" Here it's alright, come in, come in, no come on, come in" Ben Markham ushered Bron Craig in through his front door and closed it firmly behind them. The wooden door cut off all the outside world from what was about to unfold. When she had turned her back Ben let a slight smile cross his face. He hoped it hadn't been there when he had opened the door because he certainly felt his heart skip a beat when he saw her beautiful face staring back at him. She had certainly taken him by surprise, although her had probably surprised her too, appearing at his door with only a towel around his waist. At any other time she would have burst out laughing. But not today.
" Take a seat", Ben said leading her into the lounge room "I'll just go and get dressed I won't be a sec"
Bron took a seat on the couch and let her eyes wonder around the room. Although this was Ben's house it still seemed like Steph lived here. The whole house was decorated in a female sort of way I guess Ben just hadn't bothered to change it. It was like a shrine to Steph, his dead wife, his one true love, but if that were true why would he of confessed his love for me. God why was she even thinking about this it's the least of my problems. I'm in debt of $13000, $13 fucking 000 and if I don't pay up Kev's probably gonna slit my throat. How the fuck did I manage to screw up so badly and get myself into such fucking deep shit. Her previous efforts to hold back her tears had worked, but now they flowed freely down her face. She tried to conceal them with her hands before Ben returned.
"Sorry about that" Ben called out as he hurried quickly out of the bedroom and down the hall to where he had left Bron. He took a seat next to her on the couch. It was obvious she was trying to hide her tears. "Hey" Ben shuffled closer and took Bron's hands away from her face and put them in his own. "It's gonna be alright, I'm gonna help you through this okay". "Thank-you" was all Bron could manage to say before her crying took over and this time she was powerless to stop it. Ben pulled her towards him and and held her tight against him, she buried her head in his against his chest and cried. It seemed like hours before either of them moved or spoke. They just sat there in each other's arms as Bron's crying slowly petered out. Finally Bron pulled away " Do you want to tell me what happened?" Ben asked gently. "Ok" she said and fell back against the couch " I've gotten myself into really bad debt with kev". "My limit was $10000 and I've just hit $13000" Ben could hear the shakiness in her voice. " He told me I had to pay up." "I told him I didn't have the money so he told me to steal some pethadine of the wards for him." "He threatened me he said, "Either you hand over the money or you hand over the drugs". "I almost did it Ben, I took them, I had them in my pocket" "god I got Connor into so much trouble, he thought they had made a mistake not given me enough." "But I couldn't do it Ben, I couldn't go through with it" "I told Kev that he was evil and that he only suckered people in so that he could corner them and then hit them with this crap." " He told me I had 48 hours to get the money to him or I'd find out how evil he can be" She started to cry again. She had never remembered crying so much in her life. "So you put the Pethadine back?" Ben asked. Bron shook her head and Ben noticed the cuts on her hand as she went to wipe her tears away "I crushed them" "oh Bron" Ben went to take her hand but she pulled it away. "It might get infected let me look at it for you" Reluctantly she held out her hand. The cuts were not deep but there were still splinters of glass stuck in her palm. Ben gently pulled them out. " Oww" Bron flinched as he pulled the final one out. "Sorry" Ben said apologetically. "Hang on a sec" He came back with some antiseptic. "Ben it'll be alright it doesn't even hurt. It's the least of my worries at the moment" "Maybe so but you should know better you are a nurse after all" "um" Bron mumbled back. "There done" Ben smiled at her, she didn't return the smile. "Well at least you've solved one of my problems" " Wait there" Ben said suddenly and went into his bedroom. He was gone for a few minutes and Bron's thoughts started racing again. I don't know why I came here. What do I think his going to do? How can he help me? He's not made of money where is he supposed to get $13000 or even $10000, $5000. God how can I do this to him. He's done nothing but help me and support me through all this and now I'm asking him to give me money and he will, I know he will. He said he'd always help me and now he'll feel as though I'm forcing him to do this for me. I just don't know what else to do. I don't deserve someone like him. He put his heart out on the line and I crushed it and threw it back in his face and now I've come crawling back begging him for help. God if I was in his position I know what I would do. But Ben's not like that he's so kind and caring and….
"Bron" Ben returned from the bedroom and stood in front of her. "Ok I know this isn't much but I think it's going to help you at least a bit" He pulled out $5000 from his pocket and handed it to Bron. She slowly took it from Ben's hand's "Ben I don't know what to say, I hate doing this to you, I know you don't deserve it" "Don't be silly" Ben said lightly " but I've also got this." He took a diamond ring out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I don't know what it's worth but it's bound to sell for a few thousand" "Ben I can't take this it's Steph's" Bron handed it back to Ben but he refused to take it. "It was Steph's and I'm sure she'd be much happier knowing it's helped you rather than just sitting in a drawer. "But Ben it's not just any ring, you gave it to her. Look its even got engraving inside the band." She turned the ring over and read the inscription out loud. " To my darling Steph, you'll always have my love from now until forever, all my love Ben" "I'm only giving it to you because I trust." "I trust you to sell it and give whatever you make from it to Kev." "And if you need anymore money just ask." "This is all I have at the moment but I can get the rest because I trust you to get help, to talk to someone, attend gamblers anonymous, whatever." "I know you can do it Bron." "And every time you want to make a bet or stick some money in a poker machine, remember what I did for you and that I did it because I trust you and I love you"
" Thank-you, thank-you so much, you're the best friend a girl could ever have." " I know how it must hurt you to give something away that means so much to you and thank-you for the money." "I know I don't deserve it, I don't deserve anything you do for me." "I brought all this shit on myself and I should be the one to fix it, but I do need that money and your help." "I promise you I'll pay it back, I know I can never replace the ring but al least you'll get the money back." "No" Ben interrupted "I don't want you to pay it back" "You already owe Luke money and you have too much to overcome without another debt to worry about." "But…" Bron's sentence was cut abruptly short. " No but's." "I won't except the money even if you get it so don't worry yourself trying." " Why are you doing this for me Ben?" "I've done nothing but….but hurt you." Bron stood up and was now opposite him. The gap between them was slight. "Because you help me out when I needed it most, when I was having problems with Steph you were the one who told me not to give up." "Then when she was killed you were there, you helped me through it." "You even jeopardized your own relationship with Luke for me." "I don't know how I would have coped if it wasn't for you and now it's my turn to repay the favor, to help you when you need it most." Ben took a step closer to Bron tightening the gap between them. "But most importantly what I said before because I trust you and I love you." As he was saying those last three words Ben lifted his eyes so they locked in with Bron's. Bron was unsure of what to do or say, her mind had just gone blank. She hadn't even realized she was crying until Ben spoke "Hey it's ok, come here." He took another step closer, took her in his arms and held her in his embrace for a few seconds. Bron lifted her head to speak but her lips were meet by Ben's and they feel into a gentle kiss. The kiss lasted for a few seconds before Ben pulled away. " I'm sorry." He stammered. " Don't be" Bron said and pulled him towards her again and into another longer and more passionate kiss. "Hey", Ben stated after a few more kisses "Now you've solved one of my problems" "Really" Bron replied "Anymore problems that need solving?" " Yeah, but we can't solve them here" Ben said in a sexy kind of voice. "Arrh well where can we solve them then" Bron answered in the same sexy voice. All of her money and gambling worries were temporarily forgotten and she felt like the biggest of her problems had been solved. She felt so safe when she was in his arms and that was where she wanted to be right now, close to him. "In here" Ben said leading her down the hall and into the bedroom. Once again her ushered her inside and closed the door tightly behind them.