Chapter Seven
For Tessa, the days leading up to the party were spent by learning the ins and outs of the London Institute. Sophie kept her busy with washing, serving, dusting and gossiping.
"...the most infuriating individual you will ever meet, but it's obvious to anyone with eyes that he gets it from his father. He's such a pompous oaf, always getting at Charlotte that she's not doing a good enough job when in fact..."
Tessa continued to try and listen to Sophie's mindless chitchat as she folded the freshly washed clothes and linens. It wasn't that she didn't like talking to Sophie, she did greatly, but Tessa found that there came a point when gossiping about someone you had never met that became exhausting. If someone asked her about the Lightwood family now she would almost certainly have something to say about them and they had never even been acquainted.
While folding up the rest of the clothes, Tessa looked down at her hands and noticed the chips in her nails and the dryness of her skin. The different soaps she had been in contact with while washing had caused her usually soft hands to become irritated and cracked. She could only imagine what Aunt Harriet would have said if she could see the state her hands were in now. Forever sprouting on about what 'hands told people', Tessa's Aunt never went a day without inspecting Tessa's. If one nail was longer than the other, or, god forbid, broken off entirely, Tessa was forced to spend the day having her hands soaked and moisturised, which may sound like a luxury but, as Tessa found, there's not much you can do when your hands are indisposed . 'Think of it this way,' her Aunt would say, 'what man would want your hand if it were as dirty and stubbed as a common maid's? The time spent now is just an investment in your future.' The irony was not lost on Tessa, who could only hope for a future as a common maid just as a way to stay off the streets again.
Her hands were not the only thing that Tessa had noticed had changed. Her ribs were now less pronounced under her skin thanks to the three full meals a day that she was receiving. Well, more than three meals a day. Whenever she was in the kitchen, Will would spontaneously appear requesting a desert from Agatha. When it was made he would look at it and say 'There is far too much here just for me, I'd never finish the whole thing.' Which was a lie; Tessa had seen him eat more for his breakfast. He'd insist that Tessa eat at least half of whatever Agatha had made for him until she felt she were about to burst. When Tessa told Sophie of his peculiar behaviour she did not seem at all surprised.
"Will seems the type of man who would like his women properly filled out," Sophie analysed. "If I were you I'd be concerned, it reminds me of that old folk tale- the one where the poor children eat as much food as their hearts desire, only to end up eaten by the wicked old hag. I hate to say it Tessa but you're filling out nicely, and Will has that hungry look in his eye whenever he sees you."
Tessa had tried to laugh it off but later began to notice the look that Sophie was talking about, the smouldering eyes that landed on her every time she stepped into the same room as him were enough to make any girl swoon. But Tessa didn't give herself the luxury of trying to understand what would come from the look and so would find the will power to dart her gaze away and hurry out of the room as fast as she could before the stare really began to affect her.
Once the clothes were folded and in stacks, Tessa and Sophie had to take them back upstairs into the rooms of whomever they belonged to. Quickly, Tessa reached towards the stack of clothes on the far side of the table but didn't quite make it before Sophie's small hand slammed on top of the pile.
"Oh no, Tessa," she said. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. It is definitely your turn to handle his clothes. Although, I'm sure Will would prefer it in different circumstances."
Tessa felt her cheeks blush scarlet and silently scolded herself for being so easily discovered. She had wanted Jem's clothes so that she would be able to avoid Will, something she had been attempting and failing miserably at since she got back from that eventful trip into town. But maybe it was for the best, both Will and Tessa were going to have to work together at this party so she could not consciously avoid him forever, especially since it seemed that his latest mission was to make sure she ate.
She picked up Will's heavy stack of clothing and placed them in a basket the same time she placed London's brightest of false smiles on her face. "I'm quite sure I don't know what you mean, Sophie. I'll get these to Will's room then, shall I?"
But Sophie only smirked in reply and gave her the directions to his room. Tessa made her way through the hallways that she had come to know well over the past few days. When given an ounce of free time she loved just walking through them and looking at the paintings and artefacts on the wall, investigating forgotten doorways and loosing herself in the endless corridors. But now she walked with purpose, stretching her neck to see over the tall pile of clothes to make sure she was walking in the right direction. Soon enough she reached the door that Sophie had told her to look out for, it was between two huge portraits of previous owners of the institute from long ago whose eyes looked down on Tessa distastefully.
Adjusting the pile of clothes so that she could hold it in one arm, Tessa reached out her hand and knocked on the door. She silently counted to five before concluding that the room was vacant and opening the door. The first thing she did was find the closest place for her to dump the pile of clothes, which happened to be a plush chair placed a by the wall near the door. The second was turn and gasp in amazement that one person could be the cause of such a mess. If you were to just glance at the room without properly looking at it, you might not have even noticed the complete disorder that Will's belongings were in as there was nothing so obviously misplaced like clothes on the floor or stacks of plates left to fester in a corner. No, apart from Tessa's pile, the clothes were all put away and the bed was neatly made however there were stacks and stacks of heavy, leather-bound books by his bed, so many that it was a wonder that Will ever made it in there at night. There were more than several oil lamps placed seemingly systematically on the bedside tables on either side of the bed and there were loose pages of paper falling from the edges of his writing desk on the far side of the room under the window.
Tessa found herself walking over to the desk to stack the paper into a pile before the pages fell and got lost or ruined and was startled to find that every page had been written on in a type of script that was some sort of elegant mess. She laughed at the thought, since surely if there was a way to create an elegant mess, Will would be the one to have found it. She looked down at the page and picked out a sentence
'... and so, he concluded, that as lovely as it was to provide someone with their first kiss, it was even better to give someone their last.'
She slowly traced over the dried ink with her forefinger, letting the words absorb into her skin so that she could keep them with her to eventually read over and over in her head and analyse what every word meant. But she did not have the time right then because just as her finger reached the full stop, the wooden door opened and Will strode into the room.
Obviously he was not expecting her to be there, as when Tessa turned around she looked at Will's startled eyes and unhinged mouth. It was only seconds though, before Will's mask of predatory confidence rested on his face again. But after that small glimpse of the man behind the mask, Tessa refused to talk to him with his shield in place.
"Don't," she said and Will's eyebrow rose in confusion.
"Don't what?" He asked.
"Don't mask your true feelings with that pretence of unadulterated arrogance." Tessa looked at the ground suddenly sure that she could not go one trying to avoid him. "If we are to be friends," she said, somewhat shyly, "then you should know that you don't have to be that person all the time, the Will that everyone here has grown to know. With me, you can be the other Will that I can see you have hidden, the real one."
For a second there was silence and Tessa looked up and saw from across the room how intensely Will's eyes were hooked on hers. She waited for him to react, to say something witty and completely ignore what she just said. Instead he walked towards her slowly, so slowly that by the time he reached her, Tessa hadn't taken a breath in what felt like minutes. He stood so close that when Tessa finally gasped out a breath, she noticed how they were sharing the same air. And still he leaned closer, and closer; his lips by her cheek, by her ear, until he stopped moving and was looking over her shoulder at the pages that she had just been reading.
"If we're to be friends," he murmured softly, "you should know that there's nothing left of me than what you see."
Tessa took a deep breath, "I don't believe that." She said firmly.
"Then don't believe it, but don't be disappointed when you find it to be true."
Tessa placed her hands on Will's chest and pushed him away from her so that she could walk by him without looking into his eyes again. When she reached the pile of clothes, she was just about to pick them up when Will spoke, "Don't bother, I can do it. I know where I like them best anyway." So instead Tessa straightened her back and headed for the door. She was inches away from grabbing it when she made the split second decision to turn around.
Will was slumped against the wooden desk, his head hanging and his shoulders sagging. He looked up sharply when she began to ask "Why is it better to be someone's last kiss than their first?"
Will didn't even hesitate, "Being someone's first kiss means you're a part of them for the rest of their life. Being their last kiss means you're a part of them for the rest of eternity. i think anyone would agree which holds the most importance."
Tessa nodded and turned towards the door again, "Well, I'll see you before the party." She said, suddenly desperate to leave.
"Wait," Will said suddenly. "About the party, have you found anything to wear yet?"
Tessa perused her lips, she hadn't even though about it. "No, but I'll find something."
Will walked towards his closet and pulled out a long gown in garment bag. He walked towards her and placed it in her arms. "You can have this. I think it will fit and it's more than appropriate for the social event of the year." His attempt at a joke fell flat as Tessa looked in astonishment at the dress in her arms.
"Why do you have this?" She questioned.
"Oh, just something I like to do in my spare time." He smirked and Tessa grinned back. As thanked him and left she realised that if you were going to wear a mask, you should at least wear it well, and Will wore his like a second skin.
A/N: Sorry it's taking me so long to update. I know it's a common excuse but I'm just so busy, but I promise that for as long as people are enjoying this story, I will keep updating. Thank you for bearing with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter and the others to follow. :)
