64Right, this chapter, in fact, this whole story is entirely for virus-of-blossoms! She/He (sorry, I don't know if you're a girl or a guy!) has been so amazing and given me such lovely and helpful reviews! Really meant alot when you said you liked my writing style and characterisation. I hope you enjoy this as much as you enjoy my other two. And you're not a douchebag! (Sorry, I just love saying the word 'douche')
Epigraphs from '6 Months' by Hey Monday and 'Today Was A Fairytale' by Taylor Swift
'You're the direction I follow to get home.'
"Sorry, I haven't got an umbrella or even a jacket to lend to you. You'll have to brave it."
She smiled and nodded as he roared over the patter of the rain.
"I'm only a five minute walk, it won't be long."
They walked side by side and didn't talk for the rest of the duration. They were both preoccupied with the rain and getting where they were going as fast as possible. They walked down the main street and took the first right into a cosy side street where Jack balanced his goods and shoved a key into the lock of a dark green door.
While he did so, she looked up at the house. It was a fairly large free standing house made of Cotswold limestone that gave it a beautiful, archaic look. Exactly the kind of thing Mr Harkness liked, Elizabeth thought. The door was painted a warm dark green to match the window panes and she caught sight of his car standing out in the rain. An ice blue Jaguar. She smiled a little. Her English teacher obviously had style.
He pushed the door in and she followed him tentatively. Stepping in, he threw his bag and file down carelessly and placed her suitcase next to it. He encouraged her to come further in.
"Close the door, would you?" he smiled before catching sight of himself in the mirror.
"What's wrong?" she asked, seeing his concerned expression as he stared determinedly at the mirror across the room.
"Holy shit. I look so fucking wasted," he murmured under his breath as he wiped the rain from his face with his palm. She grinned a little and he turned.
"Sorry. Right, OK..." he breathed in and out as he looked around the room then back to her, "Introduction to Jack's house."
He invited her to sit down and paced before her magisterially.
"My house, my rules. Firstly, yeah, I know it's not a huge place but it's all I've got so don't diss. I don't get paid that much."
She smiled a little and coughed politely.
"Secondly, there are no rules. Whatever you want to do, whatever you want to say, eat, drink, watch, listen to, you go ahead."
She stared up at him in shock again. He grinned seeing her expression.
"I mean that. I'm not a clean freak, I'm not obsessed with bleach. There's whisky and vodka in the fridge if you feel thirsty, junk food in the cabinets if you're hungry and cigarettes in the bedroom draw if you want a smoke. There's also no curfew. So no boundaries. Welcome to Mr Harkness' Humble Abode."
He grinned and waited for her reaction. He'd let her loose. He had a bit of sympathy for the poor girl. She had seemingly done nothing wrong, she deserved a good weekend of fun and getting wasted. Well, that was his idea of a fun weekend.
She bit her lip and looked up at him with a worried expression on her face.
"What? What is it?"
"Um, I don't drink, I'm on a diet, I don't stay out late and I don't smoke."
He swallowed and stared at her.
"You're not a normal teenage girl, you mean?"
She laughed a little and smiled at him.
"No, I'm just a good girl."
He grinned and ran a hand through his hair. She was sitting in the sweetest way. Her knees were pressed together and her hands crossed primly in her lap as if she was scared the sofa would eat her if she sat any further back.
"Haven't met many of those in my lifetime. Anyway, come, I'll give you a quick tour then we can think about a nice hot shower and some food."
She stood up and he began to walk to the door out of the living room when she bit her lip.
"I think we've just left a little stream of water from the door to the living room, Mr Harkness."
He looked where she was motioning and saw wet marks on the floor, a steady puddle forming where she was standing as the hem of her dress and her curls dripped onto the carpet. He grinned.
"Oh, don't worry about that. It's only water, it'll dry. And now that we're living together, it's Jack, not Mr Harkness. Come, let me show you everything. I know two days isn't a long time but I want you to get used to everything. You never know. You might have to stay a little longer."
'Today was a fairytale. You were the prince, I used to be a damsel in distress.'
He left the last comment un-expanded-upon as she raised her eyebrows and walked to him. He gestured majestically to the room they were just vacating.
"This is my living room and that's my kitchen. This is normally where I spend most of my time, so if you're looking for me, I'm either here or in my study which I'll show you in a minute."
Elizabeth nodded and considered the room. It was rather beautiful. He had a lovely dark, earthy theme going on. Everything was hot, burnished dark wood which made the whole room come to life with a warm, Gothic feel. The furniture was soft neutral cream to tone down the darkness of the wooden panels in the walls and the large, ornate wooden fireplace. The fire roared merrily in the grate, sharp red and yellow licks of flame caressing the tiles within the grate softly. Hot sparks flew up and the fire seemed to expand more in the grate. It gave the whole room a warm, homely glow and Elizabeth felt like she'd walked into the filming of a Habitat advert.
Through from the living room was the clearly-visible kitchen. It was separated from the room by a small island at the back of the room. He led her into the kitchen and the spotlights were so bright they nearly blinded her. Everything was bright and the wood here was much lighter in colour. Sharp metal utensils hung in clear view and the island was made entirely out of warm wood with a metal ridge.
"Right...through here is my study."
He led her out of the living room and down the wide, spacious corridor bedecked with wall lights to a small room on the right. It was surprisingly large when she stepped inside. As she walked in, a huge bay window caved in on her left and almost filled the entire wall. The ceiling seemed to be a little dome and was high above her head, tiled in an exquisite mosaic of 'Beata Beatrix' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The white chiffon curtains blew in the breeze that drifted in from the wide open bay window and as she stepped into the middle of the room, directly in front of her but at an angle was a dark, burnished and very large desk. A green lamp, the kind she saw in politician's offices, lay at the top of the desk and piles of paper filled every corner. The desk seemed to be on fire, almost audibly groaning with the weight of the bureaucracy lying on it. The room itself was dark and almost frightening. The only light came from the open window through which lashings of cold rain water also came. It almost seemed like an abandoned room in a Gothic mansion, the kind of room in Mr Rochester incarcerated his mad wife in Wuthering Heights. She swallowed as she stared at the tossed open windows that formed the bay window. It was almost as if someone had opened them in a rush and thrown themselves from the height, desperate to end their misery. A storm seemed to throw itself into the room and the floor next to the window was already soaking.
"Must've left the window open," murmured Jack uncaringly.
She bit her lip as she watched him smile at her and he led her back out of the room. He then proceeded to show her the Games Room and the spare guest living room before leading her upstairs. The stairs were new, carpeted and modern. She gripped the wooden banister and he led her down the corridor at the top of the stairs to a landing on which there were four doors.
"Here, this one's mine. I wasn't planning on showing you the bedrooms until tonight, but I guess you need a shower and to freshen up, right?"
"Yeah, that would be nice."
"This is my bedroom. It's got an en suite with a working lock, don't worry."
She smiled and he opened the door, leading her inside. She stared.
"You've got a four poster bed."
He grinned as he walked to it and leant against one of the posters, arms folded across his chest.
"It's great, isn't it?"
The beautiful four poster rose in red and gold from the floor. It was a king size bed with a woven red and gold silk duvet with plain gold chiffon poster curtains that fell in swathes around the bed, semi-transparent. The rest of the room was beautiful and uneven in shape. It wasn't rectangular, circular or square, but some strange quadrilateral. A desk stood in the corner, smaller this time with less work on it, and the window here was firmly closed.
"Glad you like it. Now, I'll pop downstairs and bring up your suitcase. You go into the bathroom, I'll leave the suitcase outside the door, OK? If you feel comfortable, you can lock my bedroom door too. I don't mind."
She nodded and watched as he walked to his bedside table, pulling out a cigarette. He caught sight of her as he slipped it between his lips. He paused.
"You don't mind if I smoke, do you?"
She shook her head in indifference. She hated smoking, it caused all sorts of horrible illnesses but she'd never seen him smoke before. If he refrained from reaching for the packet while at school, he was obviously one of those people who wasn't that addicted.
"I know what you're thinking. I'm not addicted. I just have one from time to time. I've incredible self restraint."
She smiled and nodded as he placed the cigarette between his lips.
"Mind giving me a light?" he asked through occupied lips, pointing to the metal lighter lying on the table. She nodded and walked forwards, flicking it into the peak of a flame before holding it to the tip of the cigarette. He leant forwards and received the light gratefully, breathing in and blowing the smoke out away. She flushed as she found him unexpectedly sexy suddenly. The lighter cap flicked back on without her noticing as she stared at him. His eyes surveyed her from over the top of the cigarette. He took a long drag which allowed her time to run her eyes over practically every visible inch of him. His shirt stretched over his toned six pack and restrained his large, tight biceps. It fell open at the neck to reveal lines of water running down his chest to his stomach. She swallowed, trying not to think about the washboard under his shirt as her eyes roamed down to his waist where his trousers slung across his hips, almost as if they were in danger of forming a pool on the floor at any moment. He raised a large hand to run through the thick, dark, dripping locks of hair that fell across his forehead and surveyed her as he blew the smoke from his lips.
He knew exactly what she was thinking. He could see it in her eyes, she was beginning to find him irresistibly attractive. He smiled a little inside. He really shouldn't let this happen. But he could see she was taken by his incredible air of manliness and authority and he kind of felt like encouraging her. She was beautiful, that was no secret. Now that her hair was drying, it fell in rich, dark curls all the way to her waist, soft wisps framing her face. Her soft eyes stared at him in awe and a soft flush glowed on her cheeks. She was sweet. That was the word for her. Sweet, shy, naive and probably a virgin. And his student. He really shouldn't encourage her. It was only a weekend. He could last out two days.
He stopped and thought again. but maybe it would be more than just two days.
She seemed to be thinking the same thing and asked him again, shaking herself from her reverie shyly.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked quietly as he moved to the door to get her luggage. He turned.
"Sure, what?" he smiled.
"When you said that it might be more than a weekend, what did that mean?"
He sighed and his hands swung at his belt.
"I don't know why your father kicked you out and I'm sure that's not a subject you want to discuss right now. It depends how negotiations with your father go and even if the race goers leave by Monday, there'll still be a time lag in their departure. Even if they leave, I don't feel comfortable in abandoning you to some strange hotel for God knows how long. And it's also expensive. I don't mind paying, but your father might go crazy. I'd feel more comfortable if you stayed here. At least I could keep an eye on you that way. If you like it here," he added hurriedly.
"I'm sure I will," she smiled kindly. He smiled back and then turned fully, facing her and leaning back against the door, cigarette at his side.
"Look, Elizabeth...," he paused softly, their eyes locked, "I just want you to know that I'm going to take care of you. I'm not going to forsake you and abandon you to the elements after this weekend. Now that you're living with me, you're my responsibility whether you like it or not. It's my duty to take care of you and make sure you're happy and safe. If anything, and I mean anything, even the slightest thing goes wrong or if you feel frightened or scared by something, you tell me, OK?"
She nodded a little, smiling shyly at his profession of possession of her.
"Elizabeth, you will tell me, won't you? I want you to be happy here."
"I'm sure I will be," she smiled in genuine happiness at him.