Best Friends Forever, Chapter Eight
"Nadia, what happened to not letting him get to
you?" Lexi spat, interrupting the silence of the room full of quiet
diners. The few people that weren't already staring were now staring at
Lexi
with confused expressions.
With a strange smile, Nadia stood up and placed her
hands on her hips. "Lexi-"
"Don't talk to me like that!" Lexi's voice
was shaking slightly as she stood there, and then she looked mortified.
Nadia's smile was gone, and as Eric came and stood by
her side, Lexi sort of shook herself apart.
"I'm sorry," she started to speak, and
turned to walk away, but Nadia stopped her.
She grabbed Lexi's arm and spun her around.
"Look in a mirror, Lexi, tell me what you see."
Lexi took one look at herself and started to laugh
nervously, wiping at her face, which didn't hold any tears but did hold
a sort
of ashamed sadness. "One desperate bitch."
The eavesdroppers laughed uneasily and then smiled
gratefully as Nadia's alarm went off, signaling the end of her lunch
period and
the end of the loitering mass's free hour.
If anyone knew half the story Nadia had wove, they
could plainly see that Lexi had inadvertently (or perhaps
intentionally?) made
Nadia try to avoid Eric in hopes that he would seek her out for
comfort. When
it backfired and Eric encountered Nadia again, she realised he'd never
let her
go in any case, so she took it out on Nadia, who let him come back into
her
life when the whole goal was to let him forget about her and not visit
ever
again...
Nadia assumed she'd never know the entire story, and
was perfectly content with that; she was in love and she felt fine. No
skin off her nose if Lexi put herself into the hellhole she was in.
Lexi clapped her hands as the newest group of kids
came in. "You'll never guess who I talked to."
Nadia lifted her eyebrow. "Who?"
With a sneaky grin, Lexi replied, "Bobby
Higgins! And do you know which art project he kept over all these
years?"
Eric let out an unearthly screech and leaped towards
Lexi, murder in his eyes as the third hour class, a group of shaky
looking
freshmen, all stared in horror. They'd seen this guy the day before,
but today
he was a little different.
"Lexi! I'm going to kill you!"
She laughed and ducked out the door, Nadia following
with a quick, "Take attendance, won't you?"
There was a nervous grin on Eric's face as he turned
and carefully picked up the attendance book, not quite sure how to
proceed. He
could be a nervous substitute or he could be the one who knows what
they're
doing. With a small smile he lifted up a hand and waved.
"Hey, I'm Eric."
"I've seen you on the telly." Stated a girl
in the front row, and then a girl in the back gasped loudly. She had
been
absent the day before, because Nadia had taken her seat during the
lecture;
Eric could remember that much while he was reading in the back room.
The girl started to stand up and speak, but Eric
winked and waved her down with a small grin. Jimena was there, and she
remembered him.
When Nadia returned a full thirty minutes later, the
masses were talking quietly as Eric stood in silent agony, Jimena
talking to
him with an earnest frown.
"You don't have a cousin here, do you?" She
had first accused.
He shook his head. "Nope, all a ploy to
visit-"
Jimena looked hurt, her pretty blue eyes downcast
behind a shiny fringe of blonde hair. "That was hardly the way to go
about
things."
"Look, Jimena, I'm sorry, but I had no other
idea how to find my way to this building-"
"If you were here to be a substitute I would
have understood."
He smiled in an uncomfortable way. "I wasn't, if
you'd just let me finish a sentence-"
"Well then what were you doing?"
Nadia walked in with Lexi behind her, tugging a large
piece of art covered with a black cloth.
Eric had pure annoyance on his face and Nadia knew he
had good reason, having heard that girl talk before, and his next
remark was
nothing short of what the girl deserved.
"I was here," his eyes fluttered in
irritation as the girl opened her mouth to speak again, "to find my
girlfriend. She was mad at me and I had no way of contacting here
unless I just
showed up."
Jimena's face was devastated. "You have a
girlfriend? Is she in a class-?"
"No," his face was sharp as Nadia
approached, "she teaches this class. I'm sitting in because she has to
go
get something that could possibly remove all hopes of my masculinity
ever
restoring to its proper levels. There's something about men being in
love that
will completely screw up their ability to listen to shirty young girls
babble."
Nadia smiled weakly. "Poor baby,"
He turned and his face melted from anger into quiet
happiness.
"Well," Jimena started, giving Nadia a
dirty look, "I think you're all man. So if she can't-"
"Thanks for the offer," Eric interrupted,
pure amusement on his face by now, "but I'm perfectly happy as it
is."
Nadia snorted as Eric turned away with a sneer,
ignoring Jimena's hurt look. "Boy, I can't believe how many women are
just
crazy about you, Eric."
He rolled his eyes. "It must be my sparkling
charm, huh?" He asked sarcastically.
She smiled wickedly. "You can be charming when
you want to be. Among other things." He clapped a hand over her mouth
and
blushed while the other kids giggled.
Lexi gestured towards the wall sculpture with the
black cloth covering it. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you,
Eric's
sculpture."
As she yanked the cloth off, Eric's disposition
threatened to leave him unconcsious, but Nadia clutched his arm as the
project
was revealed, and the whole group gasped in unison, including the
teacher
herself. They could all see Nadia's face in the middle, and her
possessive grip
on his arm was all Jimena could take. She stood and exited the room,
puzzled at
how a perfect stranger could break her heart.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I can't-" Eric pouted his lip. "We're
swamped this weekend; I'm probably going to have to stay here. I've
come up for
the past three weekends, shame to break a trend." He hinted.
She smiled. "I suppose I can come down. Would
that make you happy?"
"Very very happy." He grinned. "Unless
that means I'm gonna have to clean up around here. I am a guy in that
respect."
She fretted over the phone. "If you clean up
I'll have nothing to do!"
"We'll have plenty to do," he muttered and
laughed as she giggled.
She smiled. "Maybe I should hold out on you this
weekend; that's revenge for my inconvenience. I'll have to drive out
Saturday
night and drive back Sunday night-"
"Well, twenty-four hours is worth talking to
you, I guess." He said in a defeated tone.
She snickered. "Just for that you better go buy
some candles for my entrance. If I'm not 'in the mood...'"
He laughed. "I'll have to wow you, eh?"
"You don't have to do much."
He grinned weakly as Gray stepped into the room and
sat, waiting for the others to come back from Eric's backyard. They
paused as
he clutched the phone, his back to them.
"Lucky me?"
They heard a muffled reply, and then surprisingly
enough, his response: "Love you too, Naddy. See you tomorrow. Yeah,
bye."
He turned around and blinked rapidly, face paling
only slightly. Gray took a deep breath through his nose, fighting a
smile.
"You said we'd know, and now we do."
He blushed wildly and looked at his feet; literally
everyone's jaws dropped as they realised that this was no joke, he
really had
slept with her. Unfortunately he flashed them a broad grin and his
blush was
gone.
"I'll never tell!" He said in a singsong
voice, and then cackled and ran from the room wildly.
Gray nodded decisively however. "No doubt in my
mind. We'll be able to tell when Nadia shows up tomorrow, though. He's
not
going to be able to keep his hands off of her. We all know Eric; he's
touchy."
Suddenly Mike laughed. "He's not going to smile
at her in front of us if he is covering their relationship."
John waved his arms around hysterically. "Let's
stop talking like gossiping old maids and get to work!"
Eric frowned as he reentered the room. "Oh,
you're no fun anymore!"
Saturday came and went slowly, but by nine o' clock
Eric was certain she'd be there, and he started to shoo the other guys
away.
They tried to delay as long as they could, and in the end their efforts
proved
fruitful.
"Hey all," Nadia said brightly, smiling as
Eric leapt up and leaned over to give her a quick hug. She didn't
looked
perterbed by his lack of physical affection, but she had decided to let
him
keep his secrets if he wanted. That way she had a tool to use against
him if he
annoyed her. Mostly she used that because she couldn't say he was
terrible in
bed, because he was probably the single best thing that had ever
happened to
her. Sometimes there were men she was plainly and solely physically
attracted
to, but not like him. He was everything in every category. In the days
of
middle school there were five categories; kindness, uniquity,
independence,
looks, and talent. Normally Nadia would run through a mental check list
to make
sure she wasn't following hormonal impulses when she accepted dates and
such.
Following that list now she thought she recognized a perfect ten in all
five
categories, which made her smile.
"So, we going anywhere tonight?" She asked
as she took her seat next to him.
Eric flashed the other guys a very dirty look.
"I can't leave these guys here,"
"Fair enough," Nadia agreed, smiling gently
at the others. She stood and walked to Eric's bedroom slowly, humming
under her
breath, and as soon as her feet disappeared from beyond the corner of
the hall,
he stood up and mumbled something about making sure she took her dress
home
with her. At first none of them noticed that this little assurance
would only
take a few seconds, and he'd been gone for a few minutes by now.
When he first walked into the room, he noticed that
Nadia was putting her dress into the small shoulder bag she had
brought, and
that she pretty much knew he was standing behind her.
"Oh good, you remembered." He said
monotonously, but didn't move to leave.
She turned, and his breath hitched for a moment.
Flashing him a dainty smile, she reached over and hugged him again. For
whatever reason, Eric felt it necessary to just hug her at that moment,
and did
so, smiling gently. It was a few minutes after the hug began that the
guys
appeared in the doorway, and Nadia shushed them, knowing exactly how
Eric would
react.
Finally Mike could wait no more. "Nadia, if Eric
won't let you kiss HIM-" He trailed off as Eric spun around and flashed
them all a dirty look.
"It's not that he won't, it's that there's no
good reason." She retorted, smiling.
Gray smiled. "We'll know, Eric. There's no way
we can't."
Fed up, Eric rolled his eyes and let his arms drop
from Nadia's shoulders. "What is the big deal?"
John grinned. "We want to be able to say, 'We told
you so.'"
"To what?" Nadia asked politely, blinking a
few times as an innocent gesture.
Eric scowled at them heartily. "I don't want to
hear it anymore, you guys."
Of course, they weren't about to give up that easily.
Gray took it upon himself to inform Nadia. "We want to be able to tell
Eric that we knew you two were going to make the other happy from the
beginning, so how is it?"
Nadia snorted. "We've been happy from the
beginning, and even if you meant we should be dating and we weren't,
there are
only a few times I can name when it was really a horrible experience
knowing
him. And I did it to myself on those occasions, so you've really got
nothing to
fuel this fire."
With that and Eric's smug look, the others retreated,
grumbling to themselves. Before Eric retreated with them to finish up
the small
writing session, he gratefully kissed Nadia and gave her hand a quick
squeeze
and left, his face devoid of all guilt (of which they searched him for
extensively).
Around ten thirty they felt they had made more
progress than they had in months, and went their separate ways, leaving
Eric
and Nadia to themselves in the house, but not before Gray sneaked in a
cryptic
comment.
"You think we can't know, but we do. We just
can't prove it. Now, we're a step above women in that we won't obsess
over
this, but don't think we won't think it's just as funny months from
now, so
come clean before one of us gets sick of playing nice and sees
something they
shouldn't, alright?" He smiled as Eric gave him another expressionless
look.
He smiled suddenly. "Goodnight, Gray."
Shaking his head sadly, Graham waved to him and
walked off into the dark, looking up at the crescent moon with a small
sigh.
As he turned around, Eric smiled broadly at Nadia.
"Finally they've gone; I can't believe how long we stayed up working on
that stupid sketch! Bloody perfectionist John and Terry goin' at it all
night-"
Nadia smiled meekly as he sat and put an arm up on
the back of the couch, closing his eyes for a moment of peace. The
moment ended
abruptly as he turned to her and grinned.
"So, how's life with you?"
She shrugged and shifted into the crook of his arm
with a gentle sigh. "Jimena's all over my ass all the time, correcting
me
when I slip up, turns in fiery visions of Hell with a few beautiful
Goddesses
drowning in lava, you know, things like that. Ten minutes with the girl
and
you've tainted her." She mumbled as he lowered his chin to her head and
took a deep breath. She'd recently had a haircut, he wasn't sure how he
knew.
The past few weeks her hair had been hanging over her eyes like a sort
of mask,
and now it was even with her eyelashes, easily shaken out of the way,
but for
the most part left down with the back styled. As for him, he hadn't
seen the inside
of a barber shop in several months; Mike's wife sometimes showed up
with some
shears and would trim his hair after she'd cornered her husband. It
drove her
nuts to have him with long hair, let alone with it all frayed and in
his eyes,
so she literally attacked him with the scissors until he relented,
afraid he'd
get a few scars. Eric wasn't bothered much by the whole hair concept,
most of
the guys were rather lax about the neurotic care of their heads
already, but
Helen was another story. She picked up where they left off, and they
all had
fairly good jobs done every few months.
In his momentary distraction, Nadia had shifted her
arm in front of her and was playing with the tassle on her capri pants,
twisting the curly strings into her fingers and smiling as the tendrils
wound
around. The tendrils themselves reminded her of the vines growing on
the side
of the building after Ariel's project had run amok and the grape vines
latched
into the rose board on the studio, producing small, underwatered grapes
during
the wrong season. Some of the students were brave enough to try them,
and were
promptly in the bathroom washing their mouths out with disgust on their
faces.
After the amusement of this analogy passed, Nadia found herself
thinking of her
mother and sister, both of whom had dark black hair like her own, only
they
kept theirs long and curly. Carmen actually had layers and such, an
expensive
fashion she had almost invented herself, but her mother was the best
when it
came to hair. She had always encouraged her children to be as different
as they
wanted, and Nadia had taken the full advantage of living with a mother
who
worked in a hair salon. They had enough money for the three kids and
two
parents, her father a very well-off surgeon and her mother the most
famous of
all small-business salons in Paris. Her father, an Englishman by
heritage, was
born and raised in France, but his last name had firmly attached itself
to
Nadia and her family. Smart just wasn't an original French name like
her
mother's maiden name, Abell. Of course, her relatives in Russia were as
original as they got, the Zhukovs. Her train of thought flowed evenly
from her
mother dropping in on her in her tiny house with Eric her third year in
college, kissing them both on the heads like two of her own, and
leaving with a
tear and a young, fresh smile, to her cousin Pavel in Russia.
Pavel was about twenty now, younger than Nadia, but
closer to her than any of her other cousins. She came from a relatively
small
family, both parents had three siblings each, and they each had two
kids. In
fact, more than two was a huge amount to Nadia's relatives, crazy even.
But
then again, Nadia's mother wasn't the most sane person in the world.
If she had asked Eric to remember the very first time
he'd met Nadia's mother ("Missy Smart-ay to you, chauvinist pig," was
her favourite term...) it would have been foggy. There had been no
formal
introduction like dating couples would have, it was more of a few
mentions in
letters, and then when she had helped her daughter move into the house
with
Eric, she had enlisted him to help her drag Nadia's easle set up the
stairs and
had then found out that the sweet boy with the friendly grin and weak
French
skills was Nadia's FRIEND, well, there had been some rapid arguing
between the
two that could only be volleyed between two natives. The bombshell had
hit home
and sisters and brothers alike had rushed out with her father to
interrogate
poor Eric, who had simply greeted them, informed her an angry mob had
showed up
to berate her for moving in alone with him and calmly walked off to
sleep it
off. After carefully assuring her family she had known him two years
and was
completely safe with him, her father had given a stern talking to Eric
of which
Eric still did not mention and left them to their studies.
Eric studied Nadia's face carefully. She was staring
out the window into the shadows of the yard with a small smile on her
face, now
and again dissolving into a cloudy look that resembled nostalgia and
other
things.
Of course, her mother had taken a very keen liking to
Eric; he was polite for the most part, and was an overall kind man, so
she was
always asking Nadia why they weren't dating just like all of Nadia's
friends.
Between the fatherly death threats and the motherly encouragement, Eric
remained neutral and calm, which never ceased to amaze Nadia. She
glanced up to
see him staring at her carefully.
"How're things down here?" She asked him,
cocking her carefully to the side.
He smiled slowly. "Pretty good, I guess. Things
are still moving slowly but they're moving nonetheless."
Nadia nodded carefully. "Good," she paused
and then snapped her fingers, "some kids were so sure that I was just
putting up a front they had this girl that pierced most of the girls'
ears in
the class come up to examine my piercings to make sure they were real,
and she
said they were, but they weren't convinced because she was passing the
class...so I had her pierce my navel." She grinned uncertainly as she
pulled up the front of her blouse to reveal a small barbel shaped
piercing, the
bigger of the two star shapes sitting in her navel, the smaller sitting
just
above.
With careful examination, Eric whistled. "Neat,
and is that one of those 'easily filled with a fake stud' piercings?"
Nadia waved it off. "Just like all odd places,
it'll close up if you don't leave anything in it for a few years. When
I'm
fifty I'll stop with the nose and the belly button, they'll close up
and I'll
be a normal, senile old woman."
He smiled and shook his head. "Well, while
you're young I guess it passes off as sexy."
She nodded. "That's the whole reason,"
It never felt awkward or even unnecessary when the
conversation lapsed, but the silence was always filled with little
touches and
movements on both parts, such as now when Eric took her hand and pulled
her
class ring off, smiling mockingly at the enormous, gaudy jewel.
As if the gem reminded her of something, Nadia
slapped her head. "I forgot! Tomorrow, I have to leave early for this
'family
reunion' at my sister's. My mum's in town and she'll kill me if I don't
show
up-" She paused suddenly, her face horrified. "And I can't show up
without a boyfriend, shit!"
Eric smiled. "I'm surprised she hasn't auctioned
you off yet, Nadia."
She gave him a sly look. "I'm sure she'd be
ecstatic if you showed up, Eric. Of course, Daddy might not be as
pleased."
The expressionless look on his face dissolved into
contemplative thought process before that ever-easy and ever-ready
fallback
took over his mind. "I'll go if you want me to,"
"Not busy?" She teased, pulling on the
front of his shirt as if asking him if he wanted to go somewhere
instead.
He glanced up at her, an easy-going and bemused smile
on his face. "Nope,"
With a grateful smile, Nadia pulled him into a quick
hug. "Remind me that I owe you a favor, 'kay?"
The sweet and kind smile disappeared instantly; he
stood and lifted her into his arms. "I'll take that favor now, if you
don't mind."
The door closed behind them and Nadia felt her heart
pound hysterically against her chest. He was taking it as a favor? She
laughed
mentally and felt her shirt being pulled over her head, her senses
spiraling
into disarray as her entire body began to react to the small touches of
everything.
The air prickled on her skin with negative electrical energy, a sort of
heavy
feeling of thunder storms, but before she could consider why the entire
place
felt heavy and dark she melted into a kiss that made her want Eric
badly. Women
thought too much anyway, right?
As Eric pulled on her capris he felt her hands link
around his neck and pull him down tighter. For a fact he knew she liked
it when
he was close to her, and for a fact he knew she was going to enjoy this
just as
much as he was. It was yet another case when neither of them were
stupid, but
perfectly fine with being ignorant. As soon as she was fully disrobed,
he let
his eyes travel over her body, a curious lump forming in his throat. He
kissed
her again and began to pull his own shirt off, allowing Nadia the job
of
working his belt off. Why they even dressed at all was a wonder to him,
and he
was starting to snicker when she pressed her body to his and hitched a
breath;
suddenly he couldn't get anything off fast enough, everything was too
slow.
Seizing her glasses, he tossed them unceremoniously to the ground on
the far
side of the bed and slipped his arms around her shoulders, about to
sprawl her
out on the bed-which had been the norm for the past few weeks of bliss,
but she
resisted the movement and prevented him from vocalizing anything at
that point
by kissing him with a dominant passion. He reeled, and in the moment of
weakness started to fall backward, which was taken advantage of
instantly. As
soon as she was atop him, she grinned at him mischievously before he
threw his
head back and took in a deep breath of surprise. Whatever it was that
was
changed by her being on top was doing something so strange to him, and
he
didn't want to stop it. She was doing all the work this time, and he
was lying
there with all sorts of sensations running through his body, a kiss
sneaking in
now and again.
He wanted to talk, but found that the usually
temporary inability to speak English (or any other comprehensible
language,
really) had remained with the change and he could only groan now and
again in
approval or shock as the night went on. He started to say something
finally,
but found that even if he wanted to know what he had said there was no
way he
could know, and yet Nadia kissed him as if she understood him
completely. He
whimpered with contained passion and tried to take some form of control
but she
was there, stopping him. How desperate he felt now, and so helpless;
was it
like that for her? Before he could have another rational thought enter
his mind
she started to whimper as well and he knew it was almost over. He took
her into
a tight hug and whispered unintelligable things for a spell before she
shuddered and he threw his head back again, a sharp gasp ringing into
the room.
She stayed put for the most part, her legs curling up
in front of her as she shifted ever so slightly, and he held her
tightly in
return. Now the lump in his throat was gone and he cleared his throat,
feeling
mostly awake as it was. He kissed her cheek and tried to lift an arm to
run it
through her hair to brush it from her forehead, but she moved over his
arm and
slid her arm around his neck again.
"If you really think about it," her voice
was husky, as usual, "you are my boyfriend, no?" French accent, as
usual.
He smiled. "Sure, Nadia. I'm not sure what else
you'd call us, for sure anyway."
"Lovers,"
"True, but we're more than that, or so I'd like
to think." He muttered carefully.
The vulnerability Nadia usually felt when she told
him things that she felt about him, or about anyone else that she had
felt
strongly about, was completely gone. "I love you,"
"I love you, too," he said immediately, no
hesitation, and this pleased Nadia to no ends.
She groaned with a bit of realisation. "We going
to be filthy tomorrow." Improper grammar walked hand in hand with her
accent, and she was tired.
"Shower's big enough for two," he teased.
Sleepy and safe, Nadia replied, "Make a
reservation, hm?"
"Smoking or non?" He asked, holding her
tight.
She mumbled nonsense words under her breath before
Eric tipped her to the mattress and wrapped her up in a blanket, his
heart
painfully contained as he wanted to shout as loudly as possible. It was
a
curious feeling he'd learned to cope with, but still...it was so
tempting to
walk outside half-dressed and just scream to the heavens above that
nothing
should ever change ever again. The sun never had to rise, the moon
never had to
sink behind a cloudy retreat ever again, and he never had to be without
her
again. It was the emotional side of him taking advantage of him, and it
was a
bit annoying for the most part, but Nadia ate it up just like all
women, and he
didn't really mind if it made her happy. Quoting Mike, "It's really
scary
what girls can make you do. Before you know it you're wearing some sort
of suit
thing and she's crying her eyes out, and all you can think is 'TONIGHT
TONIGHT
TONIGHT' and for some reason that makes us perverted..."
It struck him then that he was going more than
slightly out of order with the entire relationship. They'd started off
with the
right foot, friends. Then dating, but they skipped the entire
engagement and
marriage process to get right to the sex. He shook off the feeling with
mild
regret before kissing her lips, surprised that she was already asleep,
and then
slipped off into a deep sleep of his own.
When Nadia awoke, she was mildly startled to note she
was alone. For a few seconds she sat in awe, and then Eric floated into
the
room wearing just a pair of boxers, and he yawned heartily before
shaking her
shoulder.
"Shower's free for you, if you want to go
first-"
She sat up and yawned. "What the hell happened
to smoking or non?" She whined and giggled as he smiled uncertainly.
"If you're serious I am most definitely not
going to call that off," he said earnestly, almost begging for her to
interrupt.
She put her chin in her hand. "Lemme see how big
the shower is first-"
"There's no way you can take up too much of it,
trust me," he interrupted, eyes dancing hopefully.
Nadia lifted her arms up decisively. "Carry me,
then, I'm too tired."
He obeyed silently and carried her, wrapped in a
sheet that had come loose, to the bathroom before he started the hot
water and
pulled a hatch to start the shower head. With a startled glance he
watched
Nadia drop the sheet to the floor and slip into the shower, her back to
him as
she eased under the steaming stream of water and hissed. After a few
moments of
staring at her curves from behind, he felt whatever restraining power
in him
let go of itself and he stripped and stepped in behind her.
She moved from in front of the shower head and kept
her back to him as he moved under it and hissed as the hot water
tickled his
skin and made it turn red with the heat. From the back she was just as
beautiful as from the front, and it only got worse when she turned
around. He
stared for a while, unable to tear his eyes from the beads of water
collecting
on her shoulders and her body, the careful look in her eye contained
perfectly.
She stepped towards him in the tiny shower and wrapped her arms around
him,
smiling as he hugged her back and marveled at the feeling of the water
running
between them. It was a few moments before she realised that she didn't
have to
show until roughly noon and it was only nine o' clock. Whatever the
hell her
rush was earlier was all gone, and she began to tease again. He felt so
good
close to her, she never wanted to go away again, but it was always a
moment of
weakness when he blessed her with his own beauty, one she couldn't
really
identify, or name for that matter, but it always made her a little
crazy.
They kissed, eyes locked at first, and then closed as
they leaned together and a hot jet of water shot down their faces. With
the
added warmth of the water and the confines of the shower, it seemed
that the
heat and the shrinking room effect was starting all over again, and
Eric felt
his heart start beating harder. Adrenaline pounded through his veins,
and he
wanted nothing more than to have her again, to tell her all the things
she
wanted to hear. A fierce emotion was manifesting itself in him and he
hardly
cared at this point.
The glass door of the shower was fully steamed, hazy
objects of color just beyond Nadia's vision, and with the added effect
of her glasses
being absent, she was fully unaware of anything beyond the boundary of
Eric.
She let him kiss her, let him push her against the freezing cold tile
that was
the wall, but jerked the hot water towards them so she was at least
warm on one
side before she got fed up and ruined his fun. Pretty soon the last of
their
tease ended and Eric could resist no longer; he pressed her against the
wall of
the shower again and groaned as her light weight fell into his hands,
her legs
wrapping around his hips automatically. They hardly moved there, and
made very
little noise, but it was the most erotic experience of their lives. The
water,
the place, the emotion in it all was a woman's fantasy, leaving Nadia
reeling
in a passion and love she hadn't known possible. Of course, every time
she was
with a man she tried to put him in a way so that her mind really
believed he
was "the one," and "the one" would never hurt her. She
tried so hard sometimes that she forgot that they had problems and
difficulties,
which made problems for her. With Eric she knew his flaws and still
clung to
him, her mouth on his, her body around his, and she didn't once have to
tell
herself that she was letting him do this-after all she wanted it just
as badly
as him, so she thought. She hadn't spent any amount of time in a man's
mind and
didn't know the boundaries they faced and the horrors that came with
testosterone, but she was a pretty tough chick, if she could say so
without
being laughed at (she was five three, afterall).
As she cried out his name and felt her head slump to
his shoulder her released her legs and kissed her. He said he loved her
a few
times and kissed her again-probably the most post-sex attention Nadia
had
endured. Normally she was out like a light after an escapade so
strenuous, but
her integrity had to have suffered after she had quit the kickboxing
team. It
didn't have any credits and she didn't want to spend six years in
college, so
she had dropped it and as a result didn't quite have the stamina she
used to.
"Hey, we need to be clean," she muttered,
laughing as Eric snorted. There it was, the calm, friendly side of this
relationship. She cherished it and hoped it wouldn't be stifled by the
sex and
the lust. One of these damn weekends had to fall on her "time of the
month"
or a bad day or something-then again, if she had been having a terribly
bad day
she'd probably make him dote on her hand and foot and then take him for
all he
was worth, knowing he was enjoying it.
"Turn around," he commanded, and she
sleepily turned around, groaning as his hands worked knots out of her
back with
expert precision. A rather masculine smelling soap smell drifted into
the air,
but Nadia didn't mind. Living with her he'd probably ended up leaving
their
shared shower smelling of lilac or worse, rose a few times. There was
the
fiasco in which Lexi dropped a bottle of Nadia's most expensive French
perfume
onto a stack of Eric's theatrics clothes, and suddenly there was this
inside
joke that he was sleeping with a beautiful and mysterious French woman,
and it
was soon going around the theater. She snorted aloud as she remembered
this,
and snorted harder when she realised that now that rumor was true.
According to
him, anyway. She turned around with the gentle prodding of his hands on
her shoulders,
and she took some deep breaths as he ran his hands over her entire
body,
spreading an even coat of white foam on her, his eyes dancing over her
sensuously. She felt her fingers knit into his wet hair, and when he
lowered
down to lather her legs, she trapped him in a kiss for a moment. When
it was
all done it was his turn, and she shot him a wicked look before
returning the
favor to him. He gasped a few times as she quickly ran her fingers over
him,
and she laughed as he stumbled away from her for a moment. When all the
soap
had disappeared down the drain, they became somewhat business like,
washed
their own hair ("Pff, you're no fun anymore!") and exited the shower,
grappling for a moment for the dryer of the two towels.
Because both of them had short hair, their hair dried
quickly, and Nadia "borrowed" some of his hair gel to get her hair
into a respectable style before taking some make up from her bag and
applying
some where her freakishly in tune mother would have put it, including
dark
black eyeliner, dark eye shadows, a dark blush, a dark gloss for her
already
dark lips, and then she added black mascara. With the eyebrow pencil
she had
never used, she accented her "beauty mark," as her mother had labeled
it. It was a birthmark of sorts, only she had about fifty of them
strategically
placed about her entire body, one in between the toes of her left foot,
one in
her ear, and all over her torso. Eric had told her the other week that
he was
surprised how many he couldn't see before, and she had told him to
count them
next time, she'd gladly allow him to "search and destroy." About her
make up, though, she had one very small, hardly noticable beauty mark
just
above her lip to the right side of her face when another person looked
at her.
It was Marilyn Monroe in nature, but she had to apply make up on it for
anyone
to notice, and she did so now, knowing if she didn't herself her mother
would
attack her when she arrived.
Eric stared blankly at her as she sat in front of the
bathroom mirror, wrapped only in a towel as she applied her face. "How
many people are we talking here?"
She shrugged. "About twenty, maybe thirty."
"How dressy?" He asked further.
She pointed to her bag. "Check what I brought,
see if it gives you any ideas."
Obeying silently, he walked to her bag and pulled out
her crooked hemmed skirt and elaborately strapped black tank top. The
whole
thing was practically designed to show off her body, and showing would
be her
latest piercing, the yellow gold stars in her navel and just above it.
She
rubbed her stomach with a grimace as she bent to get a brush that had
clattered
to the floor, and when she stood, bit her lip for a moment.
Eric sighed. "I have to admit, Nadia, as stupid
as I first thought that was," he gestured to her stomach, "it is
kinda sexy."
She dropped the towel and stood before him
innocently, grinning as he fell back onto the bed and clutched the
towel around
himself, eyes jumping to her breasts and then her stomach quickly. She
bent and
jerked the towel around her before continuing on her way to her bag on
the far
side of the bed. She first pulled on her glasses and then started
pulling on
her clothes. When she'd finally pulled her skirt and top into place,
she
slipped her feet into her flat-soled black sandals and stood before the
mirror
in the bathroom again. She twirled a bit, making sure everything was in
order,
gasping as Eric walked in and stood before her, a sort of suit thing
on. She
looked him over as he twirled like her and flipped his hair girlishly
at her.
"Taboo or fab?" He asked with a nasal
pitch.
Nadia made a face. "Girl, you look so good! I'd
be surprised if you don't get married toNIGHT!" She kidded right back.
He
laughed and lifted a tie up as if saying that he'd need a bit of time
to get
that accomplished. Nadia took it from him and made him crouch down a
bit so she
could see over his shoulder.
She giggled. "I've always wanted to do this for
a guy besides my brother."
"I make dreams come true, baby."
She kissed the side of his head and finished
adjusting the knot so it was loose but not too casual before adjusting
his
collar and walking from the steamy bathroom to the cool bedroom. Eric
followed
suit and pulled his shoes on, waiting for the okay to start hitting
business-mode again.
When they sat together on the couch it was silent,
and Nadia felt her energy level rising again, the initial collapse of
her body
after Eric brought to her yet another amazing climax had faded and now
she felt
herself regaining her composure. Slowly he reached out and ran a hand
through
her hair, successfully ruining her carefully styled hair. She shrieked
evilly
at him and reached up with both hands and ruffled his hair. They bared
their
teeth to the other, but within seconds they were sprawled together on
the
fabric of the couch, lips locked and hands buried in the other's ruined
hair.
With a pang of anger Nadia realised she'd be redoing her lipstick and
Eric'd
probably look like he'd just spent ten minutes eating a cherry
popsicle, but it
didn't quite stop her. The doorbell did. They sat up together, and Eric
carefully smoothed his hair before he wiped his mouth, cursing as some
dark red
wiped off onto his hand. He scrubbed furiously at his face before he
yanked
open the door.
"She gone yet?" Gray's voice intervened
instantaneously.
Eric shook his head slowly. "Nope, and she's
recruited me for some family stuff. What were we going to do?"
"Terry and Howard wanted us to film today, but
Mike and John already claimed absences. You make it an even half of us
not
there, so I'll just go home now-oh, hello Nadia."
She scowled at Eric before snatching a comb from his
pocket and walking into the bathroom to adjust her hair. Mumbling a few
mean
things in French, she snapped the door shut.
"I messed up her hair," Eric explained,
"and she returned the favor and attacked me with a tube of lipstick."
Gray nodded with a small, hidden smile. "Sure
she did, mate."
"Why would you believe me? You're only going to
see the side of the story you want to." He shrugged, indifferent. Gray
mentally cursed Eric's ability to stay laid back about everything as
Nadia
reappeared, her face perfect and her hair now delicately styled. She
wrapped
him upside the head and then glanced at her watch.
"Takes fifteen to get to Carmen's from here, and
she'll kill me if I'm not there to translate Mum's French to English
for her
family." She said quickly.
Eric glanced carefully at his watch and then took his
keys from the table inside before locking the door. Nadia clutched her
bag
carefully, as if running through a mental checklist as she did so. When
she had
decided she had gathered all her things she nodded and looped her arm
in Eric's
before skipping elaborately. Gray muttered a goodbye with a small,
doubtful
look before the nicely dressed couple jumped into he small car Eric
owned and
peeled away into the distance.
"A few rules," Nadia said in a dignified
way, "first of all, English is the least known language in my family,
so
try to speak slowly if you can't make sense to them, or tell them you
speak
English. It'll only piss them off if you keep talking or saying you
don't
understand. Second of all, let's keep the groping to a low on both our
parts
while we're there. My dad's a little fanatic about his daughters and
their men,
so you might want to steer clear of him if you absolutely must touch
me. I'll
have to tell my mother about us at some point, and she'll most likely
make a
huge deal about it, so tell me now if that bothers you and I'll
'forget' that
we're dating or whatever the hell we call it." She grimaced and grabbed
her stomach again. "My mum hates being tricked, so don't be surprised
if I
do tell her we're dating and she demands you say or do something
intimate in
front of a group of people. You know my mum, she's a little loony."
Eric looked over at her. "I love you, you do
know that, right? You don't think I'm just saying it, do you?"
She looked him in the eye. "I don't believe
you're lying to me, I do believe you love me."
He nodded. "So, there's no problem."
"You're the only one with a problem," she
pointed out with a small smile.
He rolled his eyes. "I'll have to face the guys
some time soon, but I'd prefer you not be there when I do, because
manly
teasing can be a touch brutal, especially when you avoid the topic with
them
for a while."
"What are you going to say?" She asked.
Eric shrugged. "Probably just, 'Coming clean,
you guys, I've been dating Nadia for the past few months. Now, get all
the
tomato throwing and booing in now because I'm late for our rendezvous
in
Cambridge already.'"
She swatted him with a free hand. "That'll teach
'em, eh?"
"Come off it, Nadia! What am I supposed to
say?" He asked, wrinkling his nose. "'Sorry I haven't been completely
honest you guys...but I've been dating Nadia the past few months, I'm
madly in
love with her, we've been having the best sex of our lives every single
time we
meet and I can't keep my hands off her. I had to tell you now before
you walk
in on us-'"
"Not quite," she interruped with a small,
knowing grin.
He nodded as they pulled to a stop along with about
seven other cars outside Carmen's house. "Well then, I'm stickin' to my
plan unless you come up with something better."
He moved to get out of the car, but Nadia grabbed his
arm. "Before we go out to face the masses." It was a sentence to him,
and he leaned over to kiss her gently on the lips, pulling back with a
puzzled
look as she added, "I love you." He repeated it to her and kissed her
again before they clamored out and for some reason, linked hands and
refused to
be picked apart until Nadia caught sight of her mother.
"Bonjour Maman!" She cried and swept her
mother into a hug. The fifty-some year old woman rapidly spat out some
words in
French, tugged her daughter's hair, ear, nose, and then poked her in
the
stomach with an approving noise. Eric shook his head in amazement as
the woman
said, in choppy English, "Very good, Nadia, I like eet."
That's about when she caught sight of Eric and
squealed with happiness. She kissed both of his cheeks a few times
before
standing on tip toe to hug him around the neck. He squirmed but hugged
the
woman and flashed Nadia a worried look before he nodded with a shrug,
and she
nodded back.
"Mum, I see you remember Eric. I guess I have
some good news for you then." She smiled at her mother, who tilted her
head as if it helped her understand better.
Then, in slow, even French, Nadia said, "Eric
and I are dating."
"YES!" The older woman shrieked in English,
and pumped her fist into the air before seizing Eric again and hugging
him with
a fervent comment of, "You two should have started this ages ago!" He
barely caught her native French tongue, but he understood most of it.
For a moment he thought he wasn't ever going to have
custody of his neck again, but she released and gave him a sly look.
"You
two date how long? More than week?"
He nodded. "Uh, since she got her job, a little
before."
Once again the woman clapped. "Good! This
good!"
She turned and yanked on an older man's arm and
pointed hysterically at Eric, speaking with so much slang and accent he
hardly
caught more than, "Eric," Nadia," "more," and for some
reason he heard the word "beautiful."
Once the stream of words stopped flowing from her
mouth, the man, Nadia's father, folded his arms. "Bonjour," he said
curtly, and Eric replied the same, tossing a nervous glance to Nadia,
who had
linked arms with a tall, skinny, blonde-haired boy with blue eyes.
While her father picked Eric apart, Nadia clutched hysterically
to Pavel's arm. They spoke for a while before Nadia realised she'd left
Eric
alone with her parents and fled to his side in time to catch another
horrifying
speech he was giving the poor man.
"You make good girl of my daughter, you understand?
If she ever get hurt like before with you, I'll take it personally. Not
to
mention your real intentions, boy, what are they? Do you plan with my
daughter,
for family? You-?" He was about to press further when Nadia burst in
between them.
"Aw, Papa! Leave him alone! You never bothered
with the others, and they were worse." She grumbled, reaching up to
touch
Eric's face. He smiled weakly at her, face pale.
Her father scowled slightly and wandered off, letting
Eric take a deep breath.
He cursed. "That man is fucking crazy; he's
begging for an excuse to beat me or something, honestly..."
Nadia made a face. "You were the very first guy
I ever settled down with, and he still thinks all men are perverted
when it
comes to his daughters. See?" She pointed to her sister's husband, who
was
clutching a child in his arms with a frightened look while her father
stared
him down with an icy glare, lips barely moving as he assured himself
that the
man was good enough for his darling Carmen, his baby girl.
With a laugh, Eric retorted, "I have a feeling
we're not allowed to do much here, with him here."
Nadia scrunched her nose and turned towards him,
draping her arms around his shoulders. Hardly able to help it, Eric's
face
split into a wide grin; he held her shoulders as well and they stared
at each
other carefully.
Carmen appeared out of nowhere. "Oh!
Nadia!" She laughed. "Mama told me you were dating him, I didn't
believe though-"
Grimacing slightly, Nadia turned and gave Carmen a
harsh look. The woman stopped speaking and slinked away, no hurt look,
just
amusement. As soon as the moment was theirs again, they returned to
their
silent embrace, and Nadia thought it best she kept her eyes shut in
case she
looked up and saw however many people staring.
"SPEEEEECH!" Wailed Carmen, and Nadia broke
from Eric's side, taking his hand and leading him to the open area
where her
mother and her sister, Olivia, were standing side by side, waiting for
her to
appear. Carmen stood next to Nadia nearer to her mother and smiled
broadly at
the two dozen people staring carefully at them.
Nadia's mother began to speak first, her voice loud
and strong for the majority while Nadia translated into English for
Carmen's
all English family, her aunt translating into Russian for her family
and the
others.
Eric listened closely to Nadia as she spoke, her face
bright and shiny.
"Hello and welcome to all of you! We're so very
happy to say that all of us have finally made it, and it makes me happy
to see
we haven't completely lost touch. With both sides of our family here it
makes
it a little hectic, but the way we function best tends to be in chaos,
no?
"The years have passed us by, have they not? The
last we were all together Carmen was graduating from high school, Nadia
was
graduating from college, and Nate was getting married. I thought at
that time
it was the most exciting moment in my life; my son married, my
daughters
starting new stages in life! Now that we're all here, we wish to catch
everyone
up at once instead of having to interrogate everyone individually. How
does
that sound?" There was a roar of approval, and Nadia sighed unhappily.
How
long they would speak she didn't know, and she cast an apologetic look
to Eric,
off to the side of the parted group of younger kids. He gave her a
small,
unsure smile before she was forced to translate her aunt's Russian into
English.
She hardly listened to the words coming from her
mouth, and when her sister prattled on about the English part of the
family,
she zoned out further. It wasn't until her mother started speaking she
actually
started to pay attention and listen.
"And so now that I have two beautiful
grandchildren from my daughter Carmen," she paused as Carmen hefted the
older of her two children, a small boy in a set of denim overalls, dark
hair
like his mother's, "or should I say one and a half?" She patted
Carmen's slightly swelled stomach. There was a bit of laughter, and
even Eric
smiled a bit, but she continued. "Now that I have a grandchild, I've
gone
and gotten myself addicted to them! So like me! This is life, I
suppose...but
now I must nag Nathan to bring me more joy, and pray that Carmen
doesn't tire
of the joy of rearing children. It makes one feel young to hold a small
child
in their arms again. Of course, I can't bother Nadia about it; she
isn't
married quite yet." Nadia gulped as she said these lines, and there was
more laughter.
"She brings her boyfriend with her, or should I
say college friend? I'm sure at one time or another you've heard me
mention her
friend from Cambridge." She stopped as Nadia shot a glare at her,
smiling
at her daughter. "And even now she isn't very pleased to hear that
there's
another member in the club that wanted her and Eric to date. So to
catch up now
is almost a joke, because I wouldn't be surprised if you all hear of a
wedding
soon."
Nadia choked out these words reluctantly and blinked
rapidly as Eric was thrown into her vision, her sister having pulled
him
towards her.
Her mother continued relentlessly. "Let me say
to you, Nadia," it was English, and the others seemed to sense it was a
personal moment, "that anyone that has seen you two together now must
think the same."
Shrugging uncertainly, Nadia looped her arm around
Eric's waist and smiled as Eric did the same, not quite sure. She
looked at him
gratefully and then pulled her arm from him, the little floor show
ending all
at once. Music started playing somewhere, and Nadia stalked off into
her
sister's house to find something to pulverize.
"Nadia!" Eric cried, trying to catch her
arm before she disappeared; all attention was suddenly on them.
Everyone within
viewing range had their eyes fixed on the couple as they exchanged
words and
looks there on the grass.
She whirled and looked at him. "What? I'm just
going inside for a moment-"
"Don't let them get to you, alright? I know you
don't like the fluffy stuff; it's their problem if they want to believe
it.
Just don't go in there and dwell on anything unpleasant." He said
softly,
trying to keep his eyes locked on hers.
She blinked a few times. "Come with me,"
she said suddenly, and he followed her inside, hardly expecting her to
lead him
to the guest room, where she sat on the nearest of the two four-poster
beds and
put her head in her hands. He wanted to know what was wrong but was
finding it
impossible to approach the problem at that point, having followed her
without a
word.
After a few moments she looked up with a sudden look
of thought. "Do we care?"
Magically, it seemed, Eric knew what she was thinking
about. "No," he replied firmly. It was true, he didn't care what the
others out there thought. He wasn't going to let them dance around them
with
silly looks, and he wasn't going to dress up for them to make it seem
better
than it was. He was perfectly fine in just knowing he had her.
Nadia smiled wickedly. "Would you agree to a
little revenge, then?"
"Like what?"
"No physical affection in front of my family;
it'll drive them nuts. My mother's into that touchy-feely thing, so
it'll probably
make her crazy to know we're together and not taking advantage of it."
She
smiled as he began to grin in a sly way. With a fervent nod, Eric
agreed and
then took her arm.
"So, can I take advantage of the solitude
now?" He asked, wondering if she would understand at first.
She grinned at him and leaned forward to kiss him,
heart fluttering weakly as his hand floated to her side and held her
waist
loosely. They kissed and she grinned uncontrollably.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"That was," Eric loosened his tie, "my
personal hell. You?"
Nadia laughed. "I told you my mother doesn't
like it. Not hell, not yet."
He groaned. Why the hell would her mother take it
upon herself to leave him with no option other than to have her sit on
his lap?
And why was it such the big deal she would actually tease and point
while they
sat in the corner, talking?
It was still embarrassing to think about it, but Eric
shook it off comfortably and started the long drive to Cambridge. At
first
Nadia kicked and scratched at him, saying she'd brought money
specifically for
the underground, but he insisted and was currently was about a
sixteenth of the
way through with the trip. Darkness fell over the next hour or so, and
when the
street lamps came on in the dark streets, he began to feel his senses
awaken.
She didn't make a move though, and kept her hands folded neatly on her
lap.
Curse words filled Eric's mind as he pulled to a stop outside her tiny
house
and let her out of the car. A few kids were walking around the blocks
together,
and they stopped just outside the nearest houselight, words between
them
deathly quiet.
Nadia stretched her arms a bit and straightened with
a grin. "Thanks for the ride, I think."
"You think?" Eric placed his hands on his
hips indignantly. "Last time I go an hour and a half out of my way for
you!"
"Hey, I told you I had another mode of transit,
but you insisted. And now you look tired, poor baby." She played with
his
hair a bit as he stood before her, tall and commanding.
At the word tired, his shoulders straightened and he
looked nothing close to the word. "Not tired,"
The kids beyond the light crept out from behind it
and walked calmly past, shooting a few glances at the couple, who
didn't
recognize Jimena among the group. As soon as they had passed, Nadia
tilted her
head towards the building and gave him a questioning look.
He nodded eagerly, but she held out a hand to stop
him. "Won't you be late tomorrow?"
"Naddy, this is worth a screaming session from
the guys, trust me." He reached over and slid her tank top strap off
her
shoulder and back on slowly.
Nadia
sighed dreamily before she lead him to the door and then inside. "I'm
going to buy some board games; it's something to do when we're not
busy..."