Henry proved to be an excellent story-teller, and he was regaling us with a tale about the time he had taken Samantha to Mexico for her thirtieth birthday. At the mention of that, Tudor swung his chair around and gripped my arm. “Shit, Sunshine, I don’t know the date of your birthday. How did I forget to ask that?”
I shrugged and patted his leg. “It’s okay, I don’t know yours either – though I could probably Google it. I’m sure the Tudor Chicks have that date tattooed on their weirdly obsessive little hearts,” I teased.
He leaned towards me, narrowing his eyes and dismissing my dig. “Mine’s April nineteenth.”
“Okay, mine’s January ninth.”
He shot back in his chair, nearly taking the tablecloth with him. “That’s in a couple of days.”
I grimaced. “Ugh, I know; I’ll be twenty-nine, last year of my twenties,” I said in a grumpy mood.
Tink butted in. “Mine’s February fifteenth in case you wanted to put that in your calendar too. And I like diamonds, FYI.”
Tudor held in a laugh. “Oh, yeah, thanks Tink, that was my next question.” The fantastic fairy nodded his head, face smug, completely not getting that Tudor was being sarcastic.
Tudor took my hand. “What are you doing for it?”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “Erm, nothing, except probably crying myself to sleep at the loss of my youth.”
Tink took a swig of his Zinfandel and whistled low. “I hear that sister, I’d be worried too with titties that size. Gravity will not be your friend, and you’ll be tucking your droopy ni**les into your socks in no time, hey Pam-Pam?” He held up a hand for a high five. Pamela paused for a moment before clapping Tink’s hand in an awkward fashion and mouthing 'sorry' to me.
I took a deep, calming breath. Tudor kissed the back of my hand, pulling me from my Tink-induced mood. “We’ll do something nice, Sunshine, and you’ll have a good time.”I smiled. “Thanks.”
We all finished at the table, and before long everyone was ready for bed. It had been one hectic week.
I found out that Henry and Samantha lived two doors down in a smaller three-bedroomed house, and Tate was going to go back to ours with Tink.
Pamela said her goodbyes and headed off to bed, taking Boleyn with her. Tudor whispered in my ear and asked me to stay with him, and I agreed, although I really didn’t need much persuading. Tink’s ‘surprise’ for Tate had arrived that morning, the box reading, ‘Premium Plug Pleasure Pack’. Staying at Tudor’s that night was something I deemed to be essential.
Grabbing a bottle of wine and two glasses, we headed down to the basement and curled up on the sofa, listening to Newton Faulkner on the iDock. Tudor placed me on top of him. I had come to realise that he couldn’t be near me and not touch me, and most nights he wrapped me around his body like a curvy Geordie blanket – which was absolutely fine by me!
He had also shown me his newly organized room, which caused the butterflies in my stomach to go all Cirque Du Soleil. Tude, being the sweetie that he was, had cleared some of his closet and drawers and had bought me toiletries and basic clothes for the nights I would stay. I was so beyond happy with everything in my life at that moment – especially my big cuddly bear.
We were snuggling in each other’s arms when he spoke. “My mother and I spoke to Boleyn’s doctor today. He’s recommended that she goes to a retreat in Toronto for abuse victims for a few weeks, to help her deal with everything that’s happened. Mom takes her tomorrow – the sooner the better.” He paused. “My agent also called this morning, and I need to go to LA a weeks’ time for read-throughs and costume fittings on The Blade Reaper II. I knew I’d have to go soon, unfortunately."
I nodded slowly against his stomach, and my heart fell at the thought of him leaving for a prolonged period of time. I had gotten so used to him being here twenty-four seven and sleeping with him every night. I guessed this would be the start of the reality of our relationship: me being here and him being wherever it was that movie stars needed to go.
He lifted me up to his face. “Is that okay?”
I kissed him and smiled. “Of course, babes, it’s your job.”
He frowned. “I don’t want to go without you. I’m already dreading leaving to shoot this friggin’ movie. I wish I hadn’t signed on to do it and just taken a year off or something to be with you.”
I put my hand on his cheek. “Tudor, don’t be daft. You agreed to this before you even knew I existed, it’s your job. This is how our lives will be, and sooner or later we would’ve had to deal with it.”