She was a wreck. As she turned into the foyer of her building, she pondered life and the life she had lived which led her to this point, this place and this time. Where had she gone wrong? Lost in thought, retracing the events of the past few months she didn’t even notice the gaping looks she was getting as she trudged towards the elevator. What did she care? Her life may as well be over – he was gone.
She stepped into the elevator on auto-pilot and hit the number of her floor. As the doors began to close she felt that all too familiar feeling come upon her and she inched back into the corner of the carriage, turning her gaze inward as she sought to control the overwhelming emotion that was raging through her. The sudden interruption of the doors closing barely registered. Neither did the man who stepped through, moving to occupy the space on the opposite side of the carriage. She felt the leakage begin and her eyes squeezed tightly shut, a sound of pure anguish bursting from her mouth as she sank to her knees. Packages falling and laying unnoticed as she curled into a ball in an effort to deny the plummet she began into despair once again.
How long she spent in the mindless fugue she didn’t recall. When she became aware of her surroundings again she was in her bed and the light was all wrong. She didn’t remember getting there, nor did she recall unpacking the items she had collected from the shops which were laid out neatly on the dresser. Disoriented, she raised a hand to her head to brush back her hair and attempted to sit up when a voice sounded from the doorway.
“Ahhhh the sleeping beauty has awoken. How do you feel?”
She froze, then lowered her hand, the wayward tendrils of hair forgotten and left to drape across her brow. Her eyes sought out the source of the voice and she squinted slightly to make out detail. With no light in her room and a brighter light than she recalled out in the sitting room it was difficult to say who was addressing her in the sanctity of her bedroom. Her own sense of self-preservation kicked in and her body stiffened. Fight or flight was engaged and before she thought she was out of the bed in a defensive stance. More annoying than anything to her right then was the look of amusement on the man’s face as he rumbled a low chuckle that rolled across her nerve endings.
“Obviously better than earlier. That’s good. Get dressed and come out when you’re ready. I’m not going anywhere just yet.”
There was something about that chuckle that sent her into action following the words. With a sudden jerking start she realised she was standing in all of her naked glory and she scrambled, already feeling a full body flush infuse her with the heat of shame, reaching for something, anything, she panicked and ran towards the bathroom, her words feeble in response and having little impact in her wake.
“G-get out.”
The door slammed on his barking laughter and she all but collapsed against the wall. Her eyes stinging with the heat of shameful tears she angrily wiped at her eyes and stepped towards the shower, setting the water to a scalding temperature to deny the flame of her embarrassment and stepped beneath the spray. Her mind was frantic in its efforts to recapture the steps she had taken from leaving her apartment. Her hands moved automatically in retrieving the soap as the heated water began to work its magic. Before too long she was focussed on nothing but the beating heat of the water as it streamed down onto her skin, the soap lathered in her hands trailing languidly across her flesh. Her eyes were closed, which is why she missed the door opening and her strange houseguest entering the bathroom where he perched on the vanity to watch.
It might have been only five minutes, or an hour later when she finally moved, her head rolling forward slowly with her eyes opening. She didn’t notice him at first, as she turned beneath the water to rinse the soap from her skin. It wasn’t until she was turning the water off and shaking the excess water from her hair as she stepped out of the shower that she noticed the towel he was holding out for her. Taken aback, but still within the relaxed state she had attained in the shower, she yanked the towel and deftly wrapped it around her body, scowling and muttering at him.
“I thought I told you to get out.”
The lingering warmth from the shower seemed to flee her body as again that rumbling chuckle rolled through his chest and immediately her flesh broke out into goosebumps, something that did not go unnoticed and he reached a hand out to trace them against her arm.
“You did.”
Before she could reply with anything other than a grunt of frustration he stepped out of the bathroom and headed somewhere she hoped would take him out of her apartment. Wrapping her hair in a smaller towel she dried herself off and applied her usual regime of make up and scent. She paused, listening to the sounds of the house to ensure absolute silence, and she sighed in relief. He must have gone. To be sure, she peered around the entryway to the bathroom and started to feel annoyed once more at the sight of him sitting by the dresser. Before she could even get started on the tirade that was building in her mind, he cut right ahead of her, offering what was no doubt one of his most charming “get them into bed” smiles that he used on the floozies at the nightclubs.
“I took the liberty of waiting in case you had questions and wanted to thank me for helping you yesterday.”
Her eyes narrowed, coldly, her voice growing more indignant as she went on and finally ending in total confusion.
“You took .. questions? Me, thank you? well you can … yesterday? How long have I been asleep for?” She stammered over the implications of his statement and then stopped still as the most important question of all surfaced.
“Who the hell are you?”
