'Chloe, come away from there.'
'But Daddy I want to find out what her name is today.'
'Later.' Ethan silently guided his daughter out of the darkened room after a cautious look at the occupant's bed. To check that their whispers hadn't disturbed her of course, he justified to himself. 'Go and have your breakfast. I'm leaving now to go into the office.'
'Aw! Daddy, its Sat'day.'
'Saturday. I know honey but I've got a backlog of paper work to catch up on. I'll be home sometime around lunch time.'
Felicity heard Chloe's pleas fading as she followed her father along the hall.
Playing possum had worked. She didn't want another cosy breakfast scene like the last 2 days. Sitting across from Ethan was too nerve wracking. His gentle smile and thoughtful looks sent her pulse soaring and composure plummeting. She had thought that she wouldn't be able to dodge Saturday morning and had seriously thought of feigning an illness as an excuse to stay in bed and away from Ethan and yet there he was heading off to work. Problem solved.
Dam him. Ethan didn't strike her as being a workaholic. Rather in the short time she had known him he seemed to work reasonable if not abbreviated hours. Maybe he was spending more time at home because of her. Well she couldn't help Ethan catch up nor make him spend fewer hours at home so instead she vowed to help Darlene make his birthday party a memorable one. With Ethan expected home for lunch she needed every minute to continue with the party preparation especially since tomorrow being Sunday Ethan might be staying in all day and literally get in the way. Getting dressed quickly into her usual shorts and t-shirt she stepped lightly down the stairs and smelt her first!
The cloud of overly floral fragrance somewhat akin to air freshener hung in the air as Felicity stepped off the stairs and made her way towards the kitchen. She knew that one way of applying fragrance was to send a mist into the air and walk though it. Maybe whoever was wearing it had slaves spraying the air as they walked. Rather ridiculously she looked for strewn petals, and then chided herself for such folly. A scene from a movie maybe? Was that a memory?
No beagle was needed to follow this scent. It got stronger as Felicity neared the kitchen where the aroma of freshly brewed coffee warred with and thankfully won over the sickening fragrance. The assault on the senses continued though upon entering the family room. There homely ambience warred with the vision of city sophistication perched artistically on the breakfast bar stool.