Page 46 of Part of Me
“Will you stop tickling me first?” I manage to say between breaths. He does, but he pins me in place, hands above my head, his body pressed against mine.
“You sure you don’t just want an ego boost, Sanders?” I ask cheekily. He laughs as he is clearly remembering the same moment as me.
“Say it.” He leans his head down and hovers over my lips.
“I love you,” I whisper.
“Still makes my heart beat fast when you tell me that.” He places a soft kiss on my lips. “Unfortunately, we can’t do anything else with little man over there,” he says as he looks to Oliver, who is now looking at the elephant. “Ah ha! See, the elephant is the best,” Luke says as Oliver starts to make baby noises.
I am broken from my memory by a knock at the front door.
“I wonder who that is, little man?” I say to Oliver, even though he can’t answer me. I get up off of the sofa and go to the front door. Using the peephole, I see that Tori is on the other side.
“Hey, Tor,” I say as I open the door.
“Hi.” She walks in past me and goes straight for the lounge. “Where’s my handsome godson?” she asks, not waiting for me to answer. I close the front door and follow her to the lounge. When I enter, Tori is lying down next to Oliver, trying to get him to look at her.
“I’m guessing you came here to see me too?” I say playfully.
“Of course I did, but I haven’t seen this little guy for a week now so forgive me for wanting to see him before giving you my full attention,” she banters back.
“You’re forgiven,” I say as I hold my hands up in surrender. I go to the kitchen and make us both a drink. I can hear Tori chatting away to Oliver, even though I am sure that Oliver is still more interested in the elephant than anything Tori is saying. I make the drinks and take them to the lounge, placing them on the coffee table. I sit on the sofa and Tori joins me a few moments later.
“Oh God, Char, he is just so adorable.”
“I know. I spend most of my time just watching him. I have wasted whole days doing nothing else.” I laugh.
“I can see why. It’s only been a week and he has changed so much.” We both coo over Oliver a while longer and then I switch the conversation to my impending wedding.
“Have you been to have your dress altered yet?” I ask her. We went and chose the dresses a couple of weeks ago, but Tori’s needed altering to accentuate her slim waist.
“Yep. I’ve actually just come from there.”
“Oh good.” I haven’t had to do much planning for my wedding seeing as my mother has taken care of most of it. I have picked everything out, and then she has taken the reins on getting it all organised. This suits me just fine as I don’t need the stress of planning it all right now.
“Are you getting excited?” she asks me. The wedding is only two weeks away. I have no idea how the time has passed by so quickly. It seems like only yesterday that Luke proposed to me.
“I am. I’m still a little worried about my wedding dress though.” I haven’t completely regained my pre-baby figure yet, which has made me a little self-conscious.
“You have no need to be worried, Char. You look fucking awesome in the dress that you have chosen. Luke is going to come in his pants when he takes one look at you.”
“Ewwww. Do you have to make it sound so vulgar?” I may be trying to reprimand her, but my giggling is making me seem less serious.
“Well, it’s true,” she replies with a shrug of her shoulders. “Anyway, I also came to ask you about Deana.”
“Deana? What about her?” Why the hell would Tori be asking about my boss.
“Well, I saw her talking to Luke just now.” I feel like the world has shifted beneath my feet.
“Excuse me?” Tori looks momentarily worried at my reaction. “What do you mean you saw her talking to Luke?”
“Oh no, have I put my foot in it?”
“You haven’t, but Luke may have. Where were they exactly?” I ask.
“Um, just down the road.”
“What?” I say as I fly off of the sofa and run to the upstairs hallway window. I peer out and look to the left, but there is no sign of either of them. My eyes sweep to the right and there, at the end of the road, is Luke with Deana… and Andi. “What the fuck?” I say out loud as Tori comes up the stairs and stands beside me.
