Chapter Twenty-One
Adam
Monday
I stretched my arm across the bed to pat the other side before even bothering to open my eyes. It was empty. I could reach much too far considering there was definitely supposed to be someone next to me. I snapped my eyes open and twisted onto one side, but the crushing blow that followed revealed that yes… I was certainly by myself.
Even though we definitely overstepped the boundary of our working relationship last night again, I’d assumed it was what we both wanted. Lindsey seemed very willing and since there wasn’t any money exchanging hands I didn’t think it was too weird, but clearly it was far too much for her. She must run as soon as she could.
Great…just great. I knew that my feeling for Lindsey were teetering into an incredibly dangerous territory, I assumed that it wouldn’t end well. I guess I just didn’t think it would end so quickly. She can’t stand me, obviously. What will happen now?
I rubbed my eyes hard and glanced down towards the floor as a hard disappointment flooded me. I was tired and weary but I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell of me getting any more rest. I needed to get up, get showered, and snap back into action-
What the…
All of a sudden I noticed a pair of panties sitting on the floor. Some that had to belong to Lindsey. I wasn’t sure if they’d been left there as some sort of tantalizing little thrill for me, or whether it was a genuine mistake, but as I leant forward to pick them up I had the brightest smile across my face.
Then I heard a noise coming from the other room which gave me the indication she might still be here. I padded through the hallway, barely noticing that I was completely naked until I reached the kitchen.
“What on Earth are you doing?” I asked in a bemused tone of voice. Lindsey stood at the kitchen counter with her hair cascading down her back. She had one of my tee shirts on which was oversized on her, but barely covered her naked butt. The sight was almost enough to have me standing to attention all over again. “Are you cooking?”
She peered over her shoulder and gave me the most adorable smile I’d ever seen. “Yes. I thought I’d make you breakfast as a nice treat.” She giggled as her eyes ran hungrily up and down me. “Don’t you want to get something on before eating? I wouldn’t want you to hurt your delicate skin with boiling bacon.”
“I suppose so.” I was so damn glad that she’d stayed – and not just because she was cooking me something to eat. “That’s really awesome of you, though, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to do something nice for you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that; her words had me overwhelmed, so I spun on my heels and raced back into the bedroom. I dropped Lindsey’s panties on the bed, wondering why she didn’t mention that I had them in my hands as I spoke to her, and I grabbed the nearest clothes I could find. I grabbed some sweat pants and an old faded band tee shirt. Just before I went back into the kitchen, I also grabbed some boxer shorts for Lindsey to cover up that sexy butt of hers. If she didn’t at least get some of herself covered up, I couldn’t be responsible for my actions.
“Oh my God, that looks delicious,” I exclaimed as I spotted the plate on the table. I chucked the boxers to her and she put them on in a hurry. “When did you learn to cook?”
She gave me a look. “Don’t over sell it. It’s bacon and toast. You’re making me feel bad for not putting in more effort.”
“Oh no, don’t. I don’t want that.” I took a big bite and grinned brightly at her. “It’s great, honestly.”
I ate for a while, but I felt the prickle of Lindsey’s gaze on me the entire time. She was giving me the oddest look, almost as if she wanted to figure me out. I let her carry on like that for a while before I needed to work out what was going on.
“What are you looking at?” I teased. “You’re giving me a look like you either want to punch me or kiss me.”
Lindsey burst into laughter. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to look at you like that, at all. I just… I guess I’m just thinking about what I thought about you when we first met.”
I smiled to myself. It was fair to say that the instant dislike was mutual. “Yeah, you didn’t think much of me, did you?”
“No, I didn’t. I thought you were arrogant and rude and I assumed that you looked down on me because I didn’t have much money.”
“I probably didn’t help that did I? With my comments about getting you a dress. I hope you see now that I was just stressed out. The thought of spending time with my father and brother was bad enough, but with a fake girlfriend who needed to impress them… That was something else.”
“Oh, I know. It must have been really hard for you.” Her lips pouted out as her expression turned serious. “That must suck. Also, I now know about your work at the orphanage, which changes everything. You’re a good guy, Adam. I’m sorry for misjudging you.”
“Oh it’s fine,” I exclaimed. “I misjudged you, too. I thought you were bossy and bitchy.”
“I’m honestly never like that. I’m usually really shy and quiet. I can’t believe you thought that about me. That’s hilarious…”
I was just about to interrupt with some silly snide remark, but a knock on the door disturbed us both. “Huh. Who’s that? I’m not expecting anyone.”
I scraped my chair back and made my way to the front door, glad that Lindsey and I were both more dressed now and actually looked decent. I didn’t know who the company would be, but I was pretty sure they didn’t want to see us half naked.
“Oh, Mom,” I said smilingly as the door swung open. This was the one person I didn’t mind coming around. “Hey, it’s good to see you. Come in.”
As she walked through the house, I suddenly wondered whether or not this was the best idea. Seeing Lindsey here would reinforce the fact that we were actually dating. Much as I didn’t mind that becoming a thing, Mom thought we were months into this, not that it was brand new. I didn’t know what way it’d turn and I didn’t want her feelings to get her.
“Ah, Lindsey.” Just as I expected. Mom was over the moon to see my “girlfriend” there, eating breakfast in minimal clothing as if it was something that happened all the time. “Great to see you. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Oh hey, Debbie.” Lindsey jumped up to embrace my mother. She was exactly the sort of girlfriend Mom wanted in the family, the complete opposite to Helen. “It’s great to see you, too; how are you?”
“Oh, I wanted to come and speak to the both of you.” Mom’s hand clutched to her chest. “I feel so terrible about what happened at the barbecue, that was so awful. I never wanted things to get so out of control, I hope you know that. I should have spoken up at the time, but I didn’t want to make things worse.”
“It isn’t your fault,” Lindsey and I insisted at the exact same time.
“It’s honestly fine,” Lindsey continued on her own. “It was a bit of a disaster, but I hope the rest of the party went alright after we left.”
She was so smooth, so charming, and she didn’t give into her rage like I did. I suppose it was my family, though, I’d been dealing with the issues forever. Lindsey didn’t have her family due to some tragedy from her past. Clearly, she was more forgiving than I.
“I think that we should make it up to you, though.” Mom’s eyes flickered between me and Lindsey and I had the horrible feeling that I wasn’t going to like whatever she said next. “I’ve been talking to…the others and I think it would be nice if we could have Christmas day together. That is, unless you have other plans, Lindsey.”
“I am not bringing Lindsey back to the house again.” My head was already shaking, my walls already up. I wasn’t going to cave to this pressure at all. I knew that Mom wanted to feel better about what had happened, but I wasn’t going to put Lindsey through any more drama.
Something was beginning to happen between us. I wanted to explore that further, and the last thing I wanted was to involve my family any more. Lindsey had experienced enough of that shit storm.
“That would be lovely,” Lindsey answered with a bright smile, much to my surprise. “I would love to spend Christmas with you all. Thank you very much for the offer.”
My blood ran cold. Was she serious? I shook my head from side to side as I tried to work out what her crazy motivation might be. Why the hell would she want to be anywhere near my family ever again?
“No, I don’t think…”
“Look, Adam.” Mom’s tone was firm now. “If Lindsey has agreed to give this another try, then I think you should, too. Now, I’m just going to use the bathroom then I’ll come back to make us all a pot of tea. I would love to spend more time with Lindsey now we can actually talk. It’s always been a bit chaotic before.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” I sneered as she left the room. Then I turned to face Lindsey head on and I searched her face intently with my eyes. “Are you sure about this? You do realize what you’re getting yourself in for, don’t you?”
She giggled and nodded with the most serene smile on her face I’d ever seen. It appeared she had gone crazy, after all. “I don’t mind. It was really nice of your mother to come all the way out here to invite us, don’t you? She apologized when she wasn’t even in the wrong.”
“It’s never been my mother that’s the problem. It’s the rest of them,” I warned. “I don’t want you to think that Christmas day with my family will be a nice affair because it won’t be. It’ll be irritating, stressful, and unpleasant.”
She took my hand in hers and smiled once more. “Yes, but it’ll be better than being alone.”
And there it was. The ultimate shut down. I couldn’t exactly say anything else after that, could I? She had no one. Even if I didn’t like who I had, I wasn’t alone. I nodded slowly, accepting Lindsey’s decision, however much I didn’t like it. Usually, I tried to do all that I wanted to do. I didn’t want to think too much about what others wanted, but for Lindsey, it seemed that I was willing to break that rule.
“Fine, but I’m warning you that you won’t come out of it with any Christmas spirit at all. It’ll suck it right out of you.”
“I never have it, anyway.” She shrugged determinedly, giving me a glimpse of that delicious fire again. “That won’t be an issue.”
I was beat. She had me in a bind. Lindsey had won. I shrugged in defeat and moved to put the kettle on. I wouldn’t be involved in the next lot of conversation so I might as well make the tea. Mother would only focus on Lindsey now, and that was fine by me.