STAY

Forty Six

I was standing at the kitchen counter in a beautiful blue silk robe, Jared was kissing me passionately. Suddenly there was another person there  .....
*
I jolted awake with a start, what kind of a dream was that?! I was breathing fast, my heart thumping. "What's wrong?" said a sleepy voice, Jared. "I was having the weirdest dream" I said shaking my head, rubbing my eyes. "What about?" he asked yawning. "Ah, I can't remember exactly .... it was just jumbled up images, I don't know" I said shaking my head. I was not about to tell him my dream! He'd think I was attracted to his brother, that was a no no. I got up slowly and made my way to the bathroom. Frustratingly, everything felt like it took forever. I brushed my teeth and stared at my reflection. Ugh I looked awful, I still had some bruises on my jaw and there was bruises where there had been IV cannulas in my neck. I turned away, not wanting to look anymore. I walked back into the bedroom to find Jared had gone, I lay down again, wondering where he'd got to. My eyes closed I exhaled at the effort of moving around. The door opened again and a moment later the bed moved. I let out an involuntary little gasp as I felt Jared's hand on my stomach, his lips kissing my bare shoulder. "How are you feeling?" he murmured. My heart started to race and I felt butterflies in my stomach, I exhaled quietly opening my eyes. "I'm okay, I'm a little sore, but it's not as bad today" I said. I felt his fingers trail circles on my skin, causing me to shiver. "That's good, we can drive down to your place and see if that helps jog your memory" he said in a sexy, sleepy voice. His lips still on my shoulder, continued placing soft little kisses. "How far is it? I don't know if I can sit in the car for too long ..." I said, trying to suppress the gasps as his fingers moved higher up on my belly. "Ah, it's about 45 minutes, depending on the traffic" he said, his hand finally stopped moving. He rested it just under my breasts. I nodded. "We can stay there tonight if you'd like" he said softly. I turned to look at him. Even with messy bed hair, sleepy eyes, he was very attractive. I stared at him for a minute, until he raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?" he said. "I think ... I don't mind, I guess it's my house, I probably should ... right?" I said shrugging, immediately regretting the action. "Ouch, my shoulder ..." I groaned. He leaned his head over me kissing the shoulder blade on the opposite side. His long fluffy hair, falling across my breasts. I felt his thumb gently caressing the skin beneath my breasts, "you know you have a tattoo here" he said lifting his head, I had glimpsed it in the mirror but kept forgetting to ask about it. "Oh, yeah, I wanted to ask, but I keep forgetting" I said. He slid my singlet up, so it was covering my breasts, my stomach exposed. "The bruises are looking better" he said, planting a kiss on my sternum. "Tattoo?" I prompted. He ran his fingers over the writing, causing goosebumps to erupt in my skin, "Oh yeah, well, it's a quote, from your favorite book, Pride and ... Prejudice, the main guy is an asshole but falls for the girl who's sassy but poor. He tells her he loves her, most ardently" he finished nodding. "Oh, sweet ... who's it's written by?" I said curiously. "Uh, hmm, Jane, that's it, Jane Austen" he said nodding, pleased with himself. I nodded biting my lip. "It's okay, you'll remember everything eventually" he said with a smile. I nodded, feeling despondent all the same. "Do you want to have a shower?" he asked. My eyes widened, I needed to, but how? It was going to be tricky, trying to keep my cast dry and wash, shit! Jamie had been helping me while I was in hospital. But when she had messaged me earlier, to see how I was, she mentioned that she was presently on a marathon date with a guy. When I asked what does that even mean? She wrote back, we went on a date and we've been in bed all night and morning. So she was not going to be helping me anytime soon. "Ah, yeah, I want to ..." I said slowly. "I'll get everything ready, then leave you" he offered. I nodded, "okay, sure" I said. He sat up and grabbed two bottles off his bedside table, "here you go" he said passing me one. It was apple juice, I looked at his, "thank you, what is that?" I asked him. "Kombucha, you hate it" he said taking a swig. "Maybe I don't, maybe you're just saying that so you don't have to share" I said grinning. "Here, have some, you'll see" he laughed, passing it to me. I took a small sip and grimaced, "ugh, it's disgusting" I groaned. "I told you" he laughed, "okay okay, I believe you" I said. "Come on, lets get moving, your parents are coming to see you at precisely 11.00 am, according to your father" he said, trying to hide his eye roll. I frowned, "They make me ... nervous" I admitted. "Yeah me too, your dad especially, he always looks like he wants to ask me my intentions" he said grinning. "Have you met him before?" I asked curiously, he nodded. "Yes, once before, we both had lunch with him in New York, it was interesting" he said, "interesting, how?" I said. "You got a little intoxicated and you were being a smart ass and he kept treating you like a badly behaved teenager" he explained. I nodded thoughtfully, "I learnt a lot about you that day. I learnt a lot about you when they came here after the accident" he said thoughtfully, moving closer to me. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You're nothing like them" he said simply, he was mere inches from my face. He leaned in kissing me softly, as he pulled back I bit my lip. "We should ... get up" I said dazed. He nodded, "come on then". He had adjusted the shower, the water was warm and the shower head was low. He carefully put my hair up in a bun. Then he wrapped my arm in plastic, just like they had done in the hospital. He put the washcloth and body wash on the ledge and hung a towel up nearby. "Do you want help getting undressed?" he asked. I shook my head, "I should be okay, thank you" I said. "I'll be nearby, call out if you need me" he said as he walked out. I undressed, slowly and awkwardly, trying not to fall over! Then I stood under the warm water, sighing at how soothing it felt. I started to wash, it was difficult. Pouring body wash onto the cloth then putting it down and trying to wash then rinsing. Just as I was finishing and had turned off the taps, my elbow knocked the bottle of body wash, it flew off landing with a thud onto the tiles exploding everywhere. "Are you fucking kidding me!!" I groaned, it had splashed all over my legs. I almost started to cry. "What's wrong?" I heard him call, "I just dropped something, I'm okay" I said quickly. But there was wash everywhere, I was afraid of slipping over. "Uh, I think I might need you" I said reluctantly. "I'm coming in, okay?" he said. "Wait one moment!" I called back. I shuffled back against the tiles, then I grabbed the towel and covered my front. "Okay, you can come in" I said. He opened the door peering in, "oh boy, you really made a mess" he grinned. "I knocked it, I couldn't help it" I said quickly. "I'm kidding, it's fine, let's get you cleaned up" he said. He worked quickly, bending down and rinsing my legs off. An image suddenly flashed in my head, of him, down on his knees, kissing my stomach and .... I gasped in surprise. My arm fell and squeezed his shoulder. "Gigi, What's wrong?" he said looking up. "Images in my head, of this, you ... I was wearing a robe ..." I stammered, confused, I was trying to keep the towel in place. He stood up quickly, taking hold of it and wrapping it around me. "Was it blue, with colorful flowers, you were naked, we were in the kitchen, I was on my knees, in front of you" he ventured. "How do you know that?" I asked in a whisper. "You're remembering things, those are memories" he said excitedly. My eyes widened, I was remembering things?! Then I remembered the dream, was that a memory as well? What was his brother doing there? "Gigi, answer me?" his voice broke into my rapid thoughts. "What? Sorry, what?" I said shaking my head. "I asked if you had seen anything else?" he said. I nodded slowly, "was my brother there?" he asked, my mouth dropped open and I nodded once again. He grinned, "well, this is great" he said, "wait, wait, what do you mean? Why was he ..." I couldn't finish the question. "I think that's a conversation for another day, but let's just say ... we were all very, close" he said shrugging, I remembered Jamie had said that, the day I had woken up! I was stunned, I shook my head and finally spoke again. "Do we still ...?" I asked, barely a whisper, "no, no, no, absolutely not. It's just you and me" he said kissing me firmly, his hand cupping my cheek and running it down my neck. I nodded a little confused, but I decided I wasn't ready for any more surprises. "Let's get you out of here and dressed, you'll get cold" he said. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me out of the bathroom, carefully putting me down onto the bed. "Now, what would you like to wear?" he said, I shrugged, "I don't know, you know me better than I do at the moment, what do you think?" I answered with a wry smile. "True, okay I'll choose" he grinned. He picked out a pale pink tee and some jeans. I nodded in agreement. "Stand up" he said quietly. He took the towel and ran it around me making sure I was dry. "I'm taking it away, so I can get you dressed, okay?" he said, I nodded. He took it away and bent down, looking away slightly, trying to put me at ease, talking casually as he put my panties on, sliding them up, then slipping on my bra. He continued chatting, "let's leave your hair in the bun, keep it out of your pretty face" he said, I nodded in agreement. As he hooked it up and straightened the straps, he trailed a few small kisses across my shoulder. I closed my eyes, exhaling softly. Suddenly it all felt natural, not awkward at all. I had to admit, it was pleasant, was he always this attentive I wondered. "Thank you" I said, he nodded, "you're welcome", "do you think they'll stay long?" I asked him as he helped me with my jeans and tee. "I don't know, your father is always working so I doubt he'll have too much time" he said, clearly unimpressed. I nodded. I wish I could remember what they were like, at the moment I really couldn't warm to them. "Lie down while I get dressed" he said. I watched him as he wandered around in his jockeys, opening drawers, grabbing pants and a tee. I glanced down as he turned and had to stop myself from staring, he obviously had a very decent sized .... package. I had been with that, I mean him? I exhaled quietly, quickly looking away before he saw me. I smiled as he pulled on a beautiful floral pair of pants, they were so pretty. And a pink tee shirt, with writing on it, something about a love letter. "This is your favorite outfit" he said catching my look. "I'm not surprised, I love the colors, they're beautiful" I said. "You steal this and wear it sometimes" he said pulling at the tee. I wowed at that, "I love it" I said. He ran his hands through his hair and shook it out, much like a lion shaking his mane. "Okay, lets go face the music" he said grinning. He held out his hand and I took it gratefully, standing up and letting him lead me downstairs. "Is there anyone here today?" I asked him as we walked down. "Uh, I don't know, probably, there's always someone here, working on something. Emma is here a lot, then she brings anyone she needs in" he said. I nodded. I realized I didn't really care, as long as he was around I was happy.