Oh, hell no!

Chapter 4

Chapter 4.
Waking up the next morning Grace felt glad that it was summer break; she only fell asleep in the early morning hours. She decided that she will have a lazy movie day filled with heaps of popcorn and chocolate… mmh … chocolate yes, lots and lots of chocolate. On her way to the kitchen for a much needed cup of coffee, there was a knock on her front door. Sighing she changed her direction and went to open the door. Sure it would just be Anne coming to say hi.

When she opened the door however she nearly slammed it shut again. Jake’s hand shot out before she could close the door.
“Wait!” He said in a loud voice. “I came to apologise for yesterday. I am really sorry; I did not mean to offend you in anyway.” He held his hands up in a gesture to show he did not mean any harm. His eyes roamed her body; he could hardly keep them on her face. Her body were clad in a thin tank top and cotton shorts, nothing revealing, just comfortable. She looked relaxed and easy going. Her body was built perfectly, her head reached his shoulders, her long brown hair in a messy bun on the top of her head small ringlets framed her heart shaped face and her cheeks was tinted in a rosy glow. “Maybe we can start over. My name is Jake Simons and I’m your new next door neighbour.” He said hopeful, stretching out his hand to shake hers. ‘Oh, boy’ Grace thought ‘just what I hoped Jim did not mean.”

“Uhm… yeah, sure.” Grace said after a while, slightly hesitant. After all he could not know how she would react to those words. She decided to take it as him just trying to make friends. Slowly she stretched out her hand to shake his. “Grace Hayward, please to meet you.” Retracting her hand from his large one she gave him a calculating look. She tried to figure out if he really was like she decided yesterday. Maybe she was just a little judgemental and a bit over reacting. Jake had shoved his hands in his jean pockets looking at the floor. His titanium blond hair was in a neat short style, although it looked like he ran his hand through his hair quite often. His black t-shirt moulded to his perfectly sculpted torso. Jake’ strong muscled arms flexed when he jerked up his head as if a thought hit him from nowhere.
“Want to go grab a coffee?” he questioned, just as she said: “I’m making coffee, want some?”

They both started laughing and just like that the awkwardness between them where broken. Grace opened the door wider to let Jake in. Jake followed behind her closing the door silently.
“So, how do you take your coffee?” Grace broke the peaceful silence surrounding them, glancing back at him.
“Black, two sugars please.” Jake said, following her to the kitchen.
Silence filled the air again as she busied herself with making coffee. They both busy with their own thoughts. Jake stood with his back against the counter and his arms folded over his chest, stealing glances at Grace now and again. Anne told him to come and make amends with her best friend or she won’t give him anymore food and he had to fend for himself. He just could not stand thinking about all the delicious meals he would be missing out on and he did want to get to know Grace better. He searched for too long to let this opportunity slip away that easy, but how to let her know he knew who she was from once before. He recognised her instantly when she opened the door yesterday. He hoped that the three words he said to her yesterday would make her remember him as well and what happened that night almost 7 years ago. He desperately wanted to know why she left without saying anything. He finally found her. The girl he dreamt about every night.

“So, tell me about yourself.” Grace said as she gave Jake his coffee, she then led them to the living room. Grace sat on the sofa with her legs pulled under her, nestled in the corner facing Jake. Jake took the seat next to her, turning his body slightly to look at grace when he spoke.
“Let’s see. I’m twenty six. My birthday is on the fourteenth of September. Just move here yesterday. My older brother is Jim, but that you know already. It’s just the two of us. My parents died in a car crash about ten years ago and Jim took care of me until I finished college and started my own business. Now Jim works for me as my head of construction. We build Houses and apartment buildings like this one. In fact this one is mine and my own design.” He said with a proud smirk. “Enough about me for now. It’s your turn.”
Grace looked at him over the rim of her cup. Something felt so familiar about Jake, but she did not know what. Maybe they can be good friends after all. There were no sign of the egotistical Jerk from yesterday and he seemed sincere with his apology earlier.
“Twenty three. My birthday is in two weeks making it the twenty-second June. Moved here after college, making me your tenant for two years.” She joked, giving him a small smile. “Only child. Parents still alive and lives a few towns over. I’m a teacher at the kindergarten your niece and nephew goes to. It’s all I ever wanted to do, teach or work with small children.” She continued. Grace would love to someday have children of her own, but first she would have to find love she thought silently. “Why did I not know you are the owner of this building?” She looked at Jake questioningly.
“I bought the land four years ago under the company name. Jim and Anne knew, but I asked them to never tell any tenant they knew the real owner. That’s why I hired a landlord so the tenants did not need to bother me about the property faults. I use to live in the next state anyway so it was just easier, but now that we decided to expand the company I’ll be living right next to you and Jim will finally be home a lot more. He missed his family a lot, you know?” said Jake, he felt really bad for his brother that had to work away from his family. At least now he could fix it. His family meant a lot to him, in worldly possessions he could have whatever he wanted, but love and family you can never buy.
“Yeah, they are a very close family. I wish I had that, but maybe someday, who knows?” Grace said with a longing in her voice. Their conversation was cut short with a knock on the door. Grace reluctantly stood up. She liked the relaxed atmosphere between her and Jake. She could not believe that he was the same guy she met yesterday. Not once did he make any advances to her so far. In the back of her mind she knew she would not really mind if he did though.

Grace opened the door just to find someone she never wanted to see again.
“What are you doing her, Darren?” She said in an unfriendly and irritated voice. The last time she saw him was almost a year ago at her cousins wedding, he still had not apologized for what he did to her. After six years she at least expected him to say sorry for giving her the wrong impression, but instead he tried to get with her at the wedding. She was livid, the naivety of this jerk she thought she loved at the tender age of sixteen. She knew he was not to blame for her actions after the fiasco at the park, but in a way she felt that if he did not use her she would not have lost her virginity to a unknown stranger. She felt repulsed to think that he could ever think she would make the mistake ok falling for him again. Jake heard the tone of Graces voice and stood up to see what is wrong, not even after the way he treated her yesterday did she sound so hateful.
“Ahh, come on babe don’t be like that.” Darren said as he tried to move closer to Grace, but he stopped the moment he saw Jake appear behind Grace. Grace felt the warmth of Jake’s presence and made a mental note to thank him later. Jake saw how uncomfortable the situation was and decided to try and help Grace. After yesterday he felt he owed her something to make up for his stupidity. He should have known she would not remember the guy she said those words to and he sure did not know how many times she used it before or after.

Jake slipped his hand around Grace’s back and pulls her closer. “Hi, Jake and you are?” He smiled seeing the surprised impression on Darren’s face. Jake hoped that Grace would not be mad at him for this, but he wanted to show this guy that Grace was and never will be his ‘babe’. He slowly turned his head to grace and bend his head to whisper in her ear. “Just go with it and he will leave soon.” To Darren it looked as if Jake gave Grace a tender kiss on her ear as to mark his territory. Grace felt week in the knees with this small gesture and slightly nodded her head once, giving Jake permission to take the lead. If he ever whispered in her ear like that again, she might just follow him to the end of the earth, she thought. A memory tugged at her subconscious, but she did not know why. “Come in man.” Jake said to Darren and moved for him to enter.
“Oh, hell no!” Grace yelped in shock. Jake just gave her a reassuring smile, nudging her to go to the living room.
He had a plan and he needed her to work with him, so he took her hand and softly whispered in her ear again. “Trust me.” An electric ripple started to run from Grace’s ear all the way to her stomach, leaving small butterflies flattering.