To have and to Hold

The morning after

Rachel woke with a sense of disorientation, wondering where she was for a few moments, as she found herself in the strange bed in a strange room. Then slowly as the fog of sleep cleared from her mind, she recalled exactly where she was.

She glanced at her left hand, noticing the gold band that matched the engagement ring on her finger, She realised it had not been some sort of strange dream, she really was a married woman now, and her wedding night had been a disaster.

She suddenly also realised her new husband was not with her in the room. The last thing she remembered was sitting on the sofa listening to Adam talking about his brother Kevin, then she had drifted of to sleep. But how she ended up in the bed she wasn't sure.

Getting up she searched and found her watch so she could look at the time. Rachel realised it was almost going into the afternoon. She had slept the whole morning in. But then again, it was about three in the morning before she had actually fallen asleep.

Warily she decided to look for Adam. She found him in the next room, he was already dressed in shirt and trousers, sitting on the sofa with his laptop perched on his knee, and his brow creased slightly as he concentrated on the screen whilst he deftly tapped the keyboard.

Aware of her movement, as she stood in the doorway through the corner of his eye, he looked around, and shot her a small smile

"Good, morning, I take it you enjoyed your sleep?"

"Yeah well, its more like 'good afternoon,' so I guess I must have," Rachel replied. She then frowned as a thought occurred to her, remembering the night before with some dismay

"You haven' been sitting up here all night, have you?"

"No, I just got up a few hours ago" he replied truthfully, "There was certain matters I had to attend to that couldn't wait, with the plans now going forward for the new hotel, so there was some things I needed to do," he told her

"Oh, I see," Rachel replied. She suddenly found it all a little odd and embarrassing, as she thought that they had been lying in bed together. She had not even been aware of it. Her lack of sleep over the past few weeks had finally caught up with her, and she had been completely out to the world once she had drifted off.

"I am sorry, about last night, I know it was probably not the way you wanted it to turn out, " she then said, wishing she knew what was really going on in his mind. But his expression was unreadable.

She felt sure, that despite his calm cool exterior and his patience with her the night before, he could not be a happy man. After all he was probably realising he had got her along with all of her hang ups, which he would also have to deal with.

It had not been part of the bargain.

Now that he had all night to ponder on it she couldn't help wondering if he had decided if she had been worth the trouble. despite his attempted to sooth her the evening before, things might be different in the cold light of day.

"So, what happens now?" she then asked warily

"Good question," Adam replied, "It is the one I am still trying to figure out myself," he then admitted.

Rachel came over to sit next to him, suddenly feeling anxious, "If you don't think I am a suitable wife for you after all, I understand, and I know that I agreed to go through with all this, and you kept your side of the bargain where the Refuge was concerned. My only wish is that you don't take it out on them. This is all my fault, and I know I have messed everything up. I did not mean for things to turn out like this.. I just hope you can understand that, and even if I freaked out last night, I am sure the next time, it will be different." she promised