Lock down on Ice

Chapter 6

Vanessa struggled down the path to the road where Perri had parked outside her house. She had two large and heavy bags in each hand.

"We're only going to be there 10 weeks not years" he laughed.

"10 weeks is a long time and a lot of clothes." She replied. Perri shook his head in mock judgement.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked and took her bags from her to put in the boot. He got into his car and flicked a switch. The roof of the gorgeous blue sports car slowly retracted, and she could see Perri grinning like a naughty schoolboy. She supposed no one would get bored of doing that. "Get in!" he commanded.

Vanessa opened the door and climbed into his car, it looked more like a spaceship inside. She felt like Jackie Onassis enjoying the wind in her hair. As the engine roared into life so did the dangerous emotions she had been working hard to bury. It didn't help that his car smelled just like him, masculine with floral undertones. Vanessa barely said a word the whole drive, she was partly speechless in awe of the incredible car she was in and partly subdued by Perri's peacocking.

He parked his car and took their bags out of his boot. Vanessa raised her eyebrows as the fancy mechanism automatically closed the roof. "Show off!" she teased. Perri raised one eyebrow like he was 007 and said in a perfect Scottish accent.

"Thank you Miss Money Penny", He bowed low in the direction of the apartment "after you my dear." Vanessa chuckled at his playfulness and walked towards the building.

Perri carried her bags up the stairs as she followed behind. Her heart was beating far harder than it should as normally she could sprint up several flights of stairs without needing to pant. But the closer she got to the fourth floor the more laboured her breathing became. By the time she joined him outside the apartment she was covered in beads of sweat. Perri looked at her flushed, sweaty face and squinted his eyes in mock judgement.

"Someone's been neglecting cardio day!" he joked. Vanessa stared at him whilst she tried to get her breathing under control. His big cheeky grin revealing his perfect teeth was making things ten times worse. How the hell was she going to get through weeks of living with him? Vanessa continued to stare at him gripping her key tightly. "Ummm, your bags are quite heavy you know!" Muttered Perri, his face showing the strain his arms were under.

"Oh Sorry," his new flatmate said as she opened the door and let him in to quickly dump his heavy cargo on the floor.

"Uuuugh" he complained as he shook the lactic acid build up out of his arms. Vanessa giggled at him and then laughed even more because he pulled a face. She couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him as tightly as she could. "Uuuuuugh" he repeated as he gently laid his hands on her shoulders. "you're crushing me!" he wheezed. Vanessa was sure she was going to explode from laughing so hard.

"You are so funny" she gasped keeping an iron grip of his waist and laying her head on his chest. Then she remembered she was supposed to be trying to resist his charms. She let go of him and jumped back like he had electrocuted her. "I bagsy the biggest room she said quickly and ran further into the flat, she heard Perri behind her then felt herself being lifted into the air. She made an ooof sound as he dumped her over his shoulder.

"Oh no you don't!" he bellowed, carrying her into the first bedroom and looking around. "I'm the celeb so I get the best room." He walked into the second bedroom as she kicked her legs and punched his back. "Plus I need the biggest cupboard since I can't do my radio show from the studio, I need to have a sound resistant space." He said as he looked around.

"Hey. That is not fair! Put me down!" But it was no use, he held her firmly until he made his decision, he then walked back into the first bedroom and dropped her onto the bed.

"This one's yours." he said grinning. As he left, Vanessa weighed up her chances of wrestling him out of the biggest and best room, her shoulders sagged as she realised she really wasn't going to be able to win, not physically anyway. She huffed as she looked around, 'it wasn't terrible' she thought, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.

By the evening they had unpacked most of the boxes, that were delivered shortly after their arrival, and filled the kitchen cupboards with enough food for a year. The production team had thought of everything and arranged for it to arrive on moving in day.

Perri collapsed on the sofa, Vanessa could tell he was there for the rest of the night. "We should work out a cooking rota" she said sitting next to him and avoiding his long sprawled out limbs. She watched him slowly turn his head towards her in confusion.

"A what?" he asked.

"A rota" she repeated, she rolled her eyes at his blank expression. "You know, we take turns to cook." She explained.

"Does ordering a takeout count?" he asked. "I'm useless at cooking!" he whined. Vanessa hit him with a cushion.

"We can't eat takeouts, we are in training!" she chided. Perri pulled his most pathetic orphaned baby face at her. She got up and headed to the kitchen and started banging pots and plans. She looked up and saw Perri filling the doorway, she was still irritated and seeing him annoyed her even more. She tried to pretend he wasn't there but she was learning he was someone that was impossible to ignore.

"I honestly can't cook" his smooth, deep voice sounded ten octaves lower in his sadness. She found herself looking up in his direction and instantly regretted it. He looked so handsome leaning against the frame with his sad eyes and pouty mouth. She gripped the knife tight and took out her frustration on the onions.

Perri slinked back to his room and escaped to the world of Call of Duty. He could hear Vanessa wielding that very sharp knife and he wanted to put as much distance between the pointy end and himself as possible. After a while he heard his name called out so he opened his door a crack and could smell food. He pushed his door out a little more and popped his head out, 'no angry V' he thought, so he walked further towards the source of the smell which was making his tummy rumble. He found a plate of steaming hot pasta with flakes of pink salmon and herbs in a cream sauce. He grabbed the tray which also had cutlery and an ice-cold glass of water 'How did she know I prefer water?' he thought. He could see Vanessa was still annoyed, so he tried something that always worked on his mum when he annoyed her. He leant over carefully so as to not tip over his glass of water and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, this looks and smells delicious." He said earnestly. Vanessa gripped her tray hard and resolutely avoided looking at him. Her cheek burned where his soft lips had been pressed against it.

"You're welcome," she replied quietly and quickly took her tray to her room.