by Amelia Grace
Chapter Two
I rested my forehead against the closed front door after Ben had left through Katie’s Gate; the rusty squeak confirming his departure. I turned around and leaned against the cold door, feeling the dead weight of my aloneness in Gran’s house.
I willed my feet to move forward over the polished floorboards, but stopped outside the drawing room…
The secret was bound in there…
I placed my hand over the brass doorknob before I moved my fingers down to the keyhole. There was a suction of air that pulled at my finger—inhaling, inviting, strong and commanding ... the secret.
I could never understand the reason for the vacuum of air into the drawing room. It would be understandable if there was an open window, or cracks in the floorboards, or the chimney flue open—but there were none of these; the drawing room was locked and sealed, and yet, the suction of air was notable.
I dropped my hand to my side and closed my eyes fighting the need to run. The secret terrified me. I am sure it was chasing me down until I would become exhausted, at which point I would then just give in to it and—
‘Yoo-hoo!’ A loud, over-enthusiastic greeting at the front door startled me. As soon as I heard the laughter and giggles I knew who it was.
‘Emma!’ I squealed. I rushed forward, opened the door and hugged her, relieved to have more bodies in the house. I was safe from the secret … for now.
‘Cate!’ she squealed back and held up a bottle of champagne.
She barged through the door, followed by Tim, who smiled at me, raised his eyebrows and lifted his hands into the air, and another male whom I didn’t know.
‘Come in,’ I said with a touch of sarcasm as Emma made her way to the fireplace. ‘I’ll get some glasses.’
The pop from the cork of the champagne bottle filled the room when I returned with four tea cups to celebrate. I settled onto the sofa, aware of the unfamiliar pair of eyes that were on me.
‘Cheers, Cate!’ Emma said, her eyes crinkling with her smile.
I nodded my head, covering the fact that moving into Gran’s house was far from a celebration for me. She should have said, “Commiserations, Cate!”
‘Oh … I should introduce you. This is Nic Walker. Nic—my best friend, Cate,’ Emma said with a beaming smile while she performed a swirly hand action with her introduction.
I nodded my head a little. ‘Nic,’ I repeated, and raised my right eyebrow at him.
‘Cate.’ He nodded his head once with a smirk on his face and looked at me too intently from across the room.
‘So where is the, amazing Ben?’ Emma asked.
‘He was here Em—but then—’
‘He had to rush off to save the world … same story every time, isn’t it?’ The accusation in Emma’s voice couldn’t be missed. But she was right. Ben was away far more than he was here. I looked into my teacup and took a swig of champagne, my lavender rose heart unable to reach its sun to infuse my life force with its intoxicating scent of floral and fruit notes.
‘Where does he work, Cate?’ Nic asked.
‘Earth Sphere…’
Nic raised his eyebrows and blew air out between his lips. ‘That’s a heavy load,’ he remarked, staring into his teacup.
‘Yeah—it’s always been work first and Cate second. I’d be really pis—’
‘Thanks, Emma—the topic is closed now!’ I asserted. But she was right, even though I didn’t want to admit it. My relationship with Ben wasn’t moving anywhere. It couldn’t possibly move forward with the amount of time we spent apart.
Without warning the power went off. We would have been sitting in darkness had it not been for the glow of the fire.
I sighed, stood, and stumbled my way into the kitchen and grabbed a torch.
‘I’ll be right back,’ I said, and left to go to the power box.
Nic stood. ‘I’ll come with you.’
‘I’ve got this, Nic. I’ve reset the power before.’
He raised his eyebrows at me and tilted his head. ‘Lead the way…’
I rolled my eyes at him and walked forward, resigned to the fact that this man in my house, who I did not know from diddly-squat, was going to follow me outside into the darkness where anything could happen. I held the torch with a tight grip.
He walked behind me, matching me step for step. He was so close I could smell his scent—fresh linen and spicy aftershave. Somehow it was comforting and lessened my anxiety.
I stopped at the power box, opened the cover and shined the torch on the components looking for the switch that would magically give us back our power. I frowned. Nothing was amiss. I shifted my weight onto my other foot.
‘Give me the torch,’ Nic said in a low voice.
His hand brushed over mine as I passed it to him. He glanced at me sideways before he took a close look at the circuitry.
‘Usually it is the trip switch,’ I informed him.
He looked at me and shook his head. ‘Not this time.’ He continued to look around the switches in the fuse box, then handed me the torch. ‘I’ll make a call and organise an electrician to come and sort the problem.’
Before I could say anything, Nic had walked away a short distance and was talking on his cell phone. He cut a powerful silhouette in the bright moonlight. He turned towards me all of a sudden and caught me staring at his form. He lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes at me. I felt my cheeks flush as my heart became a fragrant, spicy scented mayflower, welcoming him with open arms.
‘Four hours until someone can get here,’ he said, shaking his head as if apologising to me.
‘Thanks—for helping.’ I nodded to him, shutting down the mayflower in my heart. I walked in front of him towards the house, then felt his warm hand as he placed it on the small of my back when we walked up the steps. It felt nicer than it should have. My mayflower heart awakened again.
I entered the front door and turned to close it once Nic had stepped through. His head was tilted forward and he was scowling.
‘Is there a problem?’ I asked him.
Nic turned his head towards the drawing room door. ‘What’s in that room?’ he asked, and looked at the old oak door to the drawing room.
I took a deep breath and shook my head. ‘A piano, book shelves, fireplace, sofa chairs—nothing out of the ordinary—why?’ I asked, wondering what had caused his reaction.
Nic looked at me and moved his lips as though he was about to speak, but no words came out. He shook his head slightly and looked at the floor. Then he grabbed my hand, almost in anger, and pulled me into the sitting room, releasing my hand as we neared the sofa in front of the fire.
He sat beside me on the floor and looked at me again, brooding.
‘When is the power coming back on?—and—I’ve ordered Chinese to be delivered for dinner, if that’s okay…’ Emma stated over the top of the electricity that sparked in the room between Nic and me.
‘Perhaps we should have eaten out, Emma … it will be a while for the power to be restored.’ I narrowed my eyes at Nic, then looked at Emma.
‘Ooooh—dinner by candle light. Even more memorable for the first night in your Gran’s house,’ Emma said with the excitement of a child.
I looked over at Nic. He had leaned against the sofa chair with one of his long legs stretched out in front of him, the other pulled up closer to his chest. His dark eyes were settled on the flickering flames and his fingers were steepled in front of his lips; one finger running back and forth over his bottom lip, like Ben would do. He was in deep thought, and a man who guarded his heart.
At the sound of the knock on the door Emma went to collect our order while I slipped into the kitchen to retrieve plates and cutlery for our dinner. When I about turned, I stopped abruptly, before I bumped into a body. Nic.
‘You feel it too, don’t you?’ he asked, standing closer to me than I felt comfortable with.
‘I … I,’ I stumbled trying to answer him. What was he talking about? The mi
niscule attraction I felt towards him, or the drawing room? I frowned and shook my head, wondering how to answer his question. ‘I feel what, Nic?’ I finally asked.
‘The room with the closed door. You feel its presence, don’t you?’ he asked, watching me as if he was a lie detector.
‘I feel a fear of the room because of my memories associated with it,’ I fibbed, hoping he would believe my words.
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow, then stepped back from me, took the plates from my hands and returned to the sitting room, setting the plates on the coffee table.
I avoided his eye contact as we dished out the food and started to eat.
‘You know, Cate, this is so romantic. It would have been perfect to share a candlelit dinner in front of the fireplace with Ben, and let nature take its course … or not—oh, I forgot, your vow of purity. Ah … well, it is still nice and romantic.’
I loved Emma. But she did have a bad dose of foot in mouth. I blinked and smiled at her, then saw Nic look up at me, raise his eyebrows and shake his head with a smirk on his face.
‘You find something amusing, Nic?’ I asked, feeling anger at his judgment building up inside me.
‘No—not at all. In fact, I find you quite confusing in the short time I have been in your company,’ he replied.
‘Good,’ I replied, ‘although, if you had any questions about me, I am sure Emma would be more than competent at answering them for you—in fact, I would even go as far as saying that she brought you along playing the match maker that she is.’ I looked over at Emma. She was doing a really bad job of holding in a laugh, until we both burst out in a giggling fit together.
I turned back to Nic. ‘It’s okay, Nic. Emma is always trying to find a new boyfriend for me. So relax—there is no pressure—I know exactly what she is doing!’
Nic tilted his head to the side and smirked at me. ‘Well … Cate … you would be wrong there. Tim is a good friend of mine. I haven’t seen him for a while and I was tagging along to spend some time with my buddy.’ He bore his eyes into mine—whatever colour they were—I couldn’t tell in the muted light of the flames.
‘Well … I do believe you should have some champagne, Nic. It might help you to find your sense of humor, again,’ I said.
He frowned at no one in particular and did not respond, so I gave him a shove, pushing him off balance, and smiled at him.
He forced a smile back at me then. ‘Bossy, aren’t you!’
‘Let’s get the truth serum, Cate,’ Emma said, the words dancing in her voice breaking the uncomfortable interplay between Nic and me.
‘Are you sure, Em—you know it always ends badly,’ I said. ‘Anyway, I think I need the truth serum tonight. Staying in this house by myself is harder than I thought. Hail the truth serum!’ I called.
‘Hail the truth serum!’ Emma and Tim repeated lifting up their tea cups of champagne.
I looked over at Nic. He sat with his hands behind his head and held a crooked smile. ‘The truth serum?’
‘Yeah—you wanna play? Unless … you have something to hide…’ said Emma.
Nic pressed his lips into a hard line. ‘No—I’m in.’
‘In vino veritas,’ I called, stood, and ventured into the kitchen to find the shot glasses and the only three bottles of wine I owned at this point in time.
I returned in haste and placed the four shot glasses and wine on the coffee table to the sound of Emma’s cheering.
‘Glow-In-The-Dark Space Invaders super large shot glasses?’ Tim said.
‘Yep!’ I said, popping the last “p”. ‘Easy to find in the dark!’
‘First round of the liquid courage,’ said Emma, filling the glasses.
Nic looked at his shot glass, smiled and shook his head.
‘Rules,’ said Tim, ‘If you answer no—you must be lying, so you must drink a shot of truth serum. It you answer yes—and one of us knows it is a lie, you must drink a shot of truth serum … first question … do you sing while taking a shower? Em?’
‘Yes.’
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘No.’
Nic: ‘Yes.’
They all looked at me. I was the one who answered no—I was telling the truth. I do not sing in the shower! But rules were rules. I picked up my Space Invader Glow-In-The-Dark shot glass and downed the wine.
‘Next question,’ announced Emma, ‘do you have a tattoo?’
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Emma: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘No.’
Nic: ‘No.’
Nic and I downed a shot of wine, looked at each other and shook our heads.
‘Next question,’ I said, ‘have you sung karaoke?’ I looked over at Emma.
Emma: ‘Yes.’
Tim: ‘No.’
Cate: ‘Yes.’
Nic: ‘No.’
Nic and Tim slammed a high five together and threw the shot of wine down their throats. ‘Bazinger!’ they yelled and laughed.
‘Next question,’ Nic said in a low voice, then took a deep breath. ‘Have you ever … sat on a rooftop?’
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Emma: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘Yes.’
Nic: ‘Yes.’
‘Shaazaaam!’ Emma and I called and high fived.
‘Have you … taken a picture of yourself naked?’ Tim asked.
Emma: ‘No.’
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘No.’
Nic: ‘No.’
Nic, Emma and I drank a shot of wine, then looked at Tim.
‘Has Emma seen it?’ I asked.
‘Emma took it,’ Tim replied, then winked at Emma.
I sucked in a deep breath and looked into the fire.
‘Next question. Have you ever skinny-dipped?’ asked Emma.
Tim: ‘No.’
Emma: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘Yes.’
Nic: ‘No.’
Tim and Nic downed their shot of wine. Nic looked at me and raised his eyebrows. ‘Ocean or pool?’ he asked.
‘Classified information,’ I answered back, raising my left eyebrow at him.
‘Have you ever … kissed in the rain? Em?’ I asked while I kept eye contact with Nic.
‘Yes.’
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘Yes.’
Nic: ‘No.’
Nic took a deep breath and drank the wine from his shot glass. I frowned, surprised a good looking guy like him hadn’t kissed a girl in the rain.
‘Have you ever … slept naked?’ Nic asked.
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Emma: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘No.’
Nic: ‘Yes.’
Emma and Tim high fived while I swallowed my shot of wine.
‘Have you ever wanted someone but couldn’t have them?’ asked Tim.
Emma: ‘Yes.’
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘No.’
Nic: ‘Yes.’
‘Aaaah,’ I grunted, and downed the wine. Nic shook his head with a smirk on his face.
‘Have you ever … played Minecraft?’ Emma giggled.
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Emma: ‘Yes.’
‘No!’ I yelled.
Nic: ‘Yes.’
‘Play Truth Serum—it will be fun, they said,’ I squeaked and bubbled with a mouth full of wine before I swallowed it, feeling it travel to unchartered places in my body. Why couldn’t I just lie and say yes!
‘Have you ever … been in love?’ I asked.
Emma: ‘Yes.’
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘Yes.’
Nic: ‘No.’ Nic drank his shot of wine, then looked into the flickering flames of the fire. He closed his eyes then and ran his finger over his bottom lip. ‘Do you believe it is possible to be in love with two people at the same time?’ he asked.
Tim: ‘No.’
Emma: ‘No.’
Cate: ‘Yes.’
Nic: ‘No.’
Tim, Emma and Nic al
l looked at me as they drank their shot of wine. Emma narrowed her eyes at me before she raised her eyebrows and asked, ‘If it is possible to be in love with two people at the same time, wouldn’t you love one of them more deeply than the other?’
‘I don’t know, Em, I’ll tell you if I ever find out,’ I replied.
‘Do you hope to find out?’ Emma continued.
‘No. I kinda think it would end badly for everyone involved. I want to love and be loved with a true, pure and faithful love—one that endures forever,’ I replied, then looked into the fire.
Tim cleared his throat. ‘Have you ever … been naked with the opposite sex?’
Emma: ‘Yes.’
Tim: ‘Yes.’
Cate: ‘No.’
Nic: ‘No.’
I lifted my shot glass to Nic. ‘Cheers!’ I said. He tapped his shot glass against mine and we both drank, keeping our eyes connected.
Emma leaned over to pour the next round of wine into our super large shot glasses, but the bottle was empty.
‘Game over,’ I said, and stretched my arms above my head.
Nic’s phone beeped. He pulled it from his pocket and read a text. I could almost see his eye colour as the screen lit up. He frowned and looked up at me. ‘Cate, the electrician can’t get here until tomorrow.’
I squeezed my eyes closed as the words sank in. No power until tomorrow. I lay back on the floor and covered my face with my hands. This was not how I pictured my first night of staying in Gran’s house. It was bad enough I was here in the house with the secret by myself, but in the house with the secret and with no power by myself made it one hundred times worse.
‘Aarrrgh!’ I groaned before I sat up and wrapped my arms around myself.
‘Truth question,’ Emma said, ‘do you want us to stay here for the night?’
‘No,’ I answered without blinking.
‘Liar!’ Tim said quietly. I grabbed his shot glass and gulped the last of his wine.
‘I’ll stay, Cate, besides, I’ve had too much to drink to drive,’ Emma said.
‘I’m in,’ Tim added.
‘In—by circumstance,’ Nic said.
I pinched the top of my nose and closed my eyes. ‘Thank-you … for helping me in Survival 101.’ I stood and grabbed Emma’s hand, and pulled her through the house to find pillows and blankets. When we returned to the sitting room, the boys had removed their shirts, had their biceps flexed and were pointing, talking and tracing lines along their skin.
Nic’s upper body muscles were defined, even in the poor light of the dwindling fire. As soon as he heard us he turned his head toward me, grabbed his shirt and put it back on. But Tim remained shirtless while Nic showed him some sort of exercise for his upper arm.
I threw a pillow at each of them, then found myself a place to sleep on the floor while Emma positioned herself to sleep with the shirtless Tim on the sofa. Nic looked lost as he searched for a position to bed down. He eventually made himself comfortable on the floor, not too far from me.
I stared at the ceiling for quite a while and listened to the unfamiliar noises of the house. A tear slipped from the corner of my eye and ran down the side of my cheek while I wondered if I would ever get use to living here.
I felt Nic’s finger trace the line of my tear. ‘He should be here with you … Ben should be the one wiping away your tear, not me.’
I turned my head and looked at him, surprised by his words. I could almost see the colour of his eyes, but not enough to be sure they were blue.
‘Maybe, one day he will be able to spend more of his time with me,’ I said, more for me than for Nic.
‘And what if he can’t? What if it is more of the same? Are you going to keep waiting for him in case he can spend more time with you, unsure of whether it will happen or not? He needs to make a choice, Cate, or you are going to slip through his fingers. If you were mine, I would never leave you dangling like this—’ Nic stopped talking then, rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his head.
I touched him lightly on the chest. ‘Lucky girl who holds the key to your heart.’
He turned his head and looked into my eyes, ‘When she walks into my life—’
‘Or you walk into hers,’ I whispered, working hard to stop an orange rose of attraction from opening inside my heart and releasing the spicy aroma along with it.
He gave me a gentle smile then and spoke in a low voice. ‘Close your eyes and dream of good things.’
I looked into his eyes for longer than I should have, then nodded my head. I rolled over onto my stomach and closed my eyes, where I succumbed to my emotional exhaustion and the effects of the truth serum.
