No Time

Chapter 23

I have to admit, I was mildly disappointed when morning came and I still hadn't fallen asleep, I had hoped that somehow Jasper's presence would magically help me sleep. Although my presence seemed to help Jasper I noticed, glancing over to the bed where Jasper was sleeping like a baby.

I myself slipped out of his grasp an hour or two after he had fallen asleep. I found that boredom trumped comfort and ended up spending my night reading one of Jasper's books that he kept on his bookshelf.

At 7 o'clock I decided it was time for Jasper to wake up and jumped onto the bed next to him. When he didn't wake up right away I proceeded to lean over so I was close to his ear and started making animal noises.

He immediately shot up, knocking the side of his head into my face.

"Bloody hell!" I exclaimed grabbing my nose, which was now throbbing.

"What do you mean 'bloody hell?' you're the one making animal sounds in my ear!" Jasper huffed.

I opened my mouth to fuel the argument, but instead of scolding him I began to laugh uncontrollably, falling over on the bed.

Jasper looked at me with a confused expression on his face for a split second before he began laughing too.

I soon realized that I loved his laugh, not his fake one that I've often heard when he was talking to some other businessman or photographer, but his real, genuine laugh that made his eyes tear up and made him smile so big that he had to lift his eyebrows to keep his eyes open.

After our laughter died down we simply laid there for a second, just staring at the ceiling and enjoying the peace before we came to the unanimous decision to get up and head downstairs.

Un-suprisinly, Alex was no where to be seen and the only person in the kitchen was Harold who was making eggs and pancakes for breakfast.

"Morning Harold," Jasper greeted, sitting down at the counter.

"Morning Sir."

I quickly sat down next to Jasper and thankfully Harold soon set two heaping plates of food in front of us just as my stomach started to rumple.

"Harold, you are a magnificent angle," I blurted as I ate my food, pointing my fork at him with a serious look on my face.

"Thank you Miss," Harold chuckled before taking his leave.

"Whatever you're paying him you need to double, because this food is brilliant!" I moaned.

"Don't worry Clara, I pay my staff very well," Jasper assured me.

"Lets play a game," I grinned, turning in my seat to face him.

"A game?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well it's really just asking each other questions, but that's besides the point," I explained with a wave of my hand.

"Okayyy," he drew out, a skeptical look on his face.

"Favorite color?" I asked leaning forward to put my hands on my knees.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"How do you not know?!" I gasped. "That's it you're picking a favorite color right now."

He let out a sigh, furrowing his eyebrows in thought, suddenly his eyes caught mine and for a brief moment I could have swore I stopped breathing.

"Blue," he blurted, breaking eye contact to take a sip of water. "Yours?"

"Purple," I stated. "Where did you grow up?"

"I grew up in a large house on the New York countryside, right next to a lake."

"Really?" I questioned, "I pegged you as more of a city for life kind of guy."

"I do like the city, but I find myself missing the country quite often actually, I miss the dogs and horses I guess."

"You have dogs and horses!?" I gasped.

"Yes," he chuckled. "Now what about you, what was it like growing up in England?"

"Definitely not as posh as people think it is," I smirked. "My family was more in the middle class so we were able to indulge, but not too much because my parents were very careful with our money and preferred to save so that we would have money in the future if we needed it. We lived in a simple four bedroom house with our dog, and there's really not much more to it. I lived a pretty normal life until I began speeding up my education and developed insomnia of course."

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't simply born into money," Jasper sighed. "I've always wondered what it's like to have a normal life, and live in a normal house,  now I'm afraid I've grown to used to this lifestyle to change it now."

"Honestly, as a child I probably would have preferred to have your house," I laughed.

"No you would't have," he interjected. "Not when the house was filled to brim with lingering expectations held over your head by your father."

Suddenly feeing the urge to comfort Jasper, I gently placed my hand on his knee to which he responded by placing his hand on top of mine and once again looking into my eyes, making my breath hitch.

"If you don't mind my asking, where was your mother? I haven't heard you mention her once, and she wasn't with your father at the gala."

"She died," he stated sadly. "A long time ago."

"Oh Jasper," I cooed, surprising both of us by sliding off my stool and embracing him. "I'm sorry I asked."

"It's fine," he mumbled. "I have to deal with that question a lot."

"Let's do something fun!" I perked up, trying to lighten the mood.

"Like what?" he questioned.

"Well, it's nearly December, and I start filming my new movie tomorrow, so let's just relax and watch a movie," I suggested.

"I suppose I could save my work till tomorrow," he agreed nodding his head.

"I'll meet you in the movie room, I'm going to put on warmer clothes," I said before getting off my chair and bolting up to my room.

I threw on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt before pulling on a pair of fuzzy socks and grabbing the big fuzzy blanket on my bed and running back downstairs.

"What movie did you pick?" I asked when I walked into the movie room and saw him fiddling with the remote.

"You'll have to wait and see," he smirked, scooting over so I could come sit next to him.

As soon as I sat down Jasper took my blanket with a smirk and wrapped it around himself.

"Hey that's mine!" I whined, trying to pull it from him.

"Fine," he smirked rolling his eyes before putting his arm around me so we were both wrapped in the blanket.

"Not what I had in mind, but I suppose this could work too," I shrugged, trying to conceal my confusion as to why he suddenly decided to cuddle me.

Then I realized he had started the movie and I automatically cringed when I heard my voice coming through the speakers.

"Why did you have to choose a movie with me in it?" I sighed when I realized he had put on that cheesy Christmas romance movie I was in two years ago.

"I want to see if you live up to your name," he smirked.

"Oh god this is going to be terrible," I groaned shifting so I could easily hide my face in his chest whenever I came onto the screen.