The evening afterwards, Amy rang the bell of the penthouse apartment she would be staying in for the next week—and if everything worked out the way she thought it would—longer. She didn’t expect Jeriah to answer the door; he had mentioned a butler, and he had still been engrossed in data analysis when she left the lab an hour ago.
The door opened.
“…Gareth?” Amy stood in a daze, staring at the face of her high school nightmares in the doorway of her new fiancé’s apartment. A shirtless Gareth Krovstoff examined her with curious eyes.
“Are you here for my cousin?” Gareth laughed and took her hand. He pressed her fingers against his mouth salaciously, his eyes sliding down her sweater and jeans. She tried not to stare too long at his muscles, which were still glistening from sweat or a shower. “Is this his type?”
“Hands: Off.” Ryan appeared behind her and glared down at even Gareth, her eyes darkening. She squared her shoulders and the shadow made her loom even taller.
“I didn’t know girls came with bodyguards now,” Gareth commented, looking up calmly and not letting go of Amy’s hand. His eyes narrowed on the duffel bag on her shoulder and the giant box in Ryan’s. “Or luggage.”
Amy finally yanked her hand away. “Y-you— what are you doing here?”
Gareth raised an eyebrow. “I should be asking you that.” He crinkled his eyes at her. “You look familiar.”
“I-I—“ Amy threw her hair over her shoulder and faced him as confidently as she could. She had forgotten Jeriah had such unpleasant family. But that just meant Gareth was one of the people she had to fool. “My name is Amery Dahla; we went to high school together, remember? I’m Jeriah’s fiancé.”
Gareth’s expression scowled with suspicion and then realization. “Amy? My cousin’s fiancé? What—is this a joke?“ Gareth doubled over in laughter.
Still standing awkwardly in the doorway with a giant duffel bag over her shoulder, Amy glanced up at Ryan, who was glowering at the baboon in the doorway. Finally, Ryan cleared her throat.
Gareth moved aside, waving his hands in welcome. “Welcome then, welcome. Hah, who knew even my cousin could pull his head out of a textbook for long enough to pick up a girl.”
Amy steeled her nerves and swept in like she owned the place. The apartment was spacious—and gorgeously simple. Directly to the right of the entryway was a neat kitchenette with an island counter. Ahead, down two steps, was a comfortable seating area with an L-shaped couch leaned against another island surface, facing a lone plush chair, a wall of bookshelves and a view of Fairen city at night. There were two doors on opposite sides of the room. Amy set her duffel on the seating area island.
“Just leave my stuff here for now,” she directed Ryan, who had momentarily forgotten Gareth to admire the interior design. Amy turned to the door on the left.
“That’s my cousin’s room,” Gareth called. Closing the door, he had stopped laughing and was smirking at them.
“I know,” Amy shot back immediately. He raised an eyebrow at her. Mistake, she realized, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. She opened the door anyways. “I’ll be right back. Put on a shirt, would you?”
Jeriah’s room consisted of a just a plush king-sized bed facing the door. There was another window here, as well as more bookcases. She wandered quickly into the bathroom on the left—giant bath, shower, sink, mirror, walk-in closet. Wow. Amy washed her hands and splashed a little water on her face and through her hair to give her an excuse.
She took a deep breath and cleared her head to take stock. The other door might have led to the room the butler used. Maybe a study. That wasn’t the problem; Gareth was. Was he the butler? No way. Ok. Potentially helpful butler—missing; annoying cousin—present. She took a deep breath before heading back into the main room.
Gareth was lounging at the kitchenette island. He had gotten a bottle of beer, but not a shirt. She turned away, half irritated, half trying not to stare. Whatever misgivings she had about Gareth Krovstoff, his body was much better built than his cousin’s. Gareth leaned back, watching her movements with amused, unsettling eyes.
“So. You’re my cousin’s fiancé?”
Amy wasn’t sure whether he sounded more surprised that it was her or that his cousin actually had a fiancé.
She replied with her own question. “What are you doing here, Gareth?”
“What, I can’t pay my dear cousin a visit?”
“A surprise visit,” she snapped.
Gareth shrugged, but Amy noticed he didn’t contradict her. She let out a small sigh. Gareth chuckled.
“I would offer you a drink now, but you’ve obviously already helped yourself.”
Gareth held the bottle up in mock salute. “Where’s my cousin?”
“Late night,” she replied, pulling her phone out of her bag. She was surprised by how casual her tone was. “He’s meeting with Dr. Syis about a tricky participant.”
“But it’s the night his dear fiancé’s moving in. You’d think he’d be here to help you unpack.” He made a good point, but Gareth’s voice was entirely too innocent to be genuine.
She shrugged noncommittally. She was already sending Jeriah a text, thankful he had remembered to give her his number last night.
“And the butler isn’t even here tonight,” Gareth continued. “Although Mr. Grouch here could probably be his stand-in.”
Amy ignored Gareth—and the urge to snap back at him—and turned to the stuff sitting on the couch. She turned back to Ryan, who stood next to the stairs in front of the stuff with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed on Gareth. “Ryan, give me a hand with the books?”
Amy hopped down the two stairs and scanned the titles on the wall under the pretense of looking for room for her own books. She was surprised to see a few familiar names among the reference books. “We’ll put them next to the journals for now,” she said, pushing some of the books to one side to make room. “Just the textbooks. Just leave the novels in the box for now.”
An hour later, with everything she couldn’t find a place for haphazardly thrown in Jeriah’s room, Amy was sitting between the oddest stare-down. Ryan hadn’t stopped glaring at Gareth, and Gareth was still watching Amy’s every move.
“You haven’t eaten,” Gareth commented mildly.
“We ate before coming,” Amy lied. “What about you?”
“I’m drinking in my meal now,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. Once Amy understood what he meant, she ignored him.
Silence.
“Is this usually what you do? Just sit on the couch and wait for him?”
“Usually I’m not here without him,” she replied as evenly as she could. She pretended she was talking to a patient. “I just moved in tonight, remember?”
Silence again. There wasn’t even a clock in the room to count the passing time. Ryan kept glaring at Gareth, and Gareth just lounged on the couch, showing off his muscles and sipping his beer.
“It’s nearly midnight. Shouldn’t Sir Stares-a-lot be heading home soon?”
That was a good point. “Ryan…the trains will stop running soon.“
“It’s fine,” Ryan replied tersely. Amy nodded, understanding. Ryan wasn’t leaving her side until she met with Jeriah, especially not alone with Gareth. Amy checked her phone. Still no reply.
More silence.
“Would you stop staring?” Amy shifted uncomfortably under Gareth’s intense scrutiny. He’d been staring for hours now probably, and she had been fidgeting with her ring. She felt like he was going to suddenly see through her and call her out.
“Only if your bodyguard here returns the favor.”
“Please.”
Ryan opened her phone with a snort. After a moment she started scrolling through the latest designs on Passion Fruit, her favorite clothing brand.
Even more silence.
“Are you going to the luncheon next Saturday?”
“Luncheon?” Amy shut her mouth quickly, racking her brain for mentions of a lunch date. The only date Jeriah had told her about was that they were meeting his grandmother at the end of the month, when she would decide who would inherit the title of Head of Krovstoff Group.
“Yeah. Lunch on Saturday. Yes or no?”
Amy drew a blank. Was it a family thing? Would Jeriah usually attend a Saturday luncheon?
Fortunately, she was saved by the sound of the door opening.
“Cuz!”
“Jeriah!”
“Finally!”
Everyone greeted the door at the same time. Jeriah looked up from the door and took in the situation, the surprise superseded only by his apparent weariness. He hung his bag on a hook on the wall to the left of the door. “Guests. Hi. Amery, sorry for being late.”
“It’s ok,” she said before really thinking about it. It was not really ok. But what else could she say?
Jeriah bypassed Gareth entirely and greeted Ryan. “You’re Norton, right? Ryan Norton? You were in my AP Computer Science class senior year of high school. You’re a friend of Amery’s?”
Ryan seemed surprised to be addressed—and remembered so clearly. She shook his hand. “Yes. Amy’s best friend. I was helping her unpack.”
“Thank you for taking care of her,” he said, looking Ryan in the eyes seriously. He sounded sincere before turning back to Amery.
“Sorry I’m late,” he apologized again. “Kevin was in an accident and I was at the hospital. It looks like you’ve mostly been able to settle in?”
“Just fine,” Amy replied, shifting uneasily. She wondered if they should have some kind of greeting ritual. A kiss? He looked like he could use a hug. “What happened? Is Kevin ok?”
She had other unvoiced questions: Why hadn’t he at least texted her back? Did he usually get back so late? Did his annoying cousin usually show up for unexpected visits? More immediately—who was Kevin?
“He woke up just before I left. He broke a few ribs and lost a lot of blood but the doctors said he would be fine.” Jeriah cracked a smile. “He had enough energy to ask for a month off and plane tickets. I think he’ll be ok. Sorry I didn’t call you. My phone died before I left the lab.” He plugged the dead scrap metal in and she couldn’t tell if he was serious or just a very convincing actor.
She let out a breath in relief. Whoever the guy was, at least he was ok. Kevin sounded like close friend—and an employee—the missing butler, probably.
“It’s late,” Jeriah turned back to Ryan. “Do you want to stay over tonight? It’d have to be Kevin’s bed though.” He gestured to the room Amy hadn’t explored.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll take the couch.”
Jeriah nodded. “I’ll grab a blanket. There’s a washing machine in the bathroom as well, if you wanted to shower or wash your clothes before tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” Ryan hesitated.
“Of course.”
Amy nodded with a smile and Ryan disappeared to the guest room for a shower.
Gareth piped up. “Hello? Any greeting for your kinsman?”
“You didn’t tell me you were staying at my place,” Jeriah snapped.
“And you didn’t tell me you were engaged, so fair,” Gareth threw back.
“Of course, how inconsiderate of me. Amery, this is my cousin Gareth. He studied business at The University at Cornsilk and freeloads at my place when he’s back in town.”
“I noticed.”
“Wonderful,” Jeriah said so seriously she almost laughed. “Gareth, could you stay with mom and dad or something?”
“Why? Since Mr. Norton’s taking the couch, couldn’t I stay on guest bed?”
“What, there are three people here—“
“And I assume Amery’s sleeping with you? She went straight to your room when she got here.” Gareth waggled his eyebrows again.
“Of course. Whatever. Just get out, Gareth. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“I’ll entertain myself,” Gareth assured, heading for the guest room before Jeriah could protest. He winked at Amy. “See you in the morning, cupcake!”
The door closed, leaving Amy alone with Jeriah for the first time since their little contract began. They stared at each other for a long minute before Amy broke the silence:
“Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You had to deal with something unpleasant even though it was supposed to be a relaxing move.” He sighed, heading for his room. At the door, he sighed. “Come on then.”
She followed him into the room and noticed the bag with her clothes still sprawled over his bed. She grabbed it quickly. “Excuse me.”
“No, no, you can use the bed,” Jeriah said. He had been headed for the bathroom then paused. “You haven’t showered yet, right? Go ahead and take one first. I’m going to grab a blanket for Mr. Norton.”
“Miss,” Amy corrected. She was too tired to argue and found a change of clothes in her duffel. “Although you can just call her Ryan.”
Jeriah processed this sleepily. “Right. Okay. I’m glad she asked for the couch then.” He stifled a yawn.
“Goodnight, Jeriah,” Amy replied, equally tired, and plodded to the shower without complaint. Today had been too long.
NEXT (Interlude: Friends)
Notes:
I actually really like this scene... :x I had to edit the ordering of some things because it was awkward the first time around, but I kinda liked this scene once it was written and decided. I had a few early renditions with Kevin Knight, the butler, but didn't actually end up using him.
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