Novaletti Factor

Chapter 6~

Love Taps

Elise~

"...Thought you were taking me home." I should have known better. I looked away from Micah's house as he turned his car off and scowled at him. I was still half drunk from all of the drinks Audrey had made me and in the end I hadn't even gotten to tell her about this man. None of them had given me a choice when he offered to drive me home. I'd objected...because I knew home was not where I was going. "I have to work in the morning. I can't stay here."

Micah just looked over at me...I wasn't going anywhere. And it was annoying. "Whatever." I mummbled and rolled my eyes before looking away, out the window to glare at his well maintained yard. I wanted to close my eyes and fall asleep. The last time I'd been drunk was months ago with Gabby.

The moody male got out of the car and came around to my side. "Come on...time to sober up." He announced when the door was open and he was pulling me from the car. God, it sounded so much like a threat. What was he going to do? Not let me come again?

I pulled my hand from his and crossed my arms as we made it to the front door. Not a thing was out of place. Though beautiful, the house looked like it wasn't lived in. Ms. Marks certainly did her job. The closer we got to the kitchen, the louder the sound of a vacuum cleaner whirring became. I knew, from previous exploration of the house, that only one room had carpet down here...had he used his playground recently?

I didn't like the way that thought made me feel. "Sit down." Micah went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. The last thing I wanted was to be treated like a child...and I only took a seat at the table because the room was threatening to spin and I felt nauseas. The water was put in front of me and before I could come up with some hot retort, his cell phone started ringing and he left the room.

Slowly, I sipped on the water and the vacuum cleaner wasn't helping the headache that was creeping. Thankfully, it stopped and the house was too quiet all of a sudden. I was halfway through the water bottle when Ms. Marks appeared from that hidden hallway. Surprise broke out on her wrinkling face and she smiled. "Miss Connolly...Good evening. How are you?" She stopped a few feet from the table and intertwined her fingers in front of her.

"I'm good, thanks...Hey, is he always so cranky?"

The question had her laughing softly. "Mr. Novaletti? Never." Something flashed in her eyes that convinced me she'd seen him cranky before...not with her but with someone else. A lover? She was the maid. The maids knew everything. They were discreet but observative.

"The room needed cleaning?" I asked her next and sat back in the chair...glanced towards the hallway.

I knew that I was going to like Ms. Marks. She had a way of conversating long past words. "I vacuum all of the carpet regularly. Mr. Novaletti enjoys you, Elise. No need to worry." She assured. "I should be going to bed now. Good night." Ms. Marks didn't wait for a reply and I was left alone in the kitchen again. I finished my water before I threw the empty plastic into the trash.

I wasn't going to sit around and wait for him to come back. I left the kitchen, passed the foyer and stairs. The dark living room looked as if it never got used. Perfect, modern furniture, a large tv mounted above a fireplace. Curtains were drawn over the big windows. One of the doors to the study was open and a strip of the light cast over the floor.

When I stopped in the doorway, I spied Micah sitting across the room on a leather sofa, eyes closed, head resting...a drink in one hand and his cell phone in the other. "Is everything alright?" I asked.