Strings (1 of 2)

Chapter 61 - Trust

"And I still choose you, despite it all." - Me

"I'm going to skip work." Nathan says against my forehead after groaning as he checks the time on his phone.

I push against his stomach with my cast a little, not enough to hurt my wrist, but enough to make him smile. I can feel his lips turn up against my skin.

"You just want to stay and see if Jess and Nick get together." I tease him and we both chuckle.

"It has been 7 episodes. I know they will at some point." He leans back slightly and I look up to his face with a smile. My hair is probably a mess from being in bed all day, but I don't care. He doesn't seem to either.

"Why don't you want to go to work?" I ask softly as I move my right hand to his hand laying across his hip turned towards me. I trace down his long fingers slowly and he intertwines our fingers, his pulse from the base of his thumb thumping against mine.

"I don't want to leave you." He admits, his eyes soft, making my heart flutter in my chest. "Alone, I mean." He adds with a smirk, still trying to hold onto his mysterious bad boy image from when I found him. It's cute.

"Anna's here." I remind him and his eyes flash quickly with annoyance. Not at me, but at the fact that he has no excuse to stay anymore.

An idea pops into my mind again after I suppressed it when I came back up with lunch after greeting Anna.

"Do you want to meet her on your way out?" I ask hesitantly.

Part of me is panicking about the prospect. It's instinct. I spent months trying to keep him separate from my parents and Anna and friends. I'm used to keeping my personal life private, even from those closest to me.

But if I had to start with anyone, Anna would be the one. She isn't going to scrutinize him or be rude.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" He asks, worry clear in his eyes. Does he think she won't accept him?

"She already knows about you. She told me before the concert she has known the whole time. Must have seen you sneak out or something." I joke, but his eyes flash with panic.

"Come on scaredy cat, I'll go with you." I giggle and climb out of the bed, closing the laptop and reaching for his hand. He reluctantly takes it and gets up, slipping on his black shoes and following behind me down the stairs, brushing tangles out of my hair lightly with one hand and the other smoothing out his t-shirt down his stomach. I watch his nervous look in the mirror with amusement. 

It's cute how much he cares about this little greeting. He wouldn't be so weird about it if he didn't care... right?

"Are you sure?" He whispers into my ear as we reach the last step and I look around for her.

"Just a quick hi." I pull his arm forward and we both take a deep breath as we approach Anna by the front door.

She stands with her back to us, vacuuming the rug in front of the front doors.

Okay, Emily, here we go...

"Anna?" I call out and she turns the vacuum off and turns toward me with a smile. Her eyes turn to Nathan beside me and widen in surprise, her lips parting slightly as she looks him over. I feel Nathan tense beside me and I pull him forward.

"Hello, I'm Anna, the housekeeper." She stretches her hand out toward him politely with a small smile.

"Hi." He shakes her hand lightly and lets go, resting his other on my back. "I'm Nathan. Emily's..." He stops, looking to me for help explaining.