by Alexia Praks
The door opened, and Alex glanced up, smiling and expecting to greet one of the Thompsons. But it was not any of the Thompsons who were standing there at the door, grinning down at her. It was Mr. Hot-Choc.
Her heart missed a beat and then it started to beat faster and faster. ‘Calm down, old girl, it’s only Jay. And he’s gay. He’s not interested in you.’
“Hey there,” she said cheerfully. “What ya doing here?”
Jay, with his greeting smile still fixed on his handsome face, said, “I’m staying here for a little while. Love the view.”
Alex nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Waverly’s great.”
She waited for him to take a step back to let her through the door, but he didn’t budge. He simply stood there looking down at her from his great height. She made an attempt to enter through anyway, and ended up squeezing herself between him and the side of the door.
She glanced up at him as she passed, her heart thumping out of control. Her face was red because he was so near her that she could actually feel him. She could feel his warm breath on her forehead. She could feel his muscular chest brushing against the side of her arm. Oh my God!
She told herself to calm down and not act stupid in front of him.
Once she past the threshold of the house, she bent down to take her shoes off.
“Alex, that you?” Mrs. Thompson shouted from the living room.
“Yes. Hi, Mrs. Thompson,” Alex said, shooting up as she did so.
Bam! She collided with Jay, his body very close to her. Why was he behind her when there was plenty of room in the hallway? It was not like they were in a tiny closet, for God’s sake.
“Sorry,” he said, grinning down at her, his face seemed to be moving closer to hers.
Alex smiled apologetically at him and stroked her fingers through her hair because she was getting rather hot from being so close to him. Her body was working overtime, she thought.
“That’s okay,” she managed to say, avoiding his eyes as she walked into the living area, with Jay following close behind her.
“Oh my dear, I haven’t seen you for such a long time,” Mrs. Thompson said as she came around the bench, her arms wide open. She hugged Alex, patting the girl’s back as she did so.
“Sorry, I was quite busy with work and all,” Alex explained, moving back. “Here, it’s from Mum.” She handed Mrs. Thompson the bag filled with lettuces and silverbeets. “Mum said hi.”
“Oh she didn’t have to do that. Well tell her I say hi back and thank you for these.” She gestured to the bag in her hand. “What would you like to drink, honey,” she asked as they both walked into the kitchen.
“Ribena would be good, thanks,” Alex said, watching Jay who was now on the other side of the spacious, modern living room picking up his big mug of beer.
“Ribena? You got it,” Mrs. Thompson said, opening her large stainless steel fridge door.
That’s better, Alex thought, seeing him sitting on the other side of the room. Space. She needed space. She needed to breathe properly. She could feel her heart slowing down its furious beating back to a normal rate.
She left her satchel on the bar-stall and then took her jacket off. Mrs. Thompson handed her a glass of Ribena.
“Thanks,” she said, taking the cool glass in her hands. “How come Jay’s staying here?” she asked, taking a sip.
Mrs. Thompson glanced up with raised brows. “You know each other, huh?”
“I met him at the hospital. Peter was there with him,” Alex said. “I thought he’s staying at a hotel or something.” She thought he was the type of person who would only stay in a five stars hotel like the Scenic Hotel or the Southern Cross Hotel in town.
“Peter thought Jay needed company and a change,” Mrs. Thompson said as she took out the roasted pork and vegetables from the oven. She grunted as she carried the heavy, hot tray across the small space and placed it on the chopping block. “Why don’t you set the table, dear?” She started picking out the roasted potatoes, kumara, and carrots and put them into a large serving bowl.
“Sure,” Alex replied, put down her drink on the bench and proceeded to roll up her sleeves. “Smells delicious,” she said. Then she shook her hair and tucked the strands behind her ear so that they were out of her face. “Where are the plates?”
“Behind you,” Mrs. Thompson said without looking up from her pork.
Alex nodded and turned. “Shoot!” she gasped as she felt a hard body against her.
Jayden caught her arm with one hand to steady her. He placed the now empty mug onto the bench-top as he searched her face.
She glanced up and her heart started to beat out of control—again. Oh God, he was touching her. Then she felt something wet about her breasts. She glanced down and saw that her jersey was soaked with a dark stain liquid.
“You all right?” Jay asked in concern, still searching her face, his body way to close for her comfort.
Alex said, her body trembling with excitement and anxiety, “Sorry, I didn’t see you behind me.”
Mrs. Thompson looked up from her pork. “Just an accident. Why don’t you clean up before dinner, Alex?”
Alex turned to smile nervously at Mrs. Thompson. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Excuse me.” Then she squeezed herself between Jay – who didn’t seem to notice that she needed some room and wouldn’t move an inch – and the bench and walked to the door.
After watching her leaving the room, Jay said, “I think she’s upset with me.”
“Oh?” Mrs. Thompson looked at him with raised brows.
She liked doing that, Jayden thought, raising her eyebrows like a judge at her suspects in court, questioning their innocence. Well damn, she was one after all.
“I better go and see how she’s doing since I’m the culprit.” Jay grinned gingerly and left the kitchen.
Mrs. Thompson smiled and went about preparing their dinner, humming to herself.
Peter came down the stairs just then and saw Jay heading toward the bathroom along the corridor. The blonde man swore under his breath and frowned darkly as he marched towards his intended destination.
Peter came into the kitchen and said, “What was that all about?”
Mrs. Thompson looked up at her son. “What?”
Peter shook his head and changed the subject. “Renovation not going too well.”
“Why?” Mrs. Thompson asked.
“They found mould in the bedroom. We have to take down all the walls. Tracy’s not happy.” He sighed.
“Of course she’s not happy,” Mrs. Thompson replied. “They’re pulling down her house.”
Peter watched his mum returning to her work. He thought Tracy, his fiancée, was not very happy at all. They had started doing this house renovation thing for three months now and there seemed to be no progress at all. The bills just kept coming in and piling up but no proper work had been done as yet. What a headache this all was. And to top it all off he missed Tracy dearly, even thought it had only been three weeks since he had last seen her back in Sydney. He was counting down the days when he’d be able to see her again, which was in two weeks time. Then there was the fact that he didn’t really want to bother his parents for too long, crashing in their house while his own was being renovated. He knew they needed space – even though this house was very big and can accommodate an army – and he and Tracy themselves wanted their own space. It was so much better that way.
***
JAYDEN WANDERED ALONG the hallway, cursing himself severely. Jeez he was such a jerk. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he showing so much interest towards Alex? And why did he have to stand so close to her just then?
No wait. Pause right there, hot shoot!
Oh yeah, he knew why. That was because she smelt great, like spring or something. He wasn’t able to help himself because he had wanted to smell her again after she had squeezed past him through the entrance door into the hallway. It wasn’t a strong, perfumery smell like most of the women he knew wore bac
k in New York, but rather a subtle scent – just a hint of lovely floral that had pricked his interest. Just a hint that had made him wanted to inhale more.
He reached the bathroom door, put one hand on the knob, and knocked lightly a couple of times with the other. When he heard no reply, he opened the door slightly and popped his head in.
He saw her busy cleaning herself with some Kleenex. She had her jersey off, which was lying on the floor. She was wearing only her white singlet and her skinny jeans.
Looking from behind he thought she looked slim. He had thought that she looked too thin back at the hospital, he realised otherwise she looked just right for her height.
He cleared his throat.
He received no response. He knew she probably didn’t hear him because she was too busy frowning at her stained singlet. Jay had no doubt that she didn’t like the look of that dark beer stain on the very white fabric. The singlet looked new. Maybe that was why she looked upset.
Then she yanked the material to her nose and sniffed. She made a face as though she was disgusted. Jay guessed she didn’t like the smell of that beer either. Then she started pulling the hem of the singlet from her waist, ready to take it off.
Shoot!
Not wanting to be seen peeking in on her while she was undressing, he said loudly, “Alex, you all right?”
She had gotten half her singlet up to and covered her face when he had said that. Holy Mother of God! He could see the lace of her bra coiling with her singlet and it was going up.
Alex turned round as she yanked the singlet all the way off her body. She blinked once it was off her person.
“Jay!” she gasped.
“Holy shit!” Jay swore under his breath, staring at her, the top half of her body naked. She had nice breasts, he thought in amazement. They were milky white, full and round with light pink nipples.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Alex glanced down and her face went bright red. She quickly covered herself and started mumbling something that Jay couldn’t hear.
Feeling mighty guilty, he started, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“No, no, no. It’s my fault. I didn’t lock the door. But that’s okay coz you’re gay.” The moment she had said that, Alex wanted to die.
‘Where did that come from? You stupid girl! What have you done? You’ve hurt Jay’s tender feeling. You know very well that gay people are very sensitive, not only about this subject, but in everything else as well.’
Jay crocked his head to one side, studying her. He saw that she was staring at the floor, completely mortified. He knew she was feeling very bad about what she had just said to him.
So okay, he was gay. This, he thought, should come useful around her. She was afraid of him, after all, as a real man. But hopefully not when she thought he was gay. So instead of saying sorry to her, shutting the door, and leaving her alone like a real bloke would do, he came into the bathroom and closed the door. In his mind, a little voice shouted at him, ‘you’re going to burn in hell, man’.
How right the little voice inside his head was, Jay thought, as he glanced at her chest, the milky white flesh of her breasts were barely concealed from his preying eyes what with her slender arms and the little material of the wet singlet.
“Hey,” he finally said. “It’s okay.”
Alex looked up at him, her lips slightly downward. “I really didn’t mean that, Jay. I’m sorry. I’m very sorry.”
“Don’t be. I can’t help the way I am,” he said, his gut retching in disgust.
‘You’re damn right, you rascal. You can’t help with the way you are. You’re a male who is about to take advantage of an innocent young woman. Oh yeah, you’re going to hell soon, real soon.’
He came to stand right in front of her. ‘Now then,’ he thought, ‘what does a real gay man do when he encounters such an odd situation? He’d be understanding and he’d give her a hug, like when a girl gives her girlfriend a hug after she found out that her best friend got dumped.’
Jay touched her arms and said very gently, “It’s all right, Alex. I don’t mind you saying that.”
He tried, honest to God, he really did try. But he was just a mere man. He was not a monk. He couldn’t help himself, and so he glanced down at her breasts again.
Shit!
She seemed to be hugging herself harder, as thought she was withdrawing from him because he was touching her. And in doing so, she was squeezing her breasts together. His mind started reeling with sinful images. His mind started picturing what he could do to her, particularly those amazing breasts of hers.
He quickly looked away before his imagination got any wilder. He stared at the wall instead and thought, ‘You rascal, you’re turned on. Shit! You’re turned on. You’re in deep shit.’
‘Think of something to say! Think of a joke! Make a joke!’ he told himself silently.
Nothing.
Alex looked up at him, inches away from her, his warm, large hands touching her bare arms.
“Jay?” she whispered, her eyes large beneath her glasses as she gazed up at him.
“Hmm?” he responded, finally looking down at her face that didn’t seem so plain anymore.
“I’m sorry I hurt your feeling,” she said. “Peter told me. I’m sorry. I should have kept it a secret. I mean not mentioning it to you. But Peter told me and...oh damn...I’m so bad at this. But I was just wondering, so you like men?” she asked.
God, Jay thought, she was so cute trying to apologise. She didn’t even know how to go about this, so she wouldn’t hurt his so-called ‘feeling’ even more. She had gotten her words all mixed up.
As an answer to her question about him being gay, he swallowed and managed to nod.
‘No, you rascal, you know you like women. You know you want women. You know you want this woman standing in front of you, half-naked who thinks you’re gay. My God, how ironic is this?’
“So it’s okay then,” she said quietly.
“What’s okay?” he asked.
“Me being half dressed in front of you,” she said. “I’m shy. But since you’re gay and all, I think it’s okay. I heard people say having a gay friend is really nice, like they’re not, you know... Maybe it’s good to have you as a friend. I think you’re good man, Jay. I think that’s why Peter is helping you out. And like can we not talk about this, you know, to anyone. Can we like keep it a secret?”
Jay wanted to laugh at that. She was drawing all the wrong conclusions about him. She considered herself safe in his presence when she was half-naked? And she thought him to be a good man?
At least, he thought, she had now let her guard down around him. That was a good thing he supposed.
“All right then,” he said. “That’ll fix it.”
“What’ll fix it?” Alex asked, looking up at him.
“I’ll get one of my shirts for you since I’m the one who spilt beer on you,” he said and reluctantly took a few steps back. “And yeah, we’ll keep it a secret.”
“Thanks,” she said, smiling at him. “Can you like hurry cos I’m hungry.”
Jay nodded. “Right,” he said and opened the door. “Back in a sec.”
Alex grinned and Jay closed the door as he left. Alone, she turned and glared accusingly at her old bra. It was the bra’s fault, of course. She couldn’t believe the stupid thing had coiled with her singlet and came off. Gosh, she really needed to buy a new one.
*****
CHAPTER 6
UNDER THE DIMLY lit dining room, Jayden watched Alex from across the table, grinning to himself. The atmosphere was that of a warm family dinner, and he felt at home.
Alex had on his dark grey jersey that he had bought in Queenstown. The jersey was way too big for her person, but she managed to make it look as though it fitted her perfectly, with the sleeves rolled up to her slim forearms. He thought about his ex-girlfriend and how she would freak out at the thought of wearing his jersey, this particular one especially because a) it didn’t hav
e a designer’s label and b) it was not expensive.
“So how’s the house renovation going, Pete?” Alex asked, glancing up from her plate of roasted pork and various veges.
“Not too well,” Peter said. “Did I tell you about that mould?”
Alex shook her head as she popped some pork into her mouth.
“We have to take down the walls. God, more labour cost and more materials needed now,” he mumbled. “And Tracy is not very happy.”
“I’m sure I wouldn’t be happy either,” Alex commented, thinking about the amount of money needed for a house renovation.
“So, Alex,” Mr. Thompson said from across the table, sipping his glass of white wine.
Alex looked over at Dr. Mark Thompson who had only arrived five minutes before dinner. He had been busy at the Dunedin Public Hospital and at the lab. Well, as a head consultant haematologist, he was expected to be busy and he was expected to be called in at any time.
“How’s Dad?” he asked.
“He’s not doing too good,” Alex said, thinking whether to tell Mark that her dad was getting worse day by day, even with the help of his medications.
Jay popped a piece of the roast meat into his mouth and chewed as he listened to their conversation. He wondered what was wrong with Alex’s dad. Was that why she was reluctant to talk about her family back at SAN café?
“He’s still having those fainting spells now and again,” she said.
“I suggest surgery if it gets worse,” Mark said.
“Like wise,” Peter agreed.
Alex could only nod in agreement as she didn’t know what else to say.
Jay really wanted to know what was wrong with her dad, and he thought that asking her right in front of everyone was a bit rude. Besides, she still looked as though she didn’t like talking about her family, especially about her sick dad. He decided then that he’d prey it out of Peter tonight. That decision made, he popped a piece of the roasted sweet potatoes into mouth.