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Chapter One
Gia entered the cottage, closing the door behind her quietly trying not to add
any more fuel to the headache starting to rage at her temples. Yikes, what
a day! Three interviews, one very late cosmetics counter manager, an even
later bus home and a storm brewing outside. She figured she was lucky she
didn’t get herself and her patent leather shoes caught in the storm and
chalked that up as the only good part of her day. No Jag in the driveway
meant Nikolas was either working late or, more likely than not, hanging out with
Lucky and/or Liz and/or Emily at Kelly’s or some such place. Well, good,
she could use a nice long bath and the claw-footed tub in the master bath had
been whispering her name seductively, in her ear, for at least the last five
stops on the bus.
She slipped out of the aforementioned shoes, dropped her purse on the closet
doorknob and shrugged out of her coat almost in one motion and padded up the
stairs in stocking feet. She entered her bedroom already unzipping her
skirt and began to shed her clothing as quickly as she would’ve liked her mind
to shed all the employment rejections of the past week. Grabbing a towel
from the stack in the basket at the foot of her bed as she went she shook out
her hair, her trade-mark braids swinging free and the thought of her body
finally immersed in warm, scented water already working wonders on her headache.
She turned out in the hallway and entered the master-bedroom but the faint noise
from the master bath brought her up short just steps from the open door.
She wrapped the towel around her instinctively and stood still waiting to
determine what, if anything, she’d heard. There it was again, a splash?
Gia tip-toed to the bathroom door and peeked inside. What the hell?
There in what should’ve been her own warm, scented water was Nikolas.
The mild curse never made it out of her lips as her initial annoyance was
replaced by something else, curiosity. He didn’t know she was there,
that was obvious and was looking quite content really, leaning back in the old
tub, the bathroom lights on dim and his eyes closed.
“Go back to your room, Gia,” she told herself, silently but instead she
found herself leaning her head a little to the side for a better view.
She’d just look a minute, no more, what’s the harm? She watched as he
shifted a little setting the dim light to play across his damp chest, the
smattering of dark hair glistening with water, the muscles tensed slightly as he
supported himself with his arms draped on either side of the tub.
The olive skin of his arms was stark against the white porcelain and she watched
almost mesmerized as his long fingers beat out a rhythm on the edge. Was
he singing to himself? She smiled at the thought and wondered if he would
suddenly break into a rousing version of “That’s Amore”, an old Greek folk
song or some other embarrassing tune. She was grateful for the silly
thought as it broke whatever strange spell had gotten hold of her and she almost
giggled aloud as she turned back toward her own room.
“Gia,” she heard Nikolas call out. “Is that you?”
She took a few quick steps to her door, (how in God’s name did he hear her?)
and answered as though just from inside her room.
“Yes, it’s me. Just got home.”
“I thought you were meeting your brother for dinner.” He called out
and she heard the drain as he let the water out of the tub.
“He was called away to the station so I just headed home after my last
appointment,” she answered spinning about her room looking for a pair of
shorts and a tee-shirt to throw on quickly. “Where’s the Jag? I
didn’t see it in the driveway, I figured you weren’t home yet.”
No answer. Dressed now, she walked out into the hall and stood outside the
master-bedroom door. Nikolas moved to stand just in the doorway, rubbing a
towel over his wet head and, to her dismay, dressed only in his pants.
“Hi,” he said, in belated greeting. “The Jag, my dear house-mate, is
spending the night with the other man in her life – the mechanic. You
know the old saying about Jaguars; you should always buy them in pairs because
one is invariably in the garage, up on blocks.”
Gia smiled absently and silently admonished herself for staring at his chest.
What’s come over me? She thought, I’m acting like a giddy groupie or
something.
“So, what’s for dinner, roomie?” she asked making sure to keep her eyes on
his face.
“I haven’t looked in the refrigerator in days, it seems,” he answered.
“How about I call for pizza; I’ll just throw a shirt on and call from up
here. You pick the movie. If you’re up to it,” he added a little
unsure suddenly since she’d made no move to agree.
“Yeah, ok. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Gia went back to the main floor and settled in front of the low cabinet lining
one of the walls of the living room. She looked at the selection of tapes
and rejected each one as quickly as she could read the titles. Action,
comedy, very tasteful European art films (“Who watches this stuff?” she
thought) and finally settled on the only thing she could stomach that night.
Her thoughts drifted back up to the recent scene outside Nikolas’ bedroom.
It wasn’t as though she had been oblivious to his good looks prior to this
night, but somehow it had escaped her how really attractive he was, how, well,
sexy.
The deep voice near her ear startled her. “Casablanca,” Nikolas said.
“Can’t go wrong with ‘Casablanca’”.
“My thoughts, exactly. Especially after the day I had.”
“No luck on the job hunt?”
Gia sat on the sofa and handed the movie to Nikolas. “Not today, anyway.
The guy I interviewed with at Wyndham’s liked me, I think, and will probably
offer me the job at the cosmetics counter but I’m not going to take it.”
She paused unsure how to go on without revealing too much or giving the wrong
impression. “I just can’t see myself doing that for any length
of time, you know. I know I need the money but I have to be doing
something I can like, otherwise I won’t last, I know that.”
Nikolas studied her for a moment then turned to insert the tape into the VCR.
When he turned back to her, she was surprised by the serious look on his face.
He sat next to her on the sofa, leaned in a little and scanned her face as he
spoke.
“Look, Gia, we’re ok for now. I still have enough money to carry this
place for a while and as much as I’d like to see some, ahem, contribution from
your side,” he paused and gave her a mischievous smile, “ I’ve learned how
important it is to find a job one likes doing So take advantage, it’s
all right. Keep looking, and you’ll find something you love and then
it’ll all be worth it. Ok?”
“Ok. Thank you, you’re very generous,” she replied and rewarded his
kind words further with a sunny smile. He didn’t think she was a spoiled
brat, that was a blessing. She’d gotten off on the wrong foot with a lot
of people in this town including Nikolas. The remorse she felt for her
part in people’s impression of her was still hers to keep, she felt; it was
her way and how she coped with things but Nikolas didn’t question her good
intentions. He knew, though she could never say how, that she wasn’t an
opportunist.
Nikolas watched her smile fade and could see her thoughts were carrying her far
away again. He fiddled with the remote control and debated whether he
should continue pressing her for details of her day when the doorbell rang.
“There’s the pizza,” Nikolas said, tossing Gia the remote. “Go
ahead, start the movie, I’ll be right back.”
Gia watched as this unusual man, her house-mate, answered the door, greeted the
delivery man as though he were a long lost friend, over-tipped him guilelessly
and proceeded to serve her a fat slice of pizza on a bone china plate probably
hundreds of years old and edged with 24ct. gold. He got his food and sat
down and she turned her attention to Peter Lorie on the tv screen, thinking,
perhaps, just perhaps, there was still a prince or two lurking about in upstate
New York in the year 2000. Amused, she took a bite and sank deep into the
sofa’s soft pillows at ease in the company of one of those unlikely creatures.
Chapter 2
Rubber
Ducky Main
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