Marigold

Chapter 14 - Meira

The night passed quickly with a few more movies and several more cups of coffee. Desmond stayed on his side of the couch but chatted and fetched snacks to try and keep Meira from having to move. When the sun rose, they were both running on pure caffeine. 

"So what's on the agenda today?" asked Desmond.

"The usual," said Meira, "Work, although today I'll be at the orphanage so there maybe some excitement from all the kids."

"That doesn't sound like city work," said Desmond, "Do they make you do private landscaping as well?"

"No," said Meira, "but I help out there. It's nice to see the kids and Lupine let's me do what I want with the plants." She shrugged a stood from the couch. "Anyway I'm going to take a shower."

"Enjoy,"Desmond purred, "I'll have breakfast ready when you get out."

Meira rolled her eyes at his tone but didn't respond walking down the hall to the bathroom. Right before she closed the door she called out, "Best cook for three. Ashton normally comes by in the mornings."

Meira shut and locked the door to bathroom, then turned on the water and let it start to heat up. She stripped out of her leggings and oversized t-shirt she had been in all night and dropped them on the floor. She moved over and to the tub and tested the water, it was running hot so she turned on the shower and pulled the curtain closed to keep from getting the floor wet. She finished stripping and stared at the marks covering in shoulders and back, harder to see now that she had tattoos to cover up the scars, until the mirror fogged over. 

She walked over to the tub and climbed in, sighing as the water instantly turned her skin pink. Sometimes Meira wondered if she had a distant ancestor who had a water affinity. While she knew nature was her calling, water was a close second in things that calmed her down when shew was upset. She grabbed her loofa and wet it under the water, then picked up her body wash that was lemongrass scented and squirted it on the sponge. She ran it up and down her arms scrubbing hard enough that she was sure to loose a few layers of skin. This continued over her whole body as if she thought she could scrub the past away with a good long shower and little blood. Next grabbed her shampoo and massaged the citrus scented soap through her long blonde hair. When she had enough suds to look like Santa Claus rinsed it out and went to work getting the matching conditioner into every inch or her hair to keep it from tangling. She sat in the bottom of the tub while she waited for a few minutes. 

There was a soft knock at the door. "Meira, breakfast is ready and you were right, Ashton turned up," called Desmond through the door. 

"Just a second!" said Meira spinning around without bothering to get up. She washed out the conditioner and turned off the water. She climbed out of the tub and grabbed a towel drying first her body then her hair. Meira grabbed a fuzzy pink robe from the door and wrapped herself up in it. It covered her from wrists to knees and kept most of her scars out of sight. After running a comb through her hair, she braided it over one shoulder to keep it contained until she could dry it.  

Scooping up her discarded clothes, Meira opened the door and stepped down the hallway to her bedroom. She dropped the clothes in her laundry basket and grabbed clean underwear to pull on beneath her robe. 

She headed back up the hallway letting a small moan slip out at the smells coming from the kitchen. 

"I should come cook breakfast everyday if that's the kind of noise you make," Desmond laughed. 

"I think it's the coffee," Ashton called from her place on the couch. 

"Is that bacon?" sighed Meira, "And no, I think I'll drink juice this morning. I've hit my coffee limit for the moment."