Part 8

'Hellloooo there!!' Noel felt his heart jump as the little girl came running down the small path, 'hello Sir...uh..Daddy!' she hiccuped with joy, this child had taken his heart by storm, she was smart and despite her difficult background with her mother, she was ever so hopeful and sweet. 'I missed you so much, Daddy' she jumped right into his arms, 'I missed you too, potato'.

Caro sat in the car and felt her heart being ripped to pieces, these kids of him were so lucky, they had such an amazing bond with their parents, she could almost cry thinking about the lovely memories these kids would all have about these moments, later in life. She had nothing, all her parents had brought her was pain and abuse and tears and now they were gone all they had left her with was debt..the door opened as he helped Bowie crawl in the back 'oh, hello Miss!' she gave her a little wave.

'Hi Bowie, it's nice to see you again, and my name is Caroline, but almost everyone calls me Caro, so no more 'miss' ok?' she gave her a little smile before she turned back to the steering wheel and waited for everyone to settle in before she let the car merge in with the busy London afternoon traffic.

'let's stop there, get her something to drink and stretch our legs' Noel pointed at the service station sign, 'sure, ok' she mumbled, two hours outside of London and barely a word was said in the car, Noel had been wrapped up in his phone and the music in his headphones, same as Bowie.

Her mind was still racing, trying to calculate how she was gonna survive, what more she needed to give up on in her daily spending?, but no answers came, she steered the car towards the gaspumps 'I'll stay here and fill up the car' he heard her mumble as she started rummaging through her purse, looking for her credit card, even from the side he could see the worry and the pain scribbled all over her face.

'Ok, do you want anything?' but she hadn't even heard him, she kept mumbling to herself and then she exited the car, this lost puppy was breaking his heart, she literally had a few friends who were all so very busy with their own careers and lives it seemed, could she really call them friends? Her parents were gone, she never seemed to have had any other family, just someone that cared about her, no siblings, she didn't even have a 'Liam' in her life, someone to even drive her absolutely bonkers, a brother to be at war with for ten years, a brother that put you through the wringer in the tabloids, but after all was said and done, he and Liam would always be brothers, and who was gonna make the first move to patch things up was irrelevant, it might happen, it might not, especially with the way things were going with Sara and Liam..them spewing hate at each other, everything that got blown up on an even bigger scale in the press, but at least he could say he had a brother who he shared a lifetime of memories with and despite the raging war between them, he knew deep down Liam loved him and he loved Liam too.

He opened Bowie's door and took her hand as they walked to the shop 'come on darling, let's go see if they have something you like' he squeezed her little hand tight, as if he wanted to reassure her once again that she had a family where she could finally feel safe and loved.

Ok finally! She looked at the fuel card like she had just fished a trophy out of her purse, thank god for this stupid piece of plastic and for the company car that come on top of her salary, at least one thing she didn't have to worry about.

'Why is Miss m..uh..Caroline sad?' Bowie asked as she skipped next to him on their way back to the car, but Noel didn't really how to answer that question, this kid picked up on so much grown up stuff, despite her age she was already able to feel if something was not in sync, and so Caro's Oscar winning performance earlier on hadn't gone unnoticed.

'Oh so you noticed it too, did you? well, I know she's sad because her Dad died' he said quietly, he saw he was being recognized so he clutched Bowie's hand a little tighter in his as if that would make them get into the car faster.

'Ohh..' she said not really grasping the meaning of that message 'will she get a new Dad then?', Noel squeezed her hand 'no sweetheart, if someone dies you cannot replace them with a new person' they finally approached the car and he stopped a few seconds to get her attention 'listen, let's not upset her even more, so don't ask her about her Dad or her family, alright?, Caro's not herself right now, so we'll give her a bit of space ok? Can you do that?'.

Bowie stopped to look at him 'not even if she cries?' she asked with a tiny voice. 'Even then you don't ask or say anything about her Dad, ok? Besides, she's very busy with all her work and stuff so she won't cry, she'll be alright soon, don't you worry, ok? besides you'll be too busy having fun with Gran!' he quickly tried to change the subject, this kid had her own fair share of hurt, but it was time for her to put all that in the past now as well, 'come on, in you go' he helped her get back into the car.

Caro quickly put her sunglasses back on, as soon as they got back into the car, glad she could hide the ugly tearclouds in her eyes, alright, pokerface back on, engine on, and off they went for the last lap of the journey.

Caro looked at the seat next to her and then in the rearview mirror, both father and daughter clearly had some sleep to catch up on, but she gently touched Noel's arm 'Noel, hey..Noel', her voice finally registered in his head and he opened his eyes to look straight at her, 'we're just outside Manchester, I don't know your Mum's address, just put it in, will ya?' she pointed at the GPS screen in front of them.

Noel sat up and did as he was told,he felt so groggy, it was like waking up from a coma, 'thanks, oh and you better check on your phone, it's been buzzing non-stop' Caro kept her eyes on the hectic traffic while handing him his phone from the centre console, 'Bowie?' he said her name but was silenced by his PA again, 'shhhh, let her sleep, you can tell she's your daughter, both of you are very deep sleepers'.

Noel watched Manchester pass by as they drove through the city, so many memories flooded back each time he came here..his youth, the music, the start of Oasis..the world was his oyster but this city here was his real home.

'Thanks for driving, you feeling ok?' he looked at her hoping she would turn her head but she kept her eyes firmly on the road 'Oh don't worry about me, I'm an insomniac anyway' and shrugged her shoulders, what else was there to say? She felt like absolute crap, her father's death was the roughest awakening ever, she had never been loved, not by her parents, not by anyone, this job had even cost her a few love interests, if she wasn't on the road, then she was working all hours of the day, and most men didn't want her, they were only using her to get closer to Noel or the band in order to get their own career started. Oh come on, stop feeling sorry for yourself, you've been doing this all your life, so what has suddenly changed? Nothing!.

Her inner dialogue was interrupted by Noel who suddenly yelled at her 'turn left, for fuck's sakes', she blinked a few times and then realized she was about to drive into a 'no-entry' street so she quickly did as she was told and drove to the end of the street where Peggy was already on her doorstep, waving at them.

Noel got out of the car, and opened Bowie's door as well, before he walked up to his Mum and  pulled her in for a bear hug, 'oh love, it's so nice to see you again..and who do we have here? You must be Bowie' Peggy let go of Noel first and then bowed down to her new granddaughter, 'yes I am, it's nice to meet you..Nan, Daddy said I could call you Nan' Bowie was already charming her way into her grandmother's heart.

Caro started unloading the car and pushed their suitcases up the little drive while Bowie pulled Noel inside the house all excited, 'Hello Mrs. Gallagher' she greeted his mother but then she noticed the little shock on the older woman's face as she too was turning to go inside, 'oh..hellooo.. Caroline, right, Noel's personal assistant? I wasn't expecting you..I thought you were just dropping them off and drive right back to London.., it's really unfortunate but Gene, my grandson is staying here as well, so..I'm sorry love..there must have been some kind of misunderstanding..'

Caro's heart sank..where was her mind? Of course this was her boss' family home, and she wasn't family, what the fuck was I thinking of coming here and escaping London for a while? 'Oh, don't you worry Mrs. Gallagher, I wasn't planning on staying..I need to get back to London anyway' don't make things too awkward, just say bye and drive away. 'I'm just gonna put Noel's and Bowie's suitcases here..' she rolled their suitcases up to the front door. 'uhm ok.. well bye then, Mrs. Gallagher' she gave her a quick wave and walked back down the drive with her own suitcase, her heart pounding in her chest, what was all this? Had she been so caught up in her own troubles again that she didn't listen?

'Bowie, calm down a little, I'm gonna help Caro with the suitcases, you stay here ok?' it was so strange to see this child already run so freely in the house he grew up in, this lost puppy was found and thriving again, now it was time for the other lost puppy. Just when he turned he heard a faint 'Bye Mrs. Gallagher', the door closing and his mother walking up alone to the living room.

'Mum? Where's Caroline?' he nervously checked if she wasn't still in the hallway, but he didn't wait for her reply and hurried back outside where she was busy putting all her stuff back into the car and closed the carboot.

'What do you think you're doing?' his voice startled her as he walked up to her, 'I'm going back to London, it seems..your Mum has a full house already and she wasn't expecting me..I don't know where my head is anymore, I'm sorry Noel, I clearly didn't listen or misunderstood again, sorry!' she was really starting to question her own sanity, and he clearly was doing the same, given the shocked look full of disbelief he was giving her, don't get emotional, no, just get a grip, once you're in the car by yourself, you can have a good cry but not now? NOT NOW!! Caro cupped her own cheeks that were burning, her breath stuck in her throat, she was just waiting for him to have another go at her.

'You're not driving back to London, you're in no state to drive by the look of ya anyway, look, just go to The Lowry, I'll give them a call, ok? I told my mother you were coming with us but she is the one who misunderstood apparently..anyway, text me once you're settled in ok? we'll discuss the plans for tomorrow' he saw her try her best to put up a brave face but her burning cheeks and her quivering lip betrayed the real emotion.

'Ok..yeah sure..thanks' she nodded 'enjoy the evening with your family, boss, give Bowie a kiss from me, will ya?' she opened the cardoor and crawled behind the wheel once again. Another grateful nod and a little wave and off she went, he put his phone to his ear to book her a room at The Lowry hotel as he watched the taillights disappear at the end of the street, this was getting out of hand and so were his feelings and he needed to put a stop to all that.