The circus had travelled to stay in England for a week, so Melanie had arranged to meet up with her father and Isabel during that time.
George Maria and Carlos would dutiful go along with her, their grandfather rarely seen them, except for twice a year, when they visited England. Once whilst the circus was there, then also during winter break, when they would spend a week with them, around the Christmas, New year holiday period
Although Ricardo made no objections to these visits, and on the occasion he and Melanie’s father did spend time together over the years. they got on amiably enough, Ricardo still preferred not be included in these visits if he could help it.
He never felt really comfortable around people who were not part of the circus
This time it was no different, he was happy enough to let George drive them to Donald McAllister’s home, whilst he stayed behind with the circus.
They spent a pleasant day catching up with Melanie’s father and the extended family, whom had also gathered for the occasion. Both her half siblings Simon and Emily were both married, with young children of their own.
Donald and Isabel had moved since the first time Melanie had visited them.
After her father’s Lawyers firm had become an success they had been able to buy detached house in the countryside, where they now lived. Though it wasn’t too far for him to commute to his offices in town, ten miles away.
With a large rear garden and patio area, they spent most of the day outdoors, where the younger children could romp and play, and the older teens could sprawl out and enjoy the sunshine. The rest sat around the patio table, sipping cool drinks and chatting.
When it came time for them to go, Melanie hugged her father, then seen the rueful expression on his face “It’s been lovely having you visit, I just wish, I could get to see more of you and the grandkids, they seem to have grown up more quickly than I even realised, ” he told her
“I know,” Melanie smiled, but at least we can keep in touch by phone if nothing else”
“Tell Ricky I was asking about him, and maybe hopefully this Christmas he will come with you and spend some time with us” her father then said
“Maybe,” Melanie replied, but inwardly didn’t hold out much hope for it happening, knowing her husband’s feelings on the matter. She was just grateful he let her and the children spend time with her family.
Maria and George of course shared their fathers point of view, and even though they enjoyed spending time with their Grandfather, they were happy to return to the circus where they belonged.
George more than ever was glad now to be returning, even though they had only been away half a day, he was already missing Jelena.
And when they returned, the first thing he did was go and seek her out. He found her in the back area near of the Big Top, where the performers usually were found before going out to do their act.
She had just finished and stood with her brother’s, Yuri and Luka, all of them still in their clown garb, they were having some sort of animated discussion in Russian and Jelena was totally unaware of George sneaking up behind her ,until he swiftly snatched the shiny silver wig she had been wearing, as part of her clown costume from her head. She swung around indignantly to see who was responsible
Catching sight of George standing dangling the wig in front of her face grinning, her expression immediately softened.
“So you are back?” she smiled
“Yep,” he replied, closing the small distance between them, slipping his arms around her and pulling her close to him, before setting the wig lopsidedly back on her head then kissing her briefly on the lips, “Did you miss me?” he then asked
“Hmm,” she pretended to think it over, “maybe a little” she relented. “Did you miss me?”
“Oh yeah,” George replied pulling her even closer intending to kiss her again to show her how much, but as he did so, he inadvertently pressed against the small pump that squirted water from the trick flower attached Jelena’s clown costume she used as part of her act.
Unfortunately for him there was still some water left in it, so that it squirted from the hole in the middle of the flower right into his face, making him gasp in surprise as he felt it hit him directly in the eye, “What the-!” he exclaimed
“Realising what had happened, Jelena burst out laughing at the startled look on George’s face, as the water dripped down his face
“Wiping the water away, he narrowed his eyes at her, though there was a twinkle of amusement in his dark eyes. “You did that on purpose,” he accused
“No I did not,“ Jelena denied indignantly, though she was still laughing, “You only have yourself to blame, I did nothing, you just shouldn’t have squeezed me so hard when you hugged me“
“You think that was funny though, don’t you?” he accused her in mock offence
“Yeah, actually I think its very funny,” Jelena continued to laugh, “I couldn’t have timed that better in my act, even if I tried”
“Well we will see how funny it is when you are the one getting soaked,” George replied, trying to grab the plastic flower, intending to snatch it from her costume,
Letting out a yelp, she stepped back from him, realising his intentions,
“No George don’t you dare!” she warned
But George wasn’t going to be deterred so easily. He made another beeline for the flower, making her hurriedly back off from him to avoid his retaliation, still laughing and pleading with him not to do something he would only regret,. But he just continued to pursue her, determined to get her back.
So still backing away from him, she hurriedly attempted to remove the flower herself so he couldn’t get his hands on it
She just manage to remove it from her costume when he manage to catch up with her and grab her wrist. She let out a small squeal as they now playfully wrestled between themselves, laughing as George tried to snatch the flower out of her hand.
The wig that had been sitting askew on her head also fell to the ground in the tussle, but she managed to squeeze the little pump, so that whatever water remaining in it, ended up on the ground
“Here have it, it’s empty!” she then declared triumphantly shoving it into his hand.
“Realising he had been cheated out of his chance to give her a taste of her own medicine, George decided to take another tactic in revenge.
Tossing the useless plastic flower over his shoulder, he started to tickle her under the ribs, where he knew she was the most vulnerable to be tickled, making her squeal in protest and try to escape from him again
Her brothers and others around them watched on in amusement, and making sure to step out of their way
“No more!” she gasped for air, weak from laughing and their playful tussle as he closed in on her again
“Are you sorry for laughing at me?” George demanded, but his eyes were dancing with wicked amusement
“Yes, yes” she hurriedly replied as he manage to grab her again and pull her towards him
“How sorry?” he then asked, as she felt his fingers moving towards her ribcage again intending to tickle her again
“Very sorry,” she squeaked grabbing his hands and pulling them away from the delicate area of her ribcage, looking up into his dark eyes pleadingly,
“Good,” he replied. Decided he had tormented her enough, he found himself distracted staring into her blue eyes. Even with her clown make up on, he still found them mesmerising, especially when they were bright with laughter still, and now he just wanting to kiss her instead.
He swiftly managed to get free from the hold she had on his hands, that were keeping the distance between them. Instead he turned it around, so he had the hold of her wrists, gently forcing her arms behind her back, so she couldn’t push him away anymore as he closed in on her claiming her mouth.
She made a small sound of protest at first, but then found herself kissing him back just as hungrily.
Both of them were so caught up in the kiss, it made them almost lose their balance, as he continued holding her hands behind her back and Jelena found herself unsteadily staggering backwards a little, under the onslaught of George’s mouth on hers. Then she felt her body collide with someone else behind her, making her tear her mouth away from George’s to see who it was.
“Oh, I am so sorry-” she started apologetically as she turned, but then stopped dead as she realised the person they had bumped into was Estelle.
Since the night George had punched Patrick, Estelle had continue to avoid them. When they were in the same area, they only acknowledged each with almost forced civility, so now the moment felt more than a little awkward and uncomfortable as Estelle smiled tightly, her eyes flicked quickly from Jelena to George as they stood still embracing each other.
“Don’t mind me, just go on with whatever you were doing,” she said a little coolly, before hurriedly walking away.
They stood silently watching her go.
“Well, that was kindda awkward” Jelena finally said, turning to George.
“Yeah, I guess it was,” George agreed, still staring after Estelle’s retreating figure looking a little troubled.
Jelena, studied his reaction more closely now, knowing that despite all that had happened, he was still upset that Estelle wasn‘t really talking to him.
After all, they had been friends from early childhood, so he cared about her still. She imagined he would have liked to mend their friendship. This realisation send a little pang of jealousy through Jelena, even though part of her knew it was irrational, she couldn’t help it.
Their earlier light hearted mood seem to have suddenly deflated and she now pulled away from George.
“I need to go and get changed,” she told him quietly
“Sure,” he replied with a faint smile, reluctantly releasing her.
As she walked away to the dressing area, she retrieved her wig and the plastic flower prop on the ground that had gone astray during their playful tussle.
For a moment wistfully wishing she could recapture the moment again, instead of feeling this sudden uneasiness in her heart. She couldn’t help thinking about George and how he still probably had some sort of feelings for Estelle.
She was realistic enough to realise they could never be wiped out completely
Jelena found she was scrubbing her clown make up more vigorously than usual, as she got changed, staring at her reflection in the mirror.
For the first time since she and George had became involved with each other, Jelena found herself having some worrying doubts and uncertainties. She knew George did care about her. But suddenly she just wasn’t sure about the strength of those feelings, and the reasons behind them.
She started to wonder if he had realised he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Estelle, so he had decided to settle for the next best thing..
Jelena let out a heavy sigh, trying hard not to dwell on her uneasy thoughts
After all, even if that was the case, he seemed happy with her, and wanted to be with her. So she told herself she should be content with that for now, and not let the shadow of his past feelings for Estelle ruin things.
George was waiting for her outside, idly doing some his handstands on the grass, whilst practising balancing himself with one hand.
But he flipped himself upright onto his feet again, when he caught sight of her, coming over and sliding his arm around her shoulders.
“Hmm, let me see,” he remarked, his dark eyes carefully inspecting her upturned face
“What are you doing?” Jelena asked, laughing a little uncertainly
“Making sure you have cleaned all your clown makeup of properly.” he informed her with a teasing smile, as he continued to scrutinize her face.
“Yep,” he finally announced in satisfaction “Looks like you did a good job this time,” His eyes now warmly met hers sending a little jolt through her.
It suddenly making her realise how much he meant to her. The thought that she might lose him to something, or someone else, suddenly seemed a very scary unbearable prospect.
Ever sensitive, George didn’t miss the sudden apprehensive look that flitted through her blue eyes, as Jelena looked up at him
“What’s wrong?” he asked in concern
“Nothing,” she hurriedly replied, just wanting to dismiss her disquieting thoughts, wrapping her arms around him, “Just hold me” she then told him
He only too willingly obliged. His arms going around her, holding her close and kissing her lightly on the forehead. So now she just closed her eyes, and let herself take in the needed comfort and reassurance from their embrace