Dinner had been silent, besides the mindless chatter of Veronica. I tried to remain captivated by her words, but found myself sneaking glances at the curious child across from me. Jim hadn't even touched his food. I wasn't entirely surprised by this action. Jim was far to thin. I shivered thinking of the glimpses of bone I would see when he undressed for me. Heat crept up into my cheeks and the back of my neck when I thought about it. I shook my head and took a bite of the cooked goose.
"Sebastian. I was thinking we could discuss different places you could paint James," She purred as if they were talking about something as easy as going to the market. A sudden shrill giggle left Veronica's mouth as she polished off her large glass of wine. I held back my urge to roll my eyes and took a sip of my water. Jim looked at me with a sly smile and kicked my foot. Pulling my leg away quickly, I frown at him. "I will be right back. I must relieve myself." She giggles and hurries out of the room.
The second she is gone Jim slinks out of his seat and moves over to my side of the table. "So. Sebby. Mind if I call you that?" Jim grinned widely when he saw my lip twitch. "Ahh. You do mind. But you wont do anything. If you do I'll tell mummy." He chirped moving closer to me. His gaze was, once again void of emotion. It reminded me of total darkness. Unfeeling.
I moved away from him as he tried to touch my shoulder. "I like you Sebby. We are going to have so much fun this summer." He said innocently playing with his inky hair. "I promise I will be good when you paint me. Im good at following orders." He winked going back to his seat and looking at me. I blushed as heat pooled in my groin. This felt so wrong. I wanted to get up and retreat to my bed chambers when Veronica came back in.
"Ah. Much better. Now dearies. Who wants to have an evening walk before bed?" Jim stands up and quickly leaves the dining room without another word. I shake off all the odd feeling I am experiencing.
"I would love to accompany you on a walk on this balmy twilight evening," I link our arms together as she guides us to the gardens. We walk in silence for short while. She clears her throat and tightens her grip.
"So is there a Ms. Moran that will be joining you this summer?" She purrs. I pause for a moment before awkwardly clearing my throat. "No. There is not a woman in my life." She nodded before chattering about the new roses and other budding flowers. I made a mental note to come out here alone sometime this summer to paint.
As she babbled on my mind wandered back to Jim. The slightly provocative boy that clearly enjoyed watching my squirm under his gaze. I barely noticed that she had lead us back to the from patio and was smiling lovingly at me.
"You know Mr. Moran. You are quite a dashing man. Im quite eager to be spending the summer getting to know you," She purred batting her rather large doe eyes at me. I nervously nod pulling away from her grasp and taking a step back.
"As am I Veronica." I say politely as we walk down one of the main corridors. "I shall bid you a good night." She says softly squeezing my hand for a quick moment. Smiling, I give a curt nod and turn to walk towards my room. When she is visibly out of sight I let out a shaky breath.
As I turn a corner I bump into Jim. He yelps out, obviously startled. "What are you doing sneaking around?" I hiss at him quietly. He recomposes himself to a calm stature and once again smiles. "I should ask you the same question Sebastian. Did you have fun with Mummy?" He questioned, but didn't actually seem all that interested in the answer. Before I could acknowledge his question I was being dragged to my room.
"Jim what are you doing?" I muttered halfheartedly and Jim just let out a dark giggle. "I want you to paint me. On the tiger pelt." He purred when we finally got to my room. I gawked at him for a long while. "No...No Jim." I stuttered softly, but he gave me a large out.
"Please Mr. Moran. Please. I will pay you all my pocket money. Mummy never needs to know." He pleaded to me like a small child asking for candy. Somehow against my will, my head began to nod. Jim gave a wide catlike grin and danced over to the fur rug. He sprawled out on the rug looking at the unlit fireplace.
"I will not undress tonight. Tomorrow night. After mummy goes to bed. Then I will come in." He muttered then turned to me with a soft smile. "I am assuming you have no problem with that?" I wanted to yell wrong. I did have a problem with it. This deviant child was trying to taint me, but I nodded once again. Jim stood up and walked over to me.
"Good night Sebastian." He whispered, getting on his tiptoes and kissing my chin. He prances away before I can say anything. He leaves me alone, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room with my thoughts. Why did I just agree to do yet another painting of this boy and now It would be the two of us...alone...in a bedroom. Calm down Sebastian, I tell myself. You are a smart man. Just stay calm. He's a child and doesn't know what he is doing. After I have talked sense into myself I go to the bathroom to clean myself up. I change quickly and hurry back to my room in my might pants. Looking around on the door I try to find a lock, but unfortunately there was none. Sighing I pad softly over to my bed and slide between the silken sheets. It was only when I rest by head onto a feather down pillow, that I realize how very tired I am. Though even when I have finally drifted off into sleep, Jim Moriarty haunts my dreams with his reptilian gaze.
