The Song

Part Sixty-Nine

I woke up the next morning to a naked husband, his limbs wrapped tight around me. A giggle left my lips as soon as I remembered just exactly what we’d gotten up to the day before… it had been a whole lot of time spent together in bed, the most intimate thing to ever happen in my memory.

I could hear my phone buzzing from the nightstand, forcing me to carefully detach myself from my husband’s grip.

“Who’s that?” Aston mumbled.

“Camila,” I said, scooping my dressing gown off the floor and answering the call.

“Hey Jess, I heard you’re home.”

“Yeah…”

“I’m coming round in an hour,” she replied, “We need to talk about you coming back to work.”

“Sure,” I said, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know why, but over the last week I’ve gotten three calls asking about how you are doing. Apparently it’s been six months already!”

“Yeah yesterday,” I stuttered, looking over at Aston who was stretching lithely in bed and grinning as I watched him.

“Crazy.”

“I know,” I sighed.

“So anyways, I’ll be there in an hour. I’ll bring Ellie if she’s free.”

“I’ll have the coffee ready,” I replied, hanging up the phone. “You’re not allowed to act like that when I’m on the phone,” I told Aston, nodding at his bare torso.

“Like what?” he teased.

“Sexing it up or whatever.”

“I’m doing nothing of the sort,” he grinned, “It’s all in your head.”

I rolled my eyes at him, going to the bathroom for a quick shower. If Camila was coming round I needed to get myself cleaned up and in some real clothes.

When I came out of the en suite Aston was still lying naked in bed with the duvet just barely covering him. I rolled my eyes as I noticed he was just casually scrolling through his phone.

“The girls are coming over for a bit,” I told him, “So behave.”

“I always behave.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I told him, swatting his bare stomach, “Make sure you’re fully dressed if you come down.” With that I wandered out of the room, headed down to the kitchen to whip up some food quickly.

“Fine Mrs. Merrygold,” he called after me.

I felt my cheeks blush red as he said that, my heart knotting up a bit. I was Mrs. Merrygold and I still couldn’t quite believe it.

Within the hour Camila had arrived and was sitting sipping coffee in the kitchen. “Ellie’s teaching,” she explained.

“Right.”

“Anyways, we need you back. We’re desperate.”

“I’ll come back,” I said, like it was no big deal. Because it really wasn’t anymore.

“You will?!”

“It’s about time I get back to work,” I shrugged, “I can’t keep dwelling on a past I can’t remember, I’ve just got to move forward.”

“Jess that’s great!” Camila grinned.

“So when do I start?”

I watched as she pulled out a folder with a timetable and a list of names, “What do you want to do about your old pupils.”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” I said, “And I spoke to Aston about it. I want to teach them.”

“What about your memory?”

“I’m just going to be honest,” I said, “If I’m never going to get it back then it’s time I start to tell people about what happened to me.”

“Even if this becomes like front page news in the papers?” Camila worried, “’Mrs. Merrygold’s Amnesia Nightmare!’” she added, quoting a made up headline.

“Ast warned me,” I said, “And he promised to protect me and support me, so who cares?”

Camila smiled softly at me, starting to pencil names into the timetable. We talked through dates and locations and what to do if I needed to go out of town with Aston for his job, my whole teaching life falling into place before my eyes.

“You’re sure about this?” she said, passing me the final timetable.

“I’m excited!” I grinned.

“I’ll come with you to the first couple, but from there I’m really going to leave you to it so you can get back into things. I know almost nothing about piano.”

“I’ve got it,” I said, studying the paper before me.

Aston came into the kitchen as Camila was packing up her bag, “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Got my new teaching schedule!” I grinned, waving it in his face.

“When do you start?” he asked, “Do you still have time to head out of town for a couple days?”

“Not till next Monday,” Camila said, “You can go sex her up somewhere for a long weekend.”

“Camila!” I squealed, shooting daggers at my friend and her big mouth.

“Good I’ve got everything sorted,” Aston said, ignoring Camila’s statement, “Leave in like two hours?”

“Jheeze Ast, not giving me much time to get ready are you?” I smiled, rolling my eyes over at Camila who looked about ready to head out. I walked her to the door, giving her a thankful hug as I pulled it open.

“Have fun with your man,” she winked.

“Camila…”

“I can tell,” she said, “You don’t need to say anything, I can look at you two and just tell that things are going really well. Really well,” she added with an innuendo and a wink.

“They are,” I replied as the blush rose on my cheeks again.

“Enjoy it,” she said, “I’ve never had two friends who are as in love as you two are. It gives all the rest of us hope that we’ll find something similar. And really… I’m so glad that you’re falling back into your old ways.”

“Thanks babe,” I smiled, hugging her again.

“Now I know that boy can get a little too naughty, so make sure he doesn’t wear you out too much… I’m going to need you in top form for teaching!”

“Bye Camila,” I intoned, rolling my eyes at her as she skipped down the front walk, waving goodbye.

As soon as she was out of the front gate I wandered back to the kitchen where Aston was working his way through a huge bowl of cereal.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Not telling,” he said.

“Ast!!!”

“I made you a packing list,” he said, passing me a sheet of paper with some scribbles on it, “Bring these things.”

I glanced down the list, noticing that he’d requested I bring a summery flower dress, blue jeans, and a pair of willies. “The fuck?” I asked him.

“Just go pack,” he winked, focusing on his cereal.

“But…”

“It’s a surprise!”

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So there's a typo... and I ain't changing it ;-p