The Maid Ch. 05

He looked nervous so she decided to ask him about something else. She needed time to think about all of this before she returned to the subject.

"Do you have any children?"

"No. I was married once, not for long. It was a mistake. We were very young. It didn't work out; she met someone else. They're happy. They have children now." He was looking wistfully towards the sea as they reached the car.

He dropped her at the house after their walk on the beach. Brighton was such a small town that they arrived in no time at all.

As they pulled up on the road that Joe's parents lived on, she looked up at their flat. They had in the two top stories of a large old Victorian terraced house. Stephano opened the door for her and she climbed out of the car. He pulls her towards him and assertively kissed her on the mouth. She felt herself being pulled under by her desire again.

"I can see you again soon?" He asked, as he gazed intently into her eyes.

"Yes, I'd like that," She replied. He smiled at her, clearly relieved.

Reluctantly she began to disentangle herself.

As she walked up the stairs to the front door, she pondered, she had a lot to think about. Should she carry on being involved with him? She felt unexpected surge of confused emotions at the prospect of finishing this thing they had. She remembered Connie's advice about keeping this on her terms but she was finding it hard to keep him at arms length...

She rang the doorbell a few times, but there was no answer. She wandered back down the stairs so she could look up at the window. Where were they?

She was standing on the pavement feeling puzzled when she heard his voice.

"Are you okay?"

She jumped, startled and spun round. Why was he still here?

He took her hands in his; he looked concerned.

"What's the matter? Is everything okay?"

Warring between wanting him to leave and feeling worried about the unexpected absence of Sophia, she shook her head. "No, they're not answering. I wonder where they are? Perhaps they've popped out to the shop."

She took out her phone and rang Eleanor's mobile. There was no answer; she tried the landline.

He was still there. Why was he still there? She wasn't sure what to do.

Sophie picked up almost immediately and Andrea exhaled. She hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath, but Sophia sounded wobbly.

"Sophia? Are you okay? Where is Grandma?"

"Mummy, Mummy! She won't wake up and now the kitchens on fire and I can't open the door!"

Reaching forward, Andrea grasped Stephano's shirt in a bid to anchor herself as wave of panic washed over her.

Did she just say fire? This was too much information to process at once. For a moment Andrea wondered if it was Sophia's overactive imagination, but regardless, she could tell by her voice that her daughter was very frightened. She ran back up the stairs and rang the bottom bell and banged on the door. No answer, the downstairs neighbours must be out, she thought frantically.

"Stephano, could you phone the fire brigade? Sophie, you need to come and open the door, it's very dangerous in there."

"But mummy I... I can't open the door."

Sophia's voice was climbing to a higher and higher pitch as she reached the end of the sentence. Andrea was desperately trying to stay calm her self but she could feel the panic rising in her too.

Stephano was speaking on the phone, carefully explaining there was a child and an unconscious woman trapped in a building, which was on fire. Her child. She started to wonder if maybe this was all just a horrible nightmare, maybe she was going to wake up soon.

"Which door can't you open sweetie?"

"The kitchen door, I can't get it open, I don't know why it wont open." Sophia was crying now, taking great shuddering breaths and Andrea was beginning to find it hard to understand what she was saying.

"Mummy I'm scared!" She wailed.

Andrea could hear someone telling Stephano the address, which he then relayed to the fire brigade down the phone.

"Honey, where is grandma?"

She's on the floor in the kitchen, she won't wake up. Mummy, I don't know what to do." Sophia started to cough and Andrea's almost resolve broke then, she could feel her self starting to tremble, and it was all she could do to stop the tears from falling. She began to pace aimlessly back and forth, desperate to do something.

"Honey its going to be ok, we're going to get you out of there." She told Sophia as calmly as she could manage, but she knew she sounded as terrified as she felt. She was hoping Sophia hasn't noticed, although she doubted it.

Suddenly Stephano was holding her by both shoulders, forcing her to stop pacing. He wasn't on the phone anymore.

"The fire brigade are coming," He told her, looking into her eyes. "I'm going in. Tell her to lie down, they said that the smoke will rise, she needs to get as low as she can. Where is the kitchen?"

"It's at the back of the house," she replied pointing up to a second floor window. "Just across the hall."

She looked around, a small crowd of worried looking passers by had stopped and were standing around looking at the building, making concerned noises. She looked back up at the window and realised suddenly that Stephano had somehow managed scale the front of the building, using the cornicing around the door and framing the window to gain purchase. She watched open mouthed, it was like he'd transformed into some kind of animal. Someone put a sympathetic hand on her arm but she didn't register who. Fear for his safety but intense relief that he was going to Sophia were warring in her mind. She realised he wasn't wearing any shoes. Looking down she noticed that they were sitting neatly together on the doorstep with his socks

Distant sirens could be heard, but they seemed so far away. Would they get there in time? She wondered, then she heard Sophia coughing down the phone again, and she was pulled back to the present.

"Sophia, listen to mummy. Stephano is coming to get you, you need to lie down on the floor for me now okay? There is less smoke near the floor."

"Who is Stephano?" Sophia's voice sounded quiet but a little bit calmer.

"He's a friend of mine honey, he's going to help you."

"Okay." Sophia replied in a small voice.

She looked up again; somehow Stephano had managed to slide the window open and was climbing into the building, black smoke was billowing out.

Almost simultaneously she can hear excited relief from Sophia. "Mummy, Mummy the door is opening, there's a man here!"

She heard the phone drop then there was silence. After an agonizing moment, the front door opened to reveal Stephano carrying Sophia, looking every bit like a dashing prince charming come to save the day. A collective cry of relief came from the small crowd that had gathered.

Sophia was coughing as Andrea dashed up the stairs.Sophia reached for her, and he handed her over and she wrapped her arms around Andrea's neck.

"She had fallen by the door, wedging it shut, but I managed to push her out of the way."

Instinctively, Andrea knew he was referring to Eleanor.

Sophia smelled strongly of smoke. Andrea could see the tracks of her tears as they cut clean lines down her slightly blackened face. She held on to her daughter tightly, tighter than she'd ever held her.

Gratefully she looked up to thank Stephano, but he'd already disappeared back into the house. She remembered then that she hadn't called Eleanor's husband John. Where could he be? He probably didn't know anything about all this. She pulled her phone out of her pocket again.

Suddenly the street was filled with the sound of sirens as a fire engine pulled up and a troop of firemen jumped out, closely followed by an ambulance.

She watched as several firemen dashed into the house. When they returned a short time later with a still unconscious Eleanor, there was a stretcher ready.

Sophia started crying then. "Mummy, is Grandma going to be okay?"

"I don't know sweetheart, I don't know"

Stephano sat on the steps while a paramedic checked him over, as more firemen carrying equipment returned back into the house.

John's Volkswagen Polo screeched to a halt outside the house and John emerged looking like he's aged about five years.

"Oh God, John I'm so sorry I meant to ring you!"

"Its okay love, I did. You had other things to think about."

Andrea recognised John and Eleanor's next-door neighbour Mrs. Smith, she was suddenly very grateful for her calming presence.

"Thank you." She gave her a teary smile.

"We're going to take Mrs. Gibson to the hospital now." A paramedic was telling John. "You can travel in the ambulance with her if you like, Mr. Gibson."

John nodded.

A paramedic examined Sophia.

"We'd like to take a better look at Sophia too, you can travel in the ambulance if you like or you can follow in your car."

"We'll take our car." Stephano replied and already he was ushering them both over to the vehicle and opening the back door. Andrea was grateful for his presence and his decisiveness.

She clambered into the back with Sophia, who immediately found the stuffed snow leopard and her squeal of excitement was deafening. Andrea caught Stephano's reflection in the rear view mirror. He looked extremely pleased with himself. She strapped Sophia into her seatbelt and the car pulled away.

When they arrived at the hospital they learned that Eleanor has been transferred to a ward on the top floor, she was conscious and doing well. Paediatrics sent them down to the x-ray department in the basement.

"We'd like to give Sophia a chest x-ray," A doctor explained. "We think she was inhaling the smoke for a very short period of time so we're fairly confident that there will be no serious damage, but we'd like to take a look to be sure." The team disappeared into the x-ray room with Sophia, leaving Stephano and Andrea alone for the first time.

They waited in the doorway; with 'Dora' the snow leopard. Sophia had been reluctant to part with her new toy even for the short time it would take to do the x-ray. Andrea sagged with exhaustion and Stephano pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her. She rested her head against his chest, taking solace from his strength.

Sobs forced their way out of her from her chest where they'd been waiting to erupt for goodness knows how long. Once they'd started she couldn't seem to stop them. He cupped her face in his hands, brushing a tear away with his thumb.

"She is going to be okay."

"But what would have happened if you hadn't been there?" She asked, her voice breaking.

"But I was there, and even if I hadn't of been you would have found a way."

The x-ray was finished and Sophia was returned to them. They sprang apart guiltily. They loitered briefly in the waiting room until a paediatrician could be found to speak them. He showed them the x-ray, everything seemed to be ok.

"You can go home now, take her to see her GP if she starts coughing or there is any dizziness." The doctor explained.

He crouched down so he could speak directly to Sophia.

"You'll need to take a few days off school and no games for a week."

He looked back up at Andrea and Stephano.

"We can't see any damage but she needs to avoid exerting herself for a week or so in case her lungs need to do any repair."

Andrea nodded, "I understand."

Sophia interrupted with a wail "No football!" She looked more upset by this than anything else that had happened so far that day.

"It's not forever honey."

The doctor squatted down to Sophia's level again and rested a hand on her arm. Looking into her eyes he said seriously "You're a very lucky girl and your Daddy is a very brave man." He took a breath and was about to carry on with his pep talk when Sophia interrupted.

"He's not my daddy." She informed him earnestly shaking her head.

Andrea was mortified. Stephano quickly schooled his features so his face remained carefully impassive. The doctor looked very embarrassed and he apologised profusely.

Afterwards, they headed up to the top floor to see how Eleanor was doing.

"Andi! Is Sophia okay? I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, I feel so awful. Imagine what could have happened?" Eleanor had managed to sit up and was frantically pulling Sophia into her arms. Andrea found herself worrying that Eleanor was overexerting herself.

"They say my blood sugar levels had dropped too low. I didn't eat lunch. They think I have a type of diabetes but they're not sure which kind, they need to do more tests."

Then John spoke.

"The fire brigade said it was the chip pan, that started the fire."

Stephano's phone rang and he wandered into the corridor to take the call.

"Well, he's good in a crisis, your fella." John added.

"Yes." she nodded slowly. They were very lucky, despite what Stephano had said earlier she didn't want to think about how different things might have been if he hadn't been there. Suddenly Sophia interrupted.

"Mummy I'm hungry."

Of course Sophia was hungry, dinner was well overdue and she'd completely forgotten about food with everything that had happened.

"Okay, you wait here with grandma and grandpa, I'll pop down to the canteen and get you a sandwich. Does anyone else want anything?"

No one did, and she realised she didn't feel that hungry either.

"I'll come with you." Stephano said as he followed her out of the ward.

As soon as they were off the ward and out of sight he pulled her into his arms and asked quietly into the shell of her ear.

"Is there anyone apart from me who calls you Andrea?"

His voice sounded softly menacing so cautiously she looked up at his face, he wasn't smiling but she thought she could see mild amusement dancing in his eyes.

"My mum calls me Andrea sometimes." She answered in a small voice. "Well," She added thoughtfully. "She does when she's cross with me."

He laughed softly and kissed her on the mouth. Then they carried on down to the canteen.

Soon Sophia was digging into a cheese and tomato roll that was almost as big as her head when Eleanor said.

"We'll have to have you both over for dinner one day soon!"

Stephano was all nods and polite smiles, but Andrea cringed inwardly. She knew it was their way of saying thank you, letting Stephano know that they were happy about his presence in Sophia and Andrea's lives but this was all moving very quickly and she was still reeling after the fire.

He drove them home and Andrea left Stephano in her kitchen as she put Sophia to bed.

Sophia was tucked up in bed teeth brushed, smoke and grime washed away, pyjamas on when she announced that she wanted to say goodnight to Stephano.

Andrea found him sitting at the table, looking too big in her tiny kitchen. He looked up and gave her a tired, lopsided smile. Shyly she answered it with one of her own; she was still getting used to a smiling Stephano.

"Sophia wants to say good night to you." She said, quietly biting her lip.

"That's fine, I'll be right back."

He'd been in there for a while; she paced around the kitchen nervously. She looked around, at the pile of laundry waiting to be ironed, the dishes on the draining board. Her kitchen seemed too small, too scruffy after the opulence she associated with him. She felt weird so she went to stand outside Sophia's room. The door was ajar. She peeped inside, she could see Sophia propped in bed surrounded by teddies. Her arms were wrapped around her new snow leopard; it was nearly as big as she was. She was explaining who they all were to Stephano, telling him their names, when quite suddenly she changed direction entirely.

"Are you and my mummy going to get married?"

The sound Stephano made in response was like a cross between a strangled laugh and a cough. "Well, I haven't asked her."

"Are you going to?"

He was laughing. "We will see."

Andrea leaned against the wall and squeezing her eyes closed she buried her face in her hands. Oh God, she felt like she couldn't take any more. Her head might explode if anything happened to test her emotional stamina further this evening. She just wanted the ground to swallow her up. She tuned back into the conversation and realised he was saying goodnight and standing up. She dashed back in the kitchen. Sitting hurriedly sat back down at the table, desperately hoping he wouldn't realise she'd been eavesdropping.

He sat down too and leaning across the table, he touched her hand.

"I will go now."

She nodded. The idea filled her with sorrow, she didn't want him to leave but he was right, he should go. After a day like this Sophia didn't need the added complication of processing what it might mean if she found Stephano still there when she woke up in the morning.

Wearily she stood and led him to the front door, he leaned down and kissed her chastely on the lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and threading her fingers through his hair, returning his kiss with a fervoured desperation. He captured her waist in his hands and pulled her closer, pressing his body against hers. She inhaled his scent, she could feel his erection through their clothes and a hunger flared up inside her she hadn't realised was hovering just below the surface. She didn't want him to leave.

"Stay?" She whispered, the word had somehow managed to escape her lips before she had time to stop it.

Drawing away he looked down at her, his expression quizzical.

"Don't go, please." She felt rattled and she wanted him to hold her. She wanted to fall asleep in his arms again.

"You are sure?"

She nodded, "I know we shouldn't but I don't want to be alone, not after everything that's happened."

He smiled at her, his eyes burning with anticipation.

Suddenly she remembered the state of her room and she almost asked him to leave after all but instead she led him back to the kitchen and told him to wait. She frantically crammed discarded clothes back into the wardrobe until she could at least see the bedroom floor again. Thank goodness she remembered before taking him to bed.

They had rushed, quiet sex. As they both climaxed he covered her mouth with his, swallowing her moans of pleasure as though they were manna from heaven. Afterwards she felt exhausted and he held her in his arms, stroking her hair as she drifted off to sleep.

She woke up again in the night to the sensation of his erection pressing into the small of her back; he was insatiable. She could tell by the light that it was just before dawn. He was gently kissing her neck. Pressing his chest against her back and gripping her hips he pulled her towards him. It wasn't too long before he had penetrated her again. What followed was slow, lazy, half asleep sex, she wasn't sure if she was even fully awake. As she felt her arousal build as a roaming hand crept down her stomach and found her sex. He rubbed her clitoris in time with his thrusts. It wasn't too long before she felt herself spiraling towards a heady breathless climax.

Afterwards she lay in his arms, and as she drifted back to sleep he whispered sweet nothings to her in Italian between gentle kisses. She didn't understand the words but she had an idea of their meaning.

-

She woke again, to find him gone. She got up and wandered to Sophia's room. She was standing in the doorway watching her face as she slept when the doorbell rang. Instantaneously Sophia's startlingly blue eyes popped open.

"Who is it Mummy?" Sophia jumped out of bed. Again, the moment she woke, she had bags of energy. "Can I answer it?"

"No, we don't know who it is," But she could guess. "And I need to put some more clothes on first."

She pulled on her robe and wandered out into the hallway; Sophia was already excitedly opening the front door.

"Sophia!" She said crossly. "You never listen to me, I told you to wait."