House Arrest

2- Good Morning, Sweetheart

The picture is what part of this chapter made me think of. 😊 Enjoy.
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Dom's POV
I slowly turn the knob of the door and push it open.
It's 10 am, and I can't let her sleep forever, despite how badly she may want to.
In front of me, I find a blonde woman almost entirely concealed by the duvet. She's still asleep with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders in addition to the duvet.
Well, I can't just let her stay peacefully asleep, now can I?
I yank open the curtains and open the blinds.
"Good Morning, sweetheart."
I snicker at her messy hair and reluctance to open her eyes. She grabs the pillow and covers her face with it, scowling at me.
"This is house arrest. Technically, i can do what i want as long as i don't kill anyone." she says groggily through the pillow. Obviously, she's not a morning person. Funny, I really thought she was, I suppose I'll be learning who she really is.
I sigh. "Fine. I got food while you were asleep, I guess breakfast is going to wait." I turn away, deciding to eat her food in addition to my own. First come, first served, yeah?
"Wait!"
I turn back around, and she's sitting up now, still looking messy. Her hair is dry now, and falls around her shoulders in curls. My heart skips a beat. She's absolutely gorgeous.
Why do I keep thinking that?!
"What kind of breakfast?" she asks, sounding a bit desperate. Prison food isn't exactly a delicacy, so I understand why her interest is piqued.
"Why, I bet it's food. What did you think it would be?" I say sarcastically. She rolls her eyes at me and throws back the duvet. "You couldn't find it in you to put on the heat? Is that too hard for you, or are you just being mean?" she says as she shoves past me to get to the kitchen.
I genuinely forgot to turn on the heat. Oops. She doesn't have to know that. I'll keep taunting her.
"Just being mean. A woman like you deserves only the best." I say, smirking at my own sarcasm. I find myself to be very funny, though I doubt she does.
She sighs and shakes her head at me. I can't tell if she's irritated or not.
There is breakfast sitting on the table, and she sits down in front of it.
"I hope you don't have bad allergies or anything." I say, sitting down across from her. I really don't want to have to do CPR on day one or have to call an ambulance.
She shakes her head and puts a large amount of food on her plate.
Being the idiotic person I am, I speak the first words that come to mind. My social skills are the worst.
"Nice. I'm glad that you're not the kind of person to eat a tiny amount of food to be thin." I comment, and she stares at me with a mouth full of food, her fork still in her mouth.
I just made a very sexist comment. Sometimes, I am the exact stereotype everyone strives not to be.
I blush under her disapproving gaze and look back down at my own food.
I don't expect her to respond with anything other than a lecture, but she surprises me.
"Thank you. I'm glad you're not the kind of person to assume that a woman has to eat just a little or she won't keep her skinny little figure. Good thing I'm not skinny." she says, giving me a small fraction of a smile. I realize she was being sarcastic and I mentally kick myself.
Another long silence settles in, just like it did last night.
I decide to switch between watching her and eating my own food.
She finishes her plate, and then sets her fork down.
She looks up at me and meets my eyes.
"What exactly are we expected to do all day? Are you just going to be weird and stare at me?" she asks, and I bite my lip. I didn't realize she noticed my stare.
I try to recover as quickly as possible.
"Well... you're technically being punished. So... you're not allowed to do anything you would enjoy." I say, looking her in the eye. This is like trying to discipline a child who resists any kind of punishment.
I try to relax under her intense stare.
Jeanine smirks at me, and I feel genuinely afraid of what she's going to say next. She's very unpredictable in a casual setting, it seems.
"Got any board games? I mean, for you, of course. I never really... enjoyed... them that much." She says, the smirk never leaving her face. I cannot believe this woman right now.
Of course she already found a way around the rules. Why am I even the slightest bit surprised?
I sigh.
"Well... I don't have any, but... I could smuggle in some cards. Of course, that would mean I have to leave, and leave you to your own devices." I say, not taking my eyes away from hers though I want to break this uncomfortable stare.
She finally breaks the stare as she looks down at her plate again. "It's not as if I can or will fight my way out of here. You may have realised that I'm not an idiot." she says. Idiot? Why would I ever think she was an idiot? She may have made poor choices, but she is far from idiocy.
I take a deep breath. "I realized that. Look... I'll go get those cards. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone. It'll get us both in deep trouble." I tell her, and she nods. "What do you honestly think I'm going to do?" she replies. I think about it- honestly, I can't see her trying to escape. It just doesn't seem probable.
I shrug. "Good point. Look, I'll be back." I say, getting up and pushing my chair in.
She nods, and as I go grab my jacket, I watch her out of the corner of my eye.
I swear, I see what looks like it could be a smile if she tried harder.
"Goodbye, Jeanine." I call as I walk to the door.
"Good day, Dominick."
As soon as I walk back into the apartment, I see Jeanine sitting on the couch, with a notebook in her lap. And a pen. Where she found those, I honestly don't know. I'm clearly a very thorough person, but somehow she's found something I didn't.
She hasn't noticed me yet, and I decide to wield my sarcasm against her again.
"Did you kill any more factions while I was gone?" I ask, and she shakes her head. I'm sure she'll play along.
"Almost, but I couldn't get my guy to call me back." she says with every bit of seriousness in her tone. She doesn't look up from her paper.
I can't help but half smile.
"Unfortunate. I got two decks of cards." I pull the boxes out of my pocket to show her. She finishes whatever she's writing and looks up.
"Oh. To tell you the truth, I never learned how to play anything but solitaire. Even then, I have no skill. If you don't know anything, it seems we'll be required to get some kind of book."
A smirk creeps onto her face. Was this her plan the entire time?
I sigh. "I'm not going out again, and I do know one game. You don't win this time, sorry, Jeanine." I say, sitting down on the floor.
"Sit in front of me." I say, patting the carpet.
She scowls. "You know how uncomfortable the floor is?" she says. She rolls her eyes as she reluctantly sits down on the carpet.
"I do. You'll live. So, I know of one game. It's called slapjack." I say, beginning to deal each of us one card at a time.
As I start explaining and we begin playing, I watch her take in the information like a sponge soaking up water.
She hasn't had this much mental stimulation in a long time, and she is most definitely enjoying it.
It doesn't take her long to to strategize and BEAT ME RUTHLESSLY.
By the end, she holds every single card in her hands, and the floor in front of me is empty.
"How you won that is way beyond me." I say, shaking my head.
She half smiles at me. "It's all about strategy, You have none. You play impulsively." she says, setting down her cards dramatically.
I sniffle as though I'm crying, and look away.
"Cry me a river. I can build you a bridge over it with my cards that I won." She says. I narrow my eyes.
"I would punch you in the face if I didn't have a sliver of respect for you." I say, and she scoffs. "I'd like to see you try."
I do just as she said, and act impulsively.
I pounce on her, and I believe I scared her much more than I thought i would. She stares up at me.
"So you're going to hit me now, then?" she says, smirking at me.
I stare down at her.
For some reason, nothing in me wants to hit her. It was an empty threat.
"No. I'm not."
I try and pull back, but I can't, and now I'm leaning over her.
This scene would no doubt be wildly misinterpreted to any outsider.
Something deep down makes my face go red and I pull back for real this time.
"I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that."
I'm being weak, I know that.
But she has this power over me. Not of manipulation, but I just...
I just maybe have something like feelings for her.
She sits up. "I really thought you were going to hit me, I admit. What stopped you? No one else would have hesitated to hit me so hard I went unconscious." She fixes her hair and looks at me.
My face is still bright red.
"I didn't want to hurt you. It was impulsive of me to randomly tackle you. I feel bad." I say, staring down at my hands.
She hums softly. "You're quite a nice guard. I'm surprised. While you wallow in your shame, I think I'll go to back to my room to find some form of entertainment." She gets up, and with that she's walked out.
I sit on the floor, and scowl at myself.
I wish I wasn't so ridiculous.
Why did I have to have feelings for this woman?