Status: Complete - Check out the sequel :)
When Duty Calls
Chapter 4
If she was honest with herself, there was a part of Andrea that was disappointed that Brian hadn’t made a move to change her mind about stopping their little affair. It had been three days since she’d told him that they had to stop things and other than the looks he’d given her across the living room on the first night, he had reverted back to acting like the Brian she’d known when she first started working for them.
An exasperated sigh fell from her lips as she realised that she just wasn’t going to get back to sleep. She would have usually been up for at least an hour had she been working so her body clock had woken her up automatically. She pushed her bed covers off her and headed for a shower.
Half an hour later she finished straightening her hair to the best of her ability. There was always one section on her right that never seemed to fall the way she wanted it to. Switching off the flat irons at the socket first, Andrea left her bedroom that had once just been another spare room in the Haner house and descended the stairs.
A smile graced her lips as she heard Ella giggle as she walked into the kitchen. Brian was sat at the table next to Connor who was busily chewing his cereal. Brian was attempting to feed Ella as Michelle sipped her coffee opposite him.
“Morning.” She said cheerfully as she grabbed a bowl from the cupboard.
“Morning, I wasn’t expecting you up so early today.” Michelle said as she took a seat next to her.
“I wasn’t either to be honest.” She replied reaching over to grab the box of ‘Lucky Charms.’ “Stupid body clock.” She added, pouring the cereal into the bowl before adding the milk.
“And I was thinking, seeing that I’m up I could walk Connor to school as normal.” She said, immediately seeing Michelle shake her head at her.
“No, Brian will do it, it’s your day off; you won’t lift a finger around this house today.” Michelle warned, taking a last sip of her coffee before she stood up and placed the mug in the sink. “Bri, if she’s hanging out around the house, make sure she doesn’t do any kind of house work.” She added sternly, pointing a finger at him as he nodded with a smile.
Andrea shrugged her shoulders in defeat as Michelle kissed each of her family in turn, her lips lingering against Brian’s as she told him she loved him.
“Love you too baby.” He replied as she walked over to pick up her bag and car keys off the counter.
“Bye guys, see you later.” She said before exiting through the back door.
“Come on then you, we better get you to school.” Brian said causing Andrea to divert her attention from her cereal to him.
“You know I really don’t mind taking him.” she said as Connor took a last mouthful of his cereal, slurping at the milk.
“Hell no, you heard Michelle, she’d kill me if I let you take him, and you know full well that he’d grass us up as soon as she came home.” He replied with a smile as Connor headed up the stairs to brush his teeth.
“Yeah, I suppose.” She replied defeated, returning her attention to her cereal.
“Bye Andie.” Conner said happily as she remained seated at the table, sipping from a mug of coffee as she flicked through Brian’s copy of Guitar World. She lifted her head to find him stood next to her, leaning up place a kiss her cheek.
“Bye sweetie, be good.” She replied with a smile.
“Like father like son hey?” Brian said, winking as he pushed Ella’s pushchair out through the door. Andrea blushed as she watched him walk away.
She managed to resist the urge to clear away the breakfast dishes after she’d finished her mug of coffee. Instead she headed back upstairs to brush her teeth and grab her iPod and her purse.
She walked through the streets of Huntington Beach until she found herself stood outside a familiar red front door, ringing the doorbell.
“Well hello there stranger.” A cheery brunette said on opening the door, stepping away quickly from the doorway to allow Andrea to step into the house.
“Hey Rhi, got time for a coffee and a catch up?” Andrea answered as the brunette closed the door behind her.
“Of course, come on, so what’s the gossip?” she replied leading the way out to the kitchen.
“Just the usual really, I’m still beyond stupid.” She muttered as she took a seat at the breakfast counter. Rhian turned from the coffee machine with a sympathetic look.
“Am I going to need to get out my triple chocolate cookies for this?” she asked. Rhian was the only person who Andrea had told about her situation with Brian. She’d been friends with her for years and knew that she could trust her with her deepest, darkest secrets. She never judged, just listened and offered her advice as best she could.
Andrea nodded solemnly, “Yeah, most definitely.”
“So what’s happened now?” Rhian asked passing Andrea a mug of coffee and placing a plate of her home made, mouth watering triple chocolate cookies on the counter between them.
Andrea sighed heavily as she reached for a cookie and broke it in half. “Well, you know how I had told him that it was over between us….” She began before taking a bite of the cookie, watching Rhian nod.
“You fucked him again haven’t you?” Rhian asked when Andrea remained silent for a long moment, taking her time over a tiny piece of cookie. Slowly she raised her head, her eyes quickly finding Rhian’s who was gazing at her.
“What happened?” Rhian asked quietly, reaching to take a cookie from the plate. Again Andrea sighed loudly before talking.
“I fucking started off so well, was talking to him casually in the kitchen after I put Ella down for her nap. One minute we were talking about his kids while I did the dishes, the next he was carrying me up the stairs and fucking me on their bed.” she explained.
“So the affair’s back on?” Rhian asked before taking a sip of her coffee.
“No, I told him, that it can’t happen again, that he’s got to stop, I don’t want to quit because of it.” She replied grabbing another cookie off the plate.
“So how’s that going?” Rhian asked.
“So far, so good. Apart from the first night when he kept eyeing me up when we were watching TV, he’s gone back to being how he was with me before any of this started.” She said.
“So what’s the problem?” Rhian asked a look of confusion over her face.
“I really don’t know!” Andrea began almost shouting. “You think I’d be happy with that wouldn’t you, but no! There’s part of me that wants him to, I’m not saying beg me to continue the affair, but it would be nice if he didn’t give up so easily.” She continued.
Rhian was quite, she couldn’t find any words of comfort for her friend, so found it best just to remain silent for a moment.
“What the fuck is wrong with me Rhi?” she asked. “I. am. Such. A. fucking. Idiot.” She said slowly, banging her head against the counter top with each word.
“The thing is Andie, if you’re completely truthful with yourself; you don’t really want to end the affair, do you?”
Andrea glared at her friend for a brief moment before realising she was right. “No, I guess I don’t.” she muttered, turning her attention to her coffee.
“If it was just Michelle you had to worry about, you’d be happy to carry on, it’s only the guilt of what could happen with the kids if she found out that is worrying you.” she speculated.
Again Andrea was silent for a moment as she ran through Rhian’s words in her head.
“God I hate it when you’re right.” she said finally with a pout, looking up to see a smug look flash up on Rhian’s face, only for it to disappear just as quickly. “What am I going to do?”
Rhian sighed, taking another cookie off the plate. “Well, you can either quit, get away from the temptation.” She began.
“No, I can’t, I can’t break Connor’s heart.” She interrupted.
“Ok, so you could just push your guilt to the side and carry on fucking him.” she said as Andrea began to shake her head.
“Or?” she asked hopefully.
“Or, you could just get on with your job, avoid being on your own with him and set me up with Jimmy.” she said with a cheeky grin. For the first time since she’d sat down, a genuine smile appeared on Andrea’s face.
“I’m not setting you up.” She said sternly.
“Oh come on Andie, you know how much I like him, I’m just what he needs after his break up with Leana.” She replied wiggling her eyebrows.
“I’ll introduce you, but that’s it! I’m not saying anything to him about you, you’ll have to do all the flirting and shit. I’m having nothing to do with it.” She replied, defeated.
“Andie, have I ever told you how much I love you?” Rhian replied smiling like a Cheshire cat. Andrea rolled her eyes with a smile.
“Yeah whatever, you got anymore of these cookies? You know how Connor loves them.”
An exasperated sigh fell from her lips as she realised that she just wasn’t going to get back to sleep. She would have usually been up for at least an hour had she been working so her body clock had woken her up automatically. She pushed her bed covers off her and headed for a shower.
Half an hour later she finished straightening her hair to the best of her ability. There was always one section on her right that never seemed to fall the way she wanted it to. Switching off the flat irons at the socket first, Andrea left her bedroom that had once just been another spare room in the Haner house and descended the stairs.
A smile graced her lips as she heard Ella giggle as she walked into the kitchen. Brian was sat at the table next to Connor who was busily chewing his cereal. Brian was attempting to feed Ella as Michelle sipped her coffee opposite him.
“Morning.” She said cheerfully as she grabbed a bowl from the cupboard.
“Morning, I wasn’t expecting you up so early today.” Michelle said as she took a seat next to her.
“I wasn’t either to be honest.” She replied reaching over to grab the box of ‘Lucky Charms.’ “Stupid body clock.” She added, pouring the cereal into the bowl before adding the milk.
“And I was thinking, seeing that I’m up I could walk Connor to school as normal.” She said, immediately seeing Michelle shake her head at her.
“No, Brian will do it, it’s your day off; you won’t lift a finger around this house today.” Michelle warned, taking a last sip of her coffee before she stood up and placed the mug in the sink. “Bri, if she’s hanging out around the house, make sure she doesn’t do any kind of house work.” She added sternly, pointing a finger at him as he nodded with a smile.
Andrea shrugged her shoulders in defeat as Michelle kissed each of her family in turn, her lips lingering against Brian’s as she told him she loved him.
“Love you too baby.” He replied as she walked over to pick up her bag and car keys off the counter.
“Bye guys, see you later.” She said before exiting through the back door.
“Come on then you, we better get you to school.” Brian said causing Andrea to divert her attention from her cereal to him.
“You know I really don’t mind taking him.” she said as Connor took a last mouthful of his cereal, slurping at the milk.
“Hell no, you heard Michelle, she’d kill me if I let you take him, and you know full well that he’d grass us up as soon as she came home.” He replied with a smile as Connor headed up the stairs to brush his teeth.
“Yeah, I suppose.” She replied defeated, returning her attention to her cereal.
“Bye Andie.” Conner said happily as she remained seated at the table, sipping from a mug of coffee as she flicked through Brian’s copy of Guitar World. She lifted her head to find him stood next to her, leaning up place a kiss her cheek.
“Bye sweetie, be good.” She replied with a smile.
“Like father like son hey?” Brian said, winking as he pushed Ella’s pushchair out through the door. Andrea blushed as she watched him walk away.
She managed to resist the urge to clear away the breakfast dishes after she’d finished her mug of coffee. Instead she headed back upstairs to brush her teeth and grab her iPod and her purse.
She walked through the streets of Huntington Beach until she found herself stood outside a familiar red front door, ringing the doorbell.
“Well hello there stranger.” A cheery brunette said on opening the door, stepping away quickly from the doorway to allow Andrea to step into the house.
“Hey Rhi, got time for a coffee and a catch up?” Andrea answered as the brunette closed the door behind her.
“Of course, come on, so what’s the gossip?” she replied leading the way out to the kitchen.
“Just the usual really, I’m still beyond stupid.” She muttered as she took a seat at the breakfast counter. Rhian turned from the coffee machine with a sympathetic look.
“Am I going to need to get out my triple chocolate cookies for this?” she asked. Rhian was the only person who Andrea had told about her situation with Brian. She’d been friends with her for years and knew that she could trust her with her deepest, darkest secrets. She never judged, just listened and offered her advice as best she could.
Andrea nodded solemnly, “Yeah, most definitely.”
“So what’s happened now?” Rhian asked passing Andrea a mug of coffee and placing a plate of her home made, mouth watering triple chocolate cookies on the counter between them.
Andrea sighed heavily as she reached for a cookie and broke it in half. “Well, you know how I had told him that it was over between us….” She began before taking a bite of the cookie, watching Rhian nod.
“You fucked him again haven’t you?” Rhian asked when Andrea remained silent for a long moment, taking her time over a tiny piece of cookie. Slowly she raised her head, her eyes quickly finding Rhian’s who was gazing at her.
“What happened?” Rhian asked quietly, reaching to take a cookie from the plate. Again Andrea sighed loudly before talking.
“I fucking started off so well, was talking to him casually in the kitchen after I put Ella down for her nap. One minute we were talking about his kids while I did the dishes, the next he was carrying me up the stairs and fucking me on their bed.” she explained.
“So the affair’s back on?” Rhian asked before taking a sip of her coffee.
“No, I told him, that it can’t happen again, that he’s got to stop, I don’t want to quit because of it.” She replied grabbing another cookie off the plate.
“So how’s that going?” Rhian asked.
“So far, so good. Apart from the first night when he kept eyeing me up when we were watching TV, he’s gone back to being how he was with me before any of this started.” She said.
“So what’s the problem?” Rhian asked a look of confusion over her face.
“I really don’t know!” Andrea began almost shouting. “You think I’d be happy with that wouldn’t you, but no! There’s part of me that wants him to, I’m not saying beg me to continue the affair, but it would be nice if he didn’t give up so easily.” She continued.
Rhian was quite, she couldn’t find any words of comfort for her friend, so found it best just to remain silent for a moment.
“What the fuck is wrong with me Rhi?” she asked. “I. am. Such. A. fucking. Idiot.” She said slowly, banging her head against the counter top with each word.
“The thing is Andie, if you’re completely truthful with yourself; you don’t really want to end the affair, do you?”
Andrea glared at her friend for a brief moment before realising she was right. “No, I guess I don’t.” she muttered, turning her attention to her coffee.
“If it was just Michelle you had to worry about, you’d be happy to carry on, it’s only the guilt of what could happen with the kids if she found out that is worrying you.” she speculated.
Again Andrea was silent for a moment as she ran through Rhian’s words in her head.
“God I hate it when you’re right.” she said finally with a pout, looking up to see a smug look flash up on Rhian’s face, only for it to disappear just as quickly. “What am I going to do?”
Rhian sighed, taking another cookie off the plate. “Well, you can either quit, get away from the temptation.” She began.
“No, I can’t, I can’t break Connor’s heart.” She interrupted.
“Ok, so you could just push your guilt to the side and carry on fucking him.” she said as Andrea began to shake her head.
“Or?” she asked hopefully.
“Or, you could just get on with your job, avoid being on your own with him and set me up with Jimmy.” she said with a cheeky grin. For the first time since she’d sat down, a genuine smile appeared on Andrea’s face.
“I’m not setting you up.” She said sternly.
“Oh come on Andie, you know how much I like him, I’m just what he needs after his break up with Leana.” She replied wiggling her eyebrows.
“I’ll introduce you, but that’s it! I’m not saying anything to him about you, you’ll have to do all the flirting and shit. I’m having nothing to do with it.” She replied, defeated.
“Andie, have I ever told you how much I love you?” Rhian replied smiling like a Cheshire cat. Andrea rolled her eyes with a smile.
“Yeah whatever, you got anymore of these cookies? You know how Connor loves them.”
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