From the previous chapter;
 
     Igor downed his ice-cold lager with a satisfied gulp while he thought back to earlier in the evening. After he took the box containing Nazdia and her babies out to the car park, he’d hidden it behind the wheels of the huge refuse bin, after taking the lid off to check she was okay. This being his last night in the dry store before the dreaded cat arrived, he didn’t have a clue as to what he would do tomorrow, but at least Nazdia and her babies were safe for now…
    

Igor lay back on the bed, his fingers intertwined behind his head. It had certainly been an interesting evening, albeit confusing at times. The success of the Polish night in the restaurant was slightly overshadowed by what happened beforehand, but Karen and Laura’s decision that it should now be a regular event had pleased him immensely. A far cry from his last few years as an assistant chef in Poland, Igor had achieved recognition at last. All his mother’s favourite recipes had been concocted meticulously, and declared a triumph by everyone who tasted them.

     As he looked around the room Laura had created for him on the second floor, Igor still couldn’t believe his luck. After two months of secretly sleeping on the mattress in the dry store, he at last had a place he could call home. Even the little kitchen area Laura set up beside the door of his ensuite was perfect for his requirements. She’d been thoughtful enough to put a couple of bottled beers in the fridge, along with bread, butter and milk. Coffee, tea and sugar was contained in three matching jars beside the kettle, and salt, pepper, and his favourite Lea & Perrins sauce sat by the microwave, along with two of everything he might need in the crockery and cutlery department. No, he couldn’t have hoped for more, and as soon as he could retrieve Nazdia from her box hidden behind the bin in the carpark, he knew she would be happy here too.

     A chuckle escaped his lips when he thought back to half an hour ago. When Laura asked him to take the mattress from the dry store up to the store room before he went home, he thought it was strange that she and Karen had exchanged knowing looks at the time. Believing it would be his last night in his secret sleeping place, his face had dropped when she asked him to remove the only thing that would cushion him from the cold, concrete floor. Resigned to the fact he would either have to get a room in a B&B, or suffer the indignities of his step-cousin by returning to his uncle’s house the following day, he’d almost looked forward to his last night in his makeshift home.

     ‘I take tomorrow,’ he’d suggested in the hope that he wouldn’t have to endure an uncomfortable night’s sleep.

     Laura, who was usually fairly laid back, crossed her arms defiantly. ‘No, do it now, Igor. George’s cat is arriving in the morning, so I want it out of the way tonight. It’ll only take five minutes for you to take it up to the storeroom, especially now you have all those newly acquired muscles. In fact, I’ll come up with you on my way to my flat in case you need a hand.’

     Believing he had no option, Igor had reluctantly gone into the dry store to retrieve the mattress, his shoulders slumped.

     ‘Come on, chop, chop!’ Laura commanded as she held the swing door to the dining room open to facilitate him getting through it once he had the mattress gripped tightly in his hands.

     Igor made his way up the stairs as quickly as he could, Laura at his heels. When she opened the door of the storeroom with the master key, she looked taken aback. Her automatic reach to turn on the light wasn’t necessary, because both the bedside lamps were already turned on.

     ‘Surprise!’ she announced after a moment of unexpected silence. When Igor noticed the welcome home sign facing him after he manoeuvred the mattress through the door, he looked momentarily confused.

     ‘What do you think?’ Laura asked, her eyes scanning his face for a response.

     ‘I… I no understand…’ he gasped. ‘You give me home here?’

     Laura let out a sigh of relief when a smile broke out on Igor’s face. For one awful moment she thought he didn’t like it. ‘Yes, this is for you… if you want it, that is.’

     After Igor positioned the mattress up against the wall by the door, he turned to Laura, his hands in window wiper mode indicating his excitement. Resisting the temptation to start jumping up and down on the spot, he threw caution to the wind and embraced her with a hug that lifted Laura off the floor.

     ‘I love et!’ he cried, before letting her go and running to the ensuite to check it out. Unbeknown to Laura, this would be the first time in Igor’s life he had a bathroom all to himself. His family home in Poland had an outside toilet, something considered quite normal there, and his uncle’s house had one bathroom between six people, the most frequent and lengthy occupant being Mazeija, his obese step-cousin. When he saw the new, boxed toothbrush and tube of toothpaste Laura had thoughtfully left by the hand basin, he let out another whoop of happiness.

     ‘I stay here tonight?’ he asked as he looked longingly at the double bed decked out with the freshly laundered, striped bedlinen.

     ‘Well yes… if you want to. That’s why I put some toiletries in the bathroom, and one of Paul’s tee shirts in the chest of drawers. I knew it would be a late night for you, and you have to be back for seven in the morning. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for you to spend your first night here. It won’t worry your uncle if you don’t go back tonight, will it?’

     Igor nearly snorted before he replied. Not having seen his family for over two months because they thought he was already living at the Bedford, nobody was waiting for him. ‘It no a problem,’ he assured her. ‘And I have change of clothes for when I go to the gym in my bag downstairs. ‘I go get et now.’

     Satisfied that she could do no more, and that Igor loved the idea of moving in, Laura handed him the key before following him to the stairwell so she could go up to her flat. He saw the retrieval of his bag as a heaven sent opportunity to slip out the back door and retrieve the tin box containing Nazdia and her babies, but the key wasn’t there because Karen had locked up in his absence. Rescuing her wasn’t an option until the morning, so he returned to his new home on the second floor, bag in hand.

     His beer drunk, Igor decided to call it a night. The softness and warmth of not only the cosy duvet but the fluffy pillows at his back, had the desired soporific effect. He reached out and turned out the bedside lamp on the opposite side of the bed, before reaching for the one next to him.

     As it turned out, that effort wasn’t necessary. The lamp turned itself off before his fingers reached the switch…