by Rowena Dawn
“Well, here I can guaranty our privacy,” the man replied and showed her to the elevator after he greeted the front desk attendant. “Matt will not come because he’s upset with me. He still doesn’t leave Nora out of his sight, although she recovered completely, so she won’t come either,” he shrugged. “Bryan and Becka took the kids to the house on the lake, so we are alone, Elle,” the man bobbed his eyebrows to her. “That does put ideas into your mind, doesn’t that?” he said with a chuckle.
“You are just a clown, Jay,” she noted dryly, and the man’s eyes sparkled mischievously.
“Come on, sweetie, don’t tell me you haven’t had a thought or two about catching me alone,” the man said, and his fingers stroked her jaw with a featherlike touch.
Ellen closed her eyes for a second, but then, she made an effort to steel herself against Jay’s magnetism and brushed his hand off.
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” she replied, looking straight into his eyes.
“But you do,” Jay pointed out. “That’s why we’re here, after all. So that you could tell me everything.”
“No, we’re here because you wanted to talk privately,” Ellen retorted. “That doesn’t mean that I’ll do the talking,” she countered his argument.
“Huh, huh,” Jay shook his head exactly when the elevator doors open. “You have a lot to tell me,” he said and took her hand when he saw that she wasn’t moving. “We have to go out, you know. We can’t monopolize the elevator. It’s a high-rise building, and people won’t be too happy if they have to climb the stairs, believe me. We’d better have our conversation in my apartment,” he observed and pulled her after him.
“You’re too bossy,” Ellen huffed but followed him.
“That’s calling the pot black,” the man retorted. “You probably forgot how bossy you were the night when I got beaten,” he observed, leading the way to his flat.
“That was something else,” Ellen pierced him with a black glance, which was utterly lost on Jay. The man just strode along the hallway purposefully without looking at her.
“How was it something else?” he asked, turning toward her when he stopped in front of his apartment door.
“I had to make you move,” she shrugged. “I couldn’t coddle you.”
“And your attitude toward Matt and Bryan?” he inquired, tilting his head.
Ellen blushed violently, but then she shrugged. “I didn’t want anyone to hurt you,” she explained in a flat tone of voice.
“I wonder why,” Jay said, his eyes searching her face avidly.
“You can keep wondering,” Ellen snapped. “Was your intention to have that conversation in the hallway?” she inquired sweetly, tilting her head meaningfully toward the door he didn’t unlock.
“Yep, I knew it. You’re a laugh a minute,” Jay mumbled and unlocked the door, inviting her to enter with a wave of his fingers. “Come in, princess.”
Ellen grimaced because of his words but went inside before him, feeling a little uneasy to step into his apartment again. She still remembered how hollow she had felt when he asked her to leave the last time she was there, and her heart cringed. The woman feared that the result of that visit would be the same, and she didn’t know if she could take it once more.
“Stop being so apprehensive,” Jay told her in a hard tone of voice. “I have no intention of being a jerk again,” he added, showing that he had read her thoughts with accuracy, and she turned her face away.
“I’m not,” Ellen said defiantly, but she doubted that Jay believed her.
‘Why the heck I can’t keep my cool with him?’ she berated herself. She hadn’t ever behaved like that with anyone before.
“Let’s go into the living room,” Jay invited her with an inward sigh, and placed his hand on the small of her back, nudging her to walk in front of him.
Ellen moved her feet, although she started suspecting that her visit there wasn’t a good idea at all. She liked Jay, and a lot, but then, they seemed like oil and water.
Jay rolled his eyes behind her. He could practically hear the wheels moving in her mind. The man knew that Ellen was looking for everything negative that could be attached to her presence in his house.
“Take a seat, Elle,” he showed to the sofa, and then took the bag with pastries to the kitchen. “I’ll be only a minute,” he said on his way there. “You want some coffee, won’t you?” he asked her from behind the island.
“Maybe...” she said undecided. “I don’t really know,” she shook her head.
Jay’s chuckle came from the kitchen, and Ellen pressed her lips tight. ‘Can you be less stupid?’ she scolded herself.
“I’ll make some,” Jay decided for her. “It will go great with the pastries, you’ll see.”
Ellen just shrugged but didn’t bother to answer back. Her eyes wandered around the room. Nothing had changed from the day she was there. She stood and moseyed to the balcony.
Leaning onto the jamb of the balcony door, Ellen watched the lake with longing. ‘How many years have been since I was out on the lake?’ she wondered. ‘Maybe twenty,’ she guessed with a shrug.
She must have been six at the time, and her parents had taken her on a trip to the island, in one of the few outings they had ever had together. They didn’t have the time to spend time one with the other, and their child came in the last place.
Jay had stopped in the kitchen doorway and stared at her. Her posture told him that she would have liked to be there, out, on the lake. The man felt her sadness as if it had belonged to him.
When she brushed her hair over her shoulder, he stepped inside the living room and called her softly.
“Elle, are you all right?”
Startled, she winced, shrugged off her melancholy, and then turned to him. “Of course, I am,” she replied in her usual no-nonsense tone of voice.
Jay merely shook his head, suspecting that it wouldn’t have been a smart move to let her understand that he knew how she felt.
“I’d like to have our coffee on the balcony,” he told Ellen. “But my neighbors are nosy,” he whispered impishly. “They are about eighty-something and extremely curious. Don’t let their age full you. Their hearing is as sharp as ever,” he informed her.
Ellen smiled at him. “We can have our coffee inside, away from open ears,” she assured him.
“Great,” the man rubbed his hands. “But you still have to wait for a couple of minutes,” he warned her. “The coffee maker is still huffing. I do have to buy another one soon,” he remarked carelessly, like an afterthought.
The woman waved her hand to show that it didn’t matter. She had already made the acquaintance of his coffee maker and knew how temperamental it was.
Jay closed the distance between the two of them. He brushed a lock of hair away off her face, and then rubbed it between his fingers.
“So silky,” the man whispered and then lifted his eyes at hers.
Ellen’s eyes widened, staring at his fingers nonplussed.
“I like your hair,” the man shrugged negligently. “It is so... vivid, I’d say,” he explained with broad gestures, and she shook her head.
“I was thinking to show you the rest of the house,” Jay informed Ellen, taking her hand.
“That’s no need,” the woman rushed to say.
“Come on, sweetie, don’t tell me you don’t die of curiosity to see the rest of the apartment,” he arched an eyebrow.
“I’ll survive,” she replied sardonically.
“No need to just survive,” Jay pointed out. “I’m willing to give you the big tour,” he waved his hand toward the interior of the apartment. “You’ve already seen the living-room,” the man mentioned. “I think that we’ll skip the hallway bathroom,” he led her past the respective room. “You know it, after all,” he shrugged. “This is my bedroom,” he whispered to her, tilting his head, thus taking advantage of their proximity to have a whiff at her hair.
The man pushed the door open and invited
her inside. Ellen stepped inside shyly. The situation seemed too intimate, and she couldn’t guess Jay’s game.
Her eyes wandered over the green forest drapes, mirrored in the color of the counterpane. The expanse of a burnt orange carpet complemented the green of the curtains and the cream of the walls.
“It’s beautiful,” she said softly.
Jay breathed deeply. For a moment, he had thought she didn’t like it because she just looked around without saying anything.
“And here’s the en-suite bathroom,” he showed her the room whose tiles gave the impression of the waves on the North Sea.
“It looks awesome,” Ellen smiled at him. “Who decorated the apartment?” she asked.
“I did it. Entirely,” Jay boasted, delighted to see that his décor had her approval. “Let me show you the second bedroom,” he pulled her after him, and Ellen laughed.
She had already gotten used to him dragging her here and there.
“What?” Jay turned his eyes to her.
“You,” she replied. “You pull me all the time in all directions,” she pointed out.
“Sorry,” he said, but his voice didn’t show any repentance for his behavior.
“Yeah, you’re sorry all right,” Ellen mumbled.
“You catch fast,” Jay grinned. “So, this is the second bedroom,” he informed her, opening the door to the next room and letting her go inside in front of him.
Ellen noticed that the man had done that room in various nuances of brown, from dark chocolate to light caramel. The ambiance was warm and welcoming. She wondered how good of a gambler he was that he could afford such an apartment. Even the location of the flat was exclusive.
Jay showed her the en-suite bathroom as well, and she marveled at the minute attention to detail and the harmonization of nuances.
The room gave her the feeling that she had just stepped into a tropical jungle.
“Good job, Jay,” the woman lifted her face and beamed at him in spite of her thoughts. “You do know how to play with colors,” she observed.
“Hmm... Well, you should see the third room,” Jay mentioned with some hesitation.
Ellen’s eyebrows raised on her forehead quizzically. The man hadn’t shown any kind of timidity until then, and his new attitude puzzled her.
“What’s the matter, Jay?” she inquired. It was clear that the man didn’t seem at ease with showing that room to her. “If you don’t want that I saw that room, it isn’t a problem,” Ellen assured him, although a lot of questions popped into her mind.
“Well, you have just to promise not to say to anyone what you see in there,” he asked her in a serious tone of voice. “Few people have ever seen that room,” he warned her.
Now, Ellen was anxious to have a look at that third room. She watched Jay reaching to the handle of the door with trepidation.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The door finally opened, and Ellen found herself in the sunniest room of the apartment. The farthest wall was made of glass entirely, covered with a gossamer white curtain, which didn’t prevent the light from flooding the space.
A board covered with canvas drew Ellen’s attention immediately because it appeared to be the focal point of the room. On both sides of the canvas, two working tables were lined with various jars filled with brushes, and pencils, and Lord knew what.
She turned her inquiring eyes toward Jay. His impenetrable eyes didn’t reveal anything.
“Are you a painter or something?” she asked hesitantly.
“Or something,” he nodded. “As a matter of fact, I’m a graphic artist. I create comics,” he shrugged with nonchalance, but Ellen could see that he felt awkward under her scrutiny.
“I always loved comics,” she smiled at him. “I still buy them now and then. Do you just ink them or do everything?”
“I plot the story and draw it from A to Z,” he replied.
The tone of his voice made Ellen understand that the man was proud and satisfied with what he was doing although he worried about what she thought of his work.
“Would you show me?” she asked with eager interest.
“Of course,” the man grinned at her, but then, he suddenly sobered, and his eyes widened in horror.
“What’s the problem?” she frowned slightly, not understanding his abrupt change of heart.
Jay rubbed his chin thoughtfully, eyeing her speculatively. Then, he scratched the top of his head for a few moments and stared at her some more.
“The suspense is killing me here,” Ellen said in a flat tone of voice.
“There’s a slight problem,” the man admitted, utterly uneasy under her scrutiny.
“Namely?” Ellen tilted her head and pressed her lips together. She just knew that it was something she wouldn’t like.
“How should I tell you?” he wondered. “Eh, I think you’d better see for yourself,” he shrugged, and his features turned stoic. “Go on, take a look,” he invited the woman with a gesture, and his heart cringed, expecting the worst.
Ellen stared at him for a moment, and then she headed to the board with purposeful steps. She looked at the scenes depicted, and her jaw fell. The woman gasped loudly, and Jay prepared mentally for a set down.
“What the heck is that, Jay?” Ellen turned and snapped at him.
“You see, I’ve been thinking of you and...,” he shrugged.
“You’ve been thinking of me,” she repeated nonplussed. “And that’s how you saw me,” she shouted, pointing to the board.
“Come on, Elle, don’t get your hackles up. You look great, you can’t deny it,” Jay tried to calm her down, putting his hands up.
“And a lot of good does that to me,” the woman huffed. “You made me into a lunatic vigilante,” she protested, throwing her hands in the air.
“A beautiful and charming vigilante,” Jay pointed out with a gesture meant to calm Ellen’s fury, but then he didn’t succeed.
“Yeah, I’m impressed. Especially with the way I’m crashing that poor man’s feelings,” she scoffed. “That’s how you see me?” she inquired in a tired tone of voice, disappointed with his image about her.
“The story needed a bit of drama,” Jay explained patiently. “It’s not you, after all,” he shook his head. “Just your face.”
‘And that trim lithe body of yours,’ he continued in his mind. He wasn’t stupid and knew that Ellen would have had his head if he had uttered those words.
Ellen gave up arguing with the man and tried to storm past him, but Jay stopped her, putting his hands on her shoulders.
“You’ve seen just two pages, Elle. Look further. You might like the character. I do like her,” he confessed. “She’s not only beautiful but also strong. That guy is just an idiot, and believe me, he deserved to have his heart crushed under her heel.”
After a little tug of war, Jay convinced Ellen to read the rest of the story. He remained behind her, with his hands on her shoulders, holding her close to him and enjoying every second.
“It’s not bad,” she admitted after a few minutes. “But it’s still not me,” she looked up at Jay.
His closeness made Ellen shiver, and she tried hard not to let him feel it. As a result, she became tense, and Jay began to massage her shoulders to help her relax.
‘It doesn’t work, you idiot,’ she reflected. ‘It’s even worse,’ she turned her head and closed her eyes, pretending to look at the comics.
Jay grinned and continued his ministration. He knew exactly what he did to her. But then, he relished to have her practically flush against him and feel the shivers passing through her body, so he pretended not to notice.
“You’re good,” Ellen admitted, and Jay wondered what she was talking about.
“At what?” he couldn’t refrain from asking.
“Your comics,” the woman snapped at him and stepped away from the man.
She turned to him, and Jay schooled his features so that she wouldn’t see what ideas crossed his mind.
�
��I think I’m ready for that coffee now,” she said in a dry tone of voice.
“Wow, I forgot about it,” Jay exclaimed and rushed out of the room. “That stupid machine is old, and if I don’t turn it off, it splatters everywhere,” his voice came from the hallway, and Ellen shook her head.
She glanced at the comics once more, and a smile perched on her lips. ‘No, the guy’s not bad at all. He’s got a good hand at drawing, and the story is catchy. Of course, it’s got a lot of humor and fine irony. That’s entirely Jay,’ she shook her head and then followed the man’s steps toward the kitchen.
“Is everything all right?” Ellen asked getting into the kitchen.
Jay was busy tearing paper towels and wiping off the counter. He looked at her with a frown.
“Does it look like it’s all right to you?” he asked her peevishly, and she shrugged.
“Just making conversation,” Ellen said, watching his shrewd moves. “You have some practice with this cleaning stuff,” she observed with no little surprise.
“My mother believes in equality between sexes. She didn’t have too much success in teaching Matt and me to cook, but she did teach us how to keep a clean house,” Jay said, making a ball out of the used paper and throwing it in the recycle bin set underneath the counter.
“Hmm, I wonder what she taught your sister,” Ellen said with curiosity in her voice.
“Not cooking, for sure,” Jay said, pouring coffee into two cups. “To my mother’s deep disappointment, none of us managed to master the culinary arts, at which she is indeed awesome,” he added. “But then, Maggie knows how to fix the engine of a car.”
“Impressive,” Ellen nodded.
“Yeah, especially because mom knows zilch about that,” Jay grinned. “But she once remained stuck on a country road because her car engine expired, and she decided that Maggie must learn to fix it,” he shrugged. “Would you take the plate with pastry?” he tilted his head toward the plateau he had left on the side of the counter and picked up the coffee cups.
“Sure,” Ellen nodded and took it, following Jay into the living room.
