Chapter 6

Dave stood unseen in the studio doorway a few of days later watching her working as she sang to herself in little more than a whisper. He strained hard trying to hear the familiar words drifting towards him.

And oh what a feeling
Inside of me
It might last for an hour
Wounds aren't healing
Inside of me
Though it feels good now

He couldn't help but feel put out that she was singing something Martin had sang and not one he'd done. He stood listening to her for a few moments longer before making his way over to where she was sitting.

“Here I got these for you.”

She jumped slightly and looked up from the pad she was writing on to see him standing beside with a cardboard cup and a paper bag in his hand.

“What's that?”

“Breakfast, I presume you haven't eaten yet?”

She shook her head “No I haven't, but if you keep bringing me all this food I'm going to have to go on a diet before I start getting fat.”

“You don't eat nearly enough” he placed the cup and bag down on the desk sat in the chair opposite her and smiled. “So you do know some Depeche stuff then?”

“What?”

“I said you know some of our stuff then, just now you were singing one of our songs.”

“Oh” she blushed “You heard me singing, it must have sounded awful.”

“No you've got a lovely voice.”

“I haven't, I know how I sound” she looked at him “Did you say it was one of yours?”

“One of the bands yes but its not actually me who sings it, it's one Martin sings off one of our albums.”

“Oh right.”

“So how do you know it?” he asked as he suddenly wondered to himself if maybe she'd really known who he was all this time and had just been stringing him along.

“One my Dad's girlfriends used to play in the car a lot when I was younger, it was one of her favourites, I didn't know it was a Depeche one, I always thought it was by some guy called Martin...” She paused for a few seconds thinking hard, “Martin something or other.. I can't remember his last name.”

“It's Martin Gore” Dave answered watching her face carefully to gauge her expression.

“Is it? I'm not sure if Anna ever told me his other name.” she smiled sadly for a moment “I remember she had this tape she used to play all the time in the car when she was either picking me up or dropping me off at school and such, you know all her favourite stuff and whenever it came on she'd go Calli this guy is so gorgeous you know. ” She gave another small smile “I guess she had a crush on him or something. I think there was another one by him she used to play a lot too but I can't remember what that was called either. ”

“So is that how you know it then?”

“Yes, I haven't heard it for a long time though, actually I didn't realise I was singing it.”

“I've probably got it somewhere on one of the files in here if you want to listen to it.” Dave said satisfied that she wasn't lying and now feeling guilty about doubting her word.”

“No it's ok another time maybe” She smiled at him just a little too brightly “So what are you up to today?”

“That's what I want to speak to you about.” He placed a set of keys and a piece of paper down on the desk, “ I'm going to be out and about and Christian and Andrew are going to be doing some stuff with the keyboards and whatever today so these are the keys to my apartment and the code for the alarm system, I thought you could work downstairs for the next couple of days so we don't disturb you.”

“Dave I can't do that.”

“Of course you can,”

“I can't, it's ok, I'll be fine here, if it gets too loud I can always go to the diner on the corner.”

“You can't work there, anyway the topic is not up for debate you're going to use my apartment and that's final” He looked at his watch “Calli I've got to shoot off else I'll be late for dropping Rosie at her ballet class, so let yourself in and make yourself at home, I've got a couple of other things to do so I'll be back about noon and I expect you to be downstairs and set up by then ok.”

“Do I have say in it?”

“No” he smiled “See you later, my study is the 2nd door from the end of the hall if you want to set up in there and do feel free to have a good look around the place, I know how nosey you are.”


Nervously she let herself into his apartment and unset the alarm feeling she was intruding into a part of his life she shouldn't be. It was all very well Dave letting her use part of his studio but for him to let her now come into his home well that was something completely different. She couldn't help but wonder what was in it for him and why he was helping her like this when he had no reason to really, but she had to admit they did enjoy each others company and they did seem to have a lot in common. She could see that they were going to be really good friends and now she felt a lot more relaxed in his company and was becoming to be able handle the way he teased her mercilessly at times.

She quickly passed through the lounge and found his study easily. Placing her stuff down on the empty desk in front of the window she wondered idly why Dave had chosen the other desk and not this one for his own where he could look out over the city. Pushing open the windows she looked down onto the street for a few minutes watching the people coming and going before turning away and looking around the room. She stood taking in the dark furniture and cool pale walls, his laptop was placed neatly on the other desk, and a plasma TV hung on the wall opposite with a dvd and small sound system sited on the bookcase directly underneath it.

She looked at the framed photographs of his children on the wall, and she smiled as she saw one of Rosie, Jimmy and Jack together with Dave all four of them laughing into the camera, a couple of Rosie and Jimmy wearing Judo outfits as they both shyly held out trophies they'd won alongside two photos of Dave and Jack together taken in the studio upstairs. Another couple of paintings in the style of the ones she'd admired in the studio hung on the opposite wall. She gave a small gasp as she studied one closely and saw the tiny initials DG in the corner, “God” she whispered to herself “ Dave did these” She inspected them closer wishing she could paint like this, his style the same as how she dreamed she could paint but for some reason could never get right.

Pulling herself back from her thoughts she walked back over to the desk plugged her laptop into the mains and tried to get on line. “Damn” she muttered, realising she hadn't got the codes to Dave's wireless network and was reaching for her bag when suddenly her mobile rang.”

“Calli?”

“Hi Dave.”

“I just realised I didn't give you the codes did I?”

Callan laughed “How did you know I needed them right now?”

“I don't know I'm physic I guess, have you got a pen there so you can write them down?”

“No just tell me, I'm actually on the log in screen now, I was just going to check my emails.”

“OK here you are” quickly he told her the details “So have you checked out the rest of the apartment yet?” he teased.

“Uh huh no, I don't don't feel comfortable about being here, especially without you around.”

“Calli if I didn't want you there I wouldn't have given you the keys would I?”

“I guess so, but you know what I'm like I'll wait for you to get back and you can give me an accompanied tour ok”

“There's no need just make yourself at home.”

“No it's ok, I'll wait for you.”

“Yeah well if you want to make a drink or anything you'll find everything you need in the kitchen ok”

“Ok, maybe I'll make something later.”

“Actually” he said seeing an opportunity to tease her some, and not being able to resist “Could you do me a favour just nip into the kitchen and check if there are any bags of ice left in the freezer, if not I'll pick one up on the way back.”

“Ok I'll check.”

“It's the door almost opposite my study you need”

“Ok hang on a minute.” she got up from her seat and headed towards the door “So how are Rosie and Jimmy today?”

“They're fine. Have you got to the......” he laughed to himself as he heard her shriek

“David that's not funny” came her voice to his ears “You did that deliberately”

“What?” he teased “I'm sorry did I tell you that was the kitchen?”

“You know full you did” she said standing in the doorway of his bedroom. “You did it on purpose”

“You know you wanted to see it really, so tell me what do you think of it?”

“Well it's not exactly what I was expecting.” she admitted quickly glancing at the decor.

“So what did you expect 70's porn star chic?”

“I wouldn't know I've never been in a rockstars bedroom before have I? For all I know you could have had it kitted out as a S& M dungeon.”

“No I keep that room locked up downstairs in the basement area honey, I'll show you it sometime maybe if you're very good.”

“Really well maybe I could use it in my paper then” she laughed beginning to regain her composure again.

“Well whilst you're in there have a poke around.”

“No it's ok, I'll wait until you come back” she said firmly shutting the door “I'll see you later Dave,

“Yeah see you later honey. Oh and by the way don't worry about the ice I've got plenty already.”

“Cheeky bastard” she chuckled closing snapping her phone closed.

Deciding that she may as well get herself a drink whilst she was up she carefully tried the other doors and peeked into the rooms as she searched for the kitchen, bathroom, shower room, two rooms which were obviously Rosie's and Jimmy's judging from the hangers hung over the door knobs on them, she left these rooms unopened and tried the last door, “Mmm ok obviously the guest room waiting to be redecorated, she thought to herself looking at the furniture neatly stacked against the wall and covered with dust cloths. Closing the door again she stepped back into Dave's lounge.

Feeling like she was intruding into his personal space she stood staring around her, the room was nothing like she'd expected but it was so perfect and decorated as if to her own personal taste. Cool cream walls contrasted with the dark of the leather suite that occupied most of the far corner of the room. Family photos here and there a couple more paintings which she presumed had been done by Dave himself. A couple of vases of white lilies were placed on two side tables and filled the room with their beautiful scent, she went over to the nearest vase and inhaled deeply savouring the air with a smell that reminded her of home and suddenly felt homesick as she thought about her Dad and how that every week without fail since she was little he'd come home from work on a Friday evening with a huge bouquet of lilies and would say the same thing every time “Come on Calli let's put these in a vase for your Mom.” Wiping away a tear with the back of her hand she turned looking for something to distract herself with and moved to the huge entertainment centre on the other wall.

A large plasma TV was mounted to the wall whilst on a unit underneath sat a state of the art sound system, cable and satellite boxes, dvd and video players. She flicked a switch on the sound system and immediately the whole apartment was filled with the sound of Pump It. Calli couldn't help smiling wondering if it was Dave or one of the kids who liked the Black Eyed Peas. Singing along she looked through the vast collections of dvds, cd's and vinyl on the shelves before moving over to the book case and examining the titles on the shelves noticing that they were arranged in alphabetical order like she did with her own. Pump It was replaced with Don't Phunk With My Heart as Calli got up and headed towards the door on the right hand side of the room.

She walked into the large bright kitchen the song following her through, a double burner cooking range like the one she had at home caught her eye causing another pang of homesickness to hit her. Reaching into her jeans pocket she pulled her mobile out, flipped it open and hit the home key before remembering the time difference and snapping it closed again before it could ring out. She replaced her phone in her pocket and returned to looking around the kitchen, a huge double fridge with various pieces of artwork obviously drawn by Rosie and a year planner attached to it took up one corner and Callan couldn't resist opening it and having a peek inside. Various juices, fruit and vegetables took up one side along with the usual things like butter and milk, the other side contained various meals and groceries, tucked behind a jug of squash she found a huge box containing bars of Godiva chocolate obviously belonging to Dave... “Mmm someones a bit of a chocoholic” she smiled to herself closing the door again. Walking over to the sink she automatically rinsed the few breakfast dishes that were piled in there before opening the dishwasher and placing them inside, then grabbing a cloth she quickly wiped the few crumbs left on the worktop and threw them into the waste bin.

A sudden clap of thunder made her jump as she was drying her hands and she looked at the window in surprise as the first few drops of rain splattered onto the window pane. Walking back through the lounge she went over to the french windows on the far wall unlocked them and stepped out onto the balcony. She looked around her surprised as she realised she could still hear “Don't Lie” playing and then realised that Dave had obviously extended his entertainment system to include the outside with more speakers and a weatherproof TV screen mounted on the wall. She glanced up as a bolt of lightening lit up the sky and just stood there with her eyes closed and her head tilted back as she let the raindrops hit her skin. She'd always loved the feeling of the rain feeling so cold against her skin, somehow washing away all her worries and stress and always bringing a calmness over her

She completely lost track of time as she stood outside and jumped as she heard Dave's voice behind
her.

“Sorry did you say something?” she asked turning towards him.

“I said you'll get wet.”

“I know but I was just watching the storm.”

“Most people watch from indoors.”

“I don't I love to feel the rain on my skin it makes me feel clean again somehow, does that sound mad?” she asked looking up at him.


“No quite understandable.” He stared up at the sky for a few moments “It's almost stopped now so why don't you come in before you end up catching a chill or something.”

“Yeah I suppose I should” she tilted her head back one more time closing her eyes against the rain and then turned again towards him.

“Here you'll need this” he handed her a soft towel with which she quickly dabbed at her face and then wrapped around her hair. “Oh and this” he grinned handing her a clean shirt.

“No it's ok I'll...”

“No I do really think that you need a dry shirt ” he chuckled unable to help taking in the way her wet shirt and bra had moulded themselves to the curves of her breasts leaving absolutely nothing to his imagination.

“I'll be..” oh she stopped as she followed his gaze down

Hastily she grabbed the shirt off him and held it against her now transparent one her face flushing with embarrassment.

“Nice pair of tits by the way” he grinned before turning and heading back inside “So are you coming in or what.?”

“Erm yeah, I'll just get changed” she mumbled and headed toward the bathroom. Once inside she leant back against the door for a moment regaining her composure. Peeling off her wet shirt and bra she dropped them to the floor and dried herself off with one of the towels from the rack on one of the walls. She went over to the sink, unwrapped the towel from around her head and surveyed her reflection in the mirror. Her blonde curls hung limply from her head and the hint of mascara she'd applied that morning was now on her cheeks. Grabbing a tissue from the box on the side of the black marble vanity unit she set to work rubbing at the black streaks until they disappeared, and then tried to do something with her hair. Releasing her curls from the band wrapped round them, she ran her fingers through them pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and prayed it wouldn't frizz out too much as it dried. She looked down and felt her jeans suddenly realising how wet and cold they were against her skin, her shirt had taken most of the soaking but her jeans were still clammy against her legs, debating what to do about them the door suddenly flung open and Dave appeared clutching a pair of cut off shorts in his hand.

“Dave” she screamed quickly grabbing the shirt from the side and covering her bare breasts. “You could have knocked.”

“Sorry I didn't think, I just bought you some dry bottoms” he looked at her jeans “You can't stay in those. Anyway you could have locked the door.”

“You still shouldn't have walked in”

“Like I said I didn't think, anyway it's not like I didn't get an eyeful out there on the balcony, so it's nothing I haven't seen before.”

“Dave” she felt herself blushing again “Please stop it, let me get dressed and I'll be out in a minute ok.”

“Ok” he handed the shorts “They'll be too big I know but they'll do until we put your stuff in the dryer.”

“Thanks” She took them from him and closed the door making sure she locked it this time. Pulling her mobile from her pocket she slipped out of her soaking wet jeans and knickers and quickly dried herself off. She pulled the shorts up over her hips and fastened them around her waist before putting the shirt on doing up the first few button before knotting the rest of it at her waist. Feeling better about now being dry but now dreading facing Dave she grabbed her phone and wet clothes and headed towards the kitchen.

“I'm sorry Callan, that was completely inappropriate behaviour on my part back then” he apologised as soon as she walked into the room.

“It's ok, but I did really feel uncomfortable Dave.”

“Like I said I really didn't think, I just automatically came in without giving it a thought, I guess I just got so used to doing that kind of thing when I was with Jen that it's become second nature, I hope you don't think I did it deliberately.”

“To be honest I did wonder,” she looked up at him and blushed “Sorry I shouldn't have said that..”

“Calli, look I love being around you, and the last thing I want is to make you feel uncomfortable with me, I know sometimes I get carried away like just then and especially what I said out on the balcony and in the bathroom, so if I embarrassed you then I'm sorry but I didn't mean too.”

“Ok” she blushed “I'm beginning to realise that you have a shall we say slightly warped sense of humour”

“So if I say or do anything that makes you feel like that again just kick me or something and I'll stop I promise.”

“Ok.” she glanced up and gave him a sly smile trying to lighten the tension that was still between them “Does that include bring able to give you a good slapping when you need it too.”

“Whenever you wish to honey” he answered relieved that they were returning back to normal “So am I forgiven then?”

“This time yes ok, but don't do it again”

“Good, I'd hate for us not to get to know each other better, I guess the next couple of weeks are going to be a bit of a learning curve for us both, working out what makes us tick, so I promise not to behave like a dirty old man with you again ok.”

“Ok” Callan replied smiling in relief

“Good” he grinned evilly at her “But you do have to admit you have a pretty impressive rack there girl.”

“Dave, you can't help yourself can you?” she laughed shaking her head.

“No not when I've got someone to tease mercilessly like you.”

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