Chapter Three: Chai Tea and Tai Chi
As I lay face-down on my bed, I found myself contemplating my life at the moment. It had been an eventful couple of weeks but I was finally adjusting to life in the apartment building with Sarah and Christine...and Erik. I had started smiling unconsciously when he came to mind. I sighed to myself. That wasn't going to happen. Not with my luck.
It was a Tuesday, nearly a week following on from the 'shower incident'. My face got hot just thinking about it. To think that some random guy had been perving on me that whole time! I suppose random wasn't really the right word though. From what I could pick up, this Jareth guy figured quite significantly in the lives of my roommates. Sarah's scream of outrage once she'd snatched the offending item off the window-sill also indicated to me that it wasn't the first time that something like that had happened, an assumption which had been confirmed once Sarah and I had related the incident to Christine later that day and I had heard about the 'bubble incident.' Honestly, who was this guy?
I thought about all this as I lay on my bed, trying to do my property law readings for class the next day, all 150 pages of them. I normally had Property Law on Thursdays but my lecturer had to go somewhere (Hogwarts probably) so he'd moved this week's class to Wednesday morning. At least I'd be back in time for coffee with Erik. Sarah had managed to get her reading done earlier in the week but I'd been stuck doing a marketing group assignment and after submitting it online the day before, had collapsed onto the couch, more than happy to forget about uni while I chatted to Erik about x, y and z over coffee.
I sighed again. I'd just read the same line three times and I still didn't know what it said and I was only 25 pages in. Seemed like time for a tea-break. I rolled side-ways off my bed with as much grace as I could be bothered expressing and slowly trudged out to the living-room and into the kitchenette.
Half-awake, I filled the jug up with water from the tap, set it to boil and got a mug down from the cupboard. Unscrewing the lid of the tea canister, I reached inside to grab a tea-bag. 'You're kidding me?!' None left. Pushing it back into the corner of the bench, I took a sidelong glance at the jar of golden blend next to it. Should I just have coffee instead? I thought about it but as much as I tried to convince myself that it would do, I had a weird tea craving and coffee just wasn't going to do it. Don't ask me why. The thought of going all the way down to the store to get some more was...undesirable.
Hang on! I could always head downstairs and borrow one. That strange mix of excitement and anxiety came over me as I thought about the possibility. It was just a normal, neighbourly thing to do. I didn't need to be nervous, I told myself. Although the thought of reversing roles and turning up at Erik's door without warning was a little strange to think about, I would much rather he be there, than have to face meeting his roommate alone. The idea of facing the guy whose familiarity with my body was second only to my own wasn't a thought I welcomed.
A thought suddenly occurred to me and I quickly flipped open the lid of our steel sugar bowl. It had sugar in it. At least I was to be spared that cliché. I picked up my keys and locking the door of my apartment behind me, headed over to the stairs.
When I arrived outside the door of Erik's apartment a minute later, I just stood and stared at it. 'Just get the teabag' the voice in my head said. 'It's only Erik, what's the worst that could happen?'
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door: 'knock knock.' I waited a couple of seconds but I couldn't hear anyone coming. I knocked again: 'knock knock.' I waited, still nothing. 'Erik?' I called out. Maybe he was out? I pressed my ear up against the door. I couldn't hear footsteps, but I could definitely hear music in the background so someone must have been home. Maybe Erik was lost in a composition or something? Apparently that happened sometimes.
I grabbed the doorknob and found to my surprise that it turned easily in my hand. It wasn't locked. Oh well, I thought. Slowly, I turned the door handle and pushed the door open.
'Erik, I just came over to – OH MY GOD!' My hands flew to my face as I quickly turned away from the sight which had both startled and shocked me.
The next thing I heard was Erik's voice 'What's going on in here?' I heard him pause and then exclaim 'JARETH! How many times have I told you NOT to practice naked yoga in the living-room!'
Yes, I had seen some weird, twisted pile of naked flesh on the living-room carpet. My first thought was that I was having some crazy nightmare or something. I wasn't that fortunate. Well, I guess at least now we were even.
'It's alright Nicole, he's decent now.' I shivered as I heard Erik speaking to me. Somehow he'd managed to walk the length of the room as silently as a cat and as I removed my hands from my eyes, I saw that I was only a foot away from me, staring down at me.
Turning from him, I looked over to where his roommate stood smirking at me, hands on hips. I had to admit that at second-glance, he was pretty impressive. He was wearing boots with a heel, grey tights (which were difficult to tear my eyes away from once I'd reached a... certain prominent area), grey gloves and a ruffled white silk shirt with an amulet that looked sort of like an upside down crescent moon. He also had some strange yet enthralling detail around his eyes and probably the only blonde mullet haircut I had ever seen which looked good.
All together, he was totally different from anything I had ever seen before and he was oddly enthralling, similar to Erik and yet different. With Erik, there was a sort of deep darkness about him that drew you in. With the man before me, it was something different; somehow it was more magical and sexual. This was the guy that Sarah despised so much?
'So you're the mystery woman?' He grinned and looked me up and down as he took a few steps forward. His voice was as smooth as melted chocolate and he had a London accent I thought. I didn't reply.
'I am Jareth, King of the Goblins and Lord of the Labyrinth.' He reached out to take my hand. I hesitated for a moment, still slightly enthralled as I continued to stare up at him and then took his gloved hand and shook it.
'Nicole. Pleased to meet you.'
He smiled at me and then turned and walked over to fall gracefully onto the couch. He swung one leg over its arm and sat there, continuing to smile at me as Erik and I continued to stand, staring at him. While I was fascinated by this strange character however, I could feel the heat of Erik's glare from where I was standing. Evidently, Jareth was aware of Erik's disapproval and was getting immense enjoyment out of it while showing off in front of me.
'So Nicole,' he began to fiddle with the crescent moon amulet which hung around his neck, absentmindedly, 'you live upstairs with Miss Daaé and the delectable Miss Williams.'
'Yes.' I wasn't sure where the train of conversation was going. I wondered if he often referred to Sarah like that. Probably, he seemed the type.
'I envy you,' he murmured. I was surprised by his response. I decided I'd have to ask the girls a few questions about Jareth later.
'Was there something I could help you with?' Erik asked suddenly. I'd almost forgotten he was there. How the hell did that happen?
'I just came over to borrow a teabag actually,' I replied, tearing my eyes away from the figure sprawled languidly on the couch.
'Of course,' Erik smiled and then stole over to his kitchen to grab the item, glaring at Jareth as he went past the couch. Jareth appeared not to notice. 'Would to like to stay for tea and coffee?'
My eyes flicked from one man to the other as they both stared at me from their respective positions across the room. It was a tempting option but unfortunately not one that I could afford right now. I still had over 100 pages of lengthy legalese to get through before tomorrow.
'I'd love to but I have a lot of uni work to do unfortunately' I replied.
'That is unfortunate,' Erik grabbed a teabag from a box in his cupboard and walked over to where I stood, to hand it to me. 'However, you're welcome to drop in whenever you have some free time.' He turned to look at Jareth, 'right Jareth?'
'Yes of course.' Jareth replied smoothly and setting his leg down from the arm of the chair, sat up straighter and faced me. 'Do bring Sarah with you next time won't you.'
I looked up at Erik and smiled at his raised eyebrow. Apparently the chances of that happening were slim.
'I'll see what I can do,' I replied and smiling, turned and walked out.
