Indoor Firework - RW

Rick's Little World

December 2015

When the first day of advent hits, Ricky feels a sense of relief. No more Bring the Noise, no more The Voice stuff until closer to the lives so he can just breathe again. Yes, there is things to be done regarding the band and their new album but he doesn't mind that, that feels relatively easy compared to the telly stuff. One thing that has definitely helped him survive the past month was the thought of seeing Zosia again. He is very excited.

At first he was hoping that she would come a few days before so he can spend some time with her and then hopefully create that special moment again but her father's condition has worsened. In fact, he was worried that she was going to cancel at one stage. Fortunately, she has not.

It is the day before the gig and Rick is waiting in arrivals at London Heathrow for her to make an appearance. They are then going to travel straight up to Leeds so they can hopefully get there early enough so Rick can help with the preparations for tomorrow. He doesn't think that is likely though. A part of him feels bad for letting the guys down a lot as of late but then he remembers why he is doing the stuff on the telly, it is for the band. It is so they can keep going for years to come.

He feels nervous as he waits, not knowing how is best to greet her. There is no doubt about the chemistry they have between them but she surely is in no place for a relationship right now. She has only just split from her husband. Husband. There is a divorce to settle and the added stress of everything going on with her father. Chris has warned him to be gentle with her, let her lead the way and so has Simon. Whitey has suggested that he'd stay away all together for the time being but that is very difficult.

Zosia is relieved when she sees her suitcase on the conveyer belt, it has been a long day already, buses and then the plane and now she has to travel for four hours up North. She is going to be shattered. Walking through the flurries of people trying to find Ricky she thinks about how she nearly didn't leave this morning, her father is in a poor state. But she did, after much persuasion, and now she is here. Back in London.

They are both unsure how to greet each other when they find themselves about a metre away from each other. Fortunately for Zosia, Ricky takes charge and engulfs her into a large hug. It is definitely what she needs after that long flight. 'I've missed you.' She hears him say bringing a smile to her lips.

'And I've missed you.' She replies and lets him take her bag and lead her out of the building, towards his car. They chat about nothing in particular for the first two hours of the journey until they reach a service station. After that Zosia sleeps during the second leg and Ricky lets her. She looks exhausted, in fact she is almost unrecognisable.

He was definitely shocked when her gaunt figure toddled towards him, barely managing her small handbag and suitcase. She is quite obviously stressed, her smiles aren't completely genuine and her eyes are lined with darkness. Knowing that he is nearing the studio he checks the time and sees that it is nearly four in the afternoon, he should have time to go and help as he promised but he feels like he should be a good host and take Zosia to his place.

Slowly he pulls into a lay by and after double checking that Zosia is still asleep he takes his phone outside of the vehicle to ring Simon. He picks up on the third ring. 'Hey mate, you not going to be too long are you? Whitey wants to run through Merry Christmas Everyone one last time before we pack up everything.'

'Si I...' Rick trails, 'I was going to take Zosia to the house.'

'So you are not coming then.' He huffs and Rick hears someone curse in the background, the use of the expletive tells him that it is probably the guitarist getting short with him. 'Rick you said you would help. We have organised most of this.'