CHAPTER FOUR: MAKING AMENDS
"What will you do, sir?" asked Jacob. Kane looked across at him from behind his vast desk. His head was rested in his hands.
"I don't know, Jacob," he replied. "She's sleeping at the moment. I told her she can go when she's ready to. If the police turn up I'll just have to deal with it."
"I don't think she'll call the police, sir. She was frightened but I think she worries about you…"
"Worries about me?" he repeated, incredulously.
"I spoke to her this morning when I took the breakfast tray up and she was very quiet. I asked what was wrong and she said she feels sorry for you…"
"I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me," he growled. Jacob smiled a little.
"We all need someone to feel sorry for us sometimes, sir," he replied. Kane glared at the little man, but did not argue. Inside he felt a spread of warmth; she felt sorry for him. That meant she had to have feelings for him beyond fear. No one else seemed to feel anything but fear for him. He stayed shut away while the workmen were in the house. Eloise seemed perfectly capable of dealing with them, leaving him to seclude himself in his office. He thought of her laid on the bed just above where he was and sighed deeply.
"Well, sir, should I check on Miss Eloise?" asked Jacob. Kane stirred and looked at him.
"No. I will go. I need to speak to her," he said, getting swiftly to his feet. Jacob couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he left the room. He watched his master take the stairs two at a time to reach the bedroom where Eloise was resting. Kane stopped outside the door and paused before tapping on the frame. He opened the door cautiously. She was sat by the window, the blanket round her shoulders, gazing down at the parkland below. She turned her head briefly when he entered and then looked back down.
"The landscape gardeners should be arriving today," she said. "Aren't they here yet?"
"You needn't concern yourself with that," he replied, a little shortly. She scowled.
"It is my concern. I hired them; I want to know they are doing a good job!"
"Everything has been quite satisfactory," replied Kane, quietly.
"Satisfactory?" she repeated. She had been hoping for excellent or even good; not satisfactory. Kane looked across at her, his head slightly tilted. She had not deigned to look at him yet and he found that quite irritating.
"Look at me Eloise," he said. She turned slowly to face him, her dark eyes narrowed slightly.
"Don't you like talking to the back of my head?" she asked. "Funny, I was never too keen on talking to the back of your chair. Never seemed to bother you much." She turned away again and he felt a flush of anger. She challenged him and he had only come up here to check she was all right. He crossed the room swiftly and stopped directly behind her, so that when she turned again she met a solid wall of flesh.
"I only came to see if you were alright," he said. She heard his disgruntlement and sighed, looking up at the mask.
"Well, I'm fine. I'd like my own clothes please so I can go check up on the workers. "
Her abrupt response angered him and he reached down to take hold of her arm as she went to push past him. She flinched at his touch but he only tightened his grip.
"You'll go back to work when I say so," he said, sharply.
"What are you? My doctor? I'm ready now, so get your hand off my arm and let me do my job! I've been cooped up in here for days."
"Fine," he said, squeezing her arm once more so that she yelped. When he released her she glared up at him, rubbing her arm.
"Where are my clothes?" she demanded. Kane stood back, folding his arms.
"Your clothes are hanging up in the cupboard," he said, eventually.
"So you going to stand there and watch me dress?" asked Eloise, angrily. Kane smiled and she felt a tremor of trepidation. Eventually he shook his head and turned for the door without another word.
Eloise dressed herself, pulling on her clothes aggressively, muttering under her breath. Who the hell did he think he was? Hadn't he done enough locking her in that room without putting his hands on her? Maybe she should prosecute, although she didn't want to really. Just imagining him being dragged off by the police made her feel a shiver of apprehension. In many ways he was like a child. But then he had never really been out into the real world and so that wasn't too much of a shock.
She paused in front of the mirror, taking in her dishevelled appearance. She really needed a hairbrush, badly. Her shoulder length black hair was a mass of tangled curls. Her green eyes were heavy looking, dark shadows circling them making her look and feel like a zombie. Maybe he liked that look. She paused at that thought. Any kind of romantic notion had not entered her head up to that point. It was a week since he had locked her in that room though and she could have left the house at any point in the last three days certainly, but something kept her from leaving. Perhaps it was that day he had walked forlornly from her room when she told him that he had falsely imprisoned her. Somehow that had struck a chord. Her thoughts focussed for a moment and the mask popped into her head. He was a prisoner himself, but he had forced this imprisonment. That mask that he wore to hide himself from the world was a self inflicted prison of a sort. She wished she knew what lay beneath that mask. In her mind she pictured what she saw when he wore it. His mouth was unmarked, such full lips that she suddenly wondered how it would feel to kiss them. She blushed at the thought and giggled to herself. His eyes were strange; one was a clear icy blue and the other deep brown. She had suspected that he only had the use of one of his eyes and that the clear blue was a result of him being blind in the other. She liked to look at his eyes though, seeing them as beautiful, rather than freakish as he appeared to think them to be.
Eloise paused again in front of the mirror, combing her hair through with her fingers. It still lay in a tangled mess though and she sighed, wondering if there was such a thing as a hairbrush in this place. She decided Jacob would be the best person to ask about that and with this on her mind opened her door and set off, only to bump into Kane, who was standing waiting for her.
"Oh, you waited," she said, somewhat surprised to see him there. He stood up straight and looked down his nose at her.
"I didn't want you wandering off on your own," he replied, scowling at her from beneath his mask. She saw his eyes narrow and glared right back at him.
"You know exactly where I plan on going. I'm going to check on the workers. Hey, I might even go home at some point."
Kane just scowled at her and watched as she walked past him, heading down the stairs. He didn't want her to leave but short of imprisoning her again there was little he could do.
"Sir, might I suggest you ask the young lady to stay for dinner?" He turned to see Jacob standing behind him. Jacob smiled at him.
"I doubt that she would," he muttered.
"You never know unless you try, sir," replied Jacob.
"I'll ask her, but I wouldn't get your hopes up," growled Kane. He followed Eloise's retreating figure down the stairs, but seeing her speaking to one of the workmen he hung back. He didn't want to be seen by them at all and so he remained in the shadows instead, watching her laughing and joking with the young man. A surge of jealousy rushed through him and it was all he could do to stop himself rushing down there and pushing the worker away, but then she moved on, pausing now and again to speak to different people, checking up on how the project was coming along.
It was some time later, after five o clock when everyone had gone when he finally had the opportunity to speak to her alone. She was standing in one of the rooms downstairs that had been completely cleared. The walls had been plastered earlier that day and she was looking around them with a sense of satisfaction.
"Looks good doesn't it?" she said, without turning round. Kane stopped where he was; surprised that she had heard him coming.
"Yes," he said, a little gruffly. She turned to look at him, inquisitively. Kane was silent for a moment, looking at her standing in front of the window, the rays of the evening sun catching her raven curls. He shook his head. "I wondered if you would like to stay for dinner tonight?" The question came out more quickly than he had anticipated and she was a little jolted by it. Finally though she shrugged.
"I guess," she said. "I haven't exactly got a social whirl planned."
"You can stay the night," he said. Eloise raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" she said. "Well there's an offer." Kane looked perplexed and she smiled to see him squirm a little.
"I… I meant in the spare room," he stammered. She laughed at his discomfort.
"I know, I was teasing," she said. He scowled, thoughtfully and then smiled.
"You will stay then?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. "Thank you for the invitation. Perhaps we could go through what my job description will be when all of this is finished?"
"Oh no," said Kane, shaking his head. "I never mix business and pleasure."
Eloise blushed this time and he chuckled. She looked up at the sound, realising she had never heard him laugh before. She also realised that she liked the sound; she liked to see him happy.
"Well, I guess I'd better get cleaned up if we're having dinner. May I use the bathroom again?"
Kane shook his head.
"Dinner's at eight, so if you want to go home and pick up some clothes first…"
"But it's just gone five. I don't finish until six."
Kane was silent, wondering if the words were a dig at him; he had been so stuffy about her hours when she first started. He looked across at her and she registered the hurt in his eyes.
"Sorry," she said. "I wasn't being funny it's just that my boss very rarely lets me go early." She smiled at him, wanting him to see she was only joking and eventually he smiled back, a small uncertain smile.
"Well, the boss says go home and pack some things, make yourself look beautiful and get back here for eight." There was a note of command in his tone that made her blush again.
"Ok. I'll be back for eight then," she said.
"Just make sure you are; you know how the boss feels about tardiness."
Eloise giggled and headed across the room towards him. To his surprise she squeezed his hand as she passed him.
"I'll see you later then," she said.