Sarah was wandering down an aisle in the supermarket looking for tomato puree, so that she could make Daniel his favorite Italian meal. She stopped when she found it and picked up a couple of tubes. She turned and made her way back to find Daniel, who had the rest of the shopping in the trolley. She found him in the dairy aisle and made her way towards him. She saw that he was on the phone, so said nothing and put the tomato puree in the trolley. She saw fresh pasta and grabbed a couple of packets.
She stood and listened to Daniel’s side of the conversation. It sounded like good news, as Daniel was smiling and sounding very positive. He hung up and grabbed Sarah in his arms and kissed her fully on the lips. He put her down again and laughed at Sarah’s bewildered look on her face.
“Daniel what’s happened?” Sarah asked looking at him, as if to say what the fuck.
Daniel laughed again. “I’ll tell you when we get home. But right now, we are going to leave this and go to the liquor store. We have something to celebrate,” he said, grabbing Sarah’s hand and making his way to the door.
They got in the car and Sarah turned in her seat and looked at Daniel.
“Are you gonna tell me what the fuck is going on?” she demanded jokingly.
“I got Collar!!” Daniel shouted in excitement.
“Oh my god!! Really?! That’s great news Daniel!” Sarah squealed.
If she could have Sarah would have flung her arms round Daniel and hugged him tightly. Daniel turned on the engine and made his way back to their apartment. There was a liquor store just down the street for them, so they parked the car and made their way to the store and bought a bottle of champagne. The store owner gave Daniel and Sarah a very funny look and once they had left the store they both burst out laughing. They got back to the apartment and Daniel went and got them two glasses. While Daniel was doing this Sarah popped the bottle of champagne open.
Later…
Daniel and Sarah were cuddled up on the sofa together sipping on the champagne they had bought earlier. Sarah sighed and snuggled into Daniel’s chest. Daniel put his glass down and kissed the top of Sarah’s head. He couldn’t believe that he had got Bond. It was something he had put to the back of his mind as he had never thought that he would ever get it.
“What you thinking about?” Sarah asked removing her head from Daniel’s chest.
Daniel looked down at Sarah and kissed her nose before replying.
“I just can’t believe that Sandra has given me the part. I never gave it much thought really. I really thought she was joking when she said, ‘Over to you kiddo’. Did I tell you that the press conference is next month?”
“Really? What about filming?” Sarah asked.
“I have nearly finished my part in the film anyway, so it won’t really affect it. I still just can’t get my head round it,” Daniel said in disbelief.
Sarah wrapped her arms round his neck and kissed him fully on the lips.
“I love you,” she murmured into his neck and kissed it again.
“I love you too,” Daniel replied and wrapped his arms even tighter round Sarah.
A month later…
It was the day before the press conference and Daniel and Sarah had just landed back in London from America. They were walking through the airport heading to the exit, both looking tired and fed up. They were almost at the door when a pap came out of nowhere and took loads of snaps of them not looking their best. Daniel cursed under his breath and held onto Sarah’s hand even tighter than before. Sarah knew Daniel was nervous about tomorrow and that he was very easily irritated, as she had come to experience. The row that they'd had a few days before was something that Sarah would never forget. They had both said some really horrible thing’s to each other and things still weren’t completely back to normal with them.
Daniel unlocked his black, Range Rover Sport, HSE, and piled their bags into the boot. Sarah got into the car and plugged in Daniel’s iPod and found his Die Toten Hosen playlist and pressed play. Daniel and Sarah said nothing to one another the whole way home, the only sound was coming from the stereo. Sarah kept looking at Daniel hoping to catch his eye and induce a conversation with him, but every time she looked at him he never looked at her.
They were almost home when Daniel turned the stereo off and pulled up at the side of the road, before looking at Sarah. He looked so tired and even a little bit sad. Sarah could feel her heart break seeing him like this.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. I’m being an absolute bastard right now. I guess it’s just all the pressure from Bond. You have been an absolute angel and I have treated you like a piece of shit that I have stood in. I promise, after tomorrow is over I will be better and not nip you head off at every little thing,” he said and leaned over and kissed Sarah lightly on the lips.
“I understand Daniel. This hasn’t been easy for either of us. We just need to communicate with each other more and we will be fine. I love you so much, darling,” Sarah replied and put her hand on his thigh and squeezed it gently.
Daniel sighed with relief. He really had thought he had fucked up his relationship with Sarah. He drove the short distance to their home and handed Sarah the keys so that they could unpack the car and then possibly share a shower if he was lucky. He smiled to himself. Everything was going to be alright. He could feel it in his heart.
Later that afternoon…
Daniel was standing at the kitchen window drying the dishes from lunch. Sarah was upstairs unpacking their suitcases and dividing up the pile of washing that they would both have. He sighed and put away the last glass in the cupboard. He made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs to see if Sarah needed at hand. He could hear Sarah singing along with the music that was playing in their room. It was one of their favorite songs. It was their song. Daniel crept up quietly to the door and leaned against the door frame and watched Sarah unpacking their two suitcases and the two separate piles of washing.
Sarah sang along to “Secret Smile” which she had on repeat. She looked up feeling that someone was watching her. She smiled when she saw Daniel. He looked so tired and he had such a long day ahead of him tomorrow. She went over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He did the same and kissed her on the neck. Sarah sighed at his touch and buried her face into his shoulder. They stood like this for some time, enjoying the moment, something which they hadn’t shared for a few days.
Daniel’s phone rang. He broke away from Sarah to answer it. Sarah went back to sorting out the piles of washing. She listened to the conversation, well Daniel’s side of it anyway. He seemed pissed off with the person on the other end. She knew instantly that it would be about the press conference the next day and she held her breath, as she knew that he would probably take it out on her. Daniel hung up and flopped down on the bed. Sarah went and lay down beside him and snuggled into his bicep.
“What’s happened?” she whispered into his ear, kissing it lightly.
Daniel rolled onto his side and faced Sarah. Taking a bit of her hair and twirling it with his thumb and forefinger. He sighed deeply.
“Sandra wants you and me to stay in a hotel tonight and tomorrow night because of press intrusion. She is sending a car over for us in an hour. So we have to pack again for a couple of nights. I can’t believe she has waited until the day before to tell me about this. She knew we were flying back from the States today. We could have gone straight to the hotel from the airport,” Daniel ranted.
Sarah kissed him before saying, “Never mind baby. One bag will do for us both, for all we need to take with us. I’ll get on with it now,” Sarah said and rolled of the bed and grabbed the large overnight bag that she had just unpacked.
Daniel sat up on the bed and looked at Sarah. He got off the bed and took the bag from her.
“No baby, you have already done enough by just being here with me during this and supporting me, even though I’m being a right arsehole. I’ll pack the bag. You choose what you want to take with you and I will put it in the bag” Daniel said kissing Sarah on the lips.
Sarah didn’t argue and let Daniel pack the bag. She threw a few things at him from the wardrobe and then went to the bathroom. There was something she had to do. She grabbed her mobile from the dresser and left the room. She searched for Sandra’s number and when she found it pressed call. She answered after the second ring.
“Sarah, hi. How are you?”
“Hi Sandra. I’m great, but it’s not me I’m phoning about. It’s Daniel. He is really feeling the pressure for tomorrow. I would appreciate it if you treated him with a bit more consideration. You knew we came back from the States today. Why didn’t you let us know before about staying in a hotel? It doesn’t make any sense. Don’t think that just because you treated Pierce like shit that you will be able to do the same to Daniel.