Heart of Stone

Morning

Eloise woke with a dull pounding in her head, but most prominently she felt like she'd been hit by a bus. Her entire body ached. She let out a soft groan as she gently tried to stretch and immediately regretted it.

She sat up slowly in bed, brushing her messy hair away from her face. She closed her eyes against the headache settling in and then forced herself out of bed. She found her bag near the closet, thinking Alexander must have brought it in for her. She opened it and changed into one of the outfits she had brought with her. It was a long black and white striped sleeveless dress that hugged her waist. She threw her hair up into a messy bun and then exited the bedroom to find Alexander sitting in the living room again. He wore a simple black t-shirt over black dress pants and black dress shoes. He had some papers spread out before him and he seemed in deep contemplation.

She remembered how she'd ranted to him last night, and then tried to get him in bed with her, although it came to her in a hazy fog, and she felt mildly embarrassed. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously, hesitantly approaching him from behind.

"Are you going to make it a habit to sneak up on me?" His deep voice came.

She nearly jumped and her ears went red, not realizing he knew she was there. Another hazy memory came to her of her hearing him talking and coming out here to find him. She couldn't quite remember what happened, however.

"S-sorry. I didn't want to disturb you." She stuttered.

He glanced over his shoulder at her with a small smirk, his dark eyes dazzling in their playfulness.

"Coffee?" He asked, gesturing to two paper cups on the coffee table next to his papers.

"That would be great." She said with a small smile in return, approaching him.

She sat beside him, and he handed her the coffee cup. She took a sip and sighed in content, the warmth of the liquid feeling like it reached her soul. She nursed her headache with the caffeine as she watched him going over his papers. After several times of him looking over the same few papers, she wondered what it was he was trying to figure out.

"Can I ask what it is you're doing...?" She asked.

"I'm trying to figure out the termination conditions of this contract. I am usually pretty decent at this, and I try to at least look things over myself most of the time but this one's got me a bit lost. It's probably better if I give it to my lawyer to figure out." He explained.

"Well, I could take a look for you. I can read legal documents." She offered.

He looked at her with a bit of surprise, his eyebrow raised. She let out a soft chuckle at the look he gave her.

"I've always done all my own legal paperwork. I don't like to leave things in the hands of other people, so I studied law as a side hobby for a while." She said.

"Law as a side hobby?" He asked with a bit of incredulity in his tone.

Her face tinted pink and she shyly shrugged her shoulders.

"I like to read." She defended.

He shook his head a bit and gestured to the papers. She picked up the two he had been going back and forth between and began reading from the top. Alexander drank his coffee and leaned back against the couch, simply watching her. She became engrossed in the documents for the next few minutes, and he found he enjoyed watching the way her eyebrows scrunched downwards slightly when she was concentrating.

"Okay, so, indemnification means that one party promises to compensate the other for any losses. So basically, like insurance." She explained.

Alexander nodded, realizing she had really been serious when she said she taught herself law. He found himself impressed by her once again. Why hadn't he met her sooner?