The Pilot

Chapter Forty Nine

We'll get that locked in the diary once you're back." He said as she nodded and walked out the door hand in hand with Danielle.

A few hours later and they were landing back at LAX stopping off to pick up Marco and swap jets. They needed one with a higher fuel capacity to make it to London & luckily Stefania owned a fleet of jets. The 9 adults made their way through security and Danielle handed off the paper work required. A few hours later they landed in London. The flight was uneventful but Danielle did wonder why Stefania hadn't made her usual trip in to the cockpit. Although it was nice that she was able to have Andrew spend a chunk of the flight watching her do her thing. Danielle walked into the cabin just as Stefania reached the door. "Hey baby" danielle spoke as she reached out to take Stefania's hand. "I've missed you. I don't like that you didn't come to see me" she said with a pout. "Hi Bambina, I'm sorry. I thought I would let Andrew spend the time with you" Stefania said but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Danielle looked at her with narrow eyes. "Hmmm, ok. We'll talk about this later then".

They all stood on the tarmac deciding who was going in which car. Danielle, Stefania, Andrew and Gee got into one as they were heading to Danielle's flat. Cat, Kevin, Chandra, Jason and Marco got into the 2nd car and they went to the hotel.

45 minutes later the car arrived at Danielle's flat and she was confused to see that there was lights on... she didn't say anything as she got out the car, grabbing hers and Stefania's luggage as Andrew followed her lifting his and Gee's bags. Danielle opened the main entry door and ushered the others to the lift. It was an old fashioned lift with a metal gate and beautiful mahogany and green marble interior. "This is so English. I love it" Andrew grinned. The lift came to a halt on Danielle's floor and she stepped out, the others following. She arrived at her door to see 2 pairs of boots and a bicycle propped against the wall that she knew very well. She took a breath turning towards the others and said "I am so sorry for what is about to happen" she looked at Stefania as she tried to hold back the tears in her eyes but before anyone could say anything she opened the door.

She walked in to the living room and there was empty pizza boxes scattered with dozens of beer bottles and candy wrappers. The kitchen was worse. Dishes were piled high in the sink and there was more takeout boxes littering the table and worktop. "Danielle... what's... I don't understand..." Stefania said but Danielle shook her head as she walked back out into the hall leaving the other 3 in the kitchen. "GRAHAM!" She yelled. A few seconds later a tall, handsome, red haired man appeared from the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. He had a very athletic body with toned arms and very muscular legs. He was clean shaven and clearly took time over his appearance - if not the house in which he lived. He looked like he'd seen a ghost as he saw Danielle stood in front of him. He was so shocked he hadn't noticed the others watching from the kitchen. "Oh my god! Baby! You're home! I've missed you so much, I've been going out of my mind trying to get hold of you. I've been worried sick about you. I didn't know where you were. All I knew was you were away for work but I didn't know when you'd be home or anything." He choked out as he launched himself at Danielle picking her off her feet and holding her against the wall. In a flash he connected his lips to hers but she was quick to push him back. Why are you here Graham? In my house? And more to the point, HOW did you get in? I took your key back!" Danielle yelled at him, clearly still angry.

The others could do nothing but watch as Danielle seemed to have forgot they were there in this moment and Graham still hadn't seen them. "Mav, come on. Don't be like that. We've both said and done stupid things that we didn't mean. But that doesn't mean that we should throw away the last 3 years does it? And this is my house too don't forget. I got the spare key from the old witch downstairs. She was surprised when I told her we were back together but I'd lost my key when I was touring so she gave me the spare." Danielle couldn't take anymore. She slapped him across the cheek hard. "I think it was a bit more than doing or saying stupid things Graham! You got another woman pregnant! What part of we're over, pack your things and get out did you not understand!? And why did I not hear from you in the 9 weeks before I left if you wanted to try and sort things out. It's been 4 and a half months since we last spoke Graham so no, we are most definitely not together. I am in fact, in a healthy, happy relationship now so you need to pack your bags AGAIN! And leave for good this time!" "Mav, baby, come on, you don't mean that. I know you still love me. I want to fix this. I've had no contact with her for about 6 weeks now and I won't have anymore if that's what you want. I will sleep in the guest room until you learn to trust me again. I'll not take anymore touring company jobs. I'll be here in London permanently. Please don't throw me out of our home though. I have nowhere to go." He pleaded holding her hand.

The whole exchange made Stefania uncomfortable and she could see the tears rolling down Danielle's cheeks. She also watched as Graham connected his lips to Danielle's once more. She felt her heart explode though when yet again Danielle pushed him back. "Graham! Stop! I'm serious. You need to leave. I don't care where you go. This is my home, not yours. I bought and paid for it. It's my name on the title deeds. You have no claim to it whatsoever. It's late now so you can stay tonight but then you're gone first thing in the morning. I don't care whether you go back to her or not. But for what it's worth, I hope you do right by the baby. You're not a bad guy Graham. In fact, you're actually a really fucking decent human being. And that's what made this so hard. It was so out of character for you. But we're done. The kid deserves to know his or her dad. And actually, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if you and Kazia actually made a go of it. And now, I've had a VERY long day and so I'm going to bed with my girlfriend and my friends Andrew and Gee here are going to use the other room." Danielle said as she signalled to the others to come out the kitchen.

Graham flushed with embarrassment as he didn't realise there were others in the house. He looked at Danielle with wide eyes as Stefania came up beside her and took her hand. "We can have another chat in the morning, but for now, goodnight." She said as she nodded to Graham to go to his room. She walked back into the kitchen grabbing a bottle of wine from the fridge & 2 glasses from the cupboard. "Guys, your room is the 2nd door on the left there. Help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen. Have whatever food and drink you come across." She said as she took Stefania's hand and led her to another room further down the hall. She placed the wine on the side and flopped down face first on to the bed.

"Bambina?" Stefania whispered as she sat down on the edge of the bed rubbing her hand up and down Danielle's back. Danielle couldn't stop the tears now. She sat up and Stefania engulfed her into a bone crushing hug. She held her tight and allowed Danielle to feel her feelings. After a few minutes in silence Danielle lifted her head from Stefania's chest. Stefania brushed the hair from Danielle's face, wiped the tears from her cheeks and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "Thank you" Danielle whispered. "Of course Bella. I am here whenever you want to talk. But how about that wine now and then sleep, Si?" "Si" Danielle smiled and reached for the bottle. The 2 women had their drinks and Danielle fell fast asleep within a few minutes. Stefania lay holding her until she was certain that she was deep in sleep. She slid out of bed careful not to wake Danielle and silently walked to the kitchen where she found Andrew and Gee sitting at the table. "Hi guys" she said as she took a seat grabbing another bottle of wine from the fridge. "Hey Stef. You good?" Andrew asked with trepidation. "Hmmm, I am. She hasn't said anything but she will open up to me eventually. She's sleeping now though. Did you find food?" She asked. "Yeah we did actually. There was pasta in the cupboard and a jar of sauce. Not the most exciting but enough to fill a hole. There's still some on the stove. Help yourself"

Just as Stefania stood back up the kitchen door opened revealing Graham who was now wearing sleep shorts but still no top. "Oh, Uh, hi. Sorry, I'll go." He said as he turned away from the door again. "No, wait. It's Graham right?" Andrew asked as he stood up ad outstretched his hand for Graham to shake. "Oh, yeah it is. Hi. Uh...?" "Sorry, Andrew. I'm Andrew. This is my wife Giovanna and this here is Stefania." Andrew introduced everyone. "I am so sorry about earlier" Graham said grabbing a beer from the fridge. He sat down at the table and continued talking. "It was a shock for Dani to suddenly be stood in front of me again. I fucked up big time. But I'm glad she's happy... with you yeah?" He asked looking at Stefania who just nodded in reply. "Listen, I don't want to cause her any more upset. I've made my bed and now I need to own that. I don't want to come between you or create problems here. I've called some friends and I'm going to be able to crash with them until I get a place of my own sorted. I hurt Dani, I hurt her badly and now she deserves for me to walk away and let her heal and be happy. I'll be away first thing in the morning. Please don't worry about me being an issue because I promise you I won't be. I screwed up my chance to be the one to make her happy but I'm not going to stand in the way of someone else that can do it." Graham said as a tear slid down his cheek. "Ok, thank you. I think Danielle is right that you are a decent guy." Stefania said. "But I also think she needs to hear you say that so please don't go anywhere until you two have had a chance to talk in the morning. I'm just about to dish up some pasta, would you like some?" She asked with a smile. "Oh, eh... yeah, please?"

After about an hour, Stefania returned to the room to see that Danielle was still sound asleep. She managed to get her clothes off without disturbing her and pulled her in close as she also climbed in to bed falling asleep herself.