A Festive Affair Ch. 17-20

She smiled sleepily at him. "Good morning -- handsome."

He leaned over her and kissed her mouth, allowing his hand to slide down her body and over her soft curves.

"How are you feeling this morning?" he asked, as he continued to caress her.

She squirmed a little under his roving hands. "I feel fine... I feel wonderful," she sighed happily.

"That is very good to hear," Dean grinned as he moved closer and his hands became more -- intimate.

He was very gentle with her, tender and caring and considerate, and at times his almost hesitance moved her to tears.

He treated her like something fragile and infinitely precious, and she felt loved and cherished like never before.

*

"Do you want to come inside?" she asked as he saw her to her front door, on the Sunday evening.

"I will see you inside and safe and settled, but it's getting late and so I won't stay."

He stood just by the front door whilst she walked through the downstairs drawing curtains and switching on lights.

"Ok I am inside and settled -- and safe," she smiled up at him.

He gently stroked her face as he looked into her eyes. "You still look tired," he grumbled as he bent slightly to kiss her.

"I feel tired," she shrugged with a smile. "But in a good way, I promise."

He looked doubtful for a moment but then sighed. "Okay then I will leave you in peace to have an early night... will you be going into work tomorrow?" he asked as an afterthought.

She blinked up at him. "Yes, of course."

"I'll see you in the morning then," he grinned.

She stood listening as his car drove away, and then shook her head with a sigh as she went around switching off lights again and then headed for the stairs.

Dean was beginning to make a habit of treating her like a fragile doll, and that was not what she wanted. She was fine and healthy again and she needed to make him see that.

**

She went into work on the Monday morning and five minutes after sitting down at her desk, Cynthia strode in.

"How are you feeling?" She asked sympathetically.

Shelly smiled up at the older woman, and Cynthia was pleased to note that her usual sparkle was back in place.

"I feel fine, Cynthia -- honest... and I just wanted to say thank you so much for your care and understanding the other day, and for sorting things out here for me on Friday. But now I am fighting fit and reading to get on with things again."

"Good, I am glad to hear that." Cynthia nodded as she put her work mind back on. "I'll give you half an hour to get yourself a hot drink, and check out your schedule for the week, and then can you pop into my room, and we can make a start on the Belford accounts."

Shelly winced and Cynthia laughed. "Yes, I know that it's a bitch of job to throw at you as soon as you come back... but I think it would be good if we could get it out of the way sooner rather than later."

Shelly nodded with a smile. "I think between the two of us we can straighten out the chaos."

"Yes," Cynthia gave a short laugh. "It's all very well keeping things in the family with business -- but when you have your wife doing the books -- it would be advisable to ensure that she is actually 'doing the books' rather than drumming it up as the mood takes her."

It was pleasant working with Cynthia again, the two of them had struck up a working relationship that meant they could cut through most jobs and even chat as they brought order to it.

They broke for lunch and Shelly stood up to go to her own office so that Cynthia could make a couple of private phone calls.

"I'll buzz you, when I'm ready to get started again, but it won't be before one o'clock I promise, so go out for a bit of fresh air or lunch, if you feel the need to."

Shelly glanced at her watch, it was only quarter past twelve, so she would have time to stroll across the bridge and grab a meal at the café on the other side.

She slipped into her coat, wrapped a scarf loosely round her neck and picked up her bag.

Valerie was just about to answer a call, but she looked up at Shelly as she walked across the foyer.

"I'm just going to the café over the bridge for some lunch," she told her quickly. "I'll be back before one."

"Right, you are ducks." Valerie grinned as she picked up the phone.

It was a bright day but chilly and she wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck as she hurried across the bridge.

The café was quiet for the moment, and the waitress was happy to stand and chat for five minutes -- once she had taken Shelly's order and delivered her refreshing drink.

"We'll be pulling out the Christmas decorations this weekend and decking out this place." she said cheerfully.

"Yes, it's not so far away now is it? Do you have plans or are you committed to working?"

"Oh, I will be working all the way up to Christmas eve -- Mike the boss will hope to cash in on the last-minute Christmas shoppers. But once we close, we don't open again until the New Year so I can go and spend Christmas and New Year with my friends and family, and chill out in between... what about you?"

She was practically buzzing with excitement as she mentally planned her festivities, and Shelly found her enthusiasm infectious.

"Oh, I will be at work until the twenty third but then we close until Monday after New Year -- so like you I get a good stretch... to spend with family and friends too."

She beamed at the waitress and the two of them shared a joint moment of smug satisfaction that their world was as it should be right now.

*

Shelly took off her coat and sat down at her desk to quickly skim through her week's schedule.

She shuffled the schedule, to free up Friday and the following Monday, and then opened the holiday programme to book in two days holiday over the next weekend.

She knew that all the partners would receive an email about her holiday request and hoped that none of them would object.

Talking to the waitress had put Christmas in her mind and she felt it time to make a start with gifts.

Shelly smiled to herself as she remembered her date with Kelly and Brian for Wednesday night. They were to plan out the Christmas card delivery and next week they would meet again to exchange their portions.

She would set aside the Saturday after that to deliver her quota, she decided with another smile.

Her phone buzzed bringing her musings to an end, as she picked up the receiver.

"Cynthia, yes I will be right in."

They spent the afternoon getting to grip with the job on hand and it was with a joint feeling of satisfaction and relief that they both sat back and sighed as Cynthia hit the save button and closed the accounts programme.

"I noticed that you booked in for a long weekend this coming one," Cynthia murmured as she skimmed her emails.

"Yes, I hope that it's not too short notice and no one objects," Shelly said apologetically.

She opened Shelly's work schedule and then smiled across at her. "You have set yourself a bit of a task, but I can't see a problem with you taking your holiday days, and it looks like all the senior partners have signed off on your request, so it looks like you are okay."

"Excellent," Shelly murmured with a warm twinkling smile that just lit up her face.

"Any plans?"

"Oh, I just thought I would make a start with gift buying... that sort of thing."

"Yes," Cynthia sighed. "I could do with getting started myself... I always seem to get caught short -- one moment it's November and there is plenty of time and the next -- Christmas is next week, and I am on a full on panic."

Shelly laughed. "I know so many other people who have that very same problem -- and usually I am top of the list!"

**

Shelly left work a little later and walked towards a waiting Dean.

"You look happy," he smiled down at her. "I hope this means you had a good day?"

"Yes, I did have a good day I suppose," she reached up to kiss him on the lips and then returned his smile. "What about you? Did you have a good day too?"

"Yes, I did as a matter of fact... but I am glad that it is over."

"Oh? Why?"

His smile widened to a full-on grin. "Because now I get to be with you!"

She draped her arm through his and they walked around the corner to where his car was parked.

"I've booked for a long weekend this weekend." she told him happily as he set his car in motion.

"Oh? And do you have something planned?" he asked with a quick smile across at her.

"Yes, I plan to do some Christmas shopping on Friday and make a start on the Christmas cards as well."

"It sounds like you plan to be busy?"

"Only in the day though, my evenings will be free and available." she said quickly.

Dean chuckled. "Perhaps I can do something to fill those up for you too," he murmured huskily.

"Oh yes please?" Shelly laughed.

Her head was full suddenly of steamy encounters in Dean's bedroom -- complete with cuffs and all.

"Perhaps we can continue where we left off -- before my unfortunate headache the other day?" she asked delicately -- hopefully.

Dean frowned slightly as he kept his attention firmly on the road.

"A lot has happened since then," he said carefully. "We will discuss it when we get home -- I think."

Shelly touched her tongue to her lip. For a moment she was tempted to argue with him -- just to cause his ire -- in the hopes of re-finding the fun of their relationship.

But she sensed that Dean would not see it like that. Something had changed in their relationship. Since her migraine, Dean seemed to want to coddle and cherish her, and although she enjoyed that as much as everything else. It was not all that she wanted from him. He had shown her he could be all her fantasies and she wanted more of that.

"Yes... I definitely agree that we need a chat." she murmured softly.

He pulled up outside her mum's house and helped her out of the car, and as usual Shelly gave a little shiver of delight at this simple little courtesy.

"I shan't be long," she promised as she moved around closing curtains and switching on a light. "I just want to change out of work clothes."

"Take all the time you need, and wear something pretty if you please, I planned to take you out to dinner tonight -- and maybe a movie?"

She paused to look at him. "I thought that we were going to... talk?"

Dean shrugged with a guarded smile. "We can talk here -- if you wish?"

Shelly walked through to the living as her mind worked overtime to try and say what she wanted to say -- without humiliating herself or offending him.

She sat down and sighed.

"Our relationship has gone from strength to strength..." she began. "At least I think it has and I hope that you do too?"

He sat down beside her with a nod.

"I have never felt like this for anyone but you." he agreed. "And I want to keep going and see where it leads us."

"Me too."

"Great, let's go and get something to eat then." he said moving to stand up.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. "I'm not done yet." she half snapped through gritted teeth.

"Oh! Okay then."

"We were going to talk about how our relationship was before my migraine, and how we get back to that."

"Is that what you want to go back to, a casual wham bam thank you mam, and let's keep everything light and fluffy and soulless? Is that the only relationship that you want with me Shelly?"

"No! No not at all -- I have loved every angle of every minute that we have spent together since we first met... there is nothing that I would not change -- nothing at all, Dean."

"Then what? What do you want from me Shelly? What am I not giving you now?"

Shelly sighed as the colour came to her cheeks.

"Ever since I was a teenager, I used to have this fantasy, I thought that it was so twisted that I never dared to tell anyone -- none of my partners ever knew... but when you set up your bedroom, the way that you did... well it was right out of my fantasy and you made it seem normal, and healthy and fun."

"Yes, we did have a lot of fun -- didn't we." he almost smirked.

"Yes, and I would like to continue having fun. I like our relationship with all its angles and twists."

"So, you would like more of what happened in my bedroom?"

"...Yes, please."