Emotional Rollercoaster

Chapter 12 - Close Friends and Family

Christmas Eve. It was a beautiful day. The sun shone in a cloudless blue sky, and the forecast for the festive season was going to be hot, hot, hot. Claire sat on the little brick wall in the courtyard, sipping on a glass of iced water. She had finally completed all her preparations for Christmas. All she had to do now was wait for her guests to arrive.
Her guests were Lee and Stacey, Bob and Katie, Tyler and Ethan.
With the Bed and Breakfast due to open in the new year, Claire had taken this opportunity to thank them for everything they had done for Liam and herself over the past five months. She had invited them to stay at the Seabreeze from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day to celebrate Christmas with them. She was so looking forward to it, as it would also give her a chance to see what it would be like to have guests staying in the house.

Being Christmas Eve, Claire had planned a bit of an extravaganza to express her gratitude and had organised drinks, finger food and nibbles for that afternoon and evening. On Christmas morning, she would make a barbeque breakfast with French Champagne to start the day. And for Christmas lunch, she had arranged for a magnificent seafood buffet to be delivered from the fish markets, with some gourmet salads and a selection of sourdough bread and crusty rolls. For Christmas night, she had a cheese platter with cheeses she had bought from a local fine-food deli and a selection of dips, savoury spreads, pâté, olives, deli-cured meats, and an assortment of crackers and biscuits. It was going to be a real feast with no expense spared.

Thanks to them all, the last five months had been the best five months of her life, and she felt so very blessed.

'Mummy, look, guess who this is,' Liam said, proudly holding up his picture.

Liam had been sitting at the outdoor table drawing Christmas pictures for everyone, and it had kept him thoroughly occupied for the best part of two hours.

'Wow, Liam,' Claire said, looking at the picture he held up with pride. 'What a great drawer you are. That's Daddy and Stacey, isn't it.'

He nodded as he placed it back down on the table and continued to pretty it up with his coloured crayons, and it melted her heart.

He was Lee's double, and the older he got, the more of Lee's characteristics began to emerge. It was something she had struggled with over the years.

How do you look at your son when he's the spitting image of his father, the man who broke your heart so severely?
She watched as he concentrated on his picture, thinking she had come a long way since then, and again that was thanks to Stacey. If she hadn't extended the olive branch to her, they wouldn't be where they were today.

As Liam busied himself with getting on with his pictures, Claire thought back to the first time she had set eyes on Lee. The charismatic, wickedly good-looking bad boy that every female who crossed his path wanted. And she'd been no different.

She had set her sights on him from day one, attracting his attention in the most enticing and provocative manner, and it hadn't been long before the two of them were disappearing down the beach, halfway through an evening, for a bit of hanky-panky, before nipping back to the pub, with none of their mates being any the wiser.

She grinned at the memory. They'd had so much fun in those early days, and sneaking around behind everyone's backs had made it an erotic adventure. But it wasn't to last, as after six months, she wanted more. A full-on committed relationship and wanted the world to know that she was Lee Steven's girlfriend. But, although he did consider her his girlfriend, the commitment wasn't there. He was more interested in his mates, and his infidelities were no secret. For Lee, the honeymoon was over. He had the best of both worlds. A girlfriend who was willing to be there for him whenever he wanted her, yet free to do what he liked, when he liked. And once the nagging and demands for commitment began, so did the arguments. They became renowned for their frequent public fights, and not only did it wear them both down, but it wore everyone around them down, too.