BLISSFUL ENCOUNTER [Jenlisa FF]

Part 20

When a noise sounding a lot like someone ringing the bell at his front door came floating to Nadech's ears, he didn't open his eyes. Groaning instead, he reached for the pillow next to him and pulled it over his head, hoping to block out the ringing noise that went from his ears straight to his head, almost splitting it in two, reminding him once again why downing two whole bottles of Scotch last night had been a bad thing for a guy at his age.

But self-pity, loneliness, and a dose of good old despair thrown into the mix had made him forget all about his almost forty-year-old body, and the way it wouldn't take it too kindly when fed with an unusual amount of alcohol. Something he would pay for dearly the whole morning, he guessed.

He'd been out for the better part of yesterday, trying to research stuff for the book he was planning to write for ages, but never had found time for. Now with the mess Diana Flipo had made of his career, he finally had the time, although it was still highly unlikely any publisher would be interested in a book by someone who'd been accused of sexually harassing one of his students. But with nothing better to do, researching a book had still looked better than just staring into space the whole day, and so he'd gone off to the college library, a place still open to him, even though he was suspended otherwise.

And it had helped taking his mind off his current problems and stopped him from thinking about the progress Yaya's sister would make or make not. The whole thing was driving him crazy the way it was. So, he'd actually managed to do something for the book that might never be published after all and returned to his home hoping to find something on his answering machine from Lalisa, telling him about his progress. But all that had been waiting for him was a call from Yaya canceling their date because of an emergency with a friend, and no news from her sister.

Thoroughly frustrated with the day, Nadech had finally succumbed to those two bottles of Scotch, the results he could now feel in a pounding headache and a stomach that had long gone from queasy to openly revolting, clearly protesting against the mistreatment of the previous night.

The ringing came again, longer this time, and with a frustrated groan, Nadech threw the pillow away, struggled to sit up on his bed without having his head split in two by the blinding pain that shot through his skull. Realising he was still fully dressed, all his clothes wrinkled to a point where it almost looked fashionable again, he finally managed to stand, glad the world wasn't spinning around him, even though his stomach protested against the sudden change of direction and squeezed dangerously.

Fighting down the nausea, Nadech found his way towards his door, then tore it open, determined to shout at whoever was daring to disturb his Saturday morning, but the words died on his lips when he saw Yaya standing in front of him, her chestnut hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing old, faded jeans, a red turtleneck and the barest hint of makeup. His stomach did a funny little flip-flop that had nothing to do with too much Scotch and a lot with his hormones that seemed to have gone wild lately. "Yaya?" He stared at her, unable to tear his gaze from her beautiful brown eyes.

She stared right back at him, probably assessing the situation, taking in his rumpled appearance, the yellowish color Nadech knew his face must show. "Uh-oh," she made, not waiting for him to invite her, just pushing past and entering his house as if it was her own, something that sent another little flip-flop through his system. It was a nice idea thinking of his house as theirs. "You smell like the next low-life bar after midnight," she commented, finding her way into the kitchen, and Nadech had no problem detecting the disapproval in her voice.

Absentmindedly closing the door, he turned, following her and finding her at the sink deposing the contents of a paper bag he'd not seen her carrying before. He couldn't exactly make out what she'd brought with her, but glimpses of red and green led him to believe it was vegetables.