A Greek Odyssey - Jason Fic

CHAPTER 78

Freya arrived just after 8.45am. Lexi let her in as she was alone in the house. Anna and Jason's family were sitting in the garden, whilst Joe was away collecting Daisy.

'Hi Lex, how are you doing?' Freya walked up to Lexi and put her arms around her, cuddling her tightly for a couple of minutes. Each girl drawing comfort from the other with the hug.

'Could be better. But yeah, I'm alright.' Lexi gave Freya a wan smile and gestured for her to follow her into the kitchen. She fixed them both a cup of coffee and they disappeared into the lounge together.

'So, how have you been Freya?' Lexi sat down in the chair and looked at her best friend, who she noticed had dark circles under her eyes and looked paler than usual.

'It's not been a great week, I must say. I really thought me and James had something good and it's been torn from my grasp. I keep thinking about what could have been.' Freya took a sip from her coffee, her mouth turned down with sadness as she desperately fought back tears.

'It is difficult not to think about what could have been. I agree.' Lexi conceded and told Freya about the episode in the bathroom earlier that morning and how great Jason had been. 'I don't know what I'd have done without Jason's strength y'know,' she turned the tv on and flicked the channel onto BBC1. 'So, has Debs been ok to you and given you some compassionate time off?' She turned to look at Freya who nodded and said that she'd given her the time off since the accident with full pay and she'd also said she could have an extra couple of days off after the funeral, when they would review how Freya was feeling. 'My new boss has been brilliant. 'Lexi admitted. 'She's told me to ring her when I'm ready to come back to work and they'll keep the job open for me.'

Their interest was dragged back to the TV as the newscaster came on screen saying that they had a special news-flash. Lexi watched the screen carefully as she saw the five of them filing into the room, an A4 sheet of paper clutched in each of their hands. Lexi's heart skittered in her chest as she caught a glimpse of Jason filing in after the other four, almost looking like he didn't want to be there. She noticed he looked tired and very tense and hoped that the last few days hadn't put him under too much undue pressure. She realised just how much she had been leaning on him and felt guilty.

Gary started, thanking the audience for attending and then uttered the immortal words that Take That would be touring again, but this time with Robbie. Lexi felt so proud watching the five of them, their happiness was evident as all five smiled at the camera.

The crowd both inside the room and outside the front entrance, erupted into cheers and applause at the news. The five lads looked at each other with bemused expressions on their faces. They had hoped that the news would be welcomed warmly, but hadn't expected a reception like that.

Lexi grabbed hold of Freya's hand in excitement. 'Look! Everyone's over the moon. Jay's face is a picture!' Jason relaxed and sat back in his chair, a huge grin on his face at the reaction he'd just witnessed. It had been worth it flying home from Greece to persuade Rob to stay, he acknowledged to himself.

Gary motioned for the paparazzi and other music people in the room to quieten down. He was conscious that Jason needed to hurry back to Cambridge and didn't want to delay him any more than needed.

'Right, we've decided that we're going to tour together next Summer. It will be the first time we've toured for a very long time, so hopefully you'll be in for a real treat. We have a list of dates that we'll be touring, so here goes...'

A voice interrupted, just as Gary was about to start with the dates asking if they were all happy to be touring together, and that it wasn't just Mark and Gary who were happy. In a measured tone Jason looked straight at the camera and confirmed that yes, they were all happy about it. The paparazzi started to fire questions at them and trying to take photos, halting their carefully planned announcement.