Lovely Chevy is back with the next installment of Rebecca's View. Find a few minutes to hide away - you're in for a treat!

An Alternate View Part 4

I calculated I probably had about ten minutes.

I suppose I could have just gone out, but it would just have been postponing the inevitable and It was so much better to do it straight away, rather than wait for Charles to bring Sam back the following day.

I've changed out of my sofa day clothes and put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt, straightened my hair and put on a slick of mascara and lip gloss. It's the best I can do, my hangover seems to have returned with force! Thank goodness Sam fore-warned me about this, I couldn't have coped with Charles looking as I did.

I've sat in every seat in the house, I know exactly what will come through the door- Captain James at his intimidating best! I settle on sitting on the stairs, facing the front door, on the fifth step up. At least I will be on his eye level and if I stand up, I will be way taller than him. It's all strategic you know!

Even though I know it's coming I still jump when the car door slams. The knock on the door is sharp and loud:

"Come in" I shout.

The door swings open and he appears in front of me. Ha! I can see he wasn't expecting me to be sitting on the stairs. His momentary surprise is quickly replaced by 'Captain Shouty Face'. Even at this late stage I'm still not sure how to play this, should I brazen it out or come clean and apologise? I've never been one to wear my heart on my sleeve and humble doesn't come naturally, so lets just see how this goes was my thinking. I let him speak first:

"Explain to me why you were at my wedding yesterday, without an invitation!"

I choose to return his stare without speaking – Jeez that stare could bore a hole straight through you, I pity those new recruits that get the benefit of that look in their first few weeks! The stare off continues…..wow even looking like he could kill me, he's still looks divine! He repeats the question though this time slightly more menacingly, then:

"I should be putting you …"

"Charles! I'm not in the bloody army, you can't put me on a charge!"

"What I was going to say was, I should be putting you in the hands of the police as a stalker"

"Well that would be really good for Sam wouldn't It!"

I drew myself up to my full height and towering above him calmly said:

"The whole thing is a misunderstanding and it isn't how it looked"

Before he can respond I move off the stairs and into the kitchen. I don't bother asking, I just pick up a Rosabaya coffee pod and put it into the machine and switch it on. I don't keep a supply of them on the off-chance Charles drops in you understand, it's a taste I acquired when we were married and the smell will forever be associated with him, so I make myself a cup every now and then. I fetch one cup from the cupboard, I don't think I could physically swallow anything myself, but I was never going to tell him that!

Charles followed me into the kitchen and stood by the island with his arms crossed and tucked under his armpits. When I looked up he was looking at his feet and with a surprisingly gentle voice he said:

"Ok, you tell me what happened"

Putting the dark strong coffee down in front of him, I took a deep breath and began the torturous explanation. I explained that I had no intention of going anywhere near the Royal Crescent yesterday and I had made plans that were scuppered when Poppy rang me in distress asking me to help out.

"Who the hell is Poppy?"

"You remember Poppy"

Charles frowned and looked unsure, shaking his head.

"You know, dark hair, short, a bit tubby, she had that short-legged pony that you used to say would collapse under her weight"

The frown cleared and Charles nodded.

"By the way I had no idea you were getting married yesterday, I thought you were probably getting Sam's outfit sorted and you would be getting married the other weekend you asked for"

The corners of Charles's mouth tugged at a smile, confirming to me that that was the conclusion he had hoped I'd come to.

"Well that backfired big style, didn't it!" I shot back at him, wiping the smile from his face.

Oh shit, Captain 'Pain in the arse' is back!

"Rebecca, stop pissing about and tell me what happened"

"Well, as I said Poppy now runs a catering company and she asked me to help out" A rather ungraciously loud snort greets this piece of information.

"What! you help out serving food!"

"No of course not, she asked me to be in charge and be front of house"

"So, you thought I'd be really happy to find my ex-wife greeting me and welcoming me to my own wedding reception, did you?"

"Well, I didn't know it was your wedding did I?"

He's like a dog at a bone, I'm getting the feeling that coming out of this well, is going to take all my ingenuity. I mean it really wasn't planned and to a large extent not my fault, so I really can't see what all this anger is about. If it hadn't been for Sam's photo they wouldn't have been aware of any of it! When I pointed this out to him, he said that although he wasn't aware of it at the time, he was bloody aware of it now. Not only did he have every right to be angry, but he had a wife who now thinks that her husband's ex-wife is going to jump out of the wardrobe at any time and is probably plotting to push her down the stairs to get rid of her and a mother who was beside herself with rage that Rebecca had been in her house uninvited. So, he didn't think it was unreasonable to get some explanations!

"Why didn't you just turn around, make your excuses and leave then?"

"Well I couldn't let Poppy down, Could I?"

"Rubbish! The truth is you knew we were all away and you took your chance didn't you"

"Took my chance at what?"

"Well that's what I'm waiting to hear"

"I really don't know what you're accusing me of, but I will not be insulted in my own home!"

"Rebecca, why were you in my bedroom?"

This is not going well! – Being in the house, I can explain, being in his bedroom is a little more difficult. My hanging overworked mind is reaching overload, my head is pounding and tears are close.

"It used to be ours". Shit, where did that come from – I will not cry, I will not cry.

Large splashy tears appear, I want to stamp my foot at their untimely appearance and the fact I've let him see how much I'm hurting.

Charles is staring at me and he swallows hard:

"That was a very long time ago"

"Sometimes I wish we were twenty again and as happy as we were then"

Charles walked around the island to stand right in front of me, he reached out, but only to tear off some kitchen roll, from the dispenser, to mop up the flood of tears that were now dripping off my chin. His expression had softened as he handed it to me.

"Bex, I will always care about you and what happens to you. You are the mother of my son, but there was always something missing. When we were twenty all we cared about was having a good time and yes we were happy, but it wasn't and isn't enough. By the time we divorced we both needed different things from a partner. Finding Molly has been like finding the missing last jigsaw piece, she makes me happy and makes me complete."

He took the crumpled kitchen roll from my hand and finished mopping up the tears.

"You know you have never fooled me with all that attitude you have. I know down inside you have a good heart, its just its so far buried in there, nobody can see it. I want you to be happy, try to forget about all the material things and how stuff looks to others and maybe you will be. No more crying for me on the balcony, there's someone out there that will make you much happier than I ever could."

Bah! That Molly Dawes is making him go soft!

"What do you mean crying for you? I wasn't crying for you, it was the smell of the onions down below that made my nose run and eyes water!"

"Well it looked bloody like it on the photo"

"In your dreams Romeo" - Game On!

Charles smiled and grimaced "Well that's the Rebecca we all know and love!"

Charles pulled out a stool from under the kitchen island and perched on the edge of it. He ran his thumb along the rim of the half empty coffee cup.

"Just how long were you in my bedroom, because I'm bloody sure you never came past me down the stairs and we were there for ever, waiting for guests at the front door."

I smiled and asked if he remembered showing me the servants staircase all those years ago, he looked astonished then, congratulated me on my creative solution to a tricky problem. He said I had been lucky because that door into the kitchen was mostly locked, however lots of stuff had been put in there in the pre-wedding clean up and his mother must have forgotten to relock it. I told him I slipped out of the back door and made my escape, before he had finished greeting his guests.

Was there anyone in the kitchen when you came down the stairs?" - Strange question! So, I told him about the man who was drinking the champagne, but said he was the only person there. His laughter was music to my ears – perhaps this isn't going to be so bad after all.

"I think my mother has an apology to make to my new father in law"

"I don't understand"

It turned out during last night's celebrations, Molly's Dad really took a liking for the champagne and became shall we say a tad inebriated, they caught him coming out of the door to the back stairs. Charles's mother asked him where he had been, he said he'd been to the toilet. Thinking he had been upstairs she asked him how he knew there was a toilet up there. He replied he'd seen a posh bird coming out the door earlier smoothing down her skirt, so he knew it was the toilet. He hadn't gone upstairs but had peed just inside the door all over Mr James's wellies! The upshot being Mrs James accused him of making the 'posh bird' bit up and Mr Dawes accusing her of moving the toilet after he had been in it!

I pick up the now empty coffee cup to put in the dishwasher. I smile at him and tell him how pleased I am that we have had this chat and that the little misunderstanding has been cleared up, secretly hugging myself at how I have handled this potentially explosive situation.

It's only when I turn back to him I realise that he hasn't spoken and is looking at me with what can only be described as an incredulous look on his face.

"Do you really think that I'm going to let you walk away scot free after what you did yesterday?"

"Well I've explained haven't I?"

"That doesn't make it right, so I will tell you what is going to happen now"

I have the tiniest feeling that I'm not going to like what he's going to say.

"You are going to do two things"

"Am I really?"

"Number one, you will come with me now, back to Royal Crescent, you will explain what happened and apologise to Molly with good grace and assure her that nothing like this will ever happen again. You will also apologise to my Mother and Father for being in their house without their permission, explain how it happened and likewise assure them it will never happen again."

"Charles are you mad? I'm not going anywhere, you can pass on the explanations if you want, but that would just be humiliating!"

"Nevertheless, It is what you are going to do, because I'll tell you what would be more humiliating; when Molly and I send out our 'Thank you' cards to our guests, instead of a 'happy couple' picture it will have Sam's picture on the front with the close up on the inside. Then everyone can see what happened and draw their own conclusions."

What a rat! My mind is racing – should I call his bluff, after all there wouldn't be many guests I would know or care about. The thought of grovelling to Molly Dawes and his mother fills me with horror and you can guarantee he would sit there through the whole thing with that 'Captain James' expression. No, I'm just not doing it!

"Just in case you're thinking of refusing, I fully intend to order many more cards than I need and send one to every person in our old address book, which I believe holds all the addresses of your friends and relatives, probably with a quote.. 'It's sad when some people can't move on!"

"I'll get my jacket!"

Charles never bluffs, he will do it.

I grab my house keys and follow him out of the kitchen, then I remember..

"What was the second thing you wanted me to do?"

"You can bring back that bloody wedge you took out of the bed, I fully intend to spend most of the next few days in it with my beautiful wife and that squeaking is driving me mad!

Thank you for staying with this story, it never was meant to be more than a one shot but it seems to have grown legs!