(Three Days Left: Day One)
I rest in my bed wide awake. She was wonderful. The night was filled with her laughter. She wasn't like anyone I've ever known. She had three more days, and I was determined to make them memorable.
The next day I had work. I was monitoring the screens as I picked out what shots to use for the final product, but really my mind was wandering again.
"Hey Chris, mind payin' attention here? We've got work to do!" Jeffery scolded me. Jeffery was one of the editors I work with. He can be a little over bearing and arrogant, but I try not to pay much attention to him.
"Hey Jeff, lay off would ya?" backed up my friend Kim. I called her Kimmy. She was a very thin and loud person. She could talk your ear off if you weren't careful. Her wild frizzy red hair was wilder than it normally was today.
"Thanks Kimmy." I murmured softly to her.
"No problem, so how's the writing going? Have you finished that novel yet?" she asked. She was a major supporter when it came to my writing. I was grateful too. She gave me one of her toothy grins. She had very large teeth to the point where you thought she could be related to the Kennedys. They always had big pearly white teeth.
I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. "It's going alright. I put it on hold for now."
"Hmm, why the hold up? Do ya have writer's block or some sort of distraction?"
"You could call it a distraction." I replied not knowing that I was giving off a dreamy smile with glassed over eyes looking somewhere else.
"Who's the girl?"
The thing about Kimmy that you could love or hate is that she had a knack for getting right to it. She knew exactly what you were up to. It's almost like your mother. You give her one look and she automatically knows you are up to something whether it's good or not.
"Is it Chelsea?" she was moving her eyebrows up and down in as a comedic gesture until she suddenly gave me a sore punch on my upper arm.
"Ouch, what was that for?"
Another thing about Kimmy is that she grew up with four brothers and being the only girl in the family, she learned how to play rough from a young age. If there was a match between her and me, I would be the one being beaten up.
"That's for not bringing her to meet me. I always see her picture on your desk, but I've never met her. You promised you'd bring her to the office sometime soon."
"Well it's not going to be real soon since she's in Rome and won't be back for four days." Then it struck me. It was just one day off from when Minerva was leaving. Wasn't I just a lucky bastard?
"Oh yeah, now I remember you told me she had some art thing going on there."
"Yeah, so you punched me for nothing."
"It wasn't for nothing, it was for fun." She simply replied as she got back to work.
"Mmhmm, that's what you say every time."
"Yep and it's fun every time.
-/-/-
When I got home from work exhausted I went for my phone immediately. I needed to call Minerva. Was she thinking about me just as much as I was thinking about her? She might. I knew she would, but then I thought. Would she be up, would she be there? I looked over at my clock as it was only nine at night. She should be up.
I dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up. Each ring I kept on getting more apprehensive. What if I was waking her up? I wasn't sure anymore.
"Hello?" someone answered! My breath was caught in my throat as I noticed it was her. She was using a phone. I wondered if she felt weird using it.
"Hello, is Minerva there, this is Chris."
"Oh, hi Chris…ah what do you need?"
"Nothing, I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a drink. We don't even have to go far. We could just go down the bar in your hotel."
"Sure I guess. What time should I meet you down there?"
"What about forty minutes?"
"Alright I'll see you there Chris."
She then hung up. I thought that was going to be hard to get her to agree, but she surprisingly was all for it. I scrambled quickly to get ready to meet her. When I accomplished what needed to get done I looked in the mirror. I didn't look too bad I thought. I didn't look different from yesterday at least.
I had on a collared shirt with a casual black jacket and beige khakis. I looked alright enough I finally decided after a long deliberation in front of the mirror, and I head out the door. My mind was wandering again as I was in the taxi. I had more three days with her. The first day was almost ending as the second day was almost approaching too soon. Also right after she departs for Scotland, Chelsea will be back. Would I be happy to see her? I didn't know. I should be thinking about her, but my mind was clouded with thoughts of Minerva. I practically ran out of the taxi once I reached my destination.
I walked into the familiar lobby. I looked around and saw that she wasn't there. The lobby wasn't very crowded. It only had a few people returning from wherever they have been and some employees that were working at the front desk. I checked my watch to see that I was a few minutes late. Not extremely late as I was sure Minerva would be furious. Maybe she was already in the bar.
I made my way into the place with my hands in my pocket, trying to act calm. I should be calm. I was calmer last night, wasn't I? Soft tunes from a classical piano echoed through the bar as the room was lit dim. The only real light was a spot light on stage which lit a young woman singing in a raspy voice. How cliché, but I didn't have time to worry about that since the woman had finished her song and it seemed her shift was over for the night.
All that remained was the pianist. He sat with a ramrod back and his hands curved above the keys. He looked like a cocky person who wished he was born in some blue blood society. His dark hair was slicked back as his suit was fitted. How cliché could this place get? I regretted that I suggested the place, but then my eyes set on the person I was looking for.
Minerva was sitting at the bar with her long legs crossed. She wore a lovely emerald green cocktail dress that had the sweet heart cut. Her black hair was pulled into an elegant French twist which elongated her neck. She was gorgeous still as I could look at her all day and still feel like it was the first time I laid eyes on her.
A waiter approached her as he navigated through the scattered round tables filled with couples and who knows what kind of people. He looked like a young lad, but he was over twenty-one if he was working here. He held a tray which rested a single drink of what looked like a glass of champagne. He was talking to her and rested the drink in front of her. She averted her eyes from the drink up to the stage. The pianist smiled at her and she gave a slight smile back with a curt nod.
I had to get to her quickly. She seemed to attract attention wherever she went, first that idiot at the café, then the drunken idiot at the nightclub, and now the musician. I made my way to her swiftly, not caring if I looked furious because I was. Her eyes scanned the room as they at last fell upon me. Her face broke out into a broad smile as I seemed to relax. At least she saved that smile for me, or at least I hoped she was. She stood up as she walked towards me.
When we came to arm's length, she pulled me into a friendly hug like she did the other day, but this time when she pulled away she applied a soft kiss on my cheek. It was done in a professional manner, but the sensation of her luscious lips upon my skin sent me sky rocketing.
"Hello Chris, nice to see you again."
"As it's nice to see you too, Minerva, I hope you haven't been waiting too long."
"Not at all as I just arrived a few moments ago. I was able to listen to the wonderful music for a little bit."
Her response sent me flaring. Why was I so jealous? I had nothing to be jealous about. I gave her a little bow and offered her my preferred hand.
"Would you like to dance to this wonderful music as you put it?" I asked. I had to smile since I was going to show that musician who she was with tonight. Was I being possessive? I didn't know, but all I knew was that I wanted to be with her at this moment, just her with no one else in the way.
"I would be delighted." She answered as she gave me her hand. I noticed she had on the ring, but I ignored it for now. I led her to the small dance floor. I noticed we were the only ones on it, but it didn't matter. I knew Minerva preferred ballroom dancing and hopefully I wouldn't step on her feet.
I rested my hand respectfully on her waist as I had my other hand in hers. She carefully placed her hand on my shoulder, and I started to guide her around the dance floor. She seemed pleased by the way I danced, and I had to say, I was a bit surprised myself.
Feeling her in my arms again was magnificent as I drew her closer to by body. She didn't seem to mind as her smile only grew. She bushed her cheek against mine as we continued to dance.
"I see you're wearing a very nice ring." I whispered in her ear.
She softly laughed as she responded, "Do you like it? I thought it matched my outfit as it was given to me by a pirate."
"Hmm, I see, and what is this pirate like? You must have been terrified."
"He was kind, sweet, funny, and polite for a pirate as I felt completely safe with him." She answered before I twirled her away from me, causing her dress to swirl around her legs. I then quickly drew her right back where her back was rested on my chest. I could smell her perfume as it was light, but sharp and beautiful. It suited the person who wore it perfectly.
"Looks like I have some competition."
"It would seem so." Her eyes flickered playfully. I spun her so she was now facing me.
"I'll give him one thing."
"Oh, and what's that?"
"He has a good eye when it comes to spotting rare jewels such as you." Cheesy line I know, but it seemed to work. Her cheeks were suddenly lined with color. She was striking once again. If every time she struck me with her beauty was a lightning bolt, then I'd be dead by now. She had looks to kill as Tony would put it.
I looked around as I saw that more couples had joined the floor. It seemed like we had started a trend. As much as I didn't want to stop dancing, I knew it was getting crowded.
"Would you like a drink?" I asked her. She nodded and I led her back to the bar. Once we got there, I asked her what she would like, but she decided to stick to the champagne that she had abandoned earlier. I decided to have a scotch. She seemed to look at me pensively with her green eyes as we fell into a comfortable silence. It wasn't awkward for once for neither one of us felt the need to speak. Once I had a sip of my drink she broke the silence.
"Do you like your job? We have talked all about mine yesterday and I want to know about yours." She inquired curiously. I set down my drink as I wondered how I could explain it to a person who wasn't very up to date with technology.
"I like my job to an extent." She raised her eyebrow in a questioning manner, indicating for me to elaborate. "I like my job because I like some of the people there, and I feel satisfied once all the work is done. The only thing that keeps me apprehensive is the fact that it takes up my schedule and as Eddy had said before, it makes me look like a workaholic. I go do my work and then come home exhausted as I'm too tired to do anything. I don't take breaks because I normally don't have a reason to, until that is…until I met you."
She seemed to be taken back by my response. She placed a gently hand on top of mine as she gave it a firm squeeze before she returned her hand back to her lap. I smiled at the little gesture.
"I know what you mean. I'm viewed as a, how do you put it… a workaholic as find myself working all the time. You may think that teachers don't do much, but in my case they do." She replied, but I wondered what she meant by that. "I normally find myself exhausted mentally and physically at the end of each day. I'm glad there's summer, but it seems like even that isn't enough time to unwind."
We fell back into a comfortable silence. We sipped our drinks slowly as he each savored the taste and thought about what each other said.
"Do you ever wish you could do something else?" I asked finally. This seemed to catch her full attention as she looked at me bewildered. She set her drink down before responding.
"No, I mean it is stressful, but I wouldn't want another occupation. There could be things changed to make my occupation easier, but I like where I am. Why do you ask? Do you wish you could do something else?"
I shrugged my shoulders, looking away from her green curious eyes. "Sometimes I do. I love writing as I wouldn't mind being a writer or even a journalist. I mean, I would still be able to report the news and all. I think it would also be less work hours."
"Hmm, have you written any books?"
"Some, but I keep them for my own amusement, though I did let my friend Kimmy read one."
"I would love to read one." She requested and I was surprised, but not by much. She liked to read as I wouldn't mind hearing what she thought about one of my stories.
"Alright, I'll lend one to you tomorrow." I agreed and Minerva nodded as she seemed pleased. It was kind of funny in a way. Minerva wanted to read my stories after meeting me four times, this being our fifth. Chelsea has known me for five months, but not once had she asked to read one of my stories. I mean, she's been to my apartment and seen me write, but she's never once inquired me about it.
Minerva's request made me want her even more. I'm not sure she even knew what kind of effect she had on me. She smiled and titled her head like she was wondering what I was thinking.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, I was just shocked that's all." She gave me another pondering look. "I meant that no one else asked if they could read my story. I actually asked Kimmy if she could read it to get her opinion, but no one has actually asked to read one."
"I don't see why not. You have a good taste in books and therefore I don't think you'd have a problem in writing a good story yourself." She smiled encouragingly. "Who is Kimmy?"
"She's a good friend of mine that I work with. She's an editor too."
"Hmm, that's good." She said as there was a nice silence between us once again until someone interrupted us. I looked up to see that it was that pompous pianist. His shift must have been over.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't have taken my eyes off of you. Would you like to dance?" He bowed graciously towards Minerva who looked shocked, though I don't see why she would be. He bought her drink before I even got here. She looked over at me confused. I didn't know whether she was asking for my help or not. If I told her she couldn't dance with someone else, then how would that make me look, but if she didn't want to dance then she shouldn't have to.
"It's entirely up to you." I told her as her smile faded. That was a bad move on my part. Apparently she did want my help.
"Excellent." The musician said as he took hold of Minerva's hand and led her to the dance floor. She looked rigid in his arms. I had to smile at that. At least I knew she didn't like him which was reassuring.
He moved gracefully as he led her around the floor. And I'll admit that he was a better dancer than I am. Thankfully he kept their bodies at a respectable distance and his hands were where they should be. I could see they were talking. I wondered what they were talking about. She would give simple smiles with a few nods here and there or she'd shake her head no. Her face then distorted into shock and then to something I couldn't comprehend. Was it fear, or anger? What did he say?
I thought that was enough as the song started to fade to an end. I pulled myself up and asked if I could steal her back. Naturally he had would act like a gentleman, so he bowed once again and left. Minerva looked at me gratefully. I had to wonder what went wrong?
"Care to have another dance with me?" I requested and she took my preferred hand.
"I would love to." She said a bit earnestly. I wondered if the musician said anything to upset her. She seemed deeply troubled. I pulled her in close to me, holding her reassuringly. She seemed to be shaking. What did he say?
"Min, are you alright?"
"No, can we go? I'm sorry, I-"
I stopped her from saying anything further as I moved her swiftly out of the place. What did the idiot tell her? I wanted to drive his head into the wall, but I knew that would only make matters worse. Minerva wouldn't appreciate it either, for the act wouldn't look chivalrous at all. Getting her as far away from the place would be better.
"Where do you want to go?" I asked her once we reached the lobby.
She bit her bottom lip nervously as I tried to read her green emerald eyes. At first they looked fearful, but then they flared with anger. He must have insulted her in some way. I drew her towards the elevator, but she pulled back.
"No, my friends are up there and the last thing I want to do is be battered with questions." She told me defiantly. I nodded as the guys would do the same thing to me, and the looks of her, she looked like she would rip their heads off if they approached her. I've never seen her angered. Her cheeks flared as her lips were thinned and her eyes blazing with hatred.
"I understand. Do you trust me enough to go to my place? I swear I won't ask you anything. You can tell me things on your own time." I suggested. She looked at me contemplatively as she was thinking about my offer. I thought about my offer as well. Would she be comfortable with me? Was I too straight forward or suggesting something that the pianist offered? I didn't know, but it was too late to take it back now.
When the silence lasted too long I decided to pull her into an embrace. She needed to be comforted and her anger seemed to die down. She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me closer to her.
"Where would you feel safe Minerva?" I inquired and she raised her head to look into my blue eyes. Those green bore into me as I felt like she was staring straight into my soul to see if I'd do her any harm. I was able to push back a wisp of her raven hair behind her ear and away from her face. She gave me a crooked smile from the small gesture.
"With you." She answered finally and so I led her out the door and hailed a taxi to go to my place.
The building wasn't very tall, but I thought the size didn't matter. It was still lovely and my apartment made up for it. I got a view of the Hudson River from my window with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. For New York standard apartments, mine was pretty good. I had mostly black leather décor with glass surfaces which is another reason why I don't have children. The kitchen was of gray slate as the rest of the apartment was painted in a chocolate brown. My mother hated the color, but she didn't have to live here so it didn't matter.
Minerva looked around as she didn't seem to mind it. Off to her left there was a hallway that led in to my office, bedroom, and bathroom. Ahead of her was the living room that branched into the kitchen.
"Um, make yourself at home, do you need anything?" I asked her as I took off my jacket. Her hand was clutching her arm as she looked apprehensive. Was she having second thoughts?
"Ah, the bathroom is down the hall if you needed to um…yeah so I'll be in the kitchen." I said not knowing what to say. I sounded dumb, but she just gave a small smile.
"Thank you." Was all she said before she headed down the hall. I watched her close the door behind her before I started to pace around nervously. What was I supposed to do? Oh God, she was at my place. First thing is to find all the pictures of Chelsea or any of her girl stuff animals that she liked to leave around. Why she liked to leave a stuff animal around, I didn't know. I hurried around the apartment as I knew where I had pictures of her. Once the task was complete, I was able to relax a bit.
I was in the bedroom as I grabbed one of my over large shirts and boxers. She might feel more comfortable in them than her dress. I knew Chelsea liked to steal them all the time. When I made my way out of the bedroom, I found that she was still in the bathroom.
I wondered if she was actually busy doing something, or if she was staying in there because she was nervous.
"Ah, Minerva," I knocked on the door but she remained silent, "I grabbed a spare of clothing if you wanted to change into something more comfortable."
The door opened as Minerva stood there. Her green eyes were glassy looking as if she were going to cry, but her tears remained unshed. She looked at me appreciatively as I handed her the clothes.
"Thanks you Chris, for everything."
"It's no problem Minerva. Are you hungry? I could whip something out real quick." I made a little hand gesture to go with it. I looked ridiculous I know, but she let a little chuckle pass her lips which made me feel better. She smiled and shook her hand from side to side, letting her undone black hair swing from the movement.
"No thank you. I'm fine."
"Alright, I'll be in the living room if you need me." I replied and she slowly shut the door. What to do? I didn't know as I rushed around frantically. I was never this way before. This was my own place where I should be able to relax, but I was the total opposite. First thing was to liven the place up. I turned on a few lights so it didn't look so dark and sullen.
What else could I do? I could turn on the TV, but I shot the idea down as fast as it came up. No, she might think I was trying to distract myself from her. I wouldn't do that. Hmm, maybe I could get us something to drink. Yes, I could do that. What did I have in the fridge? All of a sudden I couldn't remember. I knew what I had before I left this morning, so why the sudden change? I looked in the fridge to see that I had beer, milk, water, and orange juice.
What would Minerva want? Well she seemed to be disturbed so beer wouldn't be the one to drink unless she wanted to drink her memories away, although she didn't strike me as the person who would do that. What about milk? No, that would be like going back to a child and having warm milk after a bad dream. Orange juice and water were the last choices. Which to choose though? At last I decided upon water. Everyone liked water. You had to survive on water after all.
I looked up to see that Minerva was already out of the bathroom as she was examining my book shelf in the living room. I didn't have a vast collection in the living room. Most of them were in the office. Her black hair cascaded down to her waist as the curls looked tousled. Her legs looked longer than before as she was even more beautiful in my clothes than her own. Once again, I was struck by lightning.
"I have more books in the office if you wanted to look at those." I told her while I approached her from behind. She turned around startled at first, but then she collected herself. She looked at the glass of water I had.
"Is that for me?" she asked pointing to the glass and I nodded.
"Did you want water, or should I-"
"No, it's fine thank you." She took replied before I could finish my sentence. I handed her the glass and she took a sip while she returned to her browsing. I stood behind her silently, not knowing what to do.
"Did you read all of these?" she asked, breaking the long silence that had fallen upon us.
"Not all of them. These are actually the books that I don't care for."
"Oh," Minerva turned around as I could see her surprised face, "then why do you have them out here?"
"People that tend to come here have different reading tastes than I do, so they're merely here for guests." I answered but then turned to go to the hallway. "Would you like to see the books that I do like?"
She tilted her head slightly in a playful way; her green eyes regained their warmth. "I would love to see them."
I led her to the cluttered office I had. There were all the books that I loved, were going to read, and my stories that I've written. She looked around with fascination. Her eyes scanned the spines of the many books.
"You have quite a collection. I have a few of the same books at my home." admitted Minerva while she continued her search through the cluttered room. Her eyes then fell to a stack of papers that were bound together. She looked at me excitedly as if she just woke up on Christmas day.
"Is that your story?" she picked the bounded papers. She looked at the blank cover that had only the title.
"One regret." she read the title. "What's it about?"
"Ah, that one isn't finished." I replied looking around for another one. "Here, this one is." I handed her the manuscript and took the one she was holding. "A single arrow, it's a crime story as I know we both enjoy them."
"Indeed we do." She replied with a smile. She flipped through the pages and then looked at me. "Have you sent any of your stories to a publisher?"
"No, I haven't gotten around to it."
"You haven't, or you wouldn't?" she seemed to see right through me. She reminded me of Kimmy in that way. She got straight to the point.
"Um, it's getting late. Did you want to stay over for the night?"
"I wouldn't want to intrude-"
"It's fine Minerva, I'll take the couch and you can take the bed."
"No, Chris, you shouldn't have to sleep on the couch. I'll take the couch." She insisted, but I wasn't going to let that happen.
"Minerva, I'll take the couch, and that's final." I said firmly and she seemed to give in at last. I led her to the bedroom where there was my queen sized bed. I thankfully made it this morning unlike I did most mornings.
"Well, everything you should need is here, and I'll be in the living room if you need anything." I replied. I started to leave, when she lightly grasped my upper arm.
"Thank you for everything Chris. I really do appreciate it."
"Any time Minerva, good night."
"Good night." She said before she let go. She gave me one more radiant smile before I shut the door softly behind me. That smile would keep me up for the rest of the night. I laid down on my couch thinking about tonight. She seemed disturbed after she danced with the musician. What did he do to her? How could I have let anything happen to her?
I rolled over as I felt badly for leaving her defenseless. I didn't know she wanted my help. As the night lingered on I found myself to be unable to sleep. My eyelids felt heavy, but I wouldn't let them close. No, if I let them close then I would fall asleep. What if she needed me in the middle of the night? I had to stay up and on alert, but my body protested and finally won over.
Sometime that night, I felt the couch shift under a sudden imbalance of weight. I slowly regained my sense when I felt someone next to me. It was Minerva. She snuggled beside me with her head on my shoulder and her arms around my waist.
"Minerva, are you alright?" I asked hazily as I wondered if this was just a dream.
"Just hold me." She ordered, sounding tired herself, but there was some sadness in her tone. I wrapped my arms around her tightly. This had to be a dream. It was too good for it not to be. Soon she was asleep in my arms as I followed her shortly afterward to sleep.
TBC….
Author's note: Sorry if this didn't answer some of your questions, or just added more questions to the list. It wasn't my intentions for the first day out of the three remaining days to be this long. It turned out to be an entire chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will diminish some of the questions you have. As always, reviews are welcomed. Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Second day will hopefully be posted soon. I wish you all well and best wishes.
P.S: Woohoo, this is the longest chapter yet! Sorry, I just noticed that and thought I should share it with you. Oh and I am working on foreign exchange student, if anyone here reading this was wondering about that story. It's going well so far and hopefully the chapter will be uploaded later tonight. Okay, this is the end of Author's note for real this time. ;)