the fact that at least you’re not crying anymore I would take offence to that.” Auds smiled and took his hand and walked onto the dance floor with him

Urs went up to the rooms and knocked on David’s door. Janice answered it and looked surprised to see Urs standing there. He smiled at her and said “I told David I would come up and sit with Brianna for you so that you could go down and enjoy the night with him.” Janice smiled and said “He’s talking to you again then?” Urs nodded “I’ve been an idiot and as he said I’ve only just realised it, so I went to talk to Auds and she said she had written me a letter but never given me it, so I just got it and I thought if I came up here to sit with Brianna then you could go down and enjoy the night with David and I can be alone to read it.” She nodded and hugged him then said “Thanks Urs and I’m glad you’re trying to make things better.” then she went to leave when he said “Don’t worry about being late, stay down as long as you want, I’ll be fine up here.” She nodded and walked out the room shutting the door behind her. He walked over and looked in the pram to check the baby was sleeping then sat himself down on the bed leaning back against the pillows and opened the envelope and taking the letter out. He opened it and started to read.

Urs,

I finally realised tonight just how much I love you and need you in my life. I have been a stubborn cow over the last two weeks as after hearing what you said to me in Paris I came to the conclusion that if that was how you felt there was no point in me trying to convince you otherwise and that I should just let you move on. But it was hard, harder than I thought it would be to do, especially tonight when I saw you laughing with that woman and when she kissed you. My whole world just crumbled and I knew that I had lost you for good as you had moved on like you said you were going to do. I ran back to the hotel leaving Steve to get you all back and after crying for a long time I switched on the television and there was some band on and the song they sung I swear was written about how I feel right now. These are just some of the words in the song.

You said goodbye
I fell apart
I fell from all we had
To I never knew
I needed you so bad

You need to let things go
I know, you told me so
I've been through hell
To break the spell

Why did I ever let you slip away
Can't stand another day without you
Without the feeling
I once knew

I cry silently
I cry inside of me
I cry hopelessly
Cause I know I'll never breathe your love again
I cry
Cause you're not here with me
I cry
Cause I'm lonely as can be
I cry hopelessly
Cause I know I'll never breathe your love again

If you could see me now
You would know just how
How hard I try
Not to wonder why

I wish I could believe in something new
Oh please somebody tell me it's not true
I'll never be over you

If I could have you back tomorrow
If I could lose the pain and sorrow
I would do just anything
To make you see
You still love me

I don’t know what to do now, I have to go to Carlos’s wedding knowing that you are going to be there with another girl and that hurts me so much, not that you’re going with someone else, that’s your choice, but that its not even been a month since you asked me to marry you and told me you never wanted what we had to stop and now you have got yourself a new woman in your life. I realise that this is all my own fault as I never reacted to what you said to me, I left it too late and you have truly left me. I only have myself to blame for being alone and miserable.

I love you
Auds xx

Urs could hardly see through the tears running down his face and he quickly put the letter to the side as his tears were smudging the writing. This is what he had been hoping would happen when he had walked away from her in Paris, but things had gone so wrong and now that he knew she did still love him he didn’t know what to do. He had made things so complicated by bringing Eva into it all and he was going to have to tell her he had made a mistake and that he couldn’t see her again and try and sort things out properly with Auds. He leaned his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes while trying to think of what to do. David, Janice and Auds came in a few hours later and found him still lying there asleep.

*Chapter 70*

They decided to just leave Urs sleeping for a while and had another drink from the room’s minibar. They had been talking for a while when he started to wake up. He stretched out then looking around realised that he wasn’t alone anymore. He sat up and said “I’m sorry, you should have woken me.” Then he looked at Auds and said “Can we talk, properly, about you and me?” She looked away and he said “Please?” She nodded then they both stood up and said “Goodnight” to David and Janice then left their room and walked back down to the bar. They sat in a quiet corner and looked at each other nervously. Urs started by saying “I never meant to hurt you Auds, that was the last thing I ever wanted to do and I am so sorry that I did. Your letter made me realise how much I had really done that and I really wish I could take it all back.” Auds shook her head slowly and said “But you can’t Urs, you can’t take back the pain I felt when you said those things to me then walked away and the pain of seeing you with that girl and then hearing, not even from you, that she was going to the wedding with you. That is a lot of pain to try and take away.” She looked away then and he said “I know, I messed things up really bad, I didn’t think that you wouldn’t talk to me again after Paris, I thought you would maybe think about it for a few days then we would talk and everything would go back to the way they were. But the longer you left it the harder it became for me to bring it up. I found it so hard to watch you every day, seeing the hurt within you, but not being able to make myself go to you. I guess I knew you probably didn’t want me near you.” She looked up at him and said “So you were that upset about hurting me, but you still managed to find yourself a new woman to replace me. That’s what hurt me the most Urs, I didn’t realise I was that easy to get over.” Urs hung his head in shame and she said “Don’t act like you’re sorry that happened, you slept in the same bed as her last night, you never came downstairs to join us at all. I don’t know what the two of you were doing in your room all night and I don’t want to.” He looked up and said “I was hiding, she wanted to go down and have a drink, but I couldn’t face you all. They guys wouldn’t talk to me after they found out I was bringing her, they weren’t happy at all and I knew that today was going to be hard enough without me going through it last night as well. I told her we could just have a few drinks in the room and have an early night.” Auds looked away as she felt tears forming in her eyes. “But I drank nearly everything from the bar and fell asleep on the couch. I never even slept in the same bed as her. I woke up this morning with a really bad headache and she was sleeping in the bed.” He looked at her and saw her trying to hold back the tears and said “I never slept with her Auds, I wouldn’t do that to you. You are the only one I ever want to have in my arms when I’m in bed.” She looked at him then shaking her head slowly turned away again and said “You’re not expecting me to believe that after the last 3 weeks are you.”

He took a deep breath before saying “I know I’m going to have to win your trust back. I’m going to tell her that I made a very big mistake and that I still love you and want to get you back. I’ll do anything to do that Auds, anything. Just tell me what I have to do and I’ll do it.” She looked at him and smiled “I don’t know why you’re begging me, it should be me that’s asking forgiveness from you. Its all my fault this happened in the first place. I have always had this insecurity inside me about why you wanted to be with me and you’ve always managed to make me believe why you do, but when you said what you did in Paris, it went the wrong way and I gave up. Instead of fighting for what I loved and wanted I gave up. And I am really sorry for that.” He smiled and said “I think we both have to ask for forgiveness and I know that I am more than willing to give you mine, but I accept that it will take you time to give yours, if you do, and I will wait for as long as you need me to.”

Just then this couple came running past them and fell down into one of the seats further up from them. The girl sat on the guys knee and they started to kiss each other. Urs said “I recognise that dress” and he got up and walked over and standing in front of them he said “Eva.” They stopped kissing and Eva turned her head to look at him and said “Urs” then turned back to look at the guy and jumped off him so she was standing. The guy was looking confused but didn’t say anything and Urs turned to look at Auds then said “You just made this a whole lot easier for me, this whole thing between us was a big mistake and I should never have brought you here. I didn’t know how I was going to tell you, but I see that you didn’t waste any time finding yourself somebody to play with. I’ll leave all your stuff outside the room and you can pick it up when you’re finished here.” He turned to go away and she said “What was I supposed to do Urs, you invite me to a wedding where I only know 4 people and 3 of them won’t talk to me because you brought me instead of trying to fix things with your ex girlfriend and then you disappear for half the night leaving me alone. Did you really think I was going to sit around like an idiot by myself?” Urs shook his head and said “The others were right, I should never have gone anywhere near you and Auds wasn’t just my girlfriend, she was my fiancee and I’m hoping that with time I can win her and her trust back.” then he walked away back towards Auds. He held his hand out and she looked at it for a minute then took it and followed him out of the bar. They walked towards the lift and waited for it to arrive. Urs turned and said “I meant everything I said to her, I want us to be us again. I don’t feel whole without you, its like there’s a great big hole in my heart where you should be.” Auds looked at him then looked away and walked into the lift as the doors opened. He sighed deeply and walked in after her and said “Where are you going to sleep tonight?” “I thought i would go and see if Simon would let me stay with him tonight, I don’t really want to wake David and Jan up. He won’t mind, he already said I could when we arrived yesterday.” she said. Urs nodded and said “Can we talk some more tomorrow?” Auds smiled and said “Yeah, I’d like to,” then she walked out of the lift and reached Simon’s room and knocked on the door.

She could hear a groan then some muffled noises and then the door opened and Simon was stood there a robe wrapped round him. “Auds.” he said in surprise. “What are you doing here, is everything alright?” She nodded and said “Yeah, I really think everything is alright, but I don’t want to wake David and Jan up at this time of night to get into their room so I thought I would ask if I could stay in here.” Simon looked back into the room and then back at her with a guilty look on his face and said “Um, that actually wouldn’t be a good idea Auds, I’m sorry, any other night and I’d say yes of course, but tonight I’m rather….” He went bright red then as Else appeared beside him wrapped in the sheet of the bed and said “What he’s trying to say is that he’d rather be alone tonight.” then she kissed him and said “Don’t be too long, the bed got awfully cold when you got out of it.” then walked back into the room. Simon slowly turned to look at Auds who was standing there with her mouth open in shock. She shook her head quickly and said “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’ll go find somewhere else to sleep, don’t worry about me. You go back to bed.” then she grinned and said “It’s good to see Simon, I’ve always worried about you being alone all the time.” He went bright red again and said “Please don’t tell the guys, I’d never hear the end of it.” She laughed and nodded. “I promise.” then she turned and walked away from him. She wondered what to do now, she really didn’t want to knock on Jan’s room in case she woke the baby up and there was of course no way she could interrupt Michelle and Carlos. That left Seb and Sonia, so she made her way to their room and knocked on the door, but got no answer so she tried again, louder this time, but still got no answer. She sighed and then made her way to another room. She stood in front of it for a minute then knocked gently on it. It opened and she looked at Urs standing there with only his trousers on and said “I’m really sorry, but Simon is unable to share his room tonight and I couldn’t get an answer from Sonia’s room.” Urs smiled at her and nodded then stood aside to let her in. He didn’t need to say anything, he knew how hard it would have been for her to come and do this.

He watched as she looked nervously around the room and he said “You can sleep in the bed, I’ll take the couch.” He saw her looking at the bed and said “The maids changed it this morning, they’re clean.” She nodded as he walked over to his case and pulled out a t shirt and handed it to her saying “Here, I don’t think you’ll be very comfortable sleeping in that dress.” She looked at him then reached out and took it from him saying “Thanks” He smiled then went into the bathroom, she quickly took of her dress and pulled the shirt on and got into the bed before he could see her. A couple of minutes later he came back into the room and seeing her in the bed he slipped of his trousers and pulling the blanket of the back of the couch he lay down and covered himself with it. He turned and looked towards the bed and said “Night Auds.” then smiled as she said “Night Urs.” The night passed slowly for Urs who tossed and turned as he kept drifting in and out of sleep. Eventually he sat up and went to get a drink. He walked over to the bed and stood there watching Auds sleep. He loved the way she looked so peaceful and he missed being able to see it. He sighed and went back to the couch and lay down again.

*Chapter 71*

Carlos and Carolyn were up in their room, he had removed his jacket, tie and shirt and Carolyn, still in her dress, was sitting on his lap, they had been like that for about 10 minutes, just kissing when Carlos whispered something in her ear and she smiled and kissed him then stood up and standing in front of him she slowly pulled the zip of the dress down and slipped it off her shoulders letting it fall to the ground. She blew a kiss to him as she turned round and walked away from him and into the bathroom. Carlos sat there for a minute savouring the image he’d just seen then he got up and removed his trousers and opened the bottle of champagne they had and poured two glasses . He took a sip out of one of them and then he turned as he heard the door opening and stared as he saw Carolyn standing there. She was wearing a deep red negligee that fell to her ankles but had a split right up to almost the top of her thigh. He sank onto the bed beside him and said “I already knew I married the most beautiful woman in the world but you have never been more beautiful than you are now.” She smiled as she walked towards the bed and reaching the bottom she pulled the negligee up a bit and started to move slowly up the bed towards him. When she reached him she took one of the glasses he was still holding and drunk some of it then dropped it on the floor. She ran a hand up his leg slowly and up onto his chest and through the thick hair on it and then giggled as he suddenly turned her over so she was lying on her back and he was on top of her. He reached up and pulled the clip out of her hair letting it fall down and he ran a hand through it before leaning down and kissing her. He ran one hand down her body and back up taking the negligee with it then pulling it over her head, flung it on the floor. She looked up at him and saw the passion in his eyes and smiled shyly as if this was the first time he’d seen her like that. He kissed her again harder this time and they quickly became unaware of anything else around them as they lost themselves in each other.

The morning came and Urs woke up and realised he was on the couch again. He got up and walked over to the bed and remembered the night before as he saw Auds in the bed. He smiled then went for a quick shower, got dressed then headed for David’s room and knocked on it. He answered it and said “Urs, you’re up early. Auds isn’t here, she never came back after you two left last night.” He grinned and said “I know, she stayed in my room. I just came to get some clothes for her as she can’t really put the dress back on today.” David was standing there just staring at him then he moved to let him in and shut the door behind him. Urs grinned as Janice said “Morning Urs, Auds isn’t here.” David took Brianna of her and said “He knows that, she stayed with him and he wants some clothes for her.” Urs laughed at the look on her face and said “I was her last choice, she didn’t want to wake Brianna up by knocking here, Seb and Sonia weren’t answering their door and Simon wouldn’t let her stay with him for some reason. She slept in the bed and I was on the couch.” Janice handed him Auds bag and said “But you did talk didn’t you?” He nodded as he took the bag and said “We talked and I told Eva she had been a mistake. You guys were right about her. I found her in the arms of another guy which made it so much easier to tell her to get lost.” He looked at David who was trying hard not to speak and Urs shook his head and said “Just say it David, I know you want to.” then grinned when he said “I told you so.” then he nodded and left them and went back to his own room. He let himself in and found Auds was awake and in the bathroom by the sounds of running water. He put her bag down and started to tidy up the room a bit, folding the blanket up and putting it over the back of the couch again and pulling the sheets up on the bed and straightening the pillows. He picked one up and inhaled deeply as he could smell Auds perfume on it. He put it down quickly as the water stopped running and then the door opened and Auds walked out wearing a robe. She stopped as she realised Urs was back and reaching for her dress was about to walk back into the toilet when he said “I got your bag from David’s room so that you could get some fresh clothes.” She looked at him for a minute then smiled and said “Thank you.” she picked the bag up and took a couple of things out of it and went to put them on. She came back out dressed and with wet hair. She sat down in front of the mirror and brushed it gently. Urs watched her and said “Do you feel like getting some breakfast and talking a bit more?” He saw her shoulders rise as she breathed in deeply then she said “Sure.” and they made their way out of the room and down to the dining room.

They had just got their food and sat down at a table when Simon walked in holding hands with Else. He turned to say something to her and she smiled and nodded. She went and sat at a table while he got them both something to eat. He hadn’t noticed Auds and Urs who were sitting in a quiet corner and were watching him. Urs turned to Auds and said quietly “Is that why you couldn’t stay in Simon’s room last night?” She nodded “He asked me not to tell any of you guys, said you would never let him live it down.” They turned back to watch them and saw that Else was leaning over the table and he was feeding her. He pulled the spoon back and followed it up by giving her a kiss. He did this again, first feeding her then kissing her until they were finished. They stood up and wrapping his arm round her waist they walked out of the room and disappeared out of sight. Urs turned to look at Auds who smiled and said “Its so nice to see him happy like that, he really needs someone to enjoy life with.” He nodded and said That’s how we were, back at the beginning. We couldn’t keep our hands of each other.” Auds looked sad for a minute then said “Yeah, we were so happy back then.” Urs nodded and said “And we can be like that again, we just need to work at getting us back to that. Please Auds, I know things have got all messed up, but they don’t need to stay messed up.” He looked at her and said “I still love you, do you still love me?” he stopped and waited for an answer. Eventually she said “Yes, I still love you.” “Then why are we making each other hurt by being apart?” he continued. He took a hand and lifted Auds face up so he could see it and saw the tears running down it. He gently wiped them away with his thumb and making her look into his eyes he said “I love you and I still want to marry you.” She stared into his eyes and saw the sadness that was in them and she knew there was only one thing that would take that away and replace it with the sparkling that was normally there. She opened her mouth and said…

*Chapter 72*

“I don’t know Urs, are we really meant to get married? We’ve never managed to stay together happily for that long without being married.” He shook his head and said “Yes, I really believe that we are meant to be together, forever. This last few weeks have proved that we can’t live without each other.” she thought about that for a few minutes then said “ That’s true.” She went silent then and Urs looked at her wondering what she was thinking. He reached out and gently took one of her hands in his and she looked at him and saw again the same look she had seen a minute ago and she sighed. “I do love you Urs, this last few weeks have made me realise that and I have been so miserable by myself and I don’t want to feel like that anymore.” He looked at her hopefully and said “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” She smiled slowly and then nodded her head saying “Yes, I’m saying yes.” His whole face lit up and he smiled so widely. She laughed and said “I’m sorry for putting you through all this, but I promise you, I will never leave you again, no matter what happens or who I meet, I know now that you love me for who I am and that’s all I need to know.” He stood up and taking her hand said “Can I hug you now? I’ve been wanting to hug you for so long, but didn’t think you’d allow me to” Auds smiled and said “I would love a hug, I’ve missed them.” He pulled her in close to him and held her there for a long time.

They never noticed David, Janice, Sonia and Seb walking into the room to get some breakfast. David looked at Seb and said “It looks like Urs managed to get through to Auds.” He nodded back and said “Finally, lets hope things go back to normal now.” They carried on into the room and were just sitting down when they were seen by Auds and Urs who went over towards them. Janice took one look at both their faces and said “I am so glad that you two finally realised what we all knew already.” “That you belong together and with nobody else.” finished Sonia. Auds went red and said “Thanks guys, but it was all me, Urs already knew that, it was me that didn’t believe it until now.” He put his arm round her and said “But she has said that she now knows how much she means to me and she’s sticking around for good this time.” She smiled at him and then he suddenly said “You should have been in here earlier, you missed the show.” The others looked at him confused and David said “What show?” Auds pulled out two chairs and her and Urs sat down and filled them all in on what Simon and Else had been doing.

Carlos and Michelle had just left the hotel and were about to get into the car taking them to the airport when they saw Simon and Else walking out of the hotel as well holding hands. Carlos looked at Michelle and then shouted “Simon.” He looked up and saw Carlos standing there and went over to him. “You all ready to go? Enjoy yourself, both of you and make sure you come back ready to go back to work. You’ve got a long tour ahead of you.” Carlos nodded and then said “And you take care of my cousin, she’s a wonderful person and I’d hate for her to get hurt.” Simon detected the warning in his voice and said “I know that, don’t worry about her, I won’t do anything to hurt her. Its so weird, I came here to see you two getting married and found somebody I really liked. I’ll look after her, I promise.” Carlos smiled and said “I know you will, just had to say it.” then laughed. He got into the car after Michelle who had already got in and they drove off. Else walked over to Simon and said “I bet he was telling you to take care of me? He’s very protective of me, always has been.” her voice trailed off slightly and a frown formed on her face for a minute before she smiled and put her arm through his and said “What are we going to do today? I want to spend as much time with you as I can until you have to leave.” He wondered for a minute why Carlos was so protective, had something happened to her. He hoped not, but didn’t feel like he could ask her so he smiled and said “I don’t know Spain, so why don’t you just be a guide for the day and show me all the sights.” She smiled and kissed him then pulled him towards her car and they left the hotel behind.

*2 weeks later*

Everyone was back in London, and had a meeting about the tour which started the following week in Asia, with Simon that day. Auds and Urs had done a lot of talking over the two weeks and Urs had moved his stuff back into their flat while Auds was finally wearing the ring he had given her on her finger. They hadn’t seen much of the others as they had all gone their separate ways after coming back from Spain. They entered the BMG building and made their way to Simon’s office. His secretary smiled at them and said “He’s in the conference room today.” They nodded and went through. They found him sitting at the table surrounded by a large pile of papers. He looked up when they walked in and smiled at them then went back to the papers. Then he looked up again and said “You’re together? Have you finally sorted things out?” Auds laughed and said “We did that at the wedding, did you not know that, where have you been the last couple of weeks?” Urs smiled and said “He’s probably been very busy.” Just then Simon’s phone rang , he picked it up and smiled then said “Hey you.” He talked for a while then said “I miss you too…Yeah, I hope so.” He looked up as the other guys all walked in together and he said “I’ve got to go babe, I’ll talk to you later.” then he hung up and looked up to see the others staring at him. “What?” he asked. They all sat down and Carlos said “How is she? I haven’t spoken to her since the wedding.” Simon smiled and said “She’s fine, she was a bit sad when I had to come back yesterday, but she sounds better today.” He looked round the table and said “Why are you all staring at me like that? “Sorry.” said Auds. “You only left Spain yesterday? You never take any time off work.” He smiled and said “I never had any reason to take time off work, but after meeting Else at the wedding, I found that I couldn’t leave her the day after, so she offered me a room at hers as I had to leave the hotel and we spent the last two weeks together getting to know each other. I only came back yesterday because we had this meeting today or I would have stayed.”

Seb and David looked at each other and grinned. “Aww, it looks like Simon has found himself a girlfriend.” said Seb. Simon went red and Auds said “Don’t tease him, I think its wonderful that he’s found someone. He’s been on his own for too long.” Simon went even more red if it was possible and he said “Can we please stop talking about my lack of personal life and get on with what we’re here for please?” Everyone laughed and before starting properly Carlos said “As long as you treat her well and don’t hurt her Simon, its fine with me, but if you hurt her, I don’t care if you’re our manager, I will personally make you pay for it.” He looked round as the room went quiet and he saw the looks on everyone’s faces and said “What? She is my cousin and she’s had a hard enough life already, she doesn’t need anything else going wrong in it.” Simon coughed and said “I’m not going to hurt her Carlos. I promise you that.” Carlos nodded and Simon swiftly moved onto the actual meeting. They spent the next few hours going over the tour schedule and once Simon was satisfied that everything had been sorted they all left and went their separate ways. Seb stopped of at Sonia’s office for a minute to see if she would be free to have lunch with him later but she was too busy to go out and they decided to go for dinner after she got home instead.

*Chapter 73*

The rest of the day passed quickly and Sonia finished her work, she really enjoyed it now that she knew what she was doing, Simon had kept to his word and had walked her through everything then once she knew it he left her to herself and she quickly became very good at it. She walked past his office and seeing the door open she knocked on it and said “I’m off home Simon, see you tomorrow.” He smiled and said “Okay, have a great night.” then she walked out of the building sending a quick message to Seb that she was on her way home. He was waiting for her with a glass of red wine and she took it thanking him with a kiss. He said “I booked a table at that restaurant you’ve been wanting to try out. Since we won’t be around much for the next few months I thought we’d better go before we leave.” She smiled and said “That’s great, I’ll just have a shower and get changed and I’ll be ready.” He kissed her and said “You need someone to wash your back for you?” then winked at her. She grinned and said “Well, if you really want to I’m not going to say no.” and taking his hand pulled him into the bathroom and shut the door behind them. An hour later and they were both ready to leave. Sonia was wearing the dress she knew Seb loved the most on her. It was pale blue chiffon and went to just above the knee and sleeves just covering the shoulders. He placed her jacket round her shoulders and they made their way down to the taxi waiting for them. They arrived and had a lovely meal with a few bottles of wine and spent the night just enjoying each others company. When they had finished they went for a walk in the moonlight, Seb’s arm round Sonia’s waist and her leaning her head against him. They walked like this for a while then Seb said “How do you feel about doing the tour thing again?” Sonia stopped and said “The tour thing?” He nodded and said “The constant travelling, the different hotels most nights, the living out of suitcases and the never being in one place for more than a couple of days at a time.” Sonia laughed and said “It sounds so wonderful when you put it like that. I’m looking forward to it hun, why are you asking me this?” He sighed and said “Its just because we’ve been settled here and at home in Paris for the last few months now and you’ve got your new job, kind of like a normal lifestyle, I just feel that taking you away from all that again will bring back all your feelings that were there before.” Sonia smiled and kissed him softly then said “That is so sweet, thank you for caring about me so much, but it will be great to spend the time with the girls and you all again, like last year. And I will be coming back and working for some of the tour. That was the deal when I got the job remember, I work for a couple of weeks then get to go with you for a few weeks then I come back to work again. It will be fine babe.” He wrapped his arms round her pulling her in to his chest and laid his chin on her head saying “I love you so much, I just wanted to check this wasn’t going to hurt you in any way. Now, how about we go home and make the most of having plenty of free time on our hands.” Sonia giggled and said “And what exactly are you wanting to do Sebastien?” then laughed as he pouted and said “You know very well what I was meaning Mrs Izambard and if we weren’t out in the middle of London I would show you exactly what I was wanting to do. Now get a move on.” Sonia laughed again as he hailed a taxi and told him where to go. She leaned against him and he kissed her gently letting a hand run up her leg slowly until it reached the bottom of her dress. She placed her hand over his to stop it going any further so he took his other hand and ran it down her shoulder and followed the line of the V shaped neckline. She shivered as he followed the same line as his hand with his lips and was glad when the taxi stopped so she could catch her breath. Seb paid the driver and they ran up the path to their door and once inside went straight for the bedroom stripping their clothes of as they went leaving them in a trail behind them. They closed the bedroom door behind them and stayed in there til the morning.

David and Janice were at home talking about the same thing as Seb and Sonia. They were worried about how they were going to cope with all the travelling with Brianna. David sighed and said “I know what you’re going to say babe, she’s too small to be doing so much travelling, I do agree with you on that, she is only 4 months after all. But she is a good baby, she sleeps through the night most nights and to be totally honest I don’t want to be away from either of you for that long. I don’t want to miss out on any of her first times.” Jan smiled and ran a hand over his cheek and up through his hair then said “I do think she would be better of with the stability of only being in the one place, she’s too young to cope with the different places, the constant travelling and all that. But I don’t want her to not see you every day either. She needs to know who her daddy is and its always the first months that’s important in her realising that.” He took her hand and entwined his fingers through hers and said “Okay, how about this. I know that Auds is the only one of you girls actually travelling the whole time with us, for obvious reasons.” Janice grinned and nodded. “So.” he carried on. “Why don’t you travel with Sonia when she joins Seb, you join us and when she goes home, you go home. That way you will have company when you travel and somebody to help with carrying stuff.” Jan thought about it for a minute then nodding slowly said “That’s not a bad idea hun.” He smiled and said “I do have them sometimes, you don’t need to look so surprised.” he went into a pretend huff then. Janice laughed and kissed him softly on the mouth and said “I’m sorry hun, will you forgive me?” He pulled back slightly trying not to smile and said “I don’t know, that hurt.” then couldn’t help it and grinned as Jan looked sad. He pulled her in and kissed her softly at first and then deepening it before they were interrupted by Brianna starting to cry. They pulled apart reluctantly and David said “I’ll go.” and went to get her leaving Janice lying back against the couch.

Everyone was over in Australia, they had their first show of their 2nd tour the following night in Sydney and they were doing their usual routine of being there the night before. All the girls were there as it had been decided that they couldn’t miss the first night. Michelle was only staying a week while Sonia and Janice two. They were all going down for dinner together as it was the first time since the wedding that they had all been together. Michelle and Carlos were in their room getting ready when his phone rang. He picked it up and said “Hello.” and was surprised to hear Simon’s voice saying “Carlos, you need to help me, I’m stuck.” He looked at Michelle who mouthed “who is it?” He put his hand over the mouthpiece and said “Simon, he’s asking me for help.” He moved his hand and said “Where are you? What’s the matter and how can I help you, I’m in Australia.” He could hear Simon sighing then he said “I’m in Spain, its Else I need help with.” Carlos immediately said “Else? What have you done to her? I warned you Simon.” He carried on talking for a few minutes until he heard Simon shouting in his ear for him to shut up. “I haven’t done anything, she doesn’t even know I’m here yet. I’m going to surprise her, but I want to take her some flowers and a little gift. But I don’t know what kind of flowers she likes or if she likes small delicate jewellery or large chunkier style jewellery. Which is why I thought I would phone you and find out.” Carlos stood there shaking his head in amusement then said “I’m her cousin Simon, a male cousin. I haven’t a clue if she likes delicate jewellery or chunky jewellery and as for her favourite flowers, all I know is she can’t stand Lillies as that’s all she got given when….” he trailed off then as he realised what he was about to say. He sat down and took a deep breath as Michelle looked at him with a worried look and he heard Simon say “Carlos, you okay?” “Yeah, sorry Simon. You’ll be fine with whatever you decide. Say hello to her for me please.” he said then hung up. Michelle sat down beside him and put her arms round him and said “You don’t look so good babe, is everything okay?” He smiled at her and pulled her arms round him tighter kissing her hands and said “Yeah, just some memories from a few years ago, that’s all. I think I’ll have a shower before we go down.” then he let go of her hands and walked through into the bathroom and locking the door switched the water on and stood under it.

*Chapter 74*

Simon had tried to stay away, told himself he had far too much work to do and he couldn’t just fly to Spain whenever he wanted. But he had only managed to last a week. The nights spent alone in his house with him spending hours on the phone to Else made him realise that he didn’t like being alone and that he was going to have to figure out how to make it work with the two of them together in the same city, be it Spain or London. He found himself on a flight to Madrid the day after the guys had left for Sydney and he realised once he had landed that he didn’t know what to get her as a gift. He’d phoned Carlos for help and had had a weird conversation with him about flowers. She hated Lillies for some reason, but he’d stopped halfway through the sentence and he didn’t know what the reason was. He decided against getting her a gift as he couldn’t see anything he liked or thought she would suit. He was walking along the street looking for a taxi when he passed a flower shop. He went in and ordered a big bouquet and then found himself a taxi and told it where he was going. He sat back and wondered what the hell he was doing. He had never been this impulsive before, yes with work, but he knew about that. This was completely different, he had had girlfriends in the past, but none ever lasted that long. Else was different, he didn’t know what it was about her, but he had fallen for her bad and he was hoping that she felt the same way. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the driver telling him they were there. He paid him then got out and walked up to the door. He rang the bell, hearing it ring inside and then it opened and Else was there. The look on her face told him everything he needed to know and he said “Hey, I was wondering if you had a spare room for the night.” then grinned as she practically pulled him inside. She stared at him and said “OMG, when did you get here, how long are you here for, what are you here for?” He laughed as she ran out of breath and questions and said “I just got here, I’m here for as long as you can put up with me and I’m here because I couldn’t keep away.” He looked at her with such a look that it took her breath away. “Oh, and I brought you these.” he said handing her the flowers. She laughed and putting them down said “I’ll deal with them later, right now I think I should deal with you first.” her eyes sparkled as she put her arms round his neck and pulled him in close to kiss him. They stood like that for a while not letting go then he pulled away and started to trail kisses down her neck and shoulder. She let her head fall back and her hands went down over his back and up inside his tshirt. He shivered at her touch and not stopping the kisses started to undo the buttons on her shirt slowly. When they were all open he pushed it of her shoulders so it hit the ground. He picked her up gently then carried her into her bedroom, he laid her on the bed and then stood back to take his top off then he shut the door and went to join her.

Everyone was in the hotel bar in high spirits, they had just finished the first night of their new tour and they were celebrating how well it had gone. Seb looked over at David and said “I can’t believe you fell over on the stage.” Everyone laughed while David went red and said “Remind me not to try and film the audience again. I don’t think that many of them saw it though” then grinned as the others couldn’t stop laughing around him. Janice caught her breath and said “No, not that many at all babe, you just think that if it makes you feel better.” Sonia nodded and said “Its probably all over the forum by now in somebody’s report.” David groaned and said “I never thought of that, they wouldn’t do that would they?” “Yes, they would.” said Auds who had opened her laptop and was now on the forum looking to see what they were saying “and they’re wanting to know if anyone caught it on video so that they can all see it as well.” she continued. He shook his head as everyone else couldn’t stop themselves from laughing at him. He stood up and said “I think that’s enough fun you lot are having because of me, I’ll see you all in the morning.” then he winked at Janice and walked off towards the lifts. Janice grinned and said “I’d better follow him and this little one should be in bed anyway.” And she hugged all the girls and said she would see them in the morning then caught up with David at the lift. The others didn’t stay much longer after they had gone and they disappeared couple by couple until only Seb and Sonia were left. He looked at Sonia and said “Do you want to go up as well or do you want to have another drink?” She smiled and said “I’d love another drink, but not down here.” She grinned as he stood up and said “In that case lets go.” and they made their way up to their room.

They spent the next week going from arena to arena doing show after show until it came to the time when Michelle was leaving them. Carlos took her to the airport and said “I’m going to miss you babe, when will you be coming back?” She smiled and said “I’m going to miss you too babe, I’m not sure yet when I’ll be back with you, I’ll have to wait and see how much work I’ve got waiting for me when I get back. They’re getting annoyed at the amount of time I keep taking off.” He kissed her and said “Don’t worry about me, as long as I know you’re alright, I can cope with you not being here for a while.” She smiled then kissed him back and said “I’ll talk to you everyday and I’ll get myself back to you as soon as I can.” They sat together for a while longer then her flight was announced and she had to go. He gave her a hug and a kiss them waited until she had disappeared into the departures lounge before he made his way back to the hotel. He got there and found Auds and Sonia sitting in the foyer. He joined them and sat down with a sigh. Auds looked at him and said “You okay?” He nodded and said “This is the first time we’ve been apart since we got married. Its just feels strange not having her around.” Sonia smiled and said “I felt like that the first time me and Seb were apart after our wedding. It soon passes, don’t worry.” He nodded again and said “Its not just that, I keep thinking back to the last time she was alone in London and I was away on tour.” he stopped and closed his eyes. Auds put an arm round him and said “Hey, things are different now, that guy is rotting in jail where he deserves to be and he’s not going to cause anymore trouble for you or for Michelle.” Sonia agreed and said “Why don’t you phone Simon if you’re that worried, he can keep an eye on her for you. Did you tell her how you felt?” He shook his head and said “No, I didn’t want her to be worrying about it or me. But I might phone Simon, just in case.” He hugged the two girls and said “Thank you.” then he went off up to his room to phone Simon.

He got inside and took out his phone and checking to see what time it was in London he dialled the number of Simon’s office. He got his secretary who said he wasn’t there, he was on holiday and wasn’t back til the start of the following week. He thanked her and hung up then frowned and said out loud to himself “He can’t be still in Spain surely.” He dialled Else’s number then and she answered with “Hello.” “Hey Else, how’s things with you?” He could tell by her voice that something wasn’t right and he said “What’s wrong?” He talked to her for a while then hung up and dialled another number and waited for an answer. When he got one he said “What the hell did you do and where are you now?” He was met with silence so he said “I’m not angry, I just want to know what happened?” He waited again for an answer and was about to speak again when he heard “I asked her if she would consider coming to live in London, with me. I know its only been about a month that we’ve known each other, but I can’t stay away from her and I did think about moving over to Spain to be with her, but that really wouldn’t work out, so I happened to mention it when I was there this week and she said she would have to think about it and could I leave her alone while she did that. So, I’m back at home and I haven’t spoken to her for a couple of days. I’m worried that I’ve blown it Carlos, I really like her and I don’t want to be so far from her all the time, but she hasn’t phoned me since I left and its hurting so much not knowing what she’s thinking or feeling.” He stopped for a breath and Carlos said “Just let her have the time Simon, I know what she’s like, she needs time to think things over, especially after what’s happened to her in the past. She doesn’t give her heart that easily. She will phone you when she’s ready to talk again.” He heard Simon sigh and then say “You keep mentioning her past, is it something bad that happened?” There was silence before Carlos said quietly “Has she told you anything about her past?” . Simon shook his head as he said “No, nothing.” “Then I won’t say anything, she’ll tell you when she’s ready Simon, its not my place to tell you.” said Carlos. He then told him why he had been calling in the first place and Simon promised to keep an eye on Michelle for him. They said goodbye then and both hung up. Carlos sat down on the bed and worried about Michelle while Simon leaned back on the chair he was in and wondered what had happened to Else in the past and if he would ever find out.

Else sat down with her coffee and thought about the same thing she had been thinking about for the last few days, Simon’s question. They had been having fun together then he had just come out with it “would you move over to London and stay with me?” She hadn’t known what to say and had asked him to leave while she thought about it. They had only met a month ago, she liked him yes, but enough to give up her whole life for him, her job, her house, her friends and family. Then they’re was her past. She ran a hand over her stomach and wondered if he would still want her if he knew the truth. She sighed as she remembered what had happened. It was as if it was still fresh in her mind and a tear ran down her face. She wiped it away and picked up the phone. She wouldn’t be able to come to a decision properly if he didn’t know everything upfront, she would tell him then see if he still wanted her and then she would make her choice. Once she had made her mind up on that she got herself sorted pretty quick, she booked a flight to London and packed a bag then left to sort things out at the school before she left.

She landed in London later that night and took a taxi to Simon’s house and rang his doorbell. He opened it and stared in shock at seeing her standing there. He let her in and they walked through to the lounge. He gave her a hug saying it was good to see her. She smiled and said the same back then she sat down. Simon stood looking at her, not sure if she was here with good news or bad. He offered her a glass of wine which she took then he sat down and she said “I haven’t made a decision yet Simon, I didn’t think it was right for you to ask me something like that without knowing the full story about me.” She stopped and took a sip of wine then carried on. “Once I’ve told you what happened to me years ago and you still want to ask me that question then I will keep thinking about it and let you know when I’ve made my choice.” He nodded slowly to say he understood and she said “Please don’t speak until I’ve finished.” He nodded again and she took a deep breath and said “Okay then, about 4 years ago my life was very different to what it is now. I wasn’t the principal at the school, I was just a teacher. I was very happy and lived with Fabian, my fiance. We were going to be getting married that year and I was 6 months pregnant with our first child, life had never been better. One night we were coming back from a party we’d been to, Fabian was driving and the roads were quiet.” She stopped for a minute and let a tear run down her face before she carried on. “All of a sudden we turned a corner and out of nowhere these bright lights appeared and we couldn’t see anything. Next thing we knew we had been hit by an oncoming lorry and we were being thrown over and over as the car went over the bank at the side of the road. It stopped after what seemed like ages and although I had hit my head repeatedly I still had enough sense to try and get out of the car. I pulled of the seatbelt ignoring the pains in my stomach and tried to get him to wake up, but he wouldn’t. He was bleeding from somewhere but I couldn’t find where. My door suddenly got pulled open just then and these men were there. They pulled me out of the car leaving Fabian still in it. I started screaming at them and trying to get back to him. One of them held me back while two others went to get him, they had just pulled him out and got back to where we were when the car exploded and we were all flung backwards.” She was fighting a losing battle with the tears running down her face and gave up trying to stop them. She looked up at Simon to see that his face had gone white and he looked so sad. She sniffed and took another deep breath and said “The next thing I remember is opening my eyes and being in a room I didn’t recognise and all I could smell was disinfectant and Lillies.” She looked up again and then said “That was 2 months later, I had gone into early labour because of the accident and when they had delivered her, it was a girl, I had started bleeding really badly and they couldn’t stop it. I went into a coma and they didn’t think I would ever come out of it. Carlos was there by my side apparently every day for the whole two months and he was the only one who knew that I wouldn’t give up. He was also the one who told me that my baby girl hadn’t made it past the day she was born and that Fabian had gone too. The next thing he told me though was far worse, the only way they could stop the bleeding was to..to..” She couldn’t say it and stopped then looked down at the ground not wanting to look at Simon and said “I can’t have anymore children, it was the only way.” “I had missed both funerals, so when I got out of the hospital I went to the cemetery and stayed there for hours just talking to them both and saying how much I loved them and missed them. I never even got to hold her, my little girl.” She started crying again, big heart wrenching sobs that made Simon pull her in close to him and just hold her tight.

Eventually she stopped and she pulled herself back and dried her eyes then said “After that day I never went back, I couldn’t face it, I just threw myself into my work and did nothing else. After a couple of years I took over the principals job at the school I was at when the old one left. I never had a serious boyfriend either, just quick flings. I think Carlos scared most of them all off!! He became very protective of me and would always have a ‘talk’ with any guy he saw me with, whether it was a guy I was seeing or not. I was so happy when I heard about him and Michelle and was so happy when they got married. Then I met you and you managed to get inside my wall somehow. But when you asked me to move over her and live with you, it brought all the memories back.” She looked at him and said “That’s it, that’s my past. Now do you still want me to move in with you over here?” Simon looked at her and took her hands in his and said “Yes, now more than ever I want you to move in with me. Life is too short for us not to do something that will make us happy and if we don’t then we will spend more time being sad and I think you’ve spent enough time being sad and you need to bring some happiness back into your life.” He saw the look pass over her face and shook his head saying “You can’t let what happened in the past stop you from being happy again in the future. What happened back then is not going to happen again.” He put his arms round her and pulled her in towards him and kissed her softly before saying “I won’t let anything ever happen to you, I promise you and I am never going to leave you. Please just think about it and think about this, I love you Else and I have never said that to anyone before. He kissed her softly on the head and they just sat there wrapped in each others arms in silence.

A week had passed and Else had gone back to Spain to think over Simon’s question. They had spent the night she had told him everything just lying together and eventually falling asleep. Then over breakfast the next morning she had said she was going home again. He had been upset, but understood that she needed this time. He had driven her to the airport and had then gone to work. For the first time in his life he was scared and there was nothing he could do about it.

Janice laughed as David caught her and started tickling her. She tried to push him off but he was too strong for her. He stopped as she gave in and he bent down and kissed her. He sighed then and said “I can’t believe you’re going home already, I’m going to miss you both so much.” Janice shifted so that her head was laying on his shoulder and said “Me too babe, but I won’t be away that long.” “4 weeks, you’re going to be away for 4 weeks, that’s a long time.” he said. She nodded and said “I guess it is.” They lay together in silence for a while then there was a knock on their door. David groaned and stood up to go answer it. He found Seb and Sonia on the other side and he let them in. Janice had got up and smiled at them when they walked in. “Hey guys, what’s up?” she asked. Sonia smiled and said “We thought that the two of you might like some time to yourself today.” Seb nodded and said “We’re here to take Brianna out for the day for you, if you don’t mind that is?” Janice looked at David who said “Is there something you two want to tell us? This is the third time this week you’ve offered to look after her.” Sonia looked at the ground and Seb shook his head saying “Non, we have nothing to tell you, we just love spending time with her.” Janice looked at them both then said “Sure, that would be great guys, thanks, I’ll just go get a bag ready for you.” She went into the other room and Sonia wandered over to the pram to check on Brianna. David looked at the way Seb was looking at her and said “Are you sure things are okay Seb?” He looked at David with a smile on his face and said “Yes, things are definitely okay.” Janice came back then and handed the bag to Seb then went and picked Brianna up and kissed her then told her to be good for Auntie Sonia and Uncle Seb. David did the same and then they left. Janice sat down and said “Something is up with them two.” David nodded then sat down beside her and said “So, what are we going to do now we suddenly have a free day?” Janice grinned and said “I can think of a few ways to spend it.” and she moved so that she was sitting over his legs and putting her hands round his neck leaned in and kissed him softly.

He kissed her back harder as his hands went round her back pulling her in closer to him. She moved her hands up and curled her fingers into his hair while he let his hands start wandering up and down her back. They reached the bottom of her shirt and found their way underneath it. She shivered at his hands touching her bare skin. Her head fell backwards as he moved his lips from hers onto her neck and down onto her chest. He brought his hands round to the front of her shirt and started to open the buttons. He pulled it off and threw it away and looked at her then he pushed her off him and stood up, then led her through to the bedroom where they stayed for a very long time.

Carlos was on the phone to Michelle, he was really missing her and spent most of his time talking to her when he wasn’t working. He still hadn’t told her how he felt about her being away from him, but he did feel happier now he knew Simon was keeping an eye on her. He realised his mind had drifted away when he heard her saying “Carlos, are you still there?” He smiled and said “Yes, sorry darling, I was thinking of Simon and Else. How is he coping?” He heard her sigh and then she said “Not too good I think, he’s always at work, he never seems to be at home, but I do see him every day, we go out for dinner together most nights and all he ever talks about is her. He really did fall hard for her and its going to hurt him a lot if she decides to stay in Spain.” Carlos frowned and said “You know, I’ve spent the last four years protecting her from unsuitable guys and now when a good one does come along, I can’t do a thing to help her. I just feel sorry for Simon, I’ve never seen him so happy as he has been since we got married and now he may lose that happiness because he fell for someone who lives hundreds of miles away from him.” “I know babe, life isn’t fair sometimes in the way that things work out.” said Michelle. He heard her doorbell ring then and said “Who’s that?” “It will be Simon, he’s picking me up for dinner tonight, do you want to speak to him?” said Michelle answering the door and letting Simon in. She handed him the phone saying “Its Carlos.” Simon took it and said “Carlos, have you hard from her at all?” “No, sorry Simon, try not to worry about her, she’s got a lot to think about, but you told her you loved her and would never hurt her and I’m sure she will be in touch when she’s ready.” he said. Simon sighed and said “I know that, its just the waiting and not hearing anything from her. I feel like the longer it is that I don’t hear anything, the worse it is going to be and I don’t think I could cope if it isn’t good news.” He talked for another few minutes then said “Bye.” and handed the phone back to Michelle who said she would speak to him later and hung up. Then her and Simon left to go get some dinner.

Simon was sitting in his office trying to do some work when his mobile rang. He picked it up and answered it without looking at the screen then sat up straighter when he heard Else’s voice. “Else, you don’t know how good it is to hear your voice, I’ve been so worried.” he said. “I know, I’m sorry I took so long, but I wanted to make sure of how I felt before I made my decision.” she replied. He shook his head as he said “Its okay” then paused before saying “Have you made your decision?” There was silence on the other side then she said “Yes, I love you Simon, more than I ever thought I could. I thought my life was over when I lost Fabian and that I would never love anyone again. But you managed to break through my barriers and made me see that I could be happy again.” She paused for a minute then said “Do you think you can wait another four weeks?” Simon stayed silent as the thought of having to wait another four weeks for her answer made him feel sad. He then said “What am I waiting four weeks for?” Else grinned to herself then said “That’s when I finish at the school and can move over to be with you.” Simon couldn’t believe what he had just heard and said “Did you just say what I think you just said? Are you really sure about it?” “Yes, I put my flat up for sale this morning, I can’t wait to be with you all the time.” Simon couldn’t stop smiling and said “You have no idea how happy you just made me, I thought you were going to say no because you were taking so long to think about it.” “I know, I’m sorry babe, I just had to make sure I really knew what I wanted. And I do, I want to be with you.” Simon’s office phone rang then and he had to say goodbye then. When he had finished with the other phone call he stood up and walked out of his office and down the corridor to another one. He knocked and went in smiling at Sonia as he did. She looked up and smiled then said “Hey Simon, what can I do for you?” He sat down and said “Nothing, I just wanted to tell someone.” Sonia stared at him and said “ You’ve heard from Else? What did she say?” He nodded and said “She’s coming, in four weeks, she has to work her notice at the school, but she’s really coming.” Sonia smiled at the look on his face and said “That’s great news Simon, I’m so happy for you.” He nodded and said “I thought maybe I could take all you girls out for dinner tonight, as a thank you. Would Janice be able to get a babysitter?” “I don’t know, but I’ll give her and Michelle a ring and let them know and Jan can try and get someone.” He smiled and said “Okay, I’ll see you all later then.” and he left her to get back to her work.

The four weeks passed quite quickly, the guys had finished the Australian part of their tour and were having a few days off before doing a couple of tv shows in London then starting the Mexican leg of the tour. Simon, Carlos and Michelle had all gone over to help Else pack up her stuff . She had been out the night before with the girls from the school saying goodbye to her so she was feeling a bit hungover and tired and was leaving it up to the others to do. Most of it was going into storage though as she didn’t really need any of the furniture. Once everything was packed and away Else took one last look round the place then they left. They were flying back to London that day so just headed for the airport. She was standing in a line to get some coffee’s for them all when Carlos came up beside her and said “I’m so happy for you Els, Simon’s a good guy and I know he’ll take good care of you. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t be here for you anymore, I’ll always be there for you if you need me, you know that right?” She hugged him and said “Thank you and yeah, I know that, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Auds and Urs were in London at their apartment. Urs was getting ready to go for a run and Auds was going over some stuff on her laptop. She looked up as he appeared and said he was leaving. “I was thinking babe.” she said. “I know we haven’t actually set the date yet, but I was hoping that you would let me come running and to the gym with you, so that I can look a bit slimmer when I’m wearing my dress.” He sat down and looking at her said “You are going to look gorgeous in your dress whatever size you are baby, but if you really want to, I’d love you to join me, why don’t you come with me just now?” She shook her head and said “No, I’ve got some work to do, I’ll go the next time.” Urs started laughing and standing up kissed the top of her head and said “Okay, if you say so.” then walked away smiling and left her to it.

*Chapter 75*

Seb and Sonia were sitting in a room waiting to be seen by the doctor. She walked in with a file in her hand and sat down. She smiled at them then opening the file took out a piece of paper then said “I’m afraid its not good news. I have your results and I’m afraid they’re negative. You’re not pregnant.” Seb put his hand in Sonia’s as he saw her face fall and said “Is there no way the test is wrong?” Sonia looked at the doctor and said “I’m over a month late, and I’m never late. That’s why I thought I was pregnant.” She shook her head and said “I’m sorry, the test is always 100% correct. I can do some other tests if you’re saying that you’re that much late and you’re never late.” She looks in her diary and then says “I can’t fit you in until the week after next, the Monday afternoon. I have nothing after that for a couple of months.” Seb looked at Sonia and said “I’ll be in Mexico then, there’s no way I will be able to get out of it to be here with you.” Sonia sighed and said “I know babe, I’ll just have to come by myself.” She nodded her head and said “That will be fine, thank you for your time.” The doctor smiled at them as and said she would see Sonia in two weeks. They walked out and Sonia could tell Seb wasn’t happy about what had just happened. They had both been so excited when she had realised she may be pregnant, that’s why they had kept offering to look after Brianna for David and Janice. But now they weren’t and Sonia was going to have to have tests and he wasn’t going to be there with her when she had them. They walked down the road in silence, Sonia kept trying to talk to him, but he just stayed silent so she gave up trying and just slipped her arm through his and walked quietly beside him.

They got home and Sonia tried to talk to him again but he still wouldn’t talk to her so she decided to go for a bath. She lay there for a while just thinking about what the doctor had said. She got out and put on a robe after drying herself. She went through and found Seb sitting down with a glass of wine and the bottle beside him. She picked it up and took it away from him saying “Don’t even think about drinking this, you are not going to ignore this Seb, I want to talk about it and I want to talk about it now.” He turned to look at her and was about to speak when their doorbell rang. He got up to answer it and let Auds and Urs in who walked through and looked at the two of them strangely and Urs said “Why are you two not ready?” Sonia looked at him and said “ready for what?” “Dinner at David and Jan’s, we said we would pick you up on the way remember?” Sonia frowned and said “sorry, we forgot. I’m not really up to it tonight, can you just tell Jan I’m really sorry?” Auds looked at Urs and said “Sure, everything okay?” Seb shook his head saying “She’s just being silly, its only a headache which she just said was getting better anyway. We’ll just get dressed and be with you in a minute.” Sonia looked at him and said “Seb.” He stared at her and said “We’re going.” and walked away into the room to get changed. She followed him through slamming the door shut after her. Auds and Urs looked at each other worriedly as they could hear them shouting. Twenty minutes later they came out dressed up and ready to go. Seb picked up his glass of wine and finished it off while Sonia shook her head at him. They set off with silence in the car and they soon arrived.

The evening seemed to pass quite slowly with Seb appearing to be really happy and ignoring the glares he was getting from Sonia who was keeping pretty quiet. Auds was in the kitchen getting some more wine when Janice came in behind her and said “What’s up with Seb and Sonia?” Auds shook her head and said “I don’t know, they weren’t ready when we arrived for them, Sonia didn’t want to come, said she wasn’t feeling too good but Seb made her, then they were shouting at each other when they were getting ready. Janice looked worried and said “I hope its nothing serious, those two are meant to be happy, not fighting.” Auds nodded in agreement then they went back through with the wine. They left not long after that, dropping Seb and Sonia off at home. Seb sat down and Sonia said “You do realise that you just made four people start worrying about us, we could have stayed at home and they wouldn’t have known a thing, but no, you forced us to go.” He looked at her and said “I wasn’t the one who sat there glaring at people all night. I made an effort to enjoy myself.” She sat down and said “No, you weren’t enjoying yourself Seb. You were drinking too much and you only do that when you have something you want to hide from.” She sighed and said “I’m scared too, but we can’t let it go without talking about it, You are going away again in a few days time and we’re going to be by ourselves, we need to talk about it now and tell each other how we feel.”

He lowered his head and said “I know, you’re right, I just feel like I’m letting you down by not being here when you need me with you when you go for the tests. If there is something wrong I want to be with you, not stuck in another part of the world.” She gave him a hug and said “I wish you could be there too babe, but I’ll be fine, I’ll talk to the girls and maybe Janice or Michelle would come with me, you should tell the guys as well, it would save you having to explain tonight to Urs and David.” He nodded “I’ll tell them all tomorrow when Carlos is back.” He looked at her then and said “What are we going to do if they find something seriously wrong?” She curled herself into his chest and he put his arms around her and she then said “Lets not think about that right now, we have to stay positive.” He kissed her and said “You’re right. Why don’t we go to bed now, if we have a good sleep things may not seem so bad in the morning.” Sonia nodded and they headed off into their bedroom.

A couple of days later the girls were altogether again as they guys were doing GMTV and they had all gone along with them. They were sitting in a room backstage when Sonia looked up at them all and said “I need to tell you all something.” Auds and Janice looked at each other quickly while Michelle, who still knew nothing of the other night, said “Sure, what’s up hun?” Sonia looked at Auds and Janice and said “I want to apologise for the other night. We had just got back from the doctors and I had forgotten about the dinner. I wanted to stay at home and talk about it, but Seb wouldn’t listen, making us go was his way of getting out of talking about it.” Michelle was looking confused and said “What happened the other night?” “Seb and I made a fool of ourselves at David and Jan’s by not speaking to each other at all after an argument at home.” she said. Auds shook her head and said “You didn’t make a fool of yourselves, we were worried, but now we know why, we understand totally.” Janice nodded and said “What’s wrong hun, what did the doctor say to you?” Sonia looked down and then up at them again and said “I thought I was pregnant because I am over a month late and I’m never late. We went to the doctor to have it confirmed, but she told us I wasn’t. She is going to do some tests to see why I’m so late, but the only date she could give us is when Seb is away in Mexico.” Janice was nearest to her and gave her a hug then said “Aww babe, no wonder you didn’t want to go out.” She smiled at her and said “Thanks hun, he’s not happy at not being here for me.” “Don’t worry about him, I’ll keep an eye on him for you.” said Auds. “Yeah and we’ll come with you for your tests, won’t we Jan?” said Michelle. She nodded and said “Of course we will, you’re not going alone.” Sonia looked round the girls and said “I can’t believe I’ve got such wonderful friends.

They were still talking about it when the guys came back into the room a while later and said they were ready to go. Urs had told the guys the day before so Auds went to Seb and giving him a hug said “Don’t worry Seb, she’ll be fine and I’ll be there with you if you need someone to talk to right?” He nodded and said “Thanks Auds, I just wish there was some way I could be with her.” “She sighed and said “I know and if there was anything I could do you know I would, but you’re on tour, its not like an interview where the guys could say you were sick that day. You need to be there, I’m sorry.” He put his arm round her shoulder and said “Don’t worry, I know you would do something if you could. Now, lets get changed and get out of here.” The others laughed and they quickly got changed and left to go get some breakfast somewhere.