Completely & Stupidly: Forever and Ever

Chapter 2. Vanessa

 Thin grey clouds scattered the sky by the time Vanessa arrived back home after dropping Johnny and Moses off at nursery, and she sat curled up upon the sofa with a cup of tea watching as faint droplets of rain began to slip down the window. The time had just gone nine and her first and only appointment of the day wasn't until eleven. Moira had called the night before seeking advice for one of her new cows who was reluctant to eat. It was expected to be stress induced so neither women were too worried about it, but had decided a quick once over may be best to rule out anything serious and would put their minds to rest. As she was lost in thought, daydreaming about getting back into bed with Charity at the end of the day, her phone began to vibrate upon the table. Glancing down at it, the name 'Rhona' appeared on the screen, accompanied by a smiling photograph of her that had been taken back on her fortieth birthday. "Rhona, hi" Vanessa beamed, answering the call just as it reached the third ring. "The cafe? Sure, see you there" she nodded. With that, she hung up the phone and gulped down the last swig of tea in her mug and quickly rinsed it under the tap. The rain outside seemed to be getting a little harsher and a brisk breeze had begun to snake through the village, so before leaving she pulled down her coat from the rack near the door, having needed to creep up onto her tiptoes to reach the peg it hung on. 

 Once she arrived at the Cafe, Rhona had already gone in and ordered them both a cup of coffee and a cake, and was occupying a small table tucked away in the corner of the room. "Hiya" She breathed as she took a seat beside her friend, who had an obvious fake smile drawn up her face. "Hi" Rhona whimpered, trying her best to hide her nerves behind it. Vanessa looked her up and down and could sense immediately that Rhona was hiding something. "So, are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to guess?" Vanessa asked, taking a bite from the little chocolate muffin on her plate. "That obvious is it?" Rhona sighed, sipping from her coffee. "Mhmm" Vanessa mumbled, her mouth full of cake. "Okay, I know it's silly but I'm worried about Leo. It's his first day back to school after the summer holidays, only he's got a new teacher" Rhona began. "Hey, there's nothing silly about that. Of course, you're going to worry-" Vanessa coaxed, taking Rhona's hand and rubbing her thumb across her friends. "But try to see the positive side, you and Leo, and Marlon, have already met this new teacher- Mrs-", "Mrs Hill", "Mrs Hill- and you said she was great with him" Vanessa assured. "I know, she was great, she was, I'm just worried Leo won't take to her as well as he did with his last teacher. And with Jessie not around anymore I don't have a friend to watch over him, for my own peace of mind" Rhona explained. Vanessa nodded, listening to everything Rhona had to say and taking in each bit of information her friend offered up. "He's only in for half a day today, to ease him in and see how it goes in the new classroom, then he will have a full day come Monday. I just want it to go well" Rhona shrugged, her eyes a little wet with worry. "And I'm sure it will, but if for some reason it doesn't, then we will deal with that, you know you have me and Charity, and everyone who loves you, to support you both" Vanessa insisted, causing Rhona to smile, a fraction of her worry taken away by the loving words she'd just heard. "Thanks, Ness. I don't know what I'd do without you" She joked; her voice small but sounding calmer than when she'd first spoken. Vanessa chuckled, "That would make you and Charity", "How is she anyway, Charity?", "Charity is Charity" Vanessa shrugged, "Part crazy hot barmaid, part fifth child at home" she huffed playfully, thinking back to how she and Sarah had bickered earlier on. "I don't envy you, all those kids first thing in the morning" Rhona quipped. "You have no idea, but you know what, I love it, so much. All of them, don't get me wrong they can be a handful, Charity included but, they're my family" Vanessa cooed, feeling her insides beginning to turn to mush at the thought. "Awh, you soppy old thing" Rhona laughed quietly, rubbing her hand up and down Vanessa's arm. Rhona threw her head back, then tilted it to the side as she looked at Vanessa who was starting to blush a little at herself. "Gosh, it only feels like five minutes ago that we were chatting about you possibly having feelings for Charity, and now look at you, engaged and so in love, with a wedding just around the corner", "I know, not long now" Vanessa gushed, taking a glimpse at the little diamond sitting on her finger, trying to imagine how it would look accompanied by a wedding ring. "How are the final bits and bobs coming along?" Rhona asked, finishing her coffee. "Not too bad, I'm trying not to go all bridezilla. We've taken our time, planned one thing at a time. And Charity was pretty happy letting me take the reins, she joked one night that it wasn't her first rodeo, which she thought was, you know, hilarious, but she said she didn't really care what flowers we had or what colour scheme we ended up opting for, as long as when she's waiting at the bottom of the aisle that I walk down it ready to spend the rest of my life with her." Vanessa smiled, as Rhona aww'd and ah'd. "But you know what, the one thing she has gone crazy over is her vows. She wants to write her own, and I have no idea what to expect, because the Charity I see, no one else sees. I wonder how she will handle speaking so vulnerably in front of all our guests?", "Ness, it's pretty clear to me, and frankly the rest of the village, that she'd do absolutely anything for you and if she's willing and wanting to write her own vows then she's obviously not afraid to speak her love for you into existence, no matter who is watching" Rhona spoke soothingly. For a moment Vanessa thought she was going to start crying, but managed to pull herself together, fearing she wouldn't be able to stop. She quickly hid her trembling bottom lip behind her coffee cup and took a big gulp. Rhona smiled, her nose wrinkling as she nodded knowingly to Vanessa and took her hand and rubbed her thumb the way she had felt herself minutes before. Neither of them needed to say another word.