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"Plans with Yas I take it?" Nick asked as he held Olivia tight. "Yeah. She is coming over for lunch. Hey, weren't you supposed to be at the studio an hour ago?"
"Um, yeah. I figure John or Charley will be calling any minute to see where the bleedin' hell I am."
Just as Nick finished his sentence the phone rang. " 'Ello?" Nick asked.
"Where the hell are you Rhodes?!" Simon bellowed. "Um..at home." Nick said with a smirk on his face. "I know that, you smart ass. But, you were supposed to be here over an hour ago. Do I have to remind you how far behind we are?" " No Charley. I am on my way. Be there in a few." " Damn right you will." Simon mumbled as he hung up the phone. " You had better get out of here before Simon comes and drags you to the studio." Olivia said with a laugh.
" I think so too." Nick said as he got out of the bed and started getting dressed.
****************************************
Nick was on his way out the door as Yasmin was pulling up in front of his house.
"Hello Nick. Late again I see." she said with a laugh. " Yeah well..." Nick said with a smile as he got into the car. Olivia was waiting at the front door for Yasmin. " Hello luv." Yas said as she embraced Olivia in a warm hug.
"Hi Yasmin." Olivia replied, as she returned Yasmin's hug. Olivia and Yasmin entered the house and retreated to the kitchen. They
ate lunch and began to chat.
"Olivia, I can't help but notice the smile you've had on your face since I got here. Something going on, luv?"
"Have I been smiling the whole time?"
"Liv, you're practically glowing. Whatever's going on, it shows. Come to think of it, Nick was awfully chipper too. What are you two up to?"
"Oh, we're not up to anything."
"Something's definitely going on."
"Well......" Olivia began to say.
Yas moved closer to Olivia. "Yes?"
"Nick told me he loved me last night."
"Oh my God, Olivia!" Yas squealed as she hugged Olivia. "I knew it!"
"Knew what? What did Nick tell you?"
"Nick didn't say anything to me, Olivia. But I could tell. I've known him a long time and I've never seen him so happy."
"Truth be known, I'm happy too, Yasmin. Really happy."
"Nick loves you, Liv."
"I love him, too."
"I'm so happy for the two of you." Yasmin said as she hugged Olivia
tight.
****************
Nick arrived at the studio. He entered and found Simon in the mixing room working, and John playing around with guitar chords. John
looked up and saw Nick.
"There you are, mate." John said.
Nick rubbed his head. "God, if you're gonna bitch at me, do it now."
"What are you talking about?"
"Simon already called me and reamed me."
"Yeah, he's a bit on edge."
"Well, I'm here now. He knew before Olivia got here I'd come in sporatically.
"Don't worry about it, mate."
"Ah, it's fine. Yas is visiting Olivia. With me here, they can spend some time together."
"I can imagine what they're talking about."
"Probably me." Nick laughed.
"Glad you could join us, Nick." Simon said as he looked at his watch.
"I overslept." Nick said.
"Yeah, well, we have work to finish. How the hell are we gonna get it done if you're not around?"
"Simon, you know as well as I do that I'm not needed very bloody day."
"Ok. Let's calm down." John said. "Nick probably overslept cos Kate and I were over there pretty late. Let's just forget about it and move on, shall
we?"
Simon turned and walked to the mic. Nick and John readied their instruments.
"Thanks, John." Nick whispered.
"Not a problem, mate." John replied.
Olivia and Yasmin were relaxing while chatting and laughing. "I have an idea." Yas said.
"What?"
"Let's drive down to the studio and surprise the boys."
"Hmm...I don't know Yasmin. Simon was really pissed when he called
here looking for Nick this morning."
"Don't worry about Simon. I'll handle him. I'm sure Nick would the love surprise."
"Well, I'd love to see him."
"It's settled. Let's go." Yas said as she grabbed Olivia's hand.
They ran to the car and drove to the studio, laughing hysterically the whole way. They composed themselves before entering the studio.
They walked back to where Nick, John and Simon were. Nick was the first to sense their presence. A smile came to his lips when he saw Olivia.
John and Simon saw Nick's attention was elsewhere, and found Olivia and Yasmin were there.
Nick opened his arms to Olivia. She walked across the room and entered his embrace.
"Surprise!" she whispered.
"I'm glad to see you, luv. I missed you." Nick replied.
"How much longer do you think you guys will be here? " asked Yasmin.
"Not too much longer, maybe 2 hours." John replied.
"We've still got a lot to cover, Yas." Simon sighed as he rubbed his eyes.
"So what have you ladies been up to?" asked Nick.
"Just relaxing." Olivia replied.
"Maybe you and Yas could call Kate, since we're going to be here awhile longer." Nick suggested.
"Good idea, Nick." Yasmin replied.
"Yeah, she'd like that." John said.
"Ok. We'll go back to the house and call Kate. Then when you're finished
up here, John and Simon can come over and we'll all have dinner." Olivia said.
"Sounds great, luv." Nick said, before he kissed her.
"Ready Yasmin?" Olivia asked.
"Ready." Yasmin replied as she hugged Simon.
Yasmin headed to the car. Nick excused himself so he could escort Olivia out. They stood outside the studio. He hugged her tight.
"I'm glad you came by." he said.
"Me too."
"I'll be home soon, luv."
"Mmmm...I look forward to it."
He put his hand under her chin and stared into her eyes.
"I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too, Nick."
"Go have fun with Yas. I'll be there soon."
"See you soon." she said.
He walked her to the car.
"You two have fun." he said.
"Bye Nick!" they called as they drove away.
Nick entered the studio to get finished up.
******************
Olivia and Yas reached Nick's house and ran in to call Kate.
"Hello?" Kate said.
"Kate. It's Olivia."
"Hello, Olivia."
"Listen, Yasmin's over here and we told the boys to come over after the studio and we wanted you to join us."
"That sounds great. When should I be there?" "Come over now." Olivia said.
"Alright. I'll be there in a few minutes then."
"See you soon."
"Bye, Olivia."
Olivia hung up the phone.
"And?" Yas asked.
"She'll be here soon." Olivia replied.
"Good." Yas said.
"Now, I need to throw something together for dinner." Olivia said.
"Let's wait till Kate gets here, then we can all work on it together." Yas suggested.
"Good idea."
Olivia and Yasmin were chatting and caught in a fit of laughter when they heard the doorbell ring.
"Kate!" They squealed as they went to answer the door.
CHAPTER 18
The three women were so busy in the kitchen cooking, and dancing and singing to the music they had playing, that they did not notice they had an audience.
Nick, John, and Simon stood in the kitchen doorway and watched the floor show. After a solid few minutes they couldn't take it any more and started to whistle and applaud.
The trio of women all jumped and screamed. " We didn't hear you." Olivia said as she turned bright red. " Obviously not." Nick said with a laugh. " It was a great show." John said with a smile as he grabbed Kate for a kiss.
" I agree with John. It's not everyday that we walk into Nicks' kitchen to find three beautiful women singing and dancing." Simon said, as he walked across the kitchen to greet his wife.
"I rather enjoyed it." Nick said as he hugged Olivia.
"Hey, do we get another show after dinner?" Simon asked.
"Oh God." Yasmin sighed.
"Is this what you ladies do when we're not around?" John asked.
"We were just having fun and got lost in the music." Kate explained.
"Don't you just wish you knew what we do when you guys aren't around?" Olivia teased.
"Oh yeah!" Simon yelled.
"Simon, really...." Yas groaned.
"Ok guys........out of the kitchen. We have dinner to finish making." Olivia said.
The men went into the living room, still discussing the women's singing and dancing when they arrived.
Olivia, Kate and Yasmin burst into a fit of laughter.
"Oh my God! I can't believe they stood there and watched us!" Olivia laughed.
"Did you see the looks on their faces?" asked Kate.
"They looked like horny little teenagers!" Yasmin howled.
"It was priceless!" Olivia squealed.
They finished getting dinner ready and called the boys into the dining room. The three couples laughed and chatted all through the meal. Olivia, Kate and Yas cleared everything and joined the guys in the living room for drinks.
"A toast to our lovely ladies for a wonderful dinner." Nick said.
"Thank you for a geat evening." John said.
"Thank you for the spectacular floor show." Simon laughed.
The hour grew late. Simon and Yas, John and Kate began to say their goodbye's.
"Thank you, Liv. It was wonderful." John said as he leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Yes, thank you, Olivia." Simon replied.
"I'll call you tomorrow, luv." Yas said as she hugged Olivia.
"We must get together again." Kate said as she and Olivia hugged.
Nick and Olivia watched their guests leave. He closed the door and took Olivia's hand, leading her to the sofa. Nick's eyes were held to Olivia. She met his gaze.
"Nick, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, luv."
"What were you thinking about?"
"Just how amazing you are."
"Nick...." she replied, as a blush covered her face.
"You are, Olivia. You've only been here a few days and you've become great friends with Yas and Kate."
"I like them a lot Nick. They're great." Olivia replied as she sipped her wine.
Nick slid his arm around Olivia's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She looked up at his handsome face and was met with a kiss. She cuddled closer to him and laid her head on his chest, listening to his rythmic heartbeat.
"Olivia? Sweetheart?"
"Mmmmm...." Olivia mumbled, half asleep.
"Are you comfortable, luv?"
"Mmmm...."
"Olivia?"
"Nick, I love you." she sighed from her sleep.
Nick smiled and tightened his embrace.
"I love you too, sweetheart. I love you too."
Nick held Olivia in his arms and was about to wake her so they could go to bed when the phone rang.
" Who is calling at this hour?" Nick mumbled as he walked to answer the phone.
" 'Ello?" he asked.
" Hello son." his mothers voice said.
"Mum...are you alright."
"Yes luv. I am fine. Couldn't sleep and I was thinking about my baby boy.So, I decided to give you a call." Sylvia said. " Mum..." Nick said.
"So, how are you son?"
"Fine. I was just getting ready for bed." Nick said with a yawn. Olivia awoke and saw Nick on the phone she walked over to him and put her arms around his waist.
"I'm going to bed."she said as she kissed his cheek. " Who was that?" Sylvia asked with a smile in her voice. "Well mum. I was going to call you and tell you but since we are on the phone now." Nick said, as he started into the story of Olivia.
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