Fire & Ice By: Demonheart (JJ)

David kicked at the ground as he walked up to his front door. He knew how tired Urs was because he felt the same. Even the late nights they'd had on the tour hadn't left them feeling this tired, but different emotions had been ruling their heads then. He wondered why being upset, like they had been that night, always left you feeling completely drained. He shook his head and decided he would try and figure that one out another day. It hurt to even think the question right now.

He turned his key in the lock, pushed the door open and looked at himself in the hallway mirror as he stepped over the threshold and kicked the door shut. His hair was a mess, he needed a shave, like they all did, and his clothes were creased to hell. He grunted a small laugh as he remembered what Lauren had said at the front door after they had taken a slow walk round the block to give Urs and Franky a little privacy.

"It's ok. I like a bit of rough." She had said with a suggestive look in her eyes and a naughty little giggle as she spoke.

He sighed happily while he thought about Lauren. She wasn't the type of girl he normally went for. His usual type was just as pretty but quite a few inches taller. He huffed a little laugh as he recalled the look she'd had on her face when Franky had introduced them to each other. Almost as if someone had taken a kid that had never eaten candy before and had dropped them in the middle of the world's largest candy shop. He imagined he must have looked much the same.

He made his way to his bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed and laughed once more as he tried to imagine the look he had given Carlos when Franky mentioned Salsa dancing.

"Me......Salsa.......Hah!" He laughed a little louder as he removed his left shoe and threw it somewhere on the other side of the room.

He closed his eyes and smiled softly as he recalled the kiss he'd given Lauren in the nightclub and the look on her face once he'd released her. She didn't say a word for almost five minutes and when she did it was only a quick 'Huh?' after Franky had asked her if she was ok.

He pulled his right shoe off and threw it angrilly across the room as he remembered what he'd seen at Sébastien's house. He had never seen so much blood and when he first saw Sébastien's face and how pale he was, he was almost certain Sébastien was going to die because of it. He had knocked the tears from his cheeks as Franky came out of the kitchen. Lauren had been distracted by the police cars arriving as Franky approached him and whispered that it looked worse than it actually was.

He furrowed his brow and wondered what was going on between Urs and Sébastien as he swung his legs onto the bed and laid his head on the pillows, hoping that Sébastien wasn't hiding something from him and Carlos again.

"He should be able to talk to all of us about anything by now." He nodded at his reflection in the wardrobe mirror.

He yawned loudly and made himself a little more comfortable. He took one look out of his bedroom window before he closed his eyes and quickly dropped off to sleep.

___________


'Did that really just happen? Did I really just agree to a date with........' Karen questioned herself while she looked at her mobile phone wide-eyed and open-mouthed as she disconnected the call.

"Miss Clarke!" She heard the man she worked for shouting her name.

"Yes Mr Duncan-Stewart." She replied with a broad smile.

"The Taylor notes for the third time of asking." He demanded as he held the palm of his right-hand out to her and looked at her sternly through half-moon glasses.

Karen quickly searched through the notes and found two files indexed with Taylor. "Mark or William?"

"William." He snapped and shoved his hand at her again.

Karen handed him the file, then quickly checked the diary. "Don't forget you have that lunchtime meeting today." She informed as he turned to leave her office.

"I know." He snapped indignantly. "I will need you there, to take notes. Do not be late." He informed with a quick nod.

"Do not be late." Karen mocked him in a high-pitched voice as the door closed behind him. "Asshole." She hissed quietly.

She sighed as she slumped back in her chair. She had only been working for the middle-aged man for a few days but had taken an instant dislike to him. He hadn't been present when she had been interviewed for the post as his secretary citing how busy he was as his reason for non-attendance. Had he been there she would probably not have accepted the position in the first place. He had been so obnoxious and very demanding from the get go.

Mr Duncan-Stewart was a demanding employer and had already made her work passed her contracted hours on at least three days. She wasn't that bothered by the late hours at the moment. Most of her old school friends had either married or moved out of the town or had done both and the overtime pay would come in handy for decorating her new home.

He was of the 'old school'. His secretary did what he said and he would brook no argument. If he demanded you worked late, you worked late or your ass got fired.

Karen wrinkled her nose and logged onto the internet site she had found that brought her back to her hometown. She was not going to put up with that sort of treatment. Working in Australia had bolstered her confidence and had taught her to stick up for herself. She had been such a quiet, unassuming little thing when she left five years ago. She scanned through the positions that were vacant and her eyes lit up when she saw one that meant she would be able to do most of the work from home and work her own hours. She took down the details and resolved to apply as soon as she could.

She wrinkled her nose at the pile of files then looked at her watch.

"I'd better make a start I suppose or I'll still be here at midnight. Again!!" She laughed to herself as she put the first tape into the player, put the earphone in her ears and started typing while looking out of her window to see two magpies resting in the top of the tree that she could see a little way off in the distance.

"Oh my God! You idiot." She laughed to herself when she looked at her screen and saw only the hospital's screensaver bouncing over the screen.

She continued to laugh while she rewound the tape she had been working from and opened the word processing program the computer used.

"See what you've done to me?" She asked the picture on the calender that hung on the wall to the right of her desk.

She smiled at the picture, shook her head and buried her head in her work.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Come on. Come on. Wake up!"

He heard a gentle female voice demanding while he lay on the bed flinging his arms about wildly. His eyes flew open and he stared at her that way while he fought to bring his breathing under control.

"That's it. Slow it down Sébastien." She smiled as she sat on the bed beside him and held his forearms firmly but gently down on the bed.

"I erm.....Was I dreaming?" He panted and he looked up into the brown eyes that smiled softly at him.

He didn't have a clue who she was because he couldn't see the security badge she wore on her left hip properly. He could just see the E of her first name. Nor did he know what she was doing in his room, but she had a caring and gentle air about her and he immediately felt comfortable with her being there.

"I would say it was more like a nightmare the way you were screaming." She spoke very softly and smiled again. "I heard you halfway down the corridor." She informed while she pushed his hair out of his eyes then gently cupped the right side of his face in an attempt to calm him a little more. He closed his eyes at the comforting touch and took several deep breaths.

"How did you know my name?" He asked as his breathing slowed.

"This and I do know who you are. My little sister is a big fan." She smiled once more as she showed him the plastic bracelet on his left wrist and shook her head and tutted after she'd inspected his face.

She wasn't dressed like the nurse that had been in earlier. She wore a very bright green polo shirt with the hospital's logo on the left side of her chest, black jogging bottoms and trainers on her feet. He estimated that she was perhaps a couple of inches shorter than Franky, but was every inch as pretty. She would probably look stunning if her hair hadn't been pulled back into a tight ponytail.

"Oh. You won't say anything about this will you?" Sebastien queried, hissing when he accidently bit his bottom lip.

"I would lose my job if I did. I'm bound by the Patient Confidentiality thing too." Smiling softly, the woman shook her head

"What time is it?" Sébastien questioned with a smile.

She looked at her watch quickly then smiled at him again. "10:30 in the morning."

"Sunday morning?" Sébastien questioned.

The woman nodded her confirmation.

"I've err......sort of lost track." He huffed a small laugh as he spoke.

"Do you want to tell me what the dream was about?"

"Non." He shook his head vigorously at the slender brown haired woman.

"Sometimes it helps to talk to a stranger."

"Non. Thank you." He insisted as he turned his head to the right again and swallowed hard.

"Would you like me to get a nurse to give you something to help you sleep a little better then?"

"You are a nurse aren't you?" He asked as he turned and glanced at her uniform again, before turning back to the window.

"No, I'm a physio-therapist. Hence the rather fetching uniform." She grimmaced while she pulled at the polo shirt.

"Oh, I'm supposed to be seeing one of those today. You're not......" Sébastien questioned with another small laugh.

"Sorry, no. You've been allocated to Steven." She shook her head. "I was just on my way to see one of my patients when I heard you screaming"

"Oh." He flicked his chin in a small, disappointed nod. "Deso.....I'm sorry if I've made you late."

"It's ok. I was running a few minutes early anyway." She smiled. "For a change."

"Pourquoi? Why?" He asked as he suddenly grabbed hold of her right hand and held it tightly.

"Pardon?" She asked as he turned his head back to face her.

"Why did this happen to me? I don't understand it." He said as he tried to hold back his tears. He wiped his eyes quickly with his free hand, hoping she hadn't seen them make their escape.

"What happened to you anyway?" She asked.

"I was attacked and robbed in my own home after a night out with the others. I was beaten up by two men and one of them stabbed me in the leg. They said I erm...I almost...... almost...... almost....." He shook his head.

"Died?" She questioned while she gently rubbed the back of his hand with her free one.

Sébastien closed his eyes and nodded quickly.

"Did they tell you what happened."

He nodded slowly. "Something to do with a my heart stopping for a moment or two because I was in shock." He covered his eyes with his hand. "I didn't really follow."

"Do you remember everything that happened before you were brought here?"

"Uh-huh. Everything. It wasn't the best night I've ever had. It didn't start very well and it ended even worse didn't it?" He smiled weakly while he took a few deep breaths to help him relax.

"It looks like it did." She nodded.

"I just don't want to go into all the details yet."

"You're sure?"

Sébastien nodded his head again.

"You're sure you're ok?"

"Oui. Thank you E....?" He looked at her quizically and smiled once more as he slowly released her hand.

"Emma. Emma Harper." She smiled as she stood and moved towards the door.

"Thank you Emma." He smiled broadly and gave her a very slow wave while he watched her leave, closed his eyes and quietly drifted off to sleep again.

_________


"Lauren is that you?" Franky asked when she heard the front door closing slowly.

"Yes." Lauren replied with a gentle sigh.

"Where have you been?"

"Huh? Oh we went for a walk around the block to give you and Urs a little privacy."

"Oh, thank you." Franky laughed, watching her friend walk into the lounge with a dreamy look on her face. "Did he kiss you again before he left?"

Lauren smiled broadly while she nodded.

"Are you seeing him again?" Franky questioned.

Lauren nodded very enthusiastically with a huge smile.

"When?" Franky giggled.

"Tonight. What about you?" Lauren questioned. "Did Urs kiss you again?"

"And how!" Franky exclaimed, fanning herself and a dreamy look in her eyes.

"And did he give you a blinky wink?" Lauren laughed.

"A what?" Franky snorted a small laugh in reply.

"That slow blink he does. The Uber-babes call it a blinky wink."

"Oh, yes. I've had quite a few of those since last night." Franky blushed . "What the hell is an Uber-babe?"

"Well your one." Lauren laughed.

"I am?!"

"Sure. And I'm a Diva."

"Ok. Now I'm totally lost." Franky laughed again.

"It's all to do with the fansite. Where's your laptop?"

"Over there." Franky nodded towards the coffee table.

"Here fire it up." Lauren requested, handing it over.

Franky did as she requested then handed the computer back. She watched as Lauren entered the website, quickly logged in and moved to the 'Off Topic' section.

"See Urs's fans are called Uber-babes, David's are Divas, Seb's are Sirens and Carlos's are Cuties." Lauren informed, nodding at the screen.

"Oh. Ok. Now I understand." Franky nodded and rolled her eyes into her head.

"Are you ok Franky?" Lauren questioned, watching her rub her face hard with her hands.

"Fine. The long night has got to me that's all." Franky nodded, laid the laptop on the couch and stood up.

"Do you really think Seb would have died last if.....?" Lauren began.

"Definitely." Franky nodded.

"So when are you seeing Urs again?"

"Tonight. I'm just waiting for him to call to make arrangements. I was going to try and get some sleep, but I think I'll take a bath first. What's wrong with me Lauren? I've never felt like this before. I can hardly wait for him to ring never mind see him again."

"I don't know, I'm trying to figure that one out myself. Bagsy I get the...... Hey!.......Get back here Franky Gibson....I'm going in that bath first......Oh I hate you." Lauren giggled when Franky ran past her on her way up to the bathroom.

Franky poked her head around the top of the stairs and stuck her tongue out at Lauren while she stood at the bottom of the stairs with her hands on her hips.

"What am I supposed to do?" Lauren asked, pushing her bottom lip out in a pout.

"You could try tidying that pit you call a bedroom." Franky yelled through the bathroom door.

Lauren scowled while she climbed the stairs then moved to her bedroom.

"Oooh. That's not nice." She grimmaced and shook her head once she'd opened the door. "I didn't realise it had got this bad." She said to herself as she took her shoes off and began to tidy up.

She hummed songs from their first two albums while she worked and felt her heart soar when she got to the parts she knew David sang. She touched her lips and sighed happily when memories of the kiss he had given her at the nightclub replayed in her mind. She giggled to herself as she remembered the look she had seen on his face when Franky had introduced them to each other. Gone was the beaming smile and confident manner, in its place a shy, little grin and a dumbfounded expression on his face. She shook her head and thought she had probably had the same expression on her face.

She sighed when she thought about how worried David had been about Sébastien while they waited for Franky to get into the house and get the door open. She had felt him shake just a little while they watched her climb, she had heard him whisper that she wouldn't make it and had stood in stunned silence as he watched her feet disappearing through the window. As soon as they knew she was inside he had pulled her gently but quickly around to the front door. Then he had watched every move the paramedic made while she tended to Sébastien and she was positive she had seen him knock a couple of tears from his cheek as Sébastien was wheeled away.

She laughed to herself when she remembered how she had caught sight of herself and David in the reflection of a mirror. With him being almost a foot taller than her without her heels they must look quite a mis-matched couple to some people, but Lauren liked tall men. She always had. They made her feel comfortable, safe, secure. Unlike the man she had dated a few years ago when she had been working a lot further north.

He had been smaller than her and a real mummy's boy. He always went running his mother called. She closed her eyes and sniffed, remembering what she'd had to surrender in order come back to town. His mother had worn her down and down until she didn't really know what she was doing and she had signed those bloody papers. She had been to see a solicitor once she returned to her home town and gotten back on her feet. However, there wasn't much she could do without the money she needed to beat his mother in court and she had decided to make the best of the situation in which she found herself.

She took another look around the bedroom, wiped her eyes and set about her task. She worked quickly and soon had the rather large pile of clothes packed into the laundry bag for washing or her suits in a separate bag for dry cleaning. She dumped both of these outside her bedroom door and grunted when she turned back into the room.

She picked everything up off the floor and dumped it onto the bed in one huge pile. She made a pile at the top end of the bed for CD covers, there were a lot of those. She might not take very good care of the covers but she did cherish all of the CDs. Another pile was made a few inches down for make up.

Then came the pile for missing pieces of jewellery. She smiled when she found the bracelet that Franky had bought her for Christmas, but pouted when she saw the reason why she'd thought she'd lost it at 'Senoritas'. The clasp was broken and wouldn't lock down so that it wouldn't slip off her wrist. She put this on a high shelf and resolved to get in fixed. Rubbish like chocolate wrappers, crisp packets and the bag three jam doughnuts had been in were finally dumped into the bin rather than onto the floor.

She might be a messy mare at home, but when it came to tidying up her mess she was organised and methodical. She put all of her CDs back into the appropriate cases and returned them to the rack. Her odd ear-rings were re-united with their partners and anything she didn't like the look of anymore was put into a gift bag for the charity shop.

She stripped the bed of all of its sky blue covers and opened the window wide to let some fresh air into the room while she ran downstairs to fetch the cleaning products she would need and the vacuum cleaner. She grunted again when she reached the top of the stairs and smiled when she put her ear to the bathroom door to hear Franky enjoying a relaxing bath. She just hoped she hadn't used all the hot water when she smelled the Lilly scented bubble-bath that Franky liked to use.

"Right final leg." She huffed to herself, stepping back into her bedroom and spending the next twenty minutes polishing, cleaning and hoovering.

She pulled clean white bed linen from the box that stood at the bottom of her bed and sighed happily once she'd re-made the bed. She returned the cleaning products and the vacuum to their rightful places and made her way back upstairs once more.

She smiled when she heard her mobile ringing, but the smile soon turned into a frown when she saw who was calling. She closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath and kept her voice low as she answered.

"Nick, What the hell do you want?...........What do you mean you want me to take care of Stephanie from now on?..........So. What has the fact that you're getting married in two weeks got to do with it?............Oh your fiancee and Stephanie don't like each other. Well that's news to me.......Nick, she barely knows who I am thanks to your bloody mother..........I don't need your money, I have a good job now.........My problem is that I haven't told anyone about her..........No, not even my parents or Dale...........You know I love her.........You will not .......... Because that's one thing I will never agree to, that's why not...........All right..........Just give me some time to sort things at this end..........Ok. One week........Bye."

"Damn it!" She hissed quietly as she hung up and dropped the phone onto the bed. She snatched her head up and around when she heard Franky shouting.

"All yours Lauren."

"Thanks Franky." She replied in her most cheerful voice.

Emma buried her face into her hands and blew out a long breath as the door closed slowly behind her.

She hadn't expected to find a member of her younger sister's favourite group in there, never mind the fact that she'd heard him yelling at the top of his lungs like that. She’d smiled when she saw the stupified look that had spread across his face as he opened his eyes to see her face.

It had taken everything she could muster not to burst into tears when she had seen the state of him.

She smiled as she recalled the disappointed look that had spread across his face when she'd told him that she wasn't going to be his physio-therapist and she had spotted how he had wrinkled his nose and pouted when she told him a man would be looking after him. Even through the bruising he'd looked kind of cute as he did it.

Then she remembered how tightly he had held her hand while he asked her why he'd been attacked and beaten like that. She couldn't think why anyone would ever want to do that to him. She could feel a slight shake wash over him while he held her hand and she was sure he was just about to break down into tears when he stopped himself.

She knew he needed to talk to someone about what had happened to him and how he felt about it. She thought for a moment then smiled as she nodded.

"You'll talk to someone soon Monsieur Izambard or I'm sending Adam up to sort you out." She nodded at the door.

"Is he ok Emma?" She heard a familiar voice questioning in front of her. "We heard him yelling but we had a more urgent case to deal with." The grey haired nurse informed.

"Yes he's fine Mum. Just a nightmare." Emma smiled in reply. "Serious?" She questioned as she nodded towards the direction her mother had come walking very quickly from.

Her mother closed her eyes and nodded. "A massive coronary. He didn't make it."

Emma nodded, gave her mother a quick hug and a smile then turned left and carried on walking down the corridor to the patient she had been on her way to see before she heard the distressed yelling.

____________


"Sorry. Did I wake you?" David asked as he stepped over the threshold of Urs's apartment and followed him towards the kitchen.

"Yes." Urs yawned while he poured two mugs of coffee out and handed one to David.

"Sorry." David shrugged.

"It's ok." Urs shook his head. "I needed to wake up about now anyway."

"Did you call Seb's mother?"

Urs nodded. "Last night."

"How did she take the news?"

"Pretty well." Urs nodded again and yawned once more.

"Is she coming over?" David questioned as he watched Urs rub his face hard with both hands.

"No. Seb insisted on having a quick word with her before they took him for the operation. He persuaded her not to come."

"Tough night, last night?" David asked while he nodded.

Urs nodded once more as they moved to his lounge.

"I still can't believe Franky did what she did to get into Sébastien's house. That climb did look really hard." David said as he sat on Urs's couch and shook his head.

"She did say she liked rockclimbing." Urs smiled and sighed.

"Yeah, Lauren said it’s one of her favourite hobbies." David beamed his usual smile and gave Urs a quick nudge. "You really like her, don't you?"

Urs smiled broadly and breathed deeply as he nodded. "What about you? How do you feel about Lauren?"

"You need to ask? She only has to say one word. It doesn't matter what and I'm gone." David grinned and glanced sideways at Urs.

"I know." Urs nodded his head. "Do you know if Carlos has called Karen yet?"

"Why do you think he hasn't turned up here with me? You should see the state he's in." David laughed out loud. "I've never known him be so nervous about going on a date."

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Urs laughed.

"Well by the time I left him most of his clothes were either on the floor or the bed. He just couldn't decide what he wanted to wear." David laughed out loud again. "I don't think he even noticed when I left, 'cos he didn't shout his usual 'Adios' as I walked out of the door. All I heard was him shouting something I didn't understand in Spanish."

"Sounds like he's got it bad." Urs laughed.

They laughed together until tears were running down their cheeks while David recounted what he had seen. Carlos holding various items of clothing in front of his body while he looked in the mirror, then mumbling to himself that the outfit wouldn't do, before sending the clothing flying across the bedroom.

"Just tell me one thing." Urs held his sides as he laughed.

"What?" David chortled in reply.

"Please tell me he had underwear on at the very least while he was doing it." Urs closed his eyes against the images of seeing the Spaniard naked during the tour flashed through his mind.

"Ok, if that's what you want to hear...." David shrugged quickly and continued to laugh. "....but I'd be lying."

Urs covered his face and shook his head quickly while David held his ribs and rocked backwards and forwards as they continued to laugh hysterically.

"Are you seeing Franky tonight?" David asked once they'd finally composed themselves.

Urs nodded. "I was thinking of taking her for a ride on my bike. She won't be able to ride hers for a while and I need to go for one anyway."

"Where to?"

"She knows where some stables are. I want her to show me where they are so that we can go riding tomorrow." Urs sighed again.

"Oh Yeah! It's a bank holiday tomorrow!" David nodded. "Are you going to see Seb again today?"

"Later. What about you? Are you seeing Lauren again?"

David nodded enthusiastically. "We're going to see Seb then we're going to the movies."

"To see what?"

David smiled broadly. "Take a guess?" Then started humming a familiar theme tune.

"Oh No! She doesn't? Please don't tell me she likes Star Wars movies as well." Urs shook his head.

"Yep! She loves them." David laughed when he saw the perplexed look on Urs's face. "The local cinema is playing the first two parts straight after one another tonight, then the next two tomorrow night and the final two on Tuesday night."

"No! No! No!" Urs laughed as he folded his arms across his knees and banged his forehead lightly on his arms.

He shook his head and reached for his phone. He sighed and shook his head again while he waited for Franky to pick up.

"Hello." He shuddered when he heard her voice.

"Hello Franky."

"Oh. Hi Urs. Have you decided where you're taking me tonight?" She asked.

"How would you feel about going for a ride with me after we've been to see Seb?"

"On your bike?"

"Pardon?!" Urs questioned teasingly as he remembered what some English people would say went they wanted you to go away. He laughed when heard Franky laughing.

"Very funny. You know what I mean." Franky laughed again. "Where would we be going on this bike ride?"

"I was thinking you could show me where those stables are so that I know where to go."

"Ok. Then what?"

"WellIdidmissoutonmyice-skatinglesson." He replied quickly hoping she wouldn't understand

Franky laughed once more. "Hmm. And I didn't get my German lesson did I?"

"Nein." Urs's eyes widened when he heard the growl in her voice as she said Hmm.

"I can get the keys to the rink off Lauren." She laughed again.

"Would we be alone?"

"Uh-huh. Very." Franky growled again.

"Ok. We'll do that then."

"Bring a change of clothes with you."

"What for?"

"You don't want to be skating in your leathers do you?" She laughed and he shuddered again.

"Oh! Of course." Urs laughed in reply.

"I'll see you in a while then?"

"Ja, Say six o'clock?"

"Ok. I'll be ready. Just one question before you go."

"What?"

"Red or Black?"

"I don't understand." Urs furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"Red or Black?" She giggled.

"Red or Black what?" He laughed again.

"You'll see when you pick me up."

"Ok. Erm....Red."

"Ok, red it will be. See you soon. Bye Urs."

"Bye Franky." He huffed a laugh and looked at the phone quizically before he hung up.

"Red what?" David asked with a nudge and a suggestive smile.

Urs shrugged and smiled.

"I don't know, but I think I'd better go and take a very cold shower. Trust me. You can't even begin to imagine what images are in my head at the minute." He laughed as he stood, quickly covered himself and sprinted for his bathroom.

"Think I have a pretty good idea buddy." David replied before he stood and headed to the kitchen for more coffee.

Jamie sat in the cocktail lounge sipping as slowly as she could on the last of the cheapest cocktail they sold. Having spent the afternoon being interviewed by the police about what had happened to Sébastien was not her idea of fun. She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing again as she recalled what they told her had happened to him and how she'd pretended to be very shocked while she asked them how he was. How she'd said she didn't have a clue who would want to do something like that to him.

She glanced at the man who sat watching her from the other end of the bar. He smiled seductively and raised his Martini glass to her. She gave him a smile but not the usual one she gave when she was pursuing the next chump who would fall for her charms. No, this smile was almost a straight line across her face and she blinked rapidly, making her eyes well with fake tears. Pretending to be very upset she pulled her face into a sad look, turned her head to look at the floor and sniffed loudly.

"Excuse me Miss, I couldn't help but notice how sad you looked. Is there some reason why you are so upset?" The tall, dark-haired, dark brown eyed man asked as he offered her the handkerchief from the pocket of his very expensive hand tailored suit. He smiled when she raised her head to look at him.

"Thank you." Jamie smiled slightly and nodded as she took the handkerchief and delicately wiped her nose and eyes.

"Keep it." The man replied when Jamie tried to hand the square of silk back to him. "Now lovely lady let me buy you another drink and you can tell me what has upset you so."

Jamie nodded and tapped her right finger against her pursed lips while she perused the selection available. She finally settled on a Long Island Iced Tea, naturally for Jamie it was one of the lounge's most expensive cocktails. She didn't order the most expensive because it had something in it that she didn't like. She told the man what she would like then sniffed as she proceeded to tell him her version of what had happened the night before and how she was now on compasionate leave from work for two weeks, following the death of her father. Of course, as it was Jamie that was telling the story, it was a complete pack of lies.

"I can't believe he dumped you especially at a time when you need someone to lean on. You're such as sweet young lady." The man tut-tutted and continued to smile at Jamie while he gently stroked her face.

"I know." Jamie sniffed. "I've had to organise Daddy's funeral all by myself. It was so hard."

"How would you like to go to dinner at 'Ramone's' with me tonight? Perhaps that would cheer you up a little." The asked as he pulled a platinum credit card from his wallet and handed it to the barman. Jamie's eyes flew wide as she watched how nonchalantly he did it.

He stood, picked up Jamie's wrap, placed it gently over her shoulders before slipping his right arm around her waist

"Gotcha!!" Jamie whispered to herself as she snuggled up to him. "I would love to dine with you, my ex-boyfriend only ever took me there once in the all the time were together. I loved him so much but he never bought me anything nice, not even so much as a nice bunch of flowers." Jamie pouted and shook her head. "I've never known a man so tight with his money."

"Well I can take you to 'Ramone's' every night if that is what you wish. I own the place."

"You do! You're not lying to me are you?" Jamie sighed.

"No! I wouldn't do that to such a pretty thing and you can have whatever your little heart desires."

Jamie smiled and ran a perfectly manicured right index finger down his throat to tickle the hairs on his chest.

"Gavin. The restaurant if you please." The man nodded to an average height, blonde haired, blue eyed young man, dressed in a grey suit and a peaked cap, standing by a high polished black Bentley Continental BT

"Yes. Mr Ramone." The chauffeur nodded as he closed the door and quickly moved round to the driver's seat.

_________

"Lauren, are you ok?" David asked as he parked his car in the hospital car park.

Lauren didn't reply, but sat in the passenger staring out of the window. David frowned while he looked at her. She had been very quiet and distracted throughout the journey. Even when he'd had to brake hard to avoid hitting the teenager that ran across the road in front of him, she hadn't reacted.

She'd barely smiled when he picked her up either and had only allowed him to give her a quick peck on the cheek as she greeted him, rather than a kiss on the lips. She had sighed heavily several times while he drove and he was sure he'd seen her wipe tears from her eyes when she thought he wasn't looking.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Lauren smiled as he held the car door open for her and offered a hand to help her out.

"I asked if you were ok?" David returned her smile as he replied.

"Fine. Why?" Lauren nodded.

"You seem a little distracted."

"Oh. Just something at work that's bothering me." She fibbed and took hold of David's hand. "It's not important. I'm making a mountain out of a molehill again and I'm not really that keen on hospitals" She laughed and shook her head quickly.

"You're sure that's all it is?"

Lauren closed her eyes and nodded quickly. She drew in a deep breath, slowly blew it out and smiled back at David as they stepped into the hospital.

___________


"Hey Seb. Are you awake?" Carlos asked with a huge smile as he poked his head around the door.

"Oui, I'm awake." He replied wearily. "You didn't have to get all dressed up to come and see me Carlos, jeans and a t-shirt would have been fine." Sébastien grunted a laugh when he saw the white shirt and deep-blue trousers he had finally settled on.

"I haven't got dressed up to come and see you." Carlos flicked his head upwards as he sat in the chair on the left side of his bed. "I have a date tonight."

"Who's the unlucky lady?" Sébastien chuckled.

Carlos glared at him playfully. "Well if you're going to be like that, I will leave now." Carlos huffed as he moved to stand up.

"You know I was only joking." Sébastien blinked quickly, reached for Carlos' arm and pulled him back down.

"Is there something wrong amigo?" Carlos asked when he saw the look of sadness on his face.

"Non. I just pulled my back a little." Sébastien smiled. "So tell me about her then."

Sébastien listened intently while Carlos told him about Karen. What she looked like and that she was another friend of Franky's. They both smiled as David and Lauren entered the room.

"Hey Frenchie! How'ya doing?" David smiled as he perched himself on the end of the bed, allowing Lauren to take the other chair.

"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt so much now. The painkillers they're giving me are really good." Sébastien nodded.

"Good." David nodded.

"The ice and heat treatments aren't much fun though. Especially the ice part." Sébastien shook his head as he laughed.

David looked at him with a confused expression while Lauren blushed as she giggled with Sébastien.

"I don't get it." David shook his head.

"And you call Carlos dense." Sébastien laughed a little harder as he spoke.

Lauren turned away from the pair with tears of laughter in her eyes.

"David. You know. Ice. When it melts, it's still quite cold and it runs. Down here and here." Sébastien pointed to his groin first then to his backside. He looked at Carlos who laughed and rolled his eyes into head.

"Come on David, even I understood what Seb means." Carlos informed through his laughter.

"Oh. Right." David shook his head and subconsciously covered himself when he finally understood. "Have they said how long they want to keep you in?" David asked as he slapped his forehead with the palm of his left hand.

"A day or two. They had me standing up earlier." Sébastien nodded once he'd regained his composure.

"So soon?" Carlos questioned.

Sébastien nodded again. "It hurt like hell, but I managed to stand, with the aid of crutches, for about two minutes before the pain became too much for me to take." He said triumphantly.

"Why didn't you get them to call one of us, so that we could be here?" David asked.

"I told them not to, because you all looked so tired this morning." Sébastien shook his head. "Have the police talked to you all yet."

"This afternoon." David nodded. "Have they found any evidence at your house?"

Sébastien closed his eyes and shook his head. "Non. No fingerprints as least. They think my attackers wore gloves, but I can't remember if they did or they didn't. Any DNA that they find isn't going to be much good unless they're already in the system or I can remember what they look like. Which I can't because I didn't get a very good look at them."

"Are you going to need help when you do leave?" Lauren questioned.

"A little."

"I really have to go now." Carlos smiled as he looked at his watch and stood up. "I will come and see you again tomorrow ok?" He smiled at Sébastien and squeezed his left shoulder gently. Sébastien nodded and tried not to swallow hard.

"Have a good time." He said as Carlos walked through the door. "So where are you two going tonight?"

"The movies." David beamed and started humming the theme tune again.

"Not you too?" Sébastien questioned a broadly smiling and nodding Lauren.

"What? What's wrong with Start Wars? I think they're brilliant films." Lauren laughed as she watched Sébastien slap his right hand to his forehead.

"Non! Non! Non!" He shook his head while he laughed. "Is Urs coming to see me?"

"Yeah! He's gone to pick Franky up then they're coming to see you."

"Good. Maybe I can charm Franky into letting me replace that dress." Sébastien smiled.

"You've got no chance." Lauren laughed.

"Good luck with that." David nodded. "Oh yes! I've been meaning to ask you. What's this red or black thing she was on about when she was on the phone to Urs?" He asked as he turned to Lauren.

"Oh oui?" Sébastien questioned with a wry smile.

"I don't know. I was in the bath when she was on the phone." Lauren replied. "Honest!" She exclaimed when she saw both David and Sébastien looking at her suspiciously.

____________


Urs drew in a deep breath as he approached Franky's front door anticipating what it would feel like to have her arms around him while they rode on his bike and wondering what the red or black thing was all about.

"Oh I don't know." He shook his head as raised his hand to knock.

He paused for a moment. Then knocked quickly. He turned his back to the door while he waited for her to answer and quickly glanced at the neat and tidy garden. He wondered who was responsible for keeping it that way.

"Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to come in for a moment while I finish fastening this damned boot?" Franky questioned as she stood in the open doorway.

Urs blew out the breath he'd been holding as he turned to face her.

"Wow!! You look......Oh this was what the red or black thing was about?" He asked when he saw the red colour of her leathers.

"You were expecting something else?" Franky questioned saracastically with a suggestive smirk on her lips.

"No." Urs replied quickly with a slight shake of his head. He felt himself redden again and shrugged in reply as he looked at her. 'Gott she looks good enough to eat.' He thought to himself, wondering if she knew his mind had envisioned seeing her in a red basque, matching knickers, stockings and high heeled shoes when they'd talked on the phone.

"You are such a bad liar." Franky whispered in his ear as she dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. "I'm going to fling this boot in a minute though. The zip's jammed halfway up and I can't get it to move either up or down." She informed while she pulled at the fastening of the right boot. She grunted loudly when it refused to move.

"Let me see if I can help you with that." Urs laughed as he knelt down just inside the doorway. He held her calf gently in his hands and gave the zip a quick yank. "There! That's got it." He said as he pulled the zip all the way up. He stood up and blinked slowly when he found himself face-to-face with her.

"Thank you." Franky smiled softly. "Did you get some sleep?" She questioned while she stroked the left side of his face gently.

Urs breathed deeply and closed his eyes as she touched him. "Yes. Why?"

"Because you still look quite tired."

"I'm fine." Urs nodded.

"You're sure?" She questioned again.

Urs nodded a little harder in affirmation.

He didn't want to spoil their date by telling her that he was absolutely shattered, more tired than he'd ever been in his life. The cold shower had woken him up a little, but right now he felt like all he really wanted to do was to curl up on his bed and sleep forever. Preferably with her curled up beside him, wrapped in his arms.

"Ready?" He asked after he had kissed her gently.

Franky nodded and picked up her crash helmet and a small backpack. She locked the front door securely behind them, slipped the backpack onto her back and linked arms with Urs as they walked towards his bike. She put her crash helmet on while Urs started his bike. Franky giggled slightly as she watched him push the kickstart twice then grunted a laugh when he turned round to her, looked at her through narrowed eyes and quickly stuck his tongue out.

"Never mind. You'll get the knack one day." Franky teased with gentle pat of his face, then gracefully mounted the bike behind him. She felt him shudder as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Ready?" He asked once he'd fastened his own helmet and he'd turned round to look at her.

Franky nodded, held him just a little tighter and felt him shudder again as they moved off.

"We've got to go now." David smiled after checking his watch.

"Ok. Have a good time." Sébastien smiled as he watched David and Lauren leave hand-in-hand.

"Don't worry. We will." Lauren shouted back. "Hey Franky. Hi Urs."

Sébastien drew in a deep breath while he waited for them to enter his room. He'd fought so hard to hide his emotions from David and Carlos and really didn't want to start crying in front of Franky.

He smiled as he watched Urs and Franky walk across to him in the same manner David and Lauren had left.

"So is this was what the red or black thing was about?" He questioned with raised eyebrows as they sat down on either side of the bed.

Franky folded her arms across her chest then looked at Urs questioningly .

"David was there when I called you." He smiled and blinked slowly. He laughed a quietly when he saw her blush just a little. "David just said they had you standing up today." Urs smiled as he turned to look at Sébastien.

"For a minute or two yes." Sébastien smiled. "What are you two doing tonight then? Like I really need to ask" He laughed while he pinched Urs's leather jacket.

"Franky's going to show me where some stables are." Urs smiled.

"Then what?" Sébastien teased.

"Mind your own business." Urs laughed. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I...I'm fine." Sébastien nodded. "Franky, I really would like to replace that dress you ruined." He smiled as he turned to her.

"Really Seb, there's no need." Franky shook her head.

"Sil vous plait." Sébastien smiled again and looked at her through his long eye lashes.

Franky shook her head and rolled her eyes into her head. "Ohhhh. Ok. Ok. Anything to shut you up."

"See. French charm works every time." Sébastien smiled and nodded at Urs.

Urs rolled his eyes into his head and let out a quick "Pfft."

"God! What have I got myself into with you lot?" Franky laughed as she stood and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Urs asked.

"The little girls' room." Franky smiled back at him as she left.

Sébastien yelled loudly and finally gave in to his emotions. "Oh Mon Dieu!!"

"Seb! What's wrong? Are you in pain? Do you need a doctor or something?" Urs asked as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Non. Nothing like that." Sébastien swallowed hard and pressed his right fist hard against his lips while he shook his head and tried to prevent his tears from falling. "I just want to know why this happened to me. What have I done to deserve this?"

"You did nothing Seb." Urs replied as he sat down next to him and laid both hands on his shoulders. "No-one, least of all you, deserves anything like this. Are you sure you didn't recognise either of the men?"

"Non. I couldn't see much, except their size." Sébastien shook his head slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"Just something Franky and Lauren said about the big guy."

"What?"

"It kind of involves Jamie too." Urs hung his head.

"What? Urs please, tell me what's going on."

Urs sighed deeply and informed him of what Franky and Lauren suspected.

"Non." Sébastien shook his head. "She wouldn't do that."

"Ask Franky and Lauren what happened to one of her previous boyfriends if you don't believe me."

"What do you mean?"

"Seb, One guy asked her to marry him and she turned him down. Someone beat him up because he wouldn't leave her alone, but no-one knows what happened to him after that. Franky and Lauren just think it's suspicious because the sizes of the men you described to me sound like Jamie's brother and his friend to them. Can't you see how they could be right?" Urs shook his head.

"Non." Sébastien shook his head defiantly. "She wouldn't." Sébastien pursed his lips hard together and shook violently.

"Is everything ok?" Franky asked as she came back in.

"I was just telling Seb about what you and Lauren suspect about Jamie." Urs shrugged.

"Oh! Ah!" Franky nodded and lowered her eyes to the ground.

"Tell me it's not true." Sébastien requested while he wiped his eyes.

"I'm sorry Seb. I know we've only just met and you have no reason to believe what I'm saying, but please trust me. You heard what she said when Tony dragged her out of 'Senoritas'." Franky nodded with her eyes closed as she continued. "I know there's no proof, but I really do think she got her brother and his friend to do this to you as her way of punishing you for dumping her."

"Non, She wouldn't..." Sébastien began.

"Yes she would." Franky nodded her head again.

"Non! I don't believe she could do that. I won't believe it." Sébastien turned his head sharply away from them both.

"I'm so sorry." Franky informed as she gently patted the top of his right hand.

Sébastien nodded. "Just leave me alone. I want to sleep now. I'm feeling very tired all of a sudden." He allowed a small sob to escape as he did so.

"Ok. We'll see you again tomorrow." Urs replied as he gently squeezed the top of Sébastien's left arm.

"Try not to let it upset you too much. She's really not worth your tears." Franky asked as she stood to leave. "Oh! I nearly forgot. A young lady by the name of Emma asked me say hello for her."

Sébastien nodded and turned the corners of his mouth up slightly.

"Goodnight Seb." Franky nodded. "I really am very sorry. I just thought you should know what kind of woman you had got yourself involved with."

He sniffed then nodded sadly as he listened to them leave.

He closed his eyes and tried not to think about what he had just been told while he waited for sleep to come. He wasn't as tired as he'd made out he was to Franky and Urs. He just couldn't believe that Jamie would go that far because he'd ended their relationship. He allowed the thoughts to fill his head and, after a moment or two, decided that there could be a very good chance Franky was right.

He suddenly turned his head towards the door and found himself wishing that Emma would walk through it.

Carlos drummed his fingers nervously on the chair arm while he waited for Karen to appear. He checked his watch again. She was already five minutes late and with each second that went by he was growing more nervous. He hadn't felt this way in years and he wondered why. Normally he was supremely confident, now he felt like a nervous teenager on his first date.

He knew there was something different about Karen the moment he saw her talking to Franky. She hadn't turned away and giggled when he'd smiled at her, she'd just given him that sexy little nod and smiled right back at him. The smile that had stunned him and had given Urs the chance of getting a little of his own back.

He checked his watch again and sighed. Seven minutes late. He started to wonder if she'd had stood him up as he quickly scanned the area and didn't see her.

"I'm so sorry I'm late." Karen gasped breathlessly as she suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Huh? Oh! You're here." Carlos smiled back at her and gave her a quick look up and down. 'She's looks even better up close.' He thought to himself with a flash of a raised left eyebrow. "Have you been running?" He questioned when he saw how flushed she was.

"No. " Karen shook her head "Just walking a little faster than I normally do. Those stairs from the sixth floor are a killer."

Carlos laughed quietly as he watched her take a few deep breaths.

"Like I said, I'm so sorry I'm late. My boss came in with an urgent email I had to send before I could leave." Karen smiled again. "You didn't think I'd stood you up did you?" She questioned while she bit the left side of her bottom lip.

"No. No." Carlos shook his head quickly as he fibbed. "No. Not at all."

"Good." Karen nodded and looked at him. 'Ooooh you fibber you.' She giggled to herself then coughed. 'You think I didn't see that sad little glance round don't you?' She thought to herself while she spoke. "How's Sébastien?"

"He is fine, I think. His back is giving him a lot of pain, but otherwise he seems ok." Carlos replied. "Shall we go?" He asked as he held a slightly bent right arm out to her.

"Do you mind if I go home and quickly freshen up? I've been stuck in my office all day and I would like to put something a little more comfortable on. My home isn't far."

"Fine by me." Carlos shrugged and smiled as he pulled out his car keys.

"You won't be needing those until I've changed." Karen informed as they walked out of the entrance. "I live just over there." She informed with a point to a row of small Victorian houses that stood opposite the hospital. "I would have come over to fetch something at lunchtime, but I got stuck in a meeting with my boss." She smiled again.

"Oh, what sort of doctor is he anyway?" Carlos asked.

"He's not a doctor, he's a consultant." Karen glanced at him as she looked for a gap in the traffic.

"There's a difference?" Carlos questioned.

"Yes, doctors deal with all parts of the body, consultants deal with one."

"Oh now I understand. So what sort of consultant is he then?"

"Cardio Thorasic. He deals with patients who have problems with their heart and lungs. Ok. Here we go." She yelled as she pulled him quickly across the road. "Where are we going tonight?" Karen asked while she opened her front door.

"Oh! Err!" Carlos faultered.

Karen laughed a little and shook her head as they stepped into the building. She lead him to her lounge and told him to make himself comfortable. Carlos smiled nervously as he sat down on her couch.

"Well you did ask me out for a drink. Would you like to try the pub round the corner? It's quiet in there and they do some lovely food." Karen shouted as she headed out of the lounge, up the hallway to her bathroom.

"Ok. That sounds nice." Carlos shouted back in reply.

"I won't be long." She shouted again.

"Take as long as you need." Carlos shouted back as he stood and made his way over to a wall where Karen had a large selection of photographs displayed. He looked a little closer as he saw one with two women hanging from a rockface by the tips of their fingers.

"What are you looking at?" Karen asked when she came into the room dressed in a knee-length black skirt, a dark blue v-necked top and black high-heeled shoes. Her hair had been eased out of the plait. She had brushed it and it flowed free over her shoulders.

"Huh?" Carlos snatched his head round to face her and shuddered as the mental picture he had created when he first saw her stood before him. "Erm.....This one. That looks like Franky, but who is the other woman?" Carlos slowly turned back to the pictures and pointed to where he had been looking.

"You're right. That's Franky" Karen nodded. "And that's me." She informed as she pointed to herself.

"Really!" Carlos queried while he looked from the photograph to Karen and back again.

"Yes." Karen nodded. "When I was going through my blonde phase." She informed with a tug at her hair.

"Oh. Right. How high up are you?"

"Oh, only a hundred and fifty feet in that one." Karen wrinkled her nose and shrugged nonchalantly as she spoke.

"Only!" Carlos exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"Sure. We've climbed a lot higher." Karen nodded her head quickly. "If I remember right the last climb we did together was just over one thousand five hundred feet."

"Wow! David said Franky could climb, but I didn't think he meant that well."

"Oh. That's nothing. You should see her free climb."

"Free climb?"

"That's climbing without ropes."

"Now you are yanking of my chain." Carlos laughed as he looked at her.

"No I'm not." Karen shook her head. "Which one is it?" She asked herself while she scanned the wall. "Here." She indicated with her index finger.

"Madre mia!" Carlos exclaimed when he saw the photograph of Franky clinging to rockface without the aid of any climbing equipment, apart from a helmet and a chalk bag strapped around her waist. "How high up is she?"

Karen took the photograph off the wall and checked the label on the back.

"Five hundred and seventy five feet."

Carlos swallowed hard.

"Ready?" Karen questioned.

Carlos nodded. "Who took the photograph?"

"Me, but I used ropes to climb. I'm not as brave as Franky. I will freeclimb, but not that high." Karen replied as she pulled her front door firmly shut and linked arms with Carlos.

"Well, I think your both crazy." Carlos informed with quick flick of his eyebrows.

"I've got news for you."

"What?" Carlos raised his right eyebrow and held it there.

"You're not wrong." Karen laughed and shook her head.

___________


"Lauren, are you watching this or not?" David whispered as he watched her turn her head over her shoulder for the fourth time in half an hour.

"Sorry." Lauren smiled and turned back to the screen.

"Something wrong?"

Lauren nodded. "I think Jamie's brother's friend is sitting a few rows behind us."

"Where?" David asked angrilly as he turned in his seat to have a look.

"David, don't make it obvious." Lauren nudged him with her elbow. "Ohhh. What is his name?" She shook her head and tried to think. She started whispering the alphabet.

"What are you doing?" David whispered again.

"Oh! The alphabet thing. It's something I do when I can't remember names. Now where was I, L - No, M - No, N - No, O -," She paused. "O that's it. It begins with O. Owen. Owen Stamp is his name." She looked behind her once more and looked directly at him.

"Problem?" Owen snapped when he saw her looking.

Lauren turned to face the screen again, snuggled her head into David's shoulder and swallowed hard as he squeezed her gently.

"Are you ok?" David asked as he looked down at her.

"Fine. Why?" Lauren smiled.

"'Cos you're shaking."

"Oh! That bit scared me." Lauren lied with a smile.

"Yeah right!" David laughed as he pulled her a little closer.

"So you'll be ok finding them when you want to go riding?" Franky questioned as she unlocked the ice rink doors and turned the alarm off.

"Yes, they're easy to get to." Urs replied, walking over to a vending machine. "What have they got in here?" He asked as he scanned the contents. "Hah! They'll do." He exclaimed, pulling some change out of his pocket, putting it in the slot, pushing the numbers for his selection and bending to pick it up. A quick smirk finding its way across his face when he heard a small whine behind him.

"You can't eat those!" Franky yelled as he went to pull the wrapper apart.

"Why not? It's only a bag of nuts." Urs smiled in reply.

"I have a severe nut allergy." Franky shrugged.

"Oh! Right! I'll have them later." Urs smiled, then tucked the packet into his holdall.

"Sorry." Franky smiled.

"It's ok." Urs shook his head. "You have to be really careful with what you eat then?"

Franky nodded. "It's a real pain in the ass. I have to take this with me everywhere I go too." She informed while she held up the funny looking tube shaped object that she had pulled from her backpack.

"What's that?"

"An epi-pen. If I have a reaction there's adrenaline in there to combat it. I can usually do it myself. I have to wear this all the time as well." She wrinkled the right side of her nose as she pulled the medic alert necklace from under her t-shirt.

"I wondered what that was the other night." Urs replied while he took the pendant in his hand and looked at the two snakes intertwined round a staff that had angel wings at the top of it. "I just thought it was an usual piece of jewellery. It doesn't stop you doing anything though does it?"

"No." Franky shook her head. "I just have to read all the labels on the food I buy very carefully and I can't use toiletries with nut oils in."

"What happens when you do have a reaction?"

"It usually starts off with a cough that won't stop. Then, if I don't use the pen, I get a rash and if I get a really bad reaction I start wheezing then I get short of breath and then finally pass out. It can happen very quickly and if I don't get treated, I could........I could die."

"Does it mean I have to do anything special?" Urs asked after gasping loudly at her final comment.

"It means you can't touch me or kiss me if you've eaten nuts recently, no-one can. Not even a peck on the cheek. The oils stay on your skin and lips you see. Oh and you can't use toiletries with nut oils in either."

"Ok. I'll remember that."

"Told you it was a pain in the ass didn't I?" Franky smiled as she pushed him towards the changing rooms. "Now you go in there and change. I'll go in here and get ready. Then I'll meet you at the ice. What shoe size are you?"

"Zehn." Urs replied with a smile as he pushed the door open.

"That's ten, right?" Franky questioned while she stood at the women's changing room door.

"Ja." Urs nodded.

They both changed quickly and walked to the rink together. Franky took Urs through a range of stretching exercises before she would allow him on the ice. She informed him that if he didn't do them he would be very sore in the morning.

"Ready?" She asked as they finished lacing their boots up.

"As I'll ever be." Urs rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Ok. Let's go." Franky smiled as she stood up. She laughed a little when Urs wobbled slightly. "The secret to walking on skates, is to walk like this." She smiled as she demonstrated.

"Hmm. That's better." Urs nodded, copying her motion.

"Right. Let's hit the ice. No don't lock your knees like that. Relax them or I'll be calling you Franky but for a totally different reason." Franky instructed as she watched how stiff he held his legs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Urs laughed.

"Nothing. Frankenstein." She giggled as she showed what he was doing then laughed loudly when she saw him scowling at her.

"That's better." Franky nodded and moved to stand beside him. "Now watch me carefully." She skated forward a little then turned to face him. "Your turn."

"Whoops!" Urs laughed as he copied what she'd shown him and wobbled again. "One problem."

"What?"

"How do I stop when I want to?" Urs asked as he held his arms out to grab her.

"Well you can either grab hold of the advertising hoarding." Franky nodded to his left hand side. "Or you can fall on your arse." Franky giggled while she skated backwards away from him, keeping herself just out of his reach.

"Hey, you're not doing bad for your first real attempt. You're picking this up pretty quick." She said while she watched his footwork.

He still held his legs a little stiffer than he should but he was beginning to relax into the movement. She bit her lip as she watched him yawn for the umpteenth time since they had started skating. She had asked him if he was all right again when they had arrived at the rink. He still looked very tired to her but he'd insisted he was fine.

Franky looked over her left shoulder as they approached the other end of the rink and quickly turned so that they were heading back the way they had come. "Ok turn around and back we go."

Urs grabbed the hoarding to stop himself, carefully turned himself around and pushed off again. He wobbled slightly as he did so, but managed to grab the hoarding again just in time to stop his backside hitting the ice.

They skated up and down the rink that way for half an hour with Urs gaining in confidence with each length of the rink. He turned around one more time and glared at Franky playfully while she skated away from him.

"What's that look for?" She shrugged.

"When are you going to stay still for a minute?" Urs questioned.

"What do you want me to stay still for? Ice-skating is about moving."

"I want you to stay still so that I get hold of you and kiss you." Urs looked at her through dark, narrowed eyes.

"Oh really!" Franky exclaimed as she stood erect and allowed her momentum to carry her across the ice.

"Uh-huh." Urs nodded with a laugh.

Franky hadn't been paying attention to what she was doing and hadn't realised they had almost reached the other end of the rink again.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed when her back connected gently with the wall.

"Finally!" Urs yelled as he bumped up against her gently.

He felt her shudder as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, fighting hard to keep his body under control but still feeling a tingling sensation run up the entire length of his body as he looked into her eyes and leaned in to give Franky a slow and gentle kiss.

"I think I'm going to like having ice-skating lessons." He whispered breathlessly once he'd released her.

"Really? I would never have guessed." Franky replied just as breathlessly before he kissed her again, this time much harder and much deeper.

"Why Jamie? Why? I loved you. I gave you everything you wanted. Why didn't you love me?" He heard himself yelling.

He saw her beautiful face turning into an evil one as she stood in the hallway of his house and laughed hysterically while he was punched over and over and over again. He saw the glint of metal again.

"Non! Non! Non! Please non. Don't! Don't do that. Nooo......."

He startled awake and lay staring wide-eyed at the bright white ceiling, breathing rapidly, sweating, crying.

"Sébastien are you all right?" He heard Emma's voice through the door.

"Non. I erm.....I had the dream again." He panted. "Emma. Why are you still here? Shouldn't you have finished hours ago?"

Emma smiled as she sat down in the chair on his right side.

"I had a lot of paperwork to catch up on and a couple of friends to visit. One of them had a baby boy this afternoon. I thought the others were coming to see you."

"Oh!" Sébastien nodded as he looked at her. "They did, they all did. I told them I was feeling tired so they left."

Emma nodded. "Still don't want to talk." She smiled.

"Non." Sébastien shook his head as he turned it away and sniffed loudly.

"Does anyone else know what almost happened to you?"

"Just Urs." Sébastien nodded. "He saw everything. I asked him not to tell Carlos and David."

"Why not?!" Emma asked with a stunned expression on her face. "Don't you trust them?"

"Oui, I trust them. Of course I do. They're like my brothers after all." Sébastien huffed "I'm just closer to Urs." He shrugged and shook his head slightly.

"I see, but you're not exactly being fair to Urs asking him to keep it a secret are you? Have you even thought how he's feeling after what he saw and what you've asked of him? What would David and Carlos say if it slipped out?"

"Non. I haven't. Oh mon Dieu." Sébastien exclaimed as his hand flew to his mouth. "I didn't think about that. It must have been awful for him." Sébastien shook his head and chewed on his bottom lip. "I really should tell David and Carlos shouldn't I?"

Emma nodded. "Wouldn't you want to know if the same thing had happened to one of them?"

Sébastien pursed his lips tight and nodded quickly.

"Who's Jamie?"

Sébastien shook his head and tried to stop his tears from falling.

"I'm sorry, it's really none of my business." Emma shook her head as she reached into her pocket and found a clean tissue. "Here." She smiled and gave his free hand a gentle squeeze as she gave it to him, watching him close his eyes and hearing him breath deep as she did so.

"You really should talk to someone about what happened though and I don't mean to one of the others. It's not good to bottle things up like this, you'll only end up depressed." She informed with a shake of her head as she moved her hands to gently cup his face. "I have to go now. Are you going to be ok or do you want something to help you sleep?"

"I'll be fine." Sébastien swallowed hard.

"If you're sure."

Sébastien nodded and gave her a weak smile as he watched her leave.

"Goodnight Sébastien."

"Night Emma and thank you." He nodded and turned his head to the right.

He lay there for a moment breathing as deep as he could, thinking that he had made a very big mistake by asking Urs to keep quiet about what had happened to him. Emma was right, he would want to know if it was Carlos or David lying where he was right now and it wasn't right for him to have asked Urs to keep things to himself.

He looked at the time on the clock that Emma had left on the cabinet that stood at the side of his bed then at the broken phone that sat on the same cabinet. It wasn't that late and he could have made the calls but he knew everyone would still be out enjoying themselves and resolved to make them first thing in the morning.

He shook his head as he looked out of his window. The moon was full tonight and sky was clear enabling him to see thousands of stars. He gasped lightly and smiled as he saw one shoot across the ever darkening sky.

He closed his eyes and raised one hand to touch his face as he recollected Emma most recent touch. He sighed heavy and smiled softly as he slowly drifted off to sleep again.

_________

"Surely not!" Carlos exclaimed as he and Karen sat down on the bench that ran around the old Oak tree in the beer garden of 'The Queen's Arms'. "Not already." Carlos shook his head.

"I wouldn't be surprised, that's exactly how Jamie works. At the very least she's dangling the worm trying to reel another sucker in. Oooh sorry! I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I'm sure Sébastien thought she loved him." Karen grimmaced when she realised what she'd said..

"It's ok. We all tried to tell him she didn't, but he wouldn't listen." Carlos shook his head again. "He can be obstinado when he wants to be."

"You're all quite close aren't you?" Karen asked with a smile.

"Si, we've become like brothers."

"At least he got out early. I just wish my friend Christopher Hunter had. I wish I knew where he'd disappeared to as well." Karen sighed.

"You do not know where he is?"

"Not a clue." Karen shook her head. "Chris dated Jamie for just under a year. He spent loads of money on her and even asked her to marry him. I was in Australia while all this was going on and he called me telling me what he planned to do. I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn't listen. The next thing I hear of him is that he's been beaten up. Then I don't hear anything for a couple of weeks and when I tried to contact him again his business has gone bankrupt and he's disappeared off the face of the planet."

"Have you called his parents?"

Karen shook her head. "They both died years ago. I've tried everything I can think of, but because I'm not a blood relative no-one will tell me anything." She sniffed and knocked a tear from her cheek.

"Is he....Is he more than a friend to you?" Carlos questioned, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Oh no, no, no." Karen shook her head. "He's like the big brother I never had. Kind of like you and your friends. We looked out for one another when we were growing up, because neither of us had brothers or sisters."

"Oh!" Carlos nodded with a smile.

"Seb's an only child isn't he?"

Carlos nodded and pursed his lips tightly. "And it shows some times."

"How so?"

"He doesn't like to be on his own too much. When he's worried or upset about something he bottles it up. He hides it quite well and it is hard to tell when he's doing it. Urs seems to be able to sense when he is doing it though. It's just so frustrating for David and me. He knows we all care about him but he still does it. Then it will all coming flooding out in either a fit of anger or tears. It's almost like he doesn't trust us completely."

"Have you tried talking to him about what happened?" Karen smiled.

"Si, he says he's fine, but I do not think he's as fine as he says he is." Carlos shook his head.

"Maybe if you pushed a little harder, he might open up a little more." Karen shrugged.

"Hmm maybe. Perhaps I will try tomorrow." Carlos nodded. "In the meantime, you tell me more about this fascination you and Franky have for climbing the rocks. I still don't understand it." He laughed while he snaked his arm around Karen's waist and gently pulled her a little closer.

"Well that was fun." David smiled as he and Lauren walked from the cinema hand-in-hand.

"Sure was."

"Wanna see the next two tomorrow?" David questioned.

"Is the Pope a Catholic?" Lauren laughed in reply.

David looked at her confused for a moment then laughed himself. "That means yes, doesn't it?"

Lauren laughed again while she nodded. "I need to......" She wrinkled her nose as she pointed in the direction of the bathroom. "I won't be a minute."

"I'll be waiting right here." David smiled, admiring the way her hips swung while she moved.

"Oi Yank!" He heard to his right hand side.

"Sorry, Are you talking to me?" David asked as he turned to face the person who had shouted. He swallowed hard when he saw him.

Owen Stamp stood a good four inches, if not more, than David. Every inch of him looked like it had well developed muscles and Daivd quickly thought he must spend a hell of a lot time in the gym, enough to put Urs to shame at least.

'Arnie ain't in it, this guy is huge. No wonder Seb couldn't fight him off.' He thought himself.

"Yeah I'm talking to you." The man replied. "Has your bitch got some sort of problem with me?"

"Pardon? Who are you calling a bitch?" David asked as he drew himself up to his full height trying to make an impression on the giant who stood before him and failing miserably.

"That little tart you're with, that's who." Owen sneered.

"Excuse me. Please don't refer to her like that." David smiled and shook his head.

"Why not? Does it offend you?"

"Yes it does." David snapped.

Owen laughed out loud. "Shame. Just tell the slut if she looks at me like that again you'll end up like that friend of yours."

"What?!" David yelled. "It was you that hurt Seb?"

"Prove it." Owen hissed quietly at him.

"You sonofabi......"

He didn't get chance to finish as Owen swung his right fist and connected hard with the left side of David's jaw sending him sprawling to the floor.

"David!" He heard Lauren's voice as he stood back up and watched Owen striding confidently away, everyone moving out of his way as he did so. "What did he want with you?" Lauren questioned as she took a clean tissue from her handbag and wiped the blood away from his split lip.

"Nothing. It was just a misunderstanding." David smiled then glared at Owen as he watched him leave the cinema.

"About what?"

"It doesn't matter." David shook his head and wrapped his arm around Lauren's waist. "I'm hungry. Do you want to go and get something to eat?"

"Have you got hollow legs or something?" Lauren questioned while she looked at him open-mouthed.

"What? I haven't eaten that much."

Lauren choked and shook her head at him. "Well if you call a mega-bucket of popcorn, an extra large hot-dog and a king-sized bag of crisps...."

"Potato chips." David interupted.

"Maybe where you're from, here they're called crisps Mr Miller." Lauren reminded as she pointed to the ground. "If you call that lot not much I would hate to see what you do. Porky." Lauren teased while she poked his stomach.

"I shared." David pouted.

"With resentment." Lauren nodded. "What do you fancy anyway?"

David beamed his usual smile as he looked Lauren up and down. "Yummy."

"Oh God!" Lauren laughed and blushed bright red as David grabbed her hand and pulled her gently towards the entrance of the cinema.

David quickly scanned the area and smiled even broader when he spotted a newly built Starbuck's still open across the road.

"Ever had one?" He questioned Lauren as he pointed in the direction of the shop.

Lauren shook her head.

"C'mon then. You're in for a treat." He said as they walked quickly across the road.

He laughed as he watched Lauren's eyes light up at the selection available. They eventually settled on the hot chocolate and Lauren looked at David in stunned silence when hers was handed to her.

"I'll never drink all this." Lauren shook her head while she looked the twenty fluid ounce cup topped with whipped cream up and down.

"Don't worry, I'll finish what you can't manage." David laughed making Lauren shower the ground with a mouthful of her drink. He smiled at her as she turned round to face him.

"What?" She questioned as he looked at her.

"You have whipped cream across your top lip."

"Oh!" Lauren giggled as she moved to wipe her mouth with the napkin she had been given with the drink. She gasped then David grabbed her wrist gently and stopped her.

David shook his head. "Not that way." He informed her.

Still holding his hot chocolate in his left hand he pulled her close with his right and moved it to wrap around Lauren's waist. She stood with her arms down by her side wondering what he was going to do. Her eyes widened and her drink went crashing to the floor as he covered her mouth with his own in a long, deep kiss, taking the taste of whipped cream, chocolate and Lauren with him when he pulled back. Lauren blushed bright red as she looked down at the ground and saw two large puddles of hot chocolate and whipped cream.

__________

"Close. I was so close." Emma said to the door as she entered the lift. "This close to getting him to talk." She continued as she held her right hand up with her thumb and index finger almost touching. "Very well Monsiuer Izambard, you won't talk to me or anyone else, you're going to get a visit from my friend Adam tomorrow and let's see what barriers you can put up against him." Emma giggled a little. "No-one has topped him yet."

She shook her head while she thought of the conversation she and Adam had had after Sébastien's first nightmare. How Adam had asked her if she wanted him to pay one of his 'special' visits. How she had shaken her head at him and told him she would give it one more go and if that failed she would call him. That call would be his signal to go ahead. Adam would be receiving that call very shortly.

Emma blew out a few deeps breaths as she thought about Sébastien and wondered why her heart would thump like that every time she did. Even though he was badly bruised around his face she could see how handsome he was and how his eyes would light up whenever she entered the room and how he would shudder slightly whenever she touched him. She wondered if maybe, just maybe, he was feeling what she felt every time she saw him.

"Yeah right." Emma huffed to herself as she stepped from the lift and walked a short way down the corridor.

She sighed deeply as she swiped her card through the little box that sat to the right of the door and stepped through the doors of the Intensive Care Unit.

"How is he today?" She asked the nurse who sat at the nurses's station.

"No change." She shook her head and closed her eyes in reply.

Emma nodded and made her way over to the left side of the bed. She sniffed when she saw the equipment still connected to him. He'd been in a coma for just over a year now after being given a severe beating. Why anyone would want to do this to him she couldn't figure out. He'd always been such a kind, gentle and generous man.

She huffed a little laugh as she remembered how she had met him. He had been her brother's best friend at school. "Chubby Turner" they had called him. She hadn't seen him for a few years after they left school then he'd turned up at the hospital. He'd broken his leg quite badly on a skiing trip and had to have physio therapy to build his muscles back up once the cast had been removed. He'd been added to her list of patients and she'd barely recognised him to begin with. He had lost a lot of weight since his teenage years and had had his eyes fixed. He had made quite a success of his life too until some greedy woman had got her claws into him and left him bankrupt.

"Hello Chris." She smiled as she sat down beside him.

Someone had to visit him. She knew he had no relatives to speak of and her brother was on the other side of the world.

"I had a phone call from Brett today." She swallowed hard waiting for some sort of reaction on one of the monitors. She sighed when she didn't see or hear anything and gently took hold of his hand. "He's coming home in a couple of weeks and he says the first thing he wants to do is come and see you." She paused again, waiting. No reaction. "He wants to find out who did this to you." A pause again. "I know you can hear me. Please wake up and tell us who did this to you." Another pause. "It doesn't have to be right this minute, just make it soon. Ok." Another pause while she squeezed his hand tightly. "I have to go now. I'll come and see you again tomorrow after work." She stood and gently kissed his cheek before leaving the unit and the hospital for the night. She yawned as she looked at her watch. Eleven thirty at night it showed her.

"You might feel a little sore in the morning because you've used some muscles that you're probably not used to using." Franky informed as she unlocked her front door. "Was that you?" She asked when she heard Urs's stomach growl. "You came out without eating again didn't you?" She asked she saw the embarrassed smile on his face.

"No. I had something." Urs retorted. "At least I think I did." He continued while he raked his fingers through his hair.

Franky flicked her head at him. "C'mon let's see what I've got in the house." She said as she pulled him by the hand through the doorway and through to the lounge.

"You don't have to." Urs smiled as they headed towards the kitchen.

"Just shut up and sit down." Franky ordered as she pulled a bar stool from under the countertop. She removed her motorcycle jacket and hung it in the cupboard that ran under the stairs. "Let's see. How do you feel about cold pizza? It's Lauren's really but she won't mind. I'll only end up chucking it out sooner or later." She asked with her head stuck in the fridge.

"Huh? Oh that's......that's fine." Urs replied while he hung his jacket on the back of the stool he'd perched himself on it.

"Something wrong?"

"No. I'm just worried about Seb."

Franky nodded. "He's holding something back isn't he?"

"You could tell?"

Franky nodded again. "I could see it in his eyes, there's something he's not telling anyone. Just like you are right now."

"I'm not." Urs shook his head and turned away from her.

"Yes you are."

"Ok. I am. But I can't tell you. I promised Seb I wouldn't say anything to anyone." Urs sighed heavily as he stood and made his way into the lounge.

"Did he ask you to promise?" Franky asked once she'd followed him in.

Urs nodded and dropped down hard onto Franky's couch.

"Carlos and David wouldn't know what it is then?" She asked as she sat down next to him.

"No." Urs shook his head again.

"Well I'm sorry, but I think that's unfair of him to ask you to do that." Franky said with a shrug of her left shoulder. "You said you were all like brothers earlier. Would you ask Seb to do the same for you if you were in his position?"

Urs swallowed hard and hung his head as he shook it. "No I wouldn't. I wish I'd never agreed in the first place."

"Is it really that bad?" Franky questioned again.

Urs nodded again. "I've managed to put it out of my mind while I've been enjoying myself with you." He smiled. "But now, everything I saw in that Resuscitation Room has come flooding back." He closed his eyes and rolled his head on his neck as he realised what he'd said. "Oh crap!" He exclaimed as he covered his face with his hand.

"Resuscitation Room!" Franky exclaimed. "Urs, what the hell happened last night?"

"I've said too much already." Urs shook his head, took hold of her left hand and held it very tight. "I'm sorry." He sighed when she winced a little.

"It's ok." Franky smiled softly as she rubbed his back lightly.

She watched Urs carefully while he fought to control his emotions, fought to stop his tears falling. She gasped when he started to shake violently and gasp for every breath.

"It's ok, it's ok." She soothed him as he turned to her, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, holding her tight while he buried his face into her neck. "Tell me." She asked while she held him.

"I can't. I promised." Urs shook his head quickly once more. Franky asked again and lifted his face from her neck. He shook his head again.

"Urs, Did Sébastien almost die last night?" Franky questioned gently.

Urs swallowed hard and nodded slightly.

He lifted his face and gulped audibly as he looked at her. "Ja. I erm.....I didn't really understand what the doctor was saying when he told me what was happening, because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Seb's heart stopped beating for a while and…and..."

Franky nodded. "And you had to stand back and watch while they erm........did what they needed to do to get it going again didn't you?" She questioned through her own tears.

"Three times they shocked him. How did you know?" Urs released the tight hold he had on her and quickly wiped his eyes.

"Ohhh. Been there. Done that one more than once." Franky smiled as she wiped her own eyes. "I know how hard it is to watch them do that to someone."

"Who?"

"My father. He had three relatively minor heart attacks before the final one. They got him back, but he was so weak, he......he died an hour later."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." Urs sighed when he saw a solitary tear make its a escape from Franky's right eye and watched it roll down her cheek before he wiped it away.

It was all to clear that she had loved her father very much judging by the happy look in her eyes and the way he'd noticed her breathing faltered every time she spoke about him. He'd seen the exact same reaction at the rink the previous evening.

"It's ok." Franky smiled and shook her head. "Look, I'm not going to say anything to David or Carlos because it’s not my place, but Seb is going to have to. Just imagine what will happen if they find out some other way, especially if they find out that you knew all along and kept it from them. They might be angry at Seb, but I'm pretty sure they would be absolutely furious with you."

"You're right, they will." Urs nodded in agreement. "I'll talk to Seb about it when we go and see him tomorrow."

"Now how about something to help you relax?" Franky slapped her thighs and stood up.

"I can't drink, I've got to ride home." Urs smiled.

"I wasn't thinking of alcohol." Franky laughed as she headed towards the kitchen. "Won't be a minute."

Urs looked around the room he sat in. Light and airy decorations were complemented with modern furniture. The room itself, tidy but with a lived in feel to it. He couldn't be bothered with taking in all details at the moment. He stood and made his way over to a wall where several large photographs hung. He stepped forward to take a slightly closer look at one.

"Franky! Who is this woman clinging to this rockface?" Urs shouted towards the kitchen.

Franky soon appeared at his side.

"Which one?" She asked.

"This one." He said as he pointed to the picture of a woman climbing without ropes.

"Oh! That's me." Franky said nonchalantly as she turned back towards the kitchen. "Couldn't you tell?" She laughed as she pulled at her hair.

"What? Oh yes." Urs laughed slightly after he'd looked again. "Where's all your equipment? The ropes, the harness."

"Didn't use them on that climb?" Franky shrugged while she placed two mugs down on the coffee table. "I decided to free climb it."

"How high up were you?"

"Something like five hundred and seventy five feet if I remember right."

Urs looked at her, swallowed hard and sat back down beside her.

"Are you some sort of adrenaline junkie or something?" He asked without thinking.

"Oh Ha Ha! Like I haven't heard that one before." Franky rolled her eyes at him.

"What? What did I say?"

Franky pursed her lips as she took her adrenalin pen from her pocket and held it up.

"Oh Franky! I'm sorry. I forgot." Urs exclaimed.

Franky laughed and shook her head. "Really it's nothing to worry about. Here." She assured as she handed him a mug.

"What is this?"

"Camomile tea. It's great for helping you to relax."

"Smells foul." Urs wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue as he spoke

They sat close together in silence while they drank with Urs pulling a disgusted look when he smelled the aroma, but quickly nodding his approval after swallowing a couple of mouthfuls.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Urs asked as he placed his mug on the coffee table, making sure it sat perfectly on the coaster, then turned on the couch so that his back was against the arm.

He moved his right leg so that it rested in the space behind Franky. His left leg was left in the seated position but he turned it so that the side of his foot rested against the front of the couch. He reached for Franky's waist again and gently pulled her towards him.

She rested her head on his right shoulder and swung her legs up so that they lay on the couch between his. Urs adjusted his position a little so that he could rest the side of his head against the back of the couch then brought his left leg up and wrapped both of his legs around Franky's.

Franky sighed as her feet touched his and they started to move over each other.

"Well some of us have work to go to in the morning." Franky smiled as she looked up at him and gently stroked his left forearm with her right hand while the fingers of her left hand lightly stroked his left thigh.

"Yes, but you're the boss, you can take time off when you want." He kissed her forehead and shuddered under her touch as he spoke.

"And leave that bunch in charge of my garage. I'd come back to no business." Franky laughed. "What were you thinking of doing?"

"I thought we could go horseriding." Urs replied between dropping delicate little kisses down her face until he reached her lips, where he kissed her very gently.

"I wish I could." Franky closed her eyes and breathed deep as she kissed him back.

"Why can't you?" Urs asked as he moved his kisses to her neck. She shuddered and gasped as he breathed gently in her right ear while he nibbled gently on its lobe.

"Like I said I have to...to work tomorrow."

"No you don't." He whispered in her ear, making her shudder again. "You've forgotten what tomorrow is haven't you?"

"What?" Franky pulled away and looked up at him quizically.

"It's one of those silly holidays you English have?" Urs informed before he claimed her mouth again and kissed her a lot firmer.

"You mean a Bank Holiday." Franky asked as his left hand slipped under her t-shirt and slowly carressed her stomach.

"Uh-huh." Urs nodded.

"Oh yes. So it is. You have to book the horses in advance, you can't just show up you know?." Franky moaned as she felt his tongue slip slowly into her mouth. Gently carressing every detail of her, kissing her hungrily.

"Good job I booked two while we were getting changed at the ice rink then isn't it?" Urs continued, his right hand joining his left under the t-shirt. Both hands meandering slowly and gently over Franky's stomach while he spoke.

Franky shook her head and pulled away from him as his right hand slipped under the left cup of her bra.

"Don't." She asked as she pushed his arms away from her.

"Too quick?" Urs questioned.

"No. That's not the reason and you know it." Franky blinked slowly and shook her head.

"I don't." Urs looked away from her and bit his bottom lip.

"Yes you do." Franky nodded at him. "Don't try and console yourself about what you’ve done with regard to Seb by trying to railroad me into having sex with you because I won't allow myself to be used that way."

"I wasn't." Urs shook his head again and quickly wiped his eyes.

"Yes you were." Franky sighed heavily as she spoke.

Urs hung his head ashamedly, closed his eyes tightly and nodded. "You're right, I was." He sighed heavily and sniffed loudly as turned his face from her. "I...I'm sorry Franky."

Franky adjusted her position so that she knelt between his legs and was face-to-face with him. She lifted his head and cupped his face in both of her hands.

"What's wrong?" She asked gently when he opened his eyes and she saw the tears welling in them.

"Nothing." Urs shook his head slowly and tried to move his face from her hands. He swallowed hard, screwed his eyes even tighter together and shook his head again when she refused to let go of him.

"Don't give me that. It tore you apart seeing Seb like that and having to watch what they did to him didn't it?" Franky asked while she gently wiped away the tears that had made their escape.

Urs lowered his eyes but didn't close them this time. "Ja." He nodded quicky and chewed on his bottom lip as he wrapped his arms around Franky's waist again.

"Keeping it from David and Carlos, you're finding that really hard too?" Franky questioned again.

"I want to tell them every time I see them, but I can't. They probably suspect there's something I haven't told them. I just can't go back on a promise Franky. I can't." Urs breathed deeply while he nodded slowly, pulled her close and moved his head so that the left side of his face rested on her chest. He cried quietly and rocked from side to side when he felt Franky slip her arms over his shoulders.

"Shhh. It's ok." She said through her own tears while she raked her fingers slowly through the back of his hair, gently massaging his scalp.

Urs sighed deeply and closed his eyes as she did so. "That's nice." He moaned.

"Relaxing?" Franky questioned.

"Mmmm. Very."

"It's part of a stress busting massage. Gabriel's ex-girlfriend used to give me one when I took over the garage after my father's death."

"I'll fall to sleep if you carry on." Urs informed when he felt his eyelids becoming very heavy.

"I'd better stop then." Franky sniffed and pulled away from him.

"No, please don't." He shook his head and grabbed her wrists gently. "I erm...I erm...I lied earlier." He swallowed hard and screwed his eyes together tightly again. "I hardly got any sleep when I went home, an hour at the most. I couldn't get those images out of my head, so I went out and did a little shopping for Seb, you know, stuff he'd asked for. I couldn't get them from his home because the police were still working there. When I got home an officer arrived to take my statement. I'd only just dozed off again when David turned up."

"I thought as much." Franky nodded, then shook her head at him in an exasperated fashion. "You should have said something, I would have understood you postponing."

"I'm sorry. I thought I would be all right because I had so many late nights during the tour, thought I was used to it and I didn't want to let you down." Urs shrugged and raised his eyes to the ceiling in another attempt to stop his tears from falling. "I'd better go home and try to catch up."

"No way." Franky shook her head as she stopped him from standing up. "You're not riding your bike in the state you're in."

"I'll call a taxi." Urs shrugged.

"Do you really want to be alone?" Franky questioned.

"No." Urs shook his head slowly and sniffed loudly, closing his eyes again as he whispered his reply. “I…I…No. No I don't. I even missed not finding you there when I woke up.”

"Come here then." Franky nodded and moved herself so that he could lay his head in her lap with the left side of his face and his right hand resting against her stomach. "Just tell me the truth in future." She smiled softly and shook her head at him.

"I'm sor......" He started to say.

Franky stopped him by placing her fingers on his lips. "Just go to sleep."

Urs nodded and made himself a little more comfortable against her.

Franky wiped her own eyes quickly, then slowly raked the fingers of her left hand through his hair again and watched him blink his eyes slower and slower until they didn't open any more. She pulled the fleece blanket off the back of the couch and yawned while she covered herself and Urs as best she could.

She turned her head and raised her right index finger to her lips as the door to the lounge opened.

"Everything ok?" Lauren whispered as she poked her head round.

"Fine. Had a good time?" Franky asked in a whisper.

"I'll tell you in the morning. Night Franky." Lauren smiled.

"Night Lauren. Thanks." Franky replied as Lauren turned the light off for her.

"So she was sort of serious when she said she was taking us all Salsa dancing." Carlos laughed as he and Karen strolled sedately hand-in-hand back to her home.

"Kind of yes, though she really prefers to Tango." Karen laughed when she saw the stunned expression on Carlos's face. "Lauren probably told her that Urs and David don't dance so well. She's got a wicked sense of humour."

"I sort of figured that one out for myself." Carlos smiled as he raised an eyebrow. "How good is she at the salsa and the Tango?"

"You've seen her skate?" Karen questioned.

"Si, She's fantastic."

"She's twice as good at Salsa dancing." Karen smiled. "But I'm just a little better. She blows me off the floor at the Tango though." Karen laughed.

"Are yanking my chain again?" Carlos asked while he looked at her suspiciously.

"No. If you don't believe me you'll just have to find out for yourself, won't you Carlos Marin?"

"Ok, Tomorrow night we go Salsa dancing." Carlos informed as he quickly pulled Karen close to him and spun her around. "Hmmm. Good balance. We will see how good you really are tomorrow."

Karen laughed. "I'd better find my dress out then. I still haven't finished unpacking."

Carlos huffed a quick laugh then suddenly dropped his face to a more serious expression that Karen picked up on immediately.

"You're worried about him aren't you?" She questioned. "Urs I mean."

Carlos glanced at her with a furrowed brow and a troubled expression. "Si." He replied with a sharp nod.

"Not going to tell me why?" Karen questioned as they subsconsciously turned onto the street where she lived and carried on walking.

"I think he is also hiding something from me and David ." Carlos sighed heavily as he replied. Carlos shook his head and spoke through gritted teeth. "He is the one doing all the running around after Seb too. If Urs carries on like he is I think he will exhaust himself and ruin the excellent relationship he already has with Franky."

"You spotted that too?" Karen questioned as she remembered the look she'd seen on Franky's face when they had talked at the hospital.

"It wasn't hard to spot." Carlos smiled as he shook his head. "Urs has been muy loco about her since he first saw her and she feels the same about him I think."

"Yes she does." Karen nodded. "Give Sébastien a little more time, he will learn to talk to all of you eventually." Karen smiled softly again as she spoke. "Lord knows it took Franky and me ages to trust each other completely."

"Franky is an only child too?"

Karen nodded. "Yes she is. It took Franky, Lauren and me ages to figure out when each of us was bottling things up but we've all learned to spot most of the little signals we each give off when we're angry or upset. The three of us can read each other pretty well now ."

"Franky is like a sister to you, yes?" Carlos asked.

Karen shook her head. "No, she is my sister, so is Lauren."

They both laughed out loud as they reached the end of the road and realised they had both been so engrossed in their conversation that they had walked right passed Karen's home. They turned around and continued to giggle until they reached her gate. Carlos opened the gate and held it open for Karen to walk through

"You are at work tomorrow?" Carlos asked as they reached the door.

"Uh huh. I don't really get Bank Holiday's off." Karen frowned and shook her head while he moved his arms round her waist and pulled her close too him.

"You do get a lunch break though, yes?"

Karen nodded. "From one o'clock until two usually."

"We could meet for lunch then? I know a nice little place we could go to." Carlos informed with his eyebrows raised.

"Ok. Shall we meet in the same place again?" Karen laughed as she nodded.

"Si, but you will not be late this time, no."

"No, my boss can send his own bloody email for once." Karen laughed.

Carlos laughed out loud as she spoke and held her tight to him. He smiled softly and moved his right hand to cup the left side of her face. He sighed happily when he heard her gasp at his touch and closed his eyes as he gently but firmly kissed her. He pulled back very slowly and opened his eyes to see Karen wobble slightly as he released her.

"I will see you tomorrow then. Goodnight Karen." He kissed the back of her right hand and smiled broadly as he walked backwards away from her.

"Goodnight Carlos." Karen smiled in return as she unlocked her door and walked in.

Karen took a moment to gather herself once she'd closed her front door. She puffed out her cheeks and fanned herself as she blew out a very long breath. She held her right hand against her heart while she tried to get her heartrate to slow down. She started to remove her clothing as she walked through her house, hooking her shoes on the first and middle finger of her right hand, she recalled the look she'd seen on Carlos' face when she hadn't shown up on time. She smiled as she looked at the hallway table and saw the large envelope that she would need to posted in the morning and crossed her fingers.

She made her way to her bathroom, removed what little make-up she wore then made her way back to her bedroom. She removed her remaining clothes and snuggled down under the covers with possibly the biggest smile she'd ever had on her face as she fell asleep.

"Well here we are. Home sweet home." Lauren smiled as David pulled his car up in front of the house.

"I hope he's not going to be there again tomorrow night." David huffed as he turned the engine off and opened his door.

"Me neither." Lauren replied while she opened her door. She laughed as David ran around the front of the car to her side and held out a hand to help her out. "That looks sore." Lauren smiled and touched his lip gently.

"It is a little." David sucked air as he replied.

"You're really worried about him, aren't you?" Lauren asked while they walked up the driveway hand-in-hand.

"Seb, you mean?"

Lauren nodded.

"Mmm." David closed his eyes and nodded. "I think he's keeping something from me and Carlos."

"You don't like him doing that, do you?" Lauren questioned.

"No." David shook his head. "You know how we talk about each other. It really pisses me off, Carlos too I think."

"What about Urs?" Lauren questioned.

"Oh, he'll probably know what's troubling Seb already. They're quite close." David sighed.

"If that's the case, why hasn't Urs said anything to the two of you?"

"Seb has more than likely asked him not to and Urs has probably given his word that he won't say anything." David huffed.

"Give Sébastien time David. He's still learning how to communicate his feelings." Lauren requested when she saw tears moistening David's eyes.

"He had almost three years, he should know how to talk to....."

"And over thirty of having to hide them David. It's not that easy for him with him being only child." Lauren interupted.

"How would you know?" David snapped and quickly wiped his eyes.

"Because I've been exactly where you are now, with Franky. Do you really think she trusted me from the very beginning?" Lauren shook her head before she continued to speak. "It took over six months for her to even start and she still tries to hide things from me even after over fifteen years. But I have learned to tell when she's doing it. Trust me, Seb will learn too. He just needs more time and understanding."

David nodded as he looked up the driveway and saw Urs's motorbike parked there. He shook his head and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Lauren asked.

David nodded towards the bike and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh! Wait there." Lauren asked while she moved round the house to look through the lounge room window. She gasped when she saw the scene that greeted her eyes and signalled for David to come take a peek.

"I knew it." David sighed heavily. "I knew he was still tired. I knew he should have stayed home and caught up with the sleep he'd lost last night." He shook his head when he saw Urs fast asleep with his head resting comfortably in Franky's lap. "I've seen him exhausted several times before, but he's never done anything like that."

"So why didn't he postpone the date?" Lauren questioned at his side.

"He didn't want to let Franky down......" David huffed a laugh and shook his head again as he paused. "....he's been doing all the running around for Seb, making phone calls to God knows who and making sure Seb has everything that he needs." He sighed heavily and shook his head again. "He wouldn't let Carlos and me help, stubborn sod that he is. He said there was no point in three of us wearing ourselves out and that he could manage."

"I suppose I'd better say goodnight and let you go home because you still look a little tired too." She smiled as she looked up at him.

"I am. Think I'm going to be asleep before my head even hits the pillow tonight." David nodded as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet while he gently kissed her. "Are you working tomorrow even though it's a Bank Holiday?" He asked as he lowered Lauren gently back down.

"I'm afraid so. It's one of our busiest days and I have a stack of paperwork to wade through."

"Can't you put it off for a day or two?" David asked as he shook his head and pushed his bottom lip out.

Lauren laughed and shook her head. "No. Sorry. I've been meaning to get it done for the past week. If I leave it much longer I'll disappear under all of it."

David laughed. "Ok. Can I come and see you at work then?"

"If you promise not to distract me while I'm working."

"Cross my heart." David beamed while he made the motions.

"Hmm. I don't believe you for one second David Miller, but ok, you can come and see me at work. Call me when you're on your way and I'll be waiting at the staff entrance." Lauren shook her head and looked at him suspiciously while she spoke.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight Lauren." David smiled and kissed her gently.

"Goodnight David." Lauren smiled as she watched him walk back down the driveway.

She unlocked the front door and entered the house. She listened at the lounge room door and opened it quietly.

"Everything ok?" She asked as Franky turned round to face her with the index finger of her right hand on her lips, asking her to be quiet.

"Fine. Had a good time?"

"I'll tell you in the morning. Night Franky." Lauren smiled as she reached for the lightswitch.

"Night Lauren. Thanks."

Lauren climbed the stairs slowly while she thought about the night's events. She'd still had Nick's phone call on her mind when David arrived to pick her up and was preoccupied with thinking about what she should do about Stephanie and when, or if, she should even tell him about her. What would he say? Would he still want to see her? She had fibbed about what was wrong with her when they had arrived at the hospital, but had at least told him the truth about not being keen on hospitals.

She smiled as she remembered the conversation with Sébastien and the look on David's face when he realised what Sébastien was saying. She gulped audibly as she remembered recognising Owen Stamp and shook her head as she wondered what had happened between him and David and why David was keeping it from her. She pushed her bedroom door open, smiled when she saw how tidy it was and resolved to try and keep it that way while she pulled her pink t-shirt over her head and dropped it into the now empty laundry basket.

She sat on the bed, removed her shoes and blushed as she touched her lips while she relived the kiss David had given her even though she had whipped cream all over her top lip. She stood back up, removed the short faded denim skirt and the rest of her clothing. She slipped between the clean covers of her bed and allowed a few tears to fall before she fell asleep.

___________


"Goodnight Marius." Jamie smiled sweetly and waved as she closed and locked her front door.

She licked her lips as she recalled the meal she had just eaten. Her starter had been a warm soufflé served with pan-seared asparagus, baby green beans, carrots, Belgian endive over a roasted tomato vinaigrette. The main course a center-cut filet mignon grilled and topped with a composed butter of herbs, goat cheese and Prosciutto, served over arugula with a port wine sauce and caramelized pears. Desert was the best-tasting tiramisu she'd ever tasted and, for once, she had taken a long, slow time eating it.

She and her dining companion had consumed almost two bottles of the restaurant's finest champagne with their meal. She had listened intently while Marius Ramone told her about the little estate he owned almost fifteen miles away from the restaurant. Her eyes had widened slightly when he told her the Bentley was not the only car her owned, there were three others. He'd failed to go into details about those.

She had almost spluttered champagne over the table when he told her about his home. A early Georgian house with enough bedrooms to cater easily for ten couples, stables, a very large kitchen and just under fifty acres of land, not including the field where the horses were turned out daily.

She had wriggled herself deep into the deep padding of the Bentley seats and had snuggled up close to Marius Ramone while she was driven home.

She had smiled coyly and shaken her head when he'd asked her if she had anything planned for the morning and, if not, would she like to go on a little shopping trip. He had laughed at her when she had said she would love to but she just didn't have the money. She wasn't going to tell him that she had almost fifteen thousand pounds in the bank now, was she?

Then she had felt the familiar ripple of delight when he'd informed her that he would be paying at which she had wrinkled her nose as she smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She had even allowed him to wrap his arm around her shoulders but that was as far as she allowed him to go. She held him off and spoke shyly, saying that they had only just met and she wasn't that easy when he tried to kiss her. She had gulped quietly as he pulled back and sat back in his seat with her held close to him.

She had sighed heavily when the Bentley had stopped outside her tiny home. She really didn't want to get out of the car, but she knew her neighbour's curtains would be twitching as they always did when she allowed herself to be dropped at the door. That didn't happen very often, but when it did Jamie knew that woman would be watching.

She stripped off the short halter-necked gold dress she had worn and dropped it to the floor in an untidy heap together with the rest of her clothing. She took one long lingering look at herself in the full-length mirror before she slipped herself between the sheets and giggled to herself while she imagined the possible delights tomorrow held in store.

Monday

"No way!" Sébastien yelled as he sat on the edge of the bed. "No way I'm letting you shower me."

"Why not? Got something different to the rest of us tucked away down there?" The young male nurse named Adam questioned with wide eyes, a cheeky smile and his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.

"Non." Sébastien laughed as he glanced at the man who stood on his right-hand side.

"I could always ask a nice female nurse if she would give you a bed bath." Adam gave him a nudge with his elbow and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Non, I really want a shower." Sébastien shook his head and felt himself redden at the mention of a female nurse bathing him.

"Well come on then. You want one so bad. Get off you lazy arse and into this bathroom."

"Do you speak to all of your patients like this?" Sébastien questioned as he struggled to his feet.

"Nah! Only the lazy beggers."

"You must have a lot of them then." Sébastien stated while he slowly walked towards the open door of the bathroom with Adam's help.

"Only you at the moment."

Sébastien laughed and rolled his eyes into the back of his head.

"How hot do you want it?" Adam asked as he turned on the shower and held his hand under the water.

"As hot as you can get it."

"You're sure you can you manage?" Adam questioned again while he wrapped a waterproof dressing around Sébastien's injured leg

"I think so. I just need some help to undo this." Sébastien replied as he pulled at the hospital gown.

"There you go." Adam smiled after he'd untied the offending clothing. "Well go on then." He nodded towards the shower and folded his arms across his chest while he waited for Sébastien to remove the embarrassing article of clothing. He shook his head as he saw him blush a little. "Oh honestly! I've seen plenty of men naked in my time. I'm sure you're nothing special to look at." Adam flicked his head in the air and laughed as he turned his back to a giggling Sébastien. He turned back once he'd heard the curtain being drawn across. "You ok in there?"

"Fine." Sébastien laughed in reply.

"Not too hot for you?"

"Non, it feels great." Sébastien sighed.

"Emma said you've not been sleeping too well. She said something about a nightmare."

"You know her?"

"Sure. She's a very good friend of mine." Adam replied.

"Oh." Sébastien sighed heavily.

"Not like that. I'm married to her best friend." Adam tutted and flicked his head again on hearing a disappointed tone. "She's a friend that's all. She is quite worried about you for some reason."

"Really. Why?" Sébastien's voice lifted again.

"Don't ask me." Adam shrugged. "This nightmare you have, does it have anything to do with what happened to you?"

"Everything." Sébastien sniffed and drew in a very deep breath. "I...I erm...I...I go through the attack all over again, but in slow motion. My ex-girlfriend is actually in the room with me when it happens, even though she wasn't there when I was attacked. She stands over me while I get beaten and stabbed and laughs about it"

"Is that Jamie?" Adam questioned.

"Uh-huh."

"I see. Emma said something about you almost dying when they bought you in."

"Mmmm. The doctor told me they err....They said they had to shock me because my heart stopped beating for a while."

"Oh! Your friends would have seen that too then?"

"Non, only one did." Sébastien sniffed.

"You haven't told the other two?"

"Non." Sébastien allowed a small sob to escape then sniffed loudly. "But I'm going to."

"You're sure you're ok?"

"Fine. Could you get me the towel please? I've finished now." Sébastien requested through his tears.

Adam passed the towel behind the curtain and listened to Sébastien trying to stop himself from crying while he dried himself off. He shook his head as he handed him the new pair of pyjama bottoms that Urs had bought for him.

"Feel better now?" Adam smiled as Sébastien pulled the curtain back.

"Not really." Sébastien shook his head and allowed Adam to support him again.

"Have you seen your face yet?" Adam asked just before they reached the door.

Sébastien lowered his chin to his chest, chewed his bottom lip and shook his head.

"Non. But I have been told I'm a mess."

Adam nodded and turned him gently towards the sink, above which hung a square mirror.

"Take a look." He instructed gently.

Sébastien swallowed hard, slowly raised his head and looked at himself. He started to shake and turned away sharply from his reflection when he saw how battered and bruised he was. His left eye was so swollen he could barely open it and large black bruises covered the lower half of his face.

"I'm sorry, but you had to see it at some point." Adam informed gently as they headed back into the room. "Tell me, how do you feel about everything that's been done to you?"

"I feel like I want to...want to........" Sébastien breathed rapidly and fought hard to squash what he was feeling back down again.

"Scream out loud or something like that?" Adam questioned as he helped Sébastien down into one of the comfortable easy chairs.

"I'm not exactly sure what I want to do. One minute I want to scream, the next all I want to do is cry, then I want to throw something or hit someone." Sébastien shook his head as Adam pulled another chair up and sat in front of him. "I.....I.....Non!" He chewed on his lip and breathed deep, trying with everything he had to control himself.

"It's ok, there's only me and you here. I locked your door when I came in. Let it go."

Sébastien shook his head again as he looked at Adam. "I don't know what you mean." He snapped.

"Yes you do." Adam smiled softly and nodded. "The anger, the rage, the frustration that you're feeling. The senselessness of what's happened to you. You just said you wanted to scream. So do it. There's only really me and you that's going to know anything about it" Adam raised his voice slightly as he spoke.

"Non." Sébastien shook his head violently. "Please, just......just....j...."

Sébastien screwed his eyes tight together, breathed rapidly and shook his head once more as he slowly leaned forward so that he sat with his elbows on his knees, his fingers linked tightly together and visibly shaking while he fought to supress what he was feeling. He heard Adam telling him to let it go again, then drew in a deep breath and released it in one long, loud, angry scream. He sat in the chair breathing hard and shaking violently while tears streamed down his face.

"Feel better now?" Adam questioned again, whilst giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Oui. Much." Sébastien nodded and wiped his eyes.

"Good. Want to make those calls now?"

"If you can get me another phone. That one doesn't work." Sébastien informed with a smile as his breathing eased and he nodded towards the one at the side of his bed.

Adam tutted and rolled his eyes into his head. "Typical of this place." He huffed as he left.

Sébastien took some deep relaxing breaths while he watched the young man leave. Releasing the anger he'd been feeling in that one long scream had certainly made him feel better and he wondered why and just how Adam had managed to make him let go like that when everyone else had failed.

He had been a little startled by Adam when he had first seen him. He had been sound asleep until Adam had woken him and told him he was there to give him a shower. He wasn't very tall, about five foot five and was quite skinny in his build. He had a couple of very interesting tattoos on his forearms. One of a stalking black panther on his right and one of Minnie Mouse with 'Helen' written underneath it on his left. His bottom lip was pierced on the left side. His blond hair had obviously had something done to it recently as Sébastien could see a tinge of orange in it. He was unsure what to think of him to begin with, but Adam's self-assured manner soon broke down any barriers he tried to put up.

"How did you get me to do that?" Sébastien questioned as Adam walked back into the room.

"Your friends tried?" Adam quesitioned.

Sébastien nodded.

"And they gave up as soon as that barrier of yours came down. They're all too close." Adam shook his head. "They gave up because they thought they were upsetting you, they knew you were holding it all in but weren't sure how far they should push you to make you let it go. I don't give up that easy." Adam smiled. "You do realise of course they're going to wonder what I've been doing to you in here? Man you've got some lungs on you." Adam informed as he plugged in a phone that worked.

"You think I've got some lungs, you should hear my friend Carlos." Sébastien smiled back.

"Loud?" Adam questioned.

"That's the understatement of the century." Sébastien laughed and rolled his eyes into his head.

"I have to go now, got other patients to annoy." Adam smiled. "Don't hold it in like that in future. It doesn't do you any good." He wagged his finger at him as he left. "And learn to talk to all of your friends, not just one of them."

"Thank you Adam." Sébastien nodded and settled himself back into the chair.

"Don't thank me." Adam shook his head and winked as he stopped at the door. "It was all Emma's idea."

Sébastien nodded his head, sat up as straight as he could and smiled happily as he lifted the phone's handset and dialled the first number.

Urs sighed happily as he slowly raised himself from Franky's lap. He smiled then turned to look at her still fast asleep on the couch. He reached out and touched the left side of her face. recalling the events of the past few days and shook his head, wondering how they had connected so quickly. She seemed to be able to tell instantly when he needed comforting, when he was upset or when he was hiding something.

He stood and stretched himself out then looked at his watch. Almost 8:00am it informed him. He calculated quickly that he had managed to get just over nine hours undisturbed deep sleep and he felt more refreshed than he had done since Saturday evening.

He moved over to the window, looked up at the sky then smiled when he realised it was going to be a great day to go horseriding. The sky was clear blue and the sun already felt warm as its rays blazed their way into the lounge. He decided to take a look around and acquaint himself with the room a little better.

He turned on his heels and made his way over to the beech door that allowed entrance to the room. It opened inwards and swung to the left when you came in from the hallway. To the right of the door stood a long narrow beech table on which someone had arranged various photographs. He took a closer look and smiled when he saw one large photograph of Franky with two people who were so obviously her parents, others were smaller and showed her with Lauren, Karen and what he assumed were her friends, a few men among them. Above the table hung a mirror of almost equal length and about half the height. He huffed a laugh when he saw his reflection. He was in need of a shave, his hair was a mess but at least his eyes looked a lot brighter this morning.

He turned back to take in the rest of the room. To the left of the door stood a large glass cabinet filled with models of Harley Davidson and other large motorbikes from the very earliest model to one of the most recent. Next to that stood another cabinet filled with silver trophies and medals for ice-skating, all of them bearing Serena Hartford's name. Turning to his right brought him to the window again. He hadn't noticed the first time he's looked out of it that the garage could be seen clearly from it.

Turning right again he saw the fireplace wall. A simple modern fire had been set into the wall and there was an absence of a fire surround. Above the fire hung a large photograph of Franky and Lauren sitting back-to-back on a brick wall. Whoever had taken the photograph had managed to capture them both during what looked like a fit of giggles as they both had natural, unposed smiles on their faces.

To the left of the fireplace stood a modest widescreen television and entertainment system. He moved over towards it and looked through Franky's CD collection. It was just as she said, eclectic was a very good word for her taste in music. There was everything from fifties rock 'n' roll through to punk rock and the new romantic sound of the eighties, but the vast majority of her collection was heavy rock and all of it was organised alphbetically by genre. He smiled when he recognised a couple of early Black Sabbath titles that he'd been wanting for his own collection but hadn't been able to find.

On the right of the fireplace three shelves had been built into the small alcove. On one of these stood various gardening books and he wondered for a moment whose interest that was. The other two shelves were given over to a collection of porcelain and glass angels.

On the wall opposite the window hung the photographs he had quickly looked through the night before. He shook his head then flicked his chin in the air when he saw the picture of Franky he had spotted. On that same wall hung another beech door that he remembered gave access to the kitchen.

He turned right once more and found himself facing the back of the chocolate coloured couch Franky was still sleeping on. He smiled when she shifted her position slightly and snuggled a little further down into the couch. Another couch of the same size and colour faced the fireplace. In front of the couches stood a large coffee table whose design matched the long one though this one had been topped with a sheet of glass.

He grunted a laugh when he heard his stomach rumble loudly then smiled as he recalled that Franky's favourite eatery would be open today, even though it was a holiday. He saw a notepad on the coffee table, wrote a quick note and left it for Franky to find if she woke while he was gone.

Checking his wallet as he moved, he stepped forward, gave Franky a quick kiss on the forehead then made his way to the hallway where he put his boots back on and made his way out of the door. He had just reached the end of the driveway when his mobile started to ring. He accepted the call, listened carefully to what the caller had to say and sighed with relief as he returned the phone to his pocket.

___________


Carlos cursed in Spanish as the persistant ringing of his house phone woke him. He buried his head under his pillow in an attempt to block out the sound and return to the dream he was having about Karen. He huffed angrily as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Hola!" He snapped as he answered.

"Carlos, I'm sorry to call so early. Did I wake you?" Came the voice at the other end of the line.

"Oh Nooooooo!" Carlos replied sarcastically and rolled his eyes into his head. "What do you want Seb?"

"Erm....Could you come and see me as soon as you can?" Sebastien sniffed.

"Seb! Are you ok? Is there something wrong?"

"Non. I'm fine. I erm.......I just have something to tell you and David. Something I think you both should know."

"So you have been hiding something from us both?"

"Uh huh."

"What about Urs?"

"He already knows but don't blame him for not saying anything. I....I asked him..... made him promise not to tell you."

"That wasn't very fair Seb, especially on Urs. I thought we were brothers. I thought we could tell each other everything."

"I know." Sébastien sniffed loudly. "I'm sorry. We are brothers. I won't do it again."

"Ok. I'll be there later. I'm meeting Karen for lunch. Do you want me to call David?"

"No. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'd better do it myself. Bye Carlos"

"Adios Amigo."

"Finally!" Carlos sighed as he returned the phone to its stand then rubbed his hands hard over his face.

David buried his face into his hands and blew out a long breath after he had returned his house phone to its stand.

"About time." He huffed as he swung his legs over the side of his bed.

He'd spent the night lying on top of it with his feet crossed and his hands linked behind his head, wondering what had really been wrong with Lauren when he'd picked her up. He had a gut feeling it was more than something at work that was bothering her, but did believe the bit about not being keen on hospitals. He had felt her shake a little when they had arrived there after Sébastien had been attacked and had put her shaking down to what she had seen. It was only when she'd actually told him of her minor fear that he had realised he was wrong.

He stood, made his way to his bathroom and looked at his lip in the mirror. He had called the police officer dealing with Sébastien's case as soon as he got home and told him what Owen had said to him at the cinema. The officer had told him that it didn't matter that Owen had admitted to the attack, it would be a case of his word against Owen's because David didn't have any independent witnesses to what the man had said. They would, however, try to find him and bring him in for questioning and, hopefully, DNA testing. He had also told him about the punch he had received and had slammed the phone back into its base when he was informed that there was very little that could be done about that as he wasn't sure if anyone had seen Owen actually hit him. He touched his lip and scowled at his reflection.

"You'll have to be quicker than that if I see you again, jackass."

He laughed to himself as he recalled the dazed look in Lauren's eyes when he had kissed her, licking his lips and tasting whipped cream, chocolate and her as he pulled back.

As he turned his shower to cool, switched it on and stepped under the powerful jet he hoped that Urs was ok. He'd spent over an hour trying to persuade him to catch up with his sleep and telling him that Franky would understand if he cancelled their date, that she was probably just as tired as he was.

"Stubborn sod." He laughed as he turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around his hips.

He dried himself off, shaved and headed back into his bedroom to dress in his favourite 'Superman' t-shirt, faded black jeans and his most comfortable pair of trainers. He decided not to spike his hair up into its usual style today.

He made his way downstairs to his kitchen and wrinkled his nose when he looked in his fridge and saw that the last slice of pizza he had planned on eating for breakfast had gone mouldy. He threw it into the bin with a huff and thought for a minute where he could get breakfast from. He rubbed his hands together as he remembered that there was a 'McDonald's' just down the road from the hospital.

He opened his mobile, called Carlos and arranged to meet him at the hospital's entrance so that they could go and hear what Sébastien had to say together.

___________


Urs wasn't there when Franky woke and she quickly scanned the room looking for him. She rubbed her eyes and stretched herself out, still seated. She smiled when she saw the piece of paper on the coffee table, picked it up and read quickly.

Franky,

Have gone to get breakfast. Horses are booked for 10:30. Won't be long.

Love
Urs xxx

Franky bit her bottom lip gently as she read the final two words.

"Where's he going to get breakfast from?" Franky questioned out loud as Lauren handed her a mug of coffee.

"It can't be far away because he hasn't taken his bike."

Franky nodded then stood and headed for the door. "Did you have fun last night?"

"Mmm." Lauren smiled broadly. "Until Owen Stamp punched David."

"Owen Stamp." Franky snapped her fingers. "That's who we were trying to think of the other night wasn't it."

Lauren nodded.

"Why did he punch David though?"

"He wouldn't say, but I got the feeling something happened between them." Lauren shook her head. "Did you two have a good night?"

"So-so" Franky nodded and smiled.

"Urs is ok isn't he Franky? David was quite worried about him last night."

"He's fine." Franky nodded. "He was just a little over-tired last night. He hasn't slept that well since Saturday and he's been doing all the running around for Seb."

"Did he tell you David and Carlos offered to help but he wouldn't let them?"

Franky shook her head and pursed her lips tight together.

"How did the ice-skating lesson go?"

Franky raised her eyebrows. "He's picking it up pretty quickly."

"What are you doing today? You're not opening the garage surely?"

Franky shook her head. "No. Urs has arranged for us to go horseriding."

Lauren nodded.

"Are you ok Lauren?" Franky questioned as her friend lowered her head and furrowed her brow.

"Fine." Lauren smiled. "I just wish David would tell me what happened between him and Owen."

"You're sure there's nothing else wrong?"

"No." Lauren shook her head and smiled as she drained her coffee cup and turned to take it into the kitchen.

"Ok. If you're sure. I'm just going to take a shower. I won't be long. Will you let Urs back in?" Franky asked.

"No need. I've left the front door undone for him."

Franky nodded again then quickly headed upstairs. She put on her favourite Nickelback CD and turned it up loud while she showered. She slipped herself into an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt, brushed her hair back into a ponytail and ran back downstairs. She stopped at the bottom step when she heard someone knocking on the front door.

"Morning." Urs smiled as he dropped a quick kiss on her lips and walked into the house.

"Morning. You look better than you did last night. Where have you been?" Franky replied.

"Your favourite eatery." Urs replied with another smile as he held up the small white paper bag the shop used to dispense its goods.

He removed his motorbike boots and stood them neatly in the hallway. He took hold of Franky's hand and pulled her gently through the lounge into the kitchen. He put what he'd bought onto two clean plates he found in draining rack. He startled as he raised his head and looked through the kitchen window to the back garden.

"Wow!"

"What's up?" Franky asked while she stood at the sink filling the kettle.

"That!" Urs exclaimed with wide eyes while he pointed to the garden.

"What about it?"

"It's amazing. Who did all that?"

"Oh me, Lauren and Dale. We all love gardening." Franky smiled as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You should have seen the state of it when Lauren and I moved in. You wouldn't believe what we found buried underneath the lawn. Remind me to show you the pictures some time. Dale put the decking down and built the gazebo. Lauren and I did all the planting and we all built the barbeque together. We had some great barbeque parties out there last year."

"Planning any this year?"

"No." Franky shook her head and took a bite of her banana muffin.

"Why not?"

Franky laughed before a look of sadness took over her features. "Neither of us can cook very well and Mitch, our friend that used to do the cooking for us, went back to the States at the end of last summer. He died of liver failure a few months later, just before Christmas."

"Oh sorry. I'm not a very good cook either." Urs sighed. "Seb is though. He knows his wine as well and David's not too bad in the kitchen department. At least it's edible. Carlos cremates everything and I almost gave us all food poisoning the last time I attempted something."

"Really?! Do you think David and Seb would want to......?" Franky laughed while she nodded towards the garden.

"Are you joking?" Urs laughed. "They'd be fighting over the barbeque alone."

Franky laughed then sighed and turned to face him as she saw a look of apprehension spread across Urs's face and heard him sigh heavily.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Seb called me while I was out. He's asked me not to go and visit him until later."

"Why?"

"He's going to tell David and Carlos what happened the other night." Urs blew out a long breath.

"Oh! Did he sound ok?"

"He sounded a lot better." Urs nodded and sniffed loudly while he looked at Franky.

"That'll be a weight off your mind then?"

"Yeah. It is. I'm just......I don't know.....They're going to be so mad with me. I'll deal with it though. Won't be the first time and won't be the last." Urs nodded again as he buried his face into Franky's neck and breathed deeply while he held her tight for a few minutes.

"Don't make any more promises like that." Franky asked once he'd moved his head so that were standing forehead to forehead. "He has to learn to talk to all of you and I couldn't bear to see you in that state ever again." Franky shook her head and wrinkled her nose in effort to stop her own tears from falling.

Urs shook his head and swallowed hard. "I won't." He touched Franky's face and gently wiped away the tears that had made their escape.

He furrowed his brow and gasped when Franky touched him in the same way. He hadn't realised that he had allowed his tears to make their escape again. He breathed deeply and rocked her gently while she curled her fingers in his hair. He smiled as he checked the time and loosened his grip.

"Thanks for being there for me last night and I really am sor..."

Franky stopped him speaking by placing her fingers on his lips and shook her head. "You don't need to apologise again."

"Do you mind if we go to my place before we go riding? I'd like to take a shower. I need a shave and a change of clothes. You can help me sort through what I can and can't use."

"Ok." Franky nodded and returned his smile.

Urs cupped the left side of Franky's face and looked her straight in the eyes. "Ich erm......Ich liebe dich." He whispered and blinked slowly at her.

"I love you too." Franky smiled while she gently kissed the palm of his hand and saw a slightly stunned look find its way across his face. "I might know very little German at the moment, but I do know what those words mean."

Urs nodded and pulled her close for a long, deep kiss before they collected their crash helmets and left the house.

"Where's Steven?" Sébastien giggled as Emma started to take him through his physio-therapy routine.

"He had to go home to Scotland last night, family emergency. What's with the giggles?" Emma replied trying not to laugh and remain professional.

"I'm very ticklish just there." Sébastien laughed again.

"Oh sorry. I'll move my hand." Emma giggled. She jumped when Sébastien laughed a little louder. "Is that better?" She asked after she'd moved her hand a little further up his thigh.

Sébastien nodded and tried to retain his composure while she touched him.

"Hey! Stop pulling those faces." He yelled as Emma looked at him with her eyes crossed and a funny expression on her face.

"That's better." She smiled again. "I'd rather see you laugh like that than see you how you were the other morning."

Sébastien nodded and swallowed hard as he looked at her. "Oui. I'm sorry about that."

Emma shook her head. "It's ok. There's no need to apologise. It's not an unusual reaction. I've seen it lots of times before, though not quite that bad." She paused and switched legs. "I heard you screaming this morning. I am a right in thinking Adam came to see you to give you a kick up the backside." She laughed.

"Oui he did. You should know that, considering you sent him. He's very direct isn't he?" Sébastien asked.

Emma nodded. "Got you off your lazy arse though didn't it?" She laughed. "Do you think you'll sleep better tonight? You looked a lot more peaceful when I walked in. It was a shame I had to wake you for this."

"I hope so. I do feel a lot better." Sébastien nodded.

"Right let's go for a little walk." Emma smiled as she handed him a pair of crutches. "Remember they're just there to support you. Let your legs take as much weight as you can possibly bear."

"Are you going to be my therapist from now on then?" Sébastien questioned while he moved slowly towards the door of his room.

"No." Emma shook her head. "You've only got me for today. Someone else will be coming out to you when you leave."

"Oh." Sébastien nodded and tried not to show the disappointment he was feeling. He glanced at Emma and thought he saw a similar look on her face. 'Ok. Maybe she's interested.' He thought to himself.

"Ok. If you can walk to the coffee machine and back, you'll be allowed to go home tomorrow."

"Non!" Sébastien swallowed hard and shook his head. He raised his eyes skyward and tried to re-enter his room only to find Emma barring his way.

"Come on, you can do this." Emma instructed as she stroked his right forearm gently.

"Non!" Sébastien shook his head vigorously.

"Something wrong?" Emma questioned.

"I don't want to.....I can't go back to that place. I can't go back to my house. I can't." Sébastien sniffed.

"All right. Calm down." Emma smiled and handed Sébastien a tissue. "Is it because of what happened there, that you don't want to go back?"

Sébastien nodded. "Oui. I know the blood's been cleaned up, but I'll always know where it was. I've never been very good with the sight of it anyway."

"There's no-one you could stay with for a while until you found somewhere else?"

"Only one of the others, but I couldn't ask them."

"Why not?" Emma questioned.

"It wouldn't be fair on any of them. They're all in new relationships and I wouldn't want to ruin things for them before they've even started by being the gooseberry. Especially Urs."

"Oh yes the lady in the red motorbike leathers is Urs's girlfriend isn't she?"

"Franky." Sébastien nodded.

"You like her?"

"Oui. I think she'll be really good for Urs. She's already bringing him out of his shell. I've never heard him talk about any woman the way he does her and he's certainly never flirted that much. He's usually quite shy at the beginning of a new relationship."

"Not like Carlos then?" Emma giggled.

"Noooo!" Sébastien grunted a laugh.

"Mmm. Difficult one." Emma smiled and pursed her lips. "But I just might have a solution."

"Oh! Like what?" Sébastien questioned.

"Well, Steven's going to be in Scotland for quite a while and he asked me to look after his home while he's away. I was thinking maybe you could stay there if you can't arrange anything else. It's not far from where you live so it wouldn't be that much of a problem."

"I couldn't?" Sébastien shook his head at the idea

"It wouldn't be forever would it?" Emma shrugged.

"Non. Non I suppose not." Sébastien nodded.

"Ok. I'll see if Steven agrees later. But you have to make it to the coffee machine and back first." Emma instructed as she turned him around gently and pointed down the corridor. "So get to stepping Izambard."

"Mon Dieu! You are worse than Steven and Adam put together." Sébastien laughed as he started to walk to where Emma had indicated.

"I haven't even started yet." Emma laughed as she walked by his side.

"I'm in soooooooo much trouble." Sébastien shook his head.

"Yep!" Emma nodded.

_________


"For me!" Jamie exclaimed excitedly while she looked the silver Astin Martin over. "All this for me?" She smiled sweetly at Marius Ramone.

"It's all yours." Marius nodded as he dangled the keys out in front of his face.

Jamie smiled and reached up for them and slowly, teasingly took them from his grasp.

"Mr Ramone you're going to spoil me." She oozed in her usual manner.

"It's going to get better." Marius Ramone laughed as he leaned forward and gave Jamie a kiss on the cheek.

"How?" Jamie's eyes widened.

"Do you have a passport?"

Jamie nodded.

"Good. How fast can you pack?"

"Like that." Jamie replied with a snap of her fingers. "Why?"

"What would you say to a little trip to Paris?"

Jamie smiled broadly.

"I take it you would enjoy that." Marius laughed again.

"What would we be doing out there?" Jamie questioned.

"Well now. There's all those lovely shops and I do have a good friend that works for a well-known jewellers." Marius replied while he beamed his smile at her.

"Which one?"

"That would be telling. That part of the trip will be your surprise. Now, go enjoy yourself. I will see you in the private dining room at the restaurant tonight. Buy yourself something nice for the journey tomorrow." He said as he pressed a wad of money into her hand.

"Aww. Aren't you just the sweetest thing?" Jamie oozed once more just before she slipped elegantly behind the wheel and started the car.

She laughed as she sped from Marius Ramone's estate and headed towards the village she had to go through to get to her favourite city for shopping. She fumed when she saw the two horses trotting side-by-side. She scowled on recognising the rider of the grey mare, then the rider of the black gelding. She honked her horn loudly in an attempt to get them to move out of her way. She put her foot down and sped past the grey mare at close range once they'd moved to riding behind each. She laughed sadistically when she saw the woman trying to control the bolting horse in her rear view mirror.

"Ok Seb. What's the problem? What have you been hiding from me and Carlos?" David demanded as they sat down on either side of Sébastien.

Sébastien didn't speak straight away. He sat in the easy chair and chewed hard on his bottom lip while he looked sheepishly from man to man.

"Well?!" Carlos shouted, causing Sébastien to jump slightly.

He drew in a deep breath, swallowed hard and closed his eyes before he spoke.

"I erm.....I almost died on Saturday night." He informed them slowly. "Actually I did for a few moments."

"What? How?" David shook his head.

Carlos and David sat in silence, blinking rapidly while Sébastien told them everything that had happened to him.

"And Urs has known about this all the time?" David yelled.

Sébastien nodded and raised his eyes to the ceiling to avoid making eye contact with either man. "He was in the room while the doctors treated me, he saw everything."

"And you still asked him not to say anything to us?" Carlos questioned with a look of disbelief.

"I made him promise not to once I knew what had happened." Sébastien quickly glanced at Carlos and bit his lip hard when he saw how angry the Spaniard was.

"Bloody hell Seb. After what he saw. Do you have any idea what he's gone through?" David fumed.

"Non." Sébastien shook his head. "Hell I should imagine."

"Oh ya think." David snapped sarcastically.

"Madre mia! That was a selfish thing to do Seb." Carlos shook his head then turned sharply away from him and quickly knocked the tears from his eyes.

"I know, I know." Sébastien hung his head, covered the top half of his face with his right hand and tried to stop the tears falling.

"You're unbelieveable Seb. We tell the world we think of each other as brothers and you go and do something that?" David huffed. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to stand back and allow doctors to do that to someone you care about?"

Sébastien swallowed hard and shook his head. "Non."

"Well maybe you should talk to my dad about that. I don't know how Carlos feels, but I don't feel much like your brother at the moment. Brothers don't do that sort of thing Seb. They talk to each other when they're hurting." David yelled once more.

"I know and I am sorry." Sébastien sniffed and huffed a breath. "I do try to talk to you all. It's easier for you three, you all have brothers and sisters of your own. You all know how to talk to one another about things like that. I have.... had no-one to turn to until you three came along. I had to keep it in. I'm still learning how it all works."

"That excuse is just not going to fly for much longer Seb. You should know by now that you can trust us with anything." David shook his head and huffed again.

"You have got to stop doing this bottling up thing you do when you are upset as well." Carlos stated with a flick of his left hand. "It is not good for you."

"I know that." Sébastien grunted a laugh and told them what had happened with Adam.

"Please, don't do it anymore." David asked through tear-filled as he shook his head at him and held him by the top of his arms. "Talk to us all in future, don't dump everything on Urs like that. It's not fair on him or us."

"I won't. I promise." Sébastien nodded and looked at David quizically when he saw his split lip. "What happened to you?"

"I got punched by Arnie's big brother last night." David shrugged quickly.

"Not the guy Franky and Lauren think did......." Sébastien indicated his own face.

"The very same." David nodded and closed his eyes.

"What for?"

"He called Lauren some insulting names and he didn't like it when I asked him not to talk about her like that. A few people saw him do it but they're that scared of him they're not prepared to tell the police. In a roundabout way he admitted to being involved with what happened to you too. I called the police, they can't do anything 'cos no-one else heard him. It would be my word against his."

Sébastien and Carlos cursed profusely in their native tongues, Sebastien shaking his head when David apologised.

"Have they said when you can go home yet?" Carlos asked once the three of them had calmed down.

"Tomorrow." Sébastien nodded and hung his head. "But I don't want to. I can't......." He sniffed. "Being in here, reliving everything every time I sleep is bad enough. I don't think I would be able to sleep again if I went back there. Emma offered somewhere." He sighed then went on to explain the offer. "He said no because a friend of his is already on his way over."

"It's ok. You can stay with me for a while. I've got plenty of room." David nodded, recalling the small pool of blood he'd seen from the nosebleed Sebastien had suffered and the slightly larger one that had formed on the cream carpet when the paramedics cut his trousers away to get a look at the knife wound.

"No, he's coming home with me. I have plenty of the room too." Carlos insisted.

Sébastien laughed, listening to them both arguing back and forth about where he was going to stay for a few moments, each of them becoming louder and louder and more insistant.

"And I say he's staying with me." Carlos bellowed, poking David hard in the chest with every word.

"Do you want me to pin you to the wall again? I say he's coming to mine." David yelled as he pushed Carlos backwards slightly.

"You wouldn't daaaaaaaaaare! Get off me Yanky boy!" Carlos yelled once David had picked him up like he had at the ice rink and held him against the wall for a few seconds before letting him fall to the floor in an inelegant heap again.

Carlos stood and drew himself up as tall as he could make himself and marched back over to David. He stood there for a few seconds with a determined look on his face then slyly winked at Sébastien.

"Ok. He comes home with you." Carlos shrugged and smiled as he dusted David's t-shirt down. "Don't be doing the moaning at me when he makes the mess of your home."

"Hey! Wounded man here." Sébastien laughed while he pointed to himself.

"Shut up!" Carlos and David shouted, batting him softly around the head with the pillows from the bed.

They stopped suddenly when they heard a loud cough from the end of the bed.

"Having fun you three?" Emma smiled as she questioned them.

"I'm sorry." Franky smiled while she mounted the grey Saddlebred mare named 'Sharantos' she had been given to ride.

"No, it's fine. I just didn't realise what went into some of the toiletries I use." Urs shook his head and swung himself into the saddle of 'Starstruck', a black gelding of the same breed as Franky's mount.

"Just wait until you get onto the food." Franky rolled her eyes.

"It can't be that bad." Urs shook his head.

"Ok. Whatever. You'll see." Franky shrugged playfully.

Urs laughed and gently kicked his mount into motion. "Where are we going?" He asked as Franky moved up beside him.

"Depends. Do you want to go for a good gallop or something a little slower and gentler?”

"I don't do slow and gentle. No matter what I'm riding." Urs smiled and raised his eyebrows at her in reply. "What?" He asked when he heard Franky giggling. "Oh Gott! I didn't mean.......Shut up Buhler, before you embarrass yourself even more." He instructed himself with a cough and bright red face.

"Ok. A good gallop it is." Franky nodded. "But we have to go through the village first to get to the best place." She laughed and clicked the mare into a trot.

Urs watched her while she rode. Her left hand holding the reins, her right hand resting gently on her right thigh. Rider and mount moving as one. He smiled when she turned to look at him whilst keeping a perfect rythmn and indicated for him to ride beside her now the narrow road had widened.

"When do you go back into the studio?" She asked.

"That will depend on how quickly Seb heals."

Franky nodded. "You're erm......You're going to be busy when you do aren't you? You won't really have a lot of spare time?"

"That's really down to us. We start when we want, we finish when we want." Urs replied as he looked at her quizically, unsure of where the conversation was heading.

"Really? Doesn't what'shisface have anything to say about it?"

"You mean Simon, Simon Cowell?" Urs laughed.

Franky nodded.

"No. We decide everything ourselves. Simon's very much hand's off now."

"What about all the travelling and the promotional stuff, that must be hard especially if you're in a relationship with someone." Franky asked as she turned in the saddle to glance at the driver who was honking the car horn loudly behind them.

Urs nodded his head. "It is. But having someone with you or on the other end of a phone helps. I don't know how David and Carlos got through the tour without someone."

"They didn't have anyone special in their lives?"

"No and my girlfriend at the time ended it just days before we finished."

"She ended it near the end of the tour. That must have been hard? Why not at the beginning or in the middle, that would have made much more sense?"

"Erm.....She was cheating. I didn't know for sure until a couple of weeks before we finished. She thought I wouldn't find out but finally admitted it when I told her I knew what she'd been up to."

"Did she give you an excuse for why she cheated?"

"She erm.....She said she couldn't handle the long absences." Urs shrugged. "Even though I arranged for her to come over to where I was on several occasions. She came up with one excuse after another as to why she never turned up."

"Never? She never turned up even after you went to all that trouble." Franky questioned with a shake of her head.

"No." Urs shook his head. "Then I called her home one night and I heard a man's voice in the background asking her when she was coming back to bed. I gave her the choice there and then, him or me and she chose him."

"Oh! I'm sorry. She wants her head read." Franky smiled.

"It's ok. Maybe she does need her head read, but then again I wouldn't be with you now, would I?" Urs smiled and reached out to touch Franky's face gently. He laughed when Franky lowered her eyes and blushed slightly. "We'd better get into single file until this car has passed."

"Easy girl! Easy!" Franky soothed her mount as she started to kick up a fuss at the loud honking coming from behind them. "I wish they would stop doing that." Franky fumed while Urs moved his horse behind hers. "We have as much....... Whoah! Whoah!"

Urs watched Franky again as she tried to settle Sharantos down. His heart jumped into his mouth when the car drove passed at a high rate of speed making the animal rear violently before bolting off as fast as it could across the nearest field. Leaving Urs far behind.

Franky didn't try to stop the animal she went with the horse, but tried with everything she had to get it to calm down.

"Come on, come on. Move your flaming arse." Urs shouted at his horse as he tried to make him go faster. "Shit!" He yelled when Franky's horse crashed through a hedge causing Franky to almost fall off. "Oh God! Hold on Franky!" He yelled when she almost lost her seat.

His eyes flew wide while he watched her horse headed towards a brick wall. He gasped loudly when the horse jumped awkwardly and Franky disappeared over the other side.

"Oh God. No! Come on move God damn you." He yelled one more time at Starstruck and almost fell out of the saddle himself when his pace finally quickened. "Franky! Come on move." Urs yelled, trying to make the gelding go faster, although he was already galloping at full stretch.

He glanced up and saw Franky's mount still galloping off uphill. He jumped from the saddle when he finally reached the wall and leapt over it to find Franky lying in a crumpled heap on her right side.

"Franky." He spoke her name softly as her knelt beside her and touched her left arm.

She didn't move.

"Franky!" Urs shouted and squeezed the top of her arm gently.

She moaned as she opened her eyes and rolled herself onto her back. She sat up slowly and smiled as she looked at Urs.

"Are you ok?" He asked as he pulled her close and held her tightly.

"I'm fine." Franky nodded and breathed deeply.

"You're sure?" Urs questioned, holding her away from him and looking her up and down.

"Really. I'm fine. I just got the wind knocked out of me that's all." She placated him while she stroked the right side of his concerned looking face with the back of her left hand. "There's nothing broken. Sharantos has always been a little flighty, but I can usually calm her down. I think that car just got a little too close for comfort."

Urs stood up and gently pulled her up from the ground into his arms. Tears filled his eyes and he gasped for his breath while he looked at her. He wrapped his left arm around her waist, pulled her close, cradled the back of her head in his right hand and gently pushed her forehead against his right shoulder while he rocked her from side to side. He closed his eyes, allowed a few tears to fall and rested his right cheek against the side of her head while her arms wrapped around his waist to hold him tight. They stayed in that position for a few moments until each of them felt the other calm down.

"Did you see who that was in the car?" Franky asked as she looked up at him.

"No." Urs shook his head and swallowed hard. "Who was it?"

"Jamie."

"You're sure?" Urs questioned as he helped Franky over the wall.

Franky nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. She mounted Startstruck then smiled as Urs climbed up behind her wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently on her neck.

"I suppose we'd better follow her?" Urs asked with a nod towards the mare slowing to a stop a little way off in the distance.

"Mmm, but slowly. Let her calm down." Franky nodded.

"Ok." Urs nodded and held Franky just a little tighter as they moved off again.

__________


"Oh my God! And he kept it from you?" Lauren exclaimed while David made himself comfortable on the couch that sat in her office after telling her what Sebastien had wanted to talk to him about.

"Yeah, but he's promised not to do it any more." David smiled. "Have you got much more to do?" He asked, looking over his shoulder down on to the busy rink. "I'm getting bored."

"Not much." Lauren replied with a quick shake of her head. "When do you plan on telling me what happened between you and Owen?"

"I told you, it was just a misunderstanding." David replied, keeping his eyes focused on the rink.

Lauren slammed her pen down hard onto her desk making David jump.

"What?" He asked as he turned round to face her.

"You don't like Seb keeping things from you, don't you keep things from me. Tell me what happened between you and Owen."

"Nothing." David insisted.

"David!!" Lauren yelled.

"Ok. I'll tell you what happened when you tell me what you're keeping from me." David snapped his head around as he spoke.

"I don't know what you mean." Lauren shook her head and lowered it back to her paperwork.

"Yes you do." David jumped from the couch, walked over to where Lauren sat and spun her chair round to face him while he squatted in front of her.

"Something's been bothering you since yesterday and don't even bother giving me that story again." He told as he held by the tops of her arms. "Please tell me what's wrong." He asked when he saw the tears welling in Lauren's eyes.

"I can't." Lauren shook her head and allowed a small sob to escape.

"Why not?"

"Because.....Because you won't want to know me if I do." Lauren hung her head.

"Let me be the judge of that. Now please Lauren, tell me what's wrong." David insisted, gently lifting her chin of her chest and smiling softly at her.

Lauren breathed deep, closed her eyes and kept them that way as she began to speak.

"I...I have a child David. A four year old daughter, she's almost five and her father wants me to take care of her now that he's getting married."

"What?!" David yelled. "Why isn't she with you in the first place? Why does he suddenly want you to take care of her?"

"She isn't with me because........" Lauren's voice cracked and her tears started to fall. "….because I signed custody over to him when she was four weeks old. We had already split before I had her. His mother pressured me into signing, I was really mixed up when I signed the papers." Lauren tapped her forehead with her finger and tears began to roll faster down her cheeks. "Severe post natal depression my doctor said. I just didn't have the money to fight to get her back and I earned too much to get Legal Aid." Lauren opened her eyes to see David still looking at her and nodding.

"I see." David smiled. "So why is he willing to give up custody of her now he's getting married?"

"Because his bride and Stephanie don't like each other and it’s causing problems." Lauren shrugged. "Or so he says. I always thought they got along okay."

"Stephanie. That's your daughter's name?"

Lauren nodded.

"And her father's putting his bride-to-be before his own daughter?" David questioned in astonishment.

"Looks like it." Lauren shrugged.

"The pig!" David exclaimed loudly as shook his head. "Sorry, but that's not right." He shook his head. "What has Franky said?"

Lauren turned her face away from him and swallowed hard. "She doesn't know about her. No-one does."

"Not even your parents or Dale?" David questioned.

Lauren shook her head again and pursed her lips tight together. "No. I've never said anything to either of them because I was so ashamed of what I'd done. Stephanie knows I'm her mother, but barely knows me as a person. Nick has only allowed me to see her every four months since I signed custody over to him."

"My God! He sounds like a real nasty piece of work."

Lauren shook her head once more. "It’s his mother that's the nasty piece of work. He's putty in her hands, a real 'mummy's boy'. She says jump, he asks how high. I know the way that woman's mind works. She'll have had made Nick do that."

"So why isn't he asking his mother to take care of her?"

"Because she's ill. She has lung cancer and doesn't have much time left."

David nodded. "I see. So when I are you going to fetch her?" He smiled broadly.

Lauren snatched her head round to face him. "It doesn't bother you?"

"No." David shook his head quickly. "Why should it? It's not that unusual for a single woman to have a child nowadays." He questioned as he stood up and pulled Lauren into his arms. "I would still have wanted you even if she had been with you." He nodded while he wiped her tears away and kissed her firmly.

"You really are a super man aren't you?" Lauren asked as she buried her face into his shoulder. She traced the S on his chest with her right index finger once he'd released the kiss and cried for a little while longer while he held her tight and told her it was ok.

"I have to fetch her before the end of this coming Sunday." Lauren smiled as she pulled back a little and looked up at him. "So I suppose I'd better tell my parents, Dale and Franky before then."

"I think you'd better." David smiled while he nodded.

Lauren smiled as she wiped her eyes. "So what happened between you and Owen then?"

"He called you some foul names and punched me when I asked him to stop."

"Oh! Thank you." Lauren smiled once more and dropped a kiss on his cheek. "You haven't seen Urs and Franky today then? They've gone off horseriding."

"Oh yes I saw them. Carlos and I saw them just as we were leaving Seb's room. Franky looked as white as a ghost and Urs was fuming mad. I've never seem him so angry."

"What happened?"

"Franky said her horse bolted and she got dropped to the ground after the horse jumped a wall badly."

"My God is she ok?" Lauren asked as her hand flew to her mouth.

"She's fine, just a little shook up is all." David replied. "I'm sorry Lauren. I should've been a little more gentle than that." He apologised as he pulled Lauren back to him and held her tight.

Lauren shook her head. "I'm ok."

"She's like a sister to you isn't she?" David asked.

Lauren shook her head. "No. She is my sister. So is Karen. Hang on! Why would Urs be fuming?" She asked as she pulled away from him.

"He said something about a car making the horse panic. He said that Franky was certain that the driver was Jamie."

"One of these days. Just one of these days." Lauren yelled while she thumped her desk.

"Just tell me where she lives!" Urs yelled while he stood over Sébastien.

"Why? What's she done now?" Sébastien asked, pulling his face back from Urs's furious one.

"She nearly got Franky killed this morning that's what?"

"Oh mon Dieu! Are you ok?" Sébastien bit his lip hard, looking around Urs to try and see Franky after listening to his fuming friend tell him what had happened.

"I'm fine." Franky informed as she stepped between Urs and Sébastien. "Will you please calm down?" She asked while she pulled Urs away from Sébastien and pushed him gently into a chair. "There's no point yelling at Seb for what Jamie's done. She probably lied to him about where she lived anyway."

"17 Bradley Gardens." Sébastien informed. "That's where she said she lived, though I never went in. I didn't even get to go near."

"Surely you picked her up from her home or took her back there at some point?" Urs hissed the question.

"Non." Sébastien shook his head. "I either met her in her favourite cocktail lounge or outside her favourite boutique."

"And you didn't find that suspicious?" Urs grunted angrilly.

"Non. I didn't!" Sébastien snapped in reply. "Just because you would have, does......"

Sébastien stopped talking when he and Urs heard a loud whistle.

"Damned bitch isn't even here and look at the trouble she's causing between you two." Franky shook her head at the pair of them.

Both men looked at Franky who stood with her arms folded across her chest with a stern look on her face, then glanced at each other sheepishly.

"Sorry Seb." Urs whispered quickly.

"It's okay." Sébastien shook his head. "I'm sorry too."

Franky shook her head and rolled her eyes backwards.

"It was another lie wasn't it?" Sébastien asked as he turned to face Franky.

"I'm afraid so. Bradley Gardens was pulled down years ago to make way for the shopping centre." Franky nodded her head.

"I'm sorry Seb. I should have known." Urs huffed loudly as he spoke.

"It's fine." Sébastien smiled. "I need to apologise to you don't I?"

Urs looked at him quizically. "What for?"

"I should never have asked you not to tell David and Carlos what happened to me." Sébastien shook his head and closed his eyes. "It wasn't fair of me to put so much stress on you. I'm so sorry Urs."

"My fault, just as much as yours." Urs shook his head. "I should never have agreed to your request. How did David and Carlos take the news?"

"Better than I thought they would." Sébastien nodded. "No more secrets between any of us." He suggested as he held out his right hand for Urs to shake.

Urs took Sébastien's hand and shook it firmly as he spoke. "Agreed. No more secrets."

"David said you're allowed to leave tomorrow." Urs asked while he gave Sébastien a nudge. "Are you sure you're going to be ok at home."

"I'm not going home." Sébastien smiled.

"Where are you going then?" Urs questioned, looking at him quizically.

"David's place." Sébastien smiled.

"Oh." Urs sniffed and lowered his head dejectedly.

"Urs, don't. You've done enough for me the past few days. I couldn't ask you to do any more." Sébastien touched his forearm and shook his head. "Besides we'd drive each other nuts within hours. You know what a neat freak you are and what a messy sod I am. Do you really want Franky to find my underwear lying around the place whenever she comes over?"

"No. I had quite enough of seeing that during the tour thank you very much. I am not sharing any room with you again." Urs shook his head and rolled his eyes with a laugh.

"Go on then. Tell us all about Emma." Franky asked with a broad smile, perching herself on Urs's knee and smiling at him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"What about her?" Sébastien shook his head.

"Seb!" Urs smiled

"What? She works here as a phys......."

"Oh mein Gott! Are you blind or something?" Urs slapped his forehead while Franky giggled.

"You're not telling me she's interested in me?" Sébastien smiled.

"Unless I've completely misread the signals." Franky nodded as she gave Urs a nudge and watched Sebastien's smile broaden until it reached his eyes.

_________


"Say that again." Karen demanded while Carlos tried the door of the smart little café only to find it firmly locked.

"Stupid English bank holidays." Carlos hissed, kicking the bottom of the door.

"Carlos!"

"Oh! Si, Urs said that Jamie made Franky's horse panic by honking her horn and speeding passed her. It went galloping off with Franky barely able to hold on. She fell off when the horse jumped over a wall."

"She is ok though isn't she?" Karen asked.

"Si, just a little wobbly." Carlos nodded and kicked at the door again. "I'm sorry about this. I forgot that most places are closed on a bank holiday."

"Good job I came prepared then isn't it?" Karen smiled while she pulled a large plastic container from her briefcase. "Chicken and Pasta salad ok?"

"Not what I had in mind, but better than walking round with an empty stomach." Carlos smiled as they sat down together on a nearby bench.

Karen laughed while she handed him a fork, took the lid off the container and held it between the two of them.

"What did Sébastien want to tell you? If you don't mind me asking."

Carlos sighed and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees while he told Karen what had happened.

"Oh my Lord! And he kept if from you?"

Carlos nodded. "But he has promised not to do it anymore. Have you known Franky for a long time?"

"Eight years." Karen nodded as she swallowed. "I met her when her father had his first heart attack and my father had his second. We became climbing buddies a few days later."

"This is good." Carlos smiled after swallowing his first mouthful. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Sure did." Karen nodded. "I discovered how much I love cooking while I was in Australia. I can turn my hand to most things now."

"Even Spanish food?" Carlos questioned with a suspicious glance

"Even Spanish food." Karen confirmed with a nod. "I'll have to give Franky a call, see if she wants to tackle the climbing wall at the new sports centre."

"What for?" Carlos asked as he snaked his right arm round Karen's waist, pulled her close and jabbed his fork into the container again.

"What do you mean, what for?"

"I just don't see the point of climbing the rocks." Carlos shrugged.

"We do it because it's fun. Because it's a challenge, because you have to think about what your body is doing all the time." Karen replied as she swallowed.

"You wouldn't find me doing such a thing. I can think of better things to with my body....... and yours." Carlos growled while he flicked eyebrows suggestively.

"I'm sure you can." Karen laughed and blushed slightly as she dropped a quick kiss on his cheek making his smile. "Don't knock my hobby until you've tried it."

"Is that some sort of challenge?" Carlos asked with playful glare.

"Why? Scared to accept." Karen laughed again and gave him gentle nudge.

"No." Carlos shook his head and swallowed another mouthful.

"Good. I'll make arrangements with Franky and Urs then." Karen smiled broadly and raised her eyebrows.

"Meirda!" Carlos exclaimed as he slapped the palm of his right hand to his forehead

"Just stop asking me if I'm ok. The doctor told you I was. I've told you three times already, I'm fine." Franky snapped as she pushed her kitchen door open and flung her motorbike jacket into the understair cupboard.

"Sorry." Urs replied while he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Franky sighed deeply as he touched her forehead with his own.

"No, I should be the one apologising." Franky shook her head and closed her eyes. "I should be thanking you too. God knows what would have happened if.....Ur.........!" She exclaimed when he suddenly crushed his lips to her own.

"Don't." Urs shook his head as he released her. "Don't you think like that?"

Franky nodded and sighed deeply. She smiled gently while Urs wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Don't want to go out tonight then?" Urs asked.

"No. I think I'll stay in and see what's on tv." Franky shook her head.

"Want someone to hold you?"

Franky nodded and pursed her lips tight together. "Just for a little while."

"Ok." Urs held her closer and rocked her gently from side to side as she rested her head on his shoulder and cried the day's events away. "Shhhhh, It's all right. Nothing and no-one is ever going to hurt you while I'm around." He murmured while he held her tight.

They remained that way for over ten minutes until they heard the front door being slammed open and Lauren's voice shouting from the hallway. Franky pulled her head away from Urs's shoulder, gave him a quick kiss and a thank you. She bit her bottom lip gently when she saw him knock a tear from his own cheek.

"Franky are you in......Sorry." Lauren sucked air as she flung the kitchen door open and saw them still wrapped in each other's arms. "David told me what happened. Are you ok?" Lauren asked.

"I'm fine. I was going to call you. Have you found out why Owen thumped him yet?" Franky asked with a wipe of her eyes.

"Yeah! Apparently Owen called me some names that David didn't like and Owen thumped him when he asked him to stop."

Franky shook her head in an exasperated fashion and rolled her eyes backwards.

"It's great news about Seb being allowed out of hospital tomorrow isn't it?" Lauren smiled at Urs.

"Ja. Great news." Urs nodded and returned the smile.

"I can't believe he thought I would have a problem with him living with David for a while." Lauren rolled her eyes and flicked her head upwards. "Anyway, I'm off for a bath before David picks me up to go to the cinema again."

"Again!" Franky exclaimed. "Don't tell me, parts three and four are being shown tonight?"

"And five and six tomorrow night." Lauren smiled broadly.

Franky looked at her and shook her head as her mobile began to ring.

"Hello." She answered.

"Franky, it's Karen. Carlos told me what happened today. Are you ok?"

"Hi Karen, I'm fine. I was just about to call you. What's up?"

"I've got a bit of a challenge on my hands."

"Oh yes. Tell me more."

"Well, I kind of challenged Carlos into climbing the wall at the new sports centre."

Franky laughed. "Oh really. Do tell."

"The thing is, I've managed to drag you and Urs into it as well."

"I see."

Franky paused while she told Urs what was going on. Urs laughed heartily, before he replied

"Urs says to tell Carlos to prepare to eat his dust." Franky giggled and watched Urs trying to control his laughter.

Franky paused again while Karen spoke to Carlos. She laughed loudly when she heard Carlos's voice in the background.

"Did you hear him?" Karen laughed.

"How could I not?"

"What did he say?" Urs questioned.

"He said you'll be the one eating his dust because he'll be up that wall like a bat up a drainpipe."

"He means rat doesn't he?" Urs cracked up again.

Franky nodded through her laughter. She cracked up while she listened to Karen correcting him and Carlos ranting on in Spanish about stupid English sayings. "Why can't they just say what they mean?" He questioned.

"Ok, what day were you thinking of?" Franky asked as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Wednesday ok with you? I've made a booking for eight at night."

"Fine by me. Wednesday. 8:00pm?" Franky looked to Urs who could only manage a nod. "...and Urs too."

"Wednesday it is then. Bye Franky."

"Bye Karen."

Franky cracked up again as she hung up.

"Still want to stay in tonight?" Urs asked holding her close once more and kissing her neck gently.

"Yes." Franky shuddered when she felt his hot breath in her ear again.

________


"Why not?" Sébastien pouted while Emma busied herself with helping him to pack the things he wouldn't need in the morning.

"I'm not allowed to. It's against hospital policy." She replied. "But I could give them to someone who is not a patient." Emma smiled.

"So you can give Urs or David or Carlos your phone numbers and that would not be a problem?"

"No that wouldn't be a problem, but it would be less suspicious if I gave them to a woman."

"Like Franky or Lauren?" Sébastien questioned.

Emma nodded. "You haven't met Carlos's new lady yet then?"

"Karen? Non, she been busy with work." Sébastien shook his head.

"Oh, what does she do?"

"She's a secretary for one of the consultants here?"

"Which one?" Emma questioned.

"Cardio something." Sébastien shrugged.

"Thorasic?"

"That's it. Cardio Thorasic. What is that?" Sébastien questioned when he remembered that Carlos hadn't explained fully what Karen's boss specialised in.

"It means he deals with problems with the heart and lungs. Probably Mr Duncan-Stewart." Emma grimmaced as she mentioned his name.

"What is wrong with this man?"

"What's right with him you mean?" Emma huffed. "Adam's wife, Helen, used to work for him. He would make her work God knows how long passed her contracted hours. Everything has to be done asap with that man. He's no better than a bully, the way he speaks to people. Helen and Adam almost got divorced because of him."

"Asap?" Sébastien questioned. "Oh! As soon as possible, oui?"

Emma nodded then laughed when she saw the slightly confused look on Sébastien's face.

Sébastien huffed a laugh while he shook his head then nodded. "Talking of finishing late you are finishing late again tonight. Do you ever go home?"

Emma laughed and nodded. "I'm going home as soon as I've paid a visit to my friend in ICU."

"They must be very ill to be in there, yes?" Sébastien questioned.

Emma sniffed and nodded. "He's been in a coma for quite a long time now."

"What happened to him? If you don't mind....."

"No it's ok. He was beaten up, no-one seems to know who by or why. He seemed to recover quite well for the first two weeks then something went wrong and he lapsed into a coma."

"He's a good friend of yours then?" Sébastien questioned again.

"Not really, no." Emma shook her head "He was my brother's friend at school, but Brett's in Australia studying saltwater crocodiles for a degree in zoology and he's only really supposed to come back for family emergencies. His friend has got no relatives so I go and talk to him for a few minutes every night before I go home, hoping that he's going to show some response"

Sébastien sighed heavily, watched Emma knock a tear from her eye and moved to wrap an arm around her shoulder in an attempt to provide some comfort.

"Please don't." She asked while she moved away. "You can't, not in here. If someone was to walk in and catch us, I would be given a severe reprimand by my superior."

"Sorry." Sébastien dropped his chin on to his chest and sighed heavily.

"It's ok. I know you were only trying to comfort me, nothing more. That's just not how anyone else would see it. Thank you anyway." Emma smiled. "Right, let's get you into bed and settled down for the night."

Sébastien yawned as he climbed into bed, laid himself down and smiled as Emma covered him over.

She double-checked that they hadn't forgotten anything then made her way to the door. She opened it and raised her hand to switch the main light off.

"Night Sébastien." She whispered just before she flicked the switch.

She turned back to look at him when she didn't get a response and saw him by the light of the soft lamp above his head, sleeping soundly. She smiled and sighed happily as she made her way to the lift, pushed the call button and waited for it to arrive.

'Erin is just going to die if she ever finds out who Mum has been looking after.' She giggled to herself.

Her little sister was virtually her double. The only differences were that Erin was just a couple of inches taller, wore glasses and had her hair cut into a very smart bob. Emma always called her little sister but there were only three years between the two of them. She had a good job at one of the biggest banks in town and had an amazing head for figures, though she never showed off about it.

The lift pinged its arrival and Emma smiled as she stepped in and pushed the button for her required floor while she remembered the look Erin had had on her face after she'd listened to their first album.

Completely and utterly captivated by the sound that had filled their mother's lounge. Emma giggled, remembering their conversation about the music. It wasn't Erin's usual taste, she much preferred dance music, but one of her friends had played her their first CD at lunchtime. She had headed for the record store as soon as the bank closed for the day and had returned with both albums. Erin had shown her the cover of the first album and pointed to the tall American and told her his voice was her favourite, but when it came down to looks none of the others could top the long-haired one.

Emma laughed a little louder as the lift doors opened. She knew Erin would have loved to have been in her shoes the past couple of days. The way Emma had met Urs, bumping into him as she left Sébastien's room and being introduced by his girlfriend, would have left her sister in a heap on the floor.

Emma had quickly spotted the fury burning Urs's eyes and wondered what had happened. He had remained polite while Franky introduced them to each other and had thanked her for taking care of his friend but had quickly entered Sébastien's room and both men had started shouting at each other. She had thought of going back into the room to tell them to keep the noise down, but a loud whistle told her that someone else had brought both men to their senses and she had turned and walked quickly away.

She swiped her card through the little box again, sighed heavily and smiled softly at the nurse who shook her head at her. She took a deep breath then headed over to the inert form of her brother's best friend. Taking his free hand in hers she said hello and began to talk to him. She looked at her watch just before she said goodbye and rolled her eyes into the back of her head. She was running fifteen minutes later than usual but she didn't care. For the first time in a long time she felt warm and happy inside. She smiled broadly as she re-entered the lift, rode it down to the ground floor, walked through the hospital's main entrance and hailed a taxi to take her home.

"A good day Miss?" The driver asked as they pulled out of the car park.

"Yes." Emma nodded and continued to smile while she rested her head against the window and looked up to the window of Sébastien's room. "Yes. A very good day."

"Can you see him?" David asked while he quickly glanced around the darkened cinema.

"No." Lauren giggled as she made herself comfortable in the seat next to David and snuggled her head into his shoulder. She sighed happily as he wrapped his arm around her and held her tight.

"You didn't have to get changed you know." David laughed, looking at her yellow t-shirt.

"Yes I did." Lauren laughed a little louder. "The two of us walking down the street together dressed in jeans and plain white t-shirts would have looked ridiculous. Even Franky and Urs giggled when they saw us together."

"Franky's ok, after her fall this morning?" David questioned, while shoving a handful of peanuts into his mouth and paying little attention to the trailers that were flashing across the screen.

"She's fine, just a little shaken up" Lauren nodded.

"I'm not surprised." David shook his head. "Have you told her about Stephanie yet?"

"Not yet." Lauren shook her head and sighed heavily. "I want to tell her and Dale at the same time and Dale is on a date tonight." Lauren smiled.

"Ok. So he's finally given up on Ja......?" David stopped, knowing that he didn't need to finish his question by the smile he saw on Lauren's face.

"I'm going to tell them tomorrow night, after I've told my mum and dad." Lauren sniffed slightly.

"Want me to be there?" David questioned while he wrapped his arm a little tighter around Lauren's shoulder.

"You really want to?"

David turned his face to look at her and kissed her lips gently. "Yes. Both times. It's going to be hard and I think you'll need someone on your side."

"Ok. Thank you." Lauren nodded and snuggled herself a little deeper into David's shoulder. "What do you think to this climbing challenge?" Lauren replied.

"I want see that." David giggled. " What day are they going again?"

"Wednesday. Franky said they've booked for 8:00pm."

"Want to go and watch them?" David laughed.

"And leave Sébastien on his own?"

"Oh! I get the feeling he won't be alone by Wednesday night." David rolled his eyes into his head and grinned as he spoke.

"Really? Who?" Lauren asked excitedly

"A young lady named Emma. She's a physio-therapist at the hospital." David beamed.

"I thought nursing staff and the like weren't allowed to get involved with patients."

"Not while the patient is the hospital, but there's nothing to stop them when the patient has left. It's not really illegal, it's just frowned upon."

Lauren nodded as her body jerked forward. She turned her head over her shoulder to see what had happened.

"Will you two shut the hell up, I paid to see the films not to listen to you two gabbing all night." Owen sneered as he kicked the back of David's seat again.

David smiled while he turned in his seat to face him.

"Still with the little slut I see." Owen sneered again.

"David, don't!" Lauren yelled as she held onto his arm and stopping him from throwing the punch he'd balled his fist up for. "He's not worth it. Let's move over to those two seat over there." Lauren pointed to the last two seats in a block off to their right.

David nodded his compliance but kept his eyes firmly focused on Owen as they moved between the seats, listening to Owen laugh while he watched them move.

"You'll keep asshole." Owen whispered to himself while he made himself comfortable in his seat.

___________


Jamie held her head high while she sauntered through 'Ramone's' restaurant dressed in a black, long-sleeved backless mini-dress that she had teamed with a pair of three inch heeled, clear diamond toe-thonged sandals. She smiled sweetly while she moved and watched every man's face as she did so. Her hair had been left down, still had its natural wave and bounced with vitality as she moved. She wore very little make-up, but the aroma of her favourite perfume hung heavily in the air.

She noticed that almost every men either turned their head to look at her or stood up from their tables to get a better. The only two that didn't were the two men who sat at a corner table. She rolled her eyes into her head when she saw how tenderly they touched each other's hands while they rested comfortably on the table.

She stopped to admire herself in the floor to ceiling mirror that hung at the far end of the restaurant. The mirror had been hung in such a way that it made 'Ramone's' look twice as big as it actually was. She laughed when she heard several slaps sound and a number of loudly exclaimed 'What was that for?'. She laughed a little harder while she looked at the restaurant's reflection and saw at least seven men rubbing at their cheeks whilst their female dining companions glared hard at them.

Turning to her left, she continued to look at her reflection as she made her way to the private dining room. She stuck her nose up in the air when she saw the waiter who had served her the night before.

"Problem?" She hissed quietly in his ear once she'd reached him and saw how tightly pursed his lips were.

"No Miss. Enjoy your evening." He smiled sarcastically as he opened the door and ushered her in.

Marius Ramone was already waiting for her as the door opened and he sat slouched in his chair with his legs wide open, his elbow resting gently on the table while he tapped his right index finger against his lips. His left thumb was hooked into the pocket of his trousers while his fingers lay against his hip.

"Turn around." Marius asked once Jamie had stepped into the room and the door had been closed.

Jamie turned around as slow as she could and heaved when she heard him groan, knowing that he could see how low-cut the back of the dress was and that she appeared to be braless. The material sat just above Jamie's backside. She watched him lick his lips slowly and indicate for her to sit once she was facing him again.

"I have a little something for you. A little taster if you will." He informed as he pulled a long, narrow box from behind the flower arrangement that stood on the table.

Jamie took the box and her eyes flew wide once she'd opened it to reveal a white gold bracelet set with diamonds.

"Are they real?" She questioned coyly. 'A white gold setting, not platinum and the diamonds aren't that big. It'll do, for now.' She thought, keeping the coy expression on face.

Marius laughed as he removed the bracelet and fastened it around Jamie's right wrist. "Yes they're real." He informed after he'd gently kissed the back of Jamie's hand.

Marius turned in his chair and quickly covered himself with his napkin. He loved being around this woman. Loved the way she turned him on with the way she dressed and the way she teased him with her actions. The woman he was married to never made him feel this aroused and he was glad she was safely out of the way working on opening a new branch of 'Ramone's' in New York. She wasn't expected back for almost two weeks, which gave him plenty of time to play his little games.

He loved the way Jamie worked him up in a frenzy of excitement only to snatch it away from him at the very last moment. The more she did it, the better he liked it. He knew she would be worth all the teasing when she finally gave herself to him.

"All packed, ready for tomorrow?" Marius questioned as Jamie made herself comfortable opposite him and he indicated for the waiter to fill her champagne glass.

"Your chauffeur already has my bags in the car." Jamie nodded.

"You have changed your mind and will stay at my home tonight?" Marius questioned, his eyes darkening with desire as he spoke.

"I will consider it, over dinner." Jamie smiled. 'You wish.' She hissed under her breath. "Tell me Marius, how are we getting to Paris? I hope it's not on that infernal train through that disgusting tunnel or on that sickening ferry."

"Nothing so common, my sweet. I have arranged for a mid-sized private jet to fly us over."

"Really?" Jamie questioned as she took a sip of champagne.

Marius nodded. "I would take our........my large one, but it has had to go for some sort of repair and will not be available in time."

"Oh what a shame. Never mind." Jamie smiled as she took the menu from the waiter and made her selections.

This time she chose a fresh Lobster soup, cutlets of Lamb oven cooked with Rosemary, Garlic and a red wine sauce served with sauteed potatoes and broccoli. Her dessert was a luxurious pear and apple tart served with homemade vanilla ice-cream.

She decided to drink her champagne a lot slower tonight.

Carlos had his hands casually pushed into his trouser pockets and he whistled a familiar Salsa tune to himself while danced from side to side down the pathway that lead to Karen's front door. He continued to whistle as he reached the door and knocked. He leaned his right shoulder casually against the brickwork, supported himself on his left leg while his right leg was crossed in front of it. He continued to whistle and looked through the glass while he waited for Karen to open the door.

He stopped mid-whistle, his jaw-dropped and his eyes flew wide when he saw how she was dressed. She wore a very sexy turquois blue sequin salsa dress with spaghetti straps and hanky hem which showed off the great legs he knew she had to their best advantage. She had teamed the dress with silver open-toed sandal featuring a sexy three and a half in heel, with wrap-around ankle strap rhinestone detailing on the toe strap and a rhinestone butterfly charm at the top of ankle strap that made her look very feminine and flirty. Her hair had been brushed over to one side and she'd tied it loosely with a ribbon the same colour as her dress.

"Hello! Did you hear me?" Karen asked with a giggle.

"Huh?" Carlos questioned as he finally heard her voice.

"I said come in, I'm almost ready."

Carlos snatched his head up to face her and flashed his usual smile as he stepped over the threshold. He spotted that she was having trouble with the simple silver bracelet she had decided to wear. He continued to smile while he took hold of the bracelet and fastened it for her.

"You look fantastic." He whispered in her ear and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek before they moved out through the door.

"Thank you." Karen blushed as she looked him up and down. Dressed completely in black with the usual buttons open on his shirt.

"Your carriage awaits." Carlos smiled with a nod up the pathway to where a silver Mercedes Benz stood waiting.

Karen's eyes flew wide on seeing the car he'd hired for the evening.

"You didn't have to do that. A taxi would have been fine."

Carlos shrugged, linked the fingers of her right hand with those of his left and laughed lightly while they walked up the pathway. He held the door of the car open while Karen made herself comfortable. He sat down close beside her and leaned forward slightly to instructed the driver to take them to 'Los Locos' nightclub.

Karen and Carlos talked about the events of the past few days while they travelled. Laughing at some things, becoming angry or a little upset over others. Fifteen minutes later they were smiling once again and stepping onto the dancefloor.

"Ok. Let's see how good you really are." Carlos teased as he wrapped his right arm around Karen's waist and took her right into his left.

"Ready when you are." Karen replied with a quick flick of her eyebrows.

Carlos gave her a gentlemanly nod, pulled her close to him and held her there while he lead her through the basic steps. He rested his hand gently on the middle of back and felt her shudder as he did so.

"Is that the best you can do?" Karen teased halfway through the first song as their bodies rubbed against each other.

Carlos looked at her through narrowed eyes and growled deeply at the back of his throat as he released her waist and took hold of her hand. He watched every move her body made while put her through various twirls and moves, never once did she put a foot wrong. They danced to three songs that way, each time with Karen's body held tight against Carlos's as the song ended.

"I need a drink." Karen informed when fourth song began to build to its climax.

Carlos nodded and returned his right arm to her waist. He quickly flicked his eyebrows and bore her weight perfectly on one arm as he spun her into a low dip. Karen looked into his eyes and breathed deeply while he held her there for a moment before he moved his free hand up to the back of her head and cradle it gently while he kissed her long and deep. He looked at her face as he released the kiss and brought her back upright.

"Are you ok?" He asked as he held her waist between both of his hands.

"Fine." Karen nodded with an inane smile on her face. "Did you see some of the looks we were getting while we danced?" Karen asked as she panted to get her breath back.

"Si, we certainly put some of them to shame didn't we?" Carlos asked, leading her from the dancefloor to an empty table. He gave their drink order to the waitress, barely taking his eyes off Karen as he spoke. "You were right, you can certainly Salsa. I have one question though."

"What?"

"Who does Franky dance with when she comes here?"

Karen quickly looked around the nightclub to see if she could spot Franky's dance partner. She smiled when saw him and signalled for him to make his way over to where she sat with Carlos. She stood and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before introducing him to Carlos.

"Carlos say hello to Michael, Franky's dance partner." Karen asked as she sat back down and allowed Carlos to pull her close to him.

"Nice to meet you." Carlos smiled and shook hands with the tall, slender, dark-haired man who stood before him.

"You too." Michael nodded. "You still dance brilliantly, Karen."

"Thanks Michael. What did you think to my partner?"

"Not bad!" Michael winked at Karen as he spoke. "Wanna show him what you can really do?" Michael teased, offering his hand out to Karen.

Carlos glared at him then heard Karen laugh.

"Michael stop it. You are such a wind-up merchant."

"I know." Michael shrugged and smiled. "Sorry, just my little joke. You'll get used to me."

Carlos laughed and nodded.

"Where's Franky? I haven't seen her around in a few weeks. I miss dancing with her."

"She's been busy." Karen replied and informed Michael what Franky had been up recently.

"Oh yeah. I completely forgot about the show because I had to take care of my dad after his operation. Hip replacements are no joke. I hope she comes in soon. I would love to dance with her again." Michael nodded as he moved away from the table. "Have fun you two." He yelled just before he stepped back onto the dancefloor.

"I do not think Urs would be happy if Franky danced Salsa with him." Carlos whispered to Karen while they watched Michael twirling a young woman round the dancefloor.

"Why not? He's not that narrow-minded that he would try to stop her, is he?"

"Oh No. Nothing like that." Carlos shook his head and smiled. "I don't think Franky would let Urs get away with that even if he tried, but Michael is not a bad looking man and also knows how to flirt with the woman he's dancing with."

"He's also gay." Karen nodded.

"Que?" Carlos questioned after he'd sprayed a mouthful of diet Coke over the table.

"I said he's gay." Karen shrugged nonchalantly.

"No way!" Carlos whispered in Karen's ear and felt her shudder as he watched how Michael danced.

"Is that a problem?" Karen questioned.

"What? Oh! No. No, not at all." Carlos shook his head again. "Ready to go again?" He asked as he stood and held his hand out to her

"Anytime." Karen replied as Carlos twirled her into his arms.

"What's wrong?" Urs asked as he watched Franky rub at her left shoulder for the fourth time in an hour.

"Nothing really, it just aches a bit. I think I've pulled a muscle slightly." She smiled up at him from her position between his legs while they watched a film on satellite tv.

"Here, let me." Urs insisted as he pushed her hand away and ran his hand under her t-shirt.

Franky adjusted her position so that her back was completely facing his chest. She moaned softly while gently massaged the offending shoulder. Urs shivered when felt the soft, delicate skin beneath his fingers start to relax .

"Feel good?" He asked as he laid a gentle kiss on the back of her neck.

"Mmmm. Very good. You've got good hands." Franky breathed deeply and closed her eyes.

"Just good hands?"

Franky huffed a laugh. "No, good lips too."

"How's the other side?"

"Not as bad as the left, that only hurts a little bit." Franky groaned softly when she felt his right hand slip between her skin and the t-shirt to gently massage her right shoulder after pushing the bra strap off.

She gasped as he moved his left hand slowly down her back, skimming her shoulder blade as it did so. Franky growled softly in the back of her throat as his hand moved around to her stomach, slowly, gently carressing her. She bit her lip lightly and dropped her chin to her chest as Urs brought his right hand down to push the t-shirt up her back. She panted lightly as he dropped delicate little kisses across her shoulders and down her spine while his hands worked at unhooking her bra.

"I'm sorry. I'm pushing aren't I?" Urs sighed as he re-fastened the bra and pulled her t-shirt back down.

Franky stood and turned round to face him with a gentle smile on her face.

"Come here." She asked with her eyes closed and gentle sigh.

Urs stood and bought himself close to her.

"Now kiss me." Franky asked again.

Urs pulled her close, closed his eyes and kissed her gently on the lips. He shivered at her gentle touch when he felt her hands pass under his t-shirt to slowly carress his back.

"I love you Franky." He murmured as he slowly, gently pushed his tongue into her slightly open mouth.

She groaned again as they kissed each other hungrily and he slipped his hands back under her t-shirt.

"You're sure?" He questioned as he lifted her into his arms and headed for the door.

Franky nodded, wrapped her arms around his neck and curled her fingers in his hair. She buried her head into his shoulder while he carried her upstairs to her bedroom where Urs lowered her gently to her feet. Franky linked her arms around his neck and dropped hot little kisses on his temples, his eyes, his nose, his cheeks to work her way slowly along his jawline to find his eager mouth once again.

Urs pulled her close to him and rocked her gently from side to side as though they were dancing slowly. He stroked the sides of her head and ran his fingertips along her temples, over her cheeks to her lips and gently tracked his thumb around their outer edge. She groaned as he did so and he pulled her more tightly to him. He brought his mouth slowly to her lips, his tongue following the same path his thumb had so recently taken. Urs murmured her name into her mouth as they moved towards the bed.

Once they reached it he bent over over her slightly and Franky fell backwards onto the bed. He lowered himself gently on top of her but quickly lifted his torso so that he took most of his weight on his arms and moved down the bed a little. He bent from his shoulders and kissed every detail of her flat, well-toned stomach while he pushed t-shirt upward towards her breasts.

He cupped her right breast, squeezed gently and slowly ran his thumb across the nipple before he eased the silk bra cup aside and took it into his mouth, nipping gently at the hard pink bud then soothing with the tip of his tongue after he'd done so, making Franky groan quietly.

His other hand skimmed lightly down to the fastenings of her jeans, where he worked quickly to open them. He sighed when he felt silk beneath them slipped his hand between Franky's skin and her underwear to find her already moistening. His finger found her swollen nub and he rubbed slowly and gently, hearing Franky gasp when slipped first one finger, then two into her and teased her by alternating short quick strokes with long slow ones. Taking her to the very edge over and over again but never allowing her to fall. He withdrew his hand and raised himself to kneel between her legs so that he could remove her jeans and briefs.

He pulled Franky up to a sitting position and kissed her hungrily while he removed her bra and threw it over his shoulder to the floor. Holding each other the two of them lowered back to the bed. Urs shuddered as Franky's hands touched the skin of his back. He supported himself on one arm then the other to help her remove his t-shirt. He licked his lips lightly and luxuriated in the delight of feeling nothing but her warm, Lily-scented flesh against that of his own once it was gone.

Franky moaned when she felt his desire for her asserting itself between her legs while he slowly moved his hands down her body, from her face and neck over her breasts, stomach and along her outer thighs.

Kissing each other ardently again, he groaned deep in his throat, feeling her hands moved fervently over him, tracing every detail of every muscle with her fingers as she did so. He gasped audibly and swallowed noisily when she pushed her hands slowly between his skin and the thin cotton of his boxers, cupping his butt gently and pushing him against her. He rolled onto his back, taking Franky with him and curled his fingers in her hair while she brushed her lips over his chest and abdomen. He moved his hand to undo the fastenings of his jeans only to feel Franky gently batting his hand away. He closed his eyes and panted when felt her hands working quickly, firstly at the button then at the zip, before they moved to the waistband to pull his jeans and boxers from him in one move. Freeing the almost painful erection, he'd had since hed kissed her downstairs.

He groaned again as Franky dropped slightly harder kisses up his stomach, over his chest and back to his mouth, stroking him gently with her hand, making him harder than he could ever remember. He moved his hands slowly down her back and gently stroked her bottom as they continued to kiss each other passionately. Urs opened his eyes to see Franky, still with her eyes closed, licking her lips to taste the remanants of his last kiss.

He moved quickly and flipped Franky onto her back again then gently rolled himself onto her. He kissed her enthusiastically once more with his legs laying between hers. Urs watched her face intently as he lifted himself from her slightly so that he could see her face. He saw Franky shudder, gasp and felt her fingers curl tightly in his hair as he pushed himself slowly into her and felt her immediately tighten around him while he slipped slowly in and out of her.

Hed never known anything like this. Slow and sensual was how he was making love with Franky. Unfamiliar trembling sensations were coursing through his entire body, driving him wild and he could only hope he didn't peak to soon.

He stopped for a second and rolled onto his back, taking Franky with him so that she straddled him. He sat up and continued to watch her face while he kneaded her breasts and sucked gently her nipples then moved one hand between their bodies to tease her as she was teasing him. Slowly travelling his entire length while she licked her lips, her breathing becoming more ragged as she rode him.

He could feel that they were both close to release and bit his bottom lip hard to control himself. He didn't want this feeling to end just yet. He moved his hands to Franky's hips to still her while he flipped her onto her back again. He knelt between her crooked legs and cupped her bottom and continued to watch her face while he thrust gently into her. She moaned softly, ground and bucked against him, allowing loud breathless moans to escape as she did so. Taking him and pushing him beyond anything he'd ever known before. His pace quickened slightly, their passion built until he couldn't hold back any longer. He closed his eyes tight, roared her name while Franky growled his long and loud with an accompanying whimpered Oh God as they came together.

Urs kept himself propped up on very shaky arms while he looked into deep into Franky's eyes and blinked slowly while their breathing calmed. He smiled softly when he saw the love and desire he felt for her reflected right back at him. He swallowed hard and quickly blinked back the tears that were threatening to make their escape when he realised that this was a look that he'd never seen before. He took a deep breath then slowly collapsed on top of her and immediately moved to roll off.

"Stay where you are." Franky sighed as she stopped him and held him to her while she ran her fingers through his hair.

He raised his head and gently kissed her neck while he told he loved her and softened inside her.

They stayed that way for a while, then both rolled onto their sides and, lying face-to-face, with their bodies pressed together and legs entwined, the pair slowly drifted off to sleep.

"David, don't!" Lauren yelled while she tried to push him backwards away from Owen. "I told you he isn't worth it."

"Let me go Lauren. I've had enough. He's been winding me up all night and now I'm pissed." David insisted as he tried to get passed her.

"Let's have a guess who wears the trousers in your relationship?" Owen sneered, jutting his chin out to the furious American.

David gently moved Lauren out of his way and stormed towards Owen. Owen laughed when David stood almost chest to chest with him.

"Apologise to the lady." David smiled.

"Sod off!" Owen exclaimed with a laugh as he moved to punch David in the jaw again.

"Not this time." David shook his head and quickly grasped hold of Owen's wrist.

He held the huge man's wrist as tight as he could, spun himself under it and wrenched Owen's arm as high up his back as he could get it, almost making the giant rise to his tiptoes and causing him to scream in pain as he did so.

"Now apologise to the lady for your disgusting behaviour and your filthy mouth." David insisted while he held him in front of Lauren.

"Screw yooooou Yank!" Owen whined as David wrenched his arm a little harder.

"I can keep you here all night if you wish." David beamed at Owen's side.

"All right." Owen hissed. "I'm sorry I called you a slut, Miss."

Lauren grunted a laugh while she nodded.

David pushed Owen to the floor as he released him. Owen moved surprisingly quickly for his size and brought himself upright. He glared at David while charged towards him. David turned to see Owen running at him as if he was involved in a game of American football. He deftly moved himself and Lauren to one side and watched as Owen impacted hard into the brick wall.

"What the hell's going on?" The manager of the cinema asked as he came running down the corridor.

"It was all the big guy's fault. He's wound the Yank up all night last night and he wouldn't leave him alone tonight either." A gangly young youth shouted while he pointed at Owen.

"He's been insulting the gentleman's lady as well." A slightly overweight Italian man informed while he nodded towards Owen.

"He punched the American yesterday for no good reason too." A bearded man stated almost inaudibly.

"You saw him hit me last night?" David's head snapped round and looked at the bearded man.

"Sure." The man nodded. "I came out just as he started insulting your lady."

"Would you be willing to tell the police what you saw?" David questioned with a beaming smile.

The man's eyes flew wide as he swallowed hard, held his hands up and shook his head. "I'm sorry mate, no way." He insisted as he backed his way down the corridor.

"Why not?" David questioned as he moved to follow after the man.

"Because I still haven't recovered properly from the last time I talked to the police about him." The man shouted back while he pushed his way through the crowd gathered at the main entrance and disappeared into the night.

"Shit!" David yelled and punched the wall near where he was standing.

The manager rolled Owen over to see that he was out cold. He sighed deeply. "Not him again." He signalled for two large security guards to keep an eye on Owen while he spoke to David.

"I'm sorry about that. Can I do anything to make up for your trouble?" He asked.

"Just make sure he doesn't get in tomorrow night." David smiled while held Lauren close to him.

"Is that all?" The manager asked.

"Yep!" David nodded as he headed towards the entrance with Lauren. "I'm hungry. There's a pizza place across the road isn't there?"

Lauren nodded then laughed loudly. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"One of our bodyguards tought me after I said something slightly wrong in Italy and almost got punched by the woman's sons." David laughed as they walked across the road to the pizza restaurant. "It's the first time I've had to use it. Right what are we having?" He asked while looked at the menu.

"Oh! Hey you two!" Lauren exclaimed when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

_________


"Well that's it for tonight. Do you think we could get Urs and Franky to come with us next time?" Karen asked as they stepped through the doorway of 'Los Locos' into a relatively warm night.

"Possibly, but I don't think Urs would be dancing. He's quite shy when it comes to that sort of thing." Carlos replied once he'd returned from telling the car driver he could go home.

"Unlike you." Karen laughed.

"Si, but it is in my blood. I was born to perform." Carlos informed as he grabbed Karen round the waist with his right arm, pulled her close and spun her down the pavement.

"You're crazy." Karen laughed.

"About you yes." He replied with a wry smile.

Karen panted as Carlos stopped spinning her around. She closed her eyes when she felt his left hand slide up her back to cradle her head gently. She moaned softly as he kissed gently at first then just a little harder. She bit her lip lightly when he released the kiss to move his lips to her neck.

"Slow down." Karen asked while she pushed his arm from around her waist.

"I did something wrong?" Carlos asked.

"No. I would just like to get my breath back at some point tonight, preferably before I get home." Karen replied with a giggle.

"I see." Carlos nodded.

Karen continued to breath hard. "Oh look there's David and Lauren heading towards the pizza shop." She pointed and laughed when her stomach growled loudly.

"Hungry?" Carlos laughed as he looked at her.

"Uh huh. I didn't get chance to have much before we came out." Karen informed while she nodded with a smile on her face.

"Ok. We get pizza too." Carlos shrugged, took hold of her hand and dragged Karen gently across the road.

Karen tapped Lauren on the shoulder once they were inside and smiled as she turned around.

"Oh! Hey you two!"

"Had a good night?" David asked once he'd turned round after giving the young girl behind the counter his order.

"Si, We had a very good night What about you?." Carlos replied, looking at the menu.

"He almost got into a fight." Lauren rolled her eyes as she replied.

"Who with?" Karen asked.

"Owen." David laughed.

"What?!" Carlos exclaimed loudly as he spun round to face him and quickly looked him up and down. He smiled when he didn't see any fresh bruises.

"It's ok. I used one of the moves Aiden showed us." David smiled. "He didn't even come close to punching me this time."

Carlos nodded while he placed his order. They talked about the day's events while they waited, then ate. The four of them strolling sedately through the town together before deciding to head for their respective homes.