Smiling Josh turned around in my arms and pulled me even closer to him, thanks to the extra height my heels were giving me my head reached just under Josh’s chin. His prickly beard tickled the top of my head a little bit but I didn’t care, he looked handsome with a bit of beard and I hadn’t seen him for nearly a week! We stood like that just wrapped in each other’s arms for a little bit, just enjoying each other’s company “I missed you so much” he whispered. I moved my head up slightly to kiss his neck “I missed you too, how are you?” I asked.
“Im okay gorgeous, how is everything at home?” I could hear the caution in his voice and I smiled as I thought about how concerned he was for my family. So thoughtful. It’s nice knowing that someone cares.
“they are all fine, I phoned mum this morning, she is back to her teenager self teasing me and winding me up, even dad is feeling well again, he asked about you too and wants to meet you properly next time you’re in Nottingham.”
He took my hand in his and we started slowly walking to a door that I assumed would take us inside the house, “well I’ll have to arrange a trip very soon then, don’t want to keep the man waiting do we?” he joked causing me to laugh lightly “and how’s Joey?” he asked in a low voice.
“Joey is doing okay apparently, we are not supposed to visit him but the nurses will ring mum and tell her how he is getting on. So far, he is doing okay, I mean he hasn’t put himself back in the hospital or anything so that’s good I guess but he is going to be there for at least 8 weeks. So who knows?” Josh gave me a sympathetic smile and squeezed my hand.
“He’ll be fine, don’t you worry about it. He’s in the best place right now to get the help he needs. You’ll have your Joey back soon enough, don’t you worry.”
“Thanks” I mumbled
“Come on, let’s go meet my family!” Josh said as he dragged me through the door.
The door from the garage led into a large kitchen, it was really nice and you could tell it was expensive; it looked like a designer kitchen actually. You know like the ones you see on TV? Well the theme colours were red, black and white, so the walls were white, all the table surfaces were black and shiny and the cupboards were red. There was a large dining area in the middle with bar stools that all tucked completely under the table.
We walked through the kitchen and into the living room. The living room had white walls with white wood floors, there was a large black corner sofa that could probably seat about 8 people lining one wall, and then there was a glass coffee table and the shiny TV on a TV stand in the opposite corner. On the stand I could see Josh’s prized possession shining on the second shelf, his Xbox 360 elite with a stack of games sitting just next to it.
A woman walked down the stairs, she had a lovely welcoming smile, twinkly blue eyes and light brown hair in a chin length bob with a side fringe, she walked over to me smiling and shook my hand giving it a small squeeze “Hello dear, you must be Ally, im Anne, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, I’ve already heard so much about you” she said.
I smiled, and glanced at Josh “all good things I hope” I said as Josh gave me a half smile “it’s very nice to meet you Mrs.Franceschi”. Thank god I pronounced it right!
“Aw hunny, Thank you but please call me Anne” I smiled and nodded shyly at her.
“Okay, Anne.”
“ Ah Ally, this is my husband Alex” Anne led me further into the living room just as Josh’s dad walked in, he came over and extended his hand so I shook it “Hello, you must be Ally. It’s a pleasure to meet you”
Chapter 28
Start from the beginning
