"Okay, I need to go now. Have to get these kids under control!"
Dianne watched her phone as three dots appeared at the bottom, waiting for his reply to come through.
"Good luck! Speak later xx"
She stared at the message in disbelief. They had been texting non-stop for the last two days, but not either of them had sent a kiss. Dianne felt giddy as she looked at his message again.
As wrong as it was, she just couldn't resist. Joe made her feel something, something she hadn't felt in such a long time. But she knew their time together was limited and that caused her heart to sink.
Before she was able to fall further down that rabbit hole, the dressing room door flung open and a swarm of screaming children flooded in.
"Miss Buswell! Can you do my dress up, please!"
//
Dianne collapsed on the sofa as soon as she arrived home later that evening. Even the thought of having to repeat today's events again the next day was exhausting and so the sensible action would be to sleep. Yet, her mind just couldn't switch off.
She hadn't had another thought about Joe since she had read his text. It was only then that she realised she hadn't replied.
"Shit." She cursed under her breath. She dove into her bag before pulling out her phone, typing out a quick message.
"Hey, sorry I didn't get a chance to reply earlier. I've just got home and I'm bloody exhausted to I'll see you in the morning. Night."
Just before she pressed the send button, she added something to the end of her message. A kiss.
Putting her phone on the coffee table in front of her, she let her thoughts wonder.
"How did you let this happen, Di?" She felt disappointed in herself for not being strong enough to say no to him, for letting herself get to know him, and most of all, wanting to spend time with him. She knew they would both end up getting hurt, but she was in too deep. She may as well enjoy the time they had together while it lasts.
Just before she stood up to go to bed, her phone dinged. Dianne couldn't pick up her phone fast enough and she instantly melted as she read his words.
"Don't worry about it. Sweet dreams xx"
Happily sighing, she settled back down on the sofa closing her eyes, falling asleep with a smile on her face.
//
"Juno! Quick!" Dianne called, waiting by the door with his lead.
She had woken up at 5am on Monday, which wasn't unusually early for her, but yet today she had a good reason for it. She had asked Joe if he wanted to go for a walk on the beach and she couldn't contain her excitement when he agreed.
Rushing out the door, she practically ran the whole way to the beach until she reached the steps and slowed down, where she saw him sitting, looking in deep thought.
Taking a deep breath, she spoke. "Hey."
Joe whipped his head round, and he smiled when his eyes landed on Dianne. "Hey." He replied, standing up.
Before she could even blink, he was right in front of her, leaning in and wrapping his arms around her. From the outside, it looked nothing more than a friendly hug. But, to Dianne, she felt her body erupt with tingles.
They only pulled back when Juno started to bark, and Dianne noticed a sheepish look on Joe's face.
Coughing to break to silence, Dianne leaned down to unleash Juno and watched as he ran towards the water.
