No Place I'd Rather Be
The large cardboard box was getting heavier with each flight of stairs. On the third floor, Ella had to pause for breath, leaning against the bare wall of the staircase for support. Damn it! She cursed the stubborn streak that had made her reject her brother's offer to help with the move. Right now, she'd have given anything to have Fergus here by her side. Or to have picked a ground floor flat. Or to have less stuff to move.
Her parents would have paid for a moving firm, of course. Whatever else could be said about Bryce Cousland, he was certainly not tight-fisted when it came to his beloved daughter. But accepting his offer would have meant just that – confirmation that she was still his baby girl, unable to fend for herself. And Ella was determined not to let that happen.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself away from the wall, gripping the box harder. She was about to set foot on the next step, when the door to her left opened, and a tall, lanky guy with jet-black hair appeared in the doorway.
"Need some help with that, luv?" He spoke with a strong accent, and the look in his eyes as he sized up both her and the box was just this side of insolent. "Seems a bit much for a tiny little thing like you." Without waiting for her reply, he turned back his head toward his own place. "Hey, Al! Seems you were right, mate, and we have a new upstairs neighbour."
"I could do with some help," Ella admitted. "There are a few more boxes downstairs."
Which was a definite understatement. Fortunately, her little one-bedroom flat came partly furnished, but she still had half a van full of boxes to carry up, not to mention her three large bookshelves.
"Well, I could certainly help you out. Name's Daveth, by the way." The guy grinned. "Question is… what's in it for me?"
"Daveth!" A second man had appeared right behind him. He, too, was tall - and rather well-built, Ella couldn't help but notice. But his hair was a light, reddish blond, and his accent was so well-bred that not even Ella's mother could have found fault with it. The expression on his open, honest face was so full of righteous indignation that Ella had to hide a smile. "Honestly, Dav! Stop harassing her and make yourself useful for once." He turned to her with a shy smile. "Welcome to Ostagar. I am Alistair."
"Ella." She shook hands with him, noting with pleasure that his hands were firm and dry. "I would really appreciate your help."
"Of course. Jory!" At Alistair's words a third guy appeared behind him, this one heavy-set and quiet. "If we all work together, we will have this sorted out in no time at all. Come on."
Daveth shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" With one arm, he lifted the box that had given her so much trouble and yanked it up on his shoulder. "Damn, that's heavy. What have you got in there? Bricks?"
"Books." Ella felt a blush rise to her cheeks. "I… I'm a student of archaeology. We tend to have a lot of books."
"Archaeology, eh?" Daveth adjusted the box on his shoulder with a pained grimace, then headed for the stairs. "You know you're only supposed to fill those halfway with books, right?"
"I do, but…" Ella bit her lip. The simple truth was that at some point she'd run out of anything else but books to pack. She simply didn't own enough other stuff.
"We can handle it." Alistair smiled reassuringly at her. "Just make sure to have all the doors open, and we can do the heavy lifting for you."
"Thank you so much!" Ella was more relieved than she could say.
The three guys were as good as their word. It took them barely an hour to lug all her stuff up the four flights of stairs, with only the occasional break to ask where to put things or to take a sip of water. Ella did her best not to get in their way, since they refused to let her carry even the smallest of boxes.
When they finally had finished, Ella smiled at each of them in turn. "Thank you so much, guys. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
Daveth yawned, stretching and wincing a little when his neck cracked audibly. "Well, I wouldn't say no to a pizza."
"That's a great idea!" Ella hesitated. "But where-"
"Just leave it all to me." Alistair winked at her. "Come on, Jory."
The two of them disappeared down the stairs, leaving her alone with Daveth.
They sat in silence on their respective boxes for a while, until Daveth got bored. Bouncing to his feet again, he started pacing around the room, taking it all in – the pretty little couch, the desk in the corner, the empty bookshelves. "Nice little setup you've got here. Your parents spring for the place?"
Ella immediately felt defensive. "What if they do?"
"Hey, no need to get your knickers in a twist." Daveth raised both hands apologetically. "Good for you if they're loaded. But not all of us have a rich family to support us, you know."
"They don't support me." Ella clenched her teeth. Her parents did help with the rent, that much was true. "I've got a traineeship at one of the digs, on the old battlefield."
"And they actually pay you for that?" Daveth looked doubtful. "I thought it was a volunteer thing."
"I've got a grant," Ella admitted. "And you? What are you doing for a living?"
"This and that." Daveth shrugged. "There's plenty of opportunities, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty. But hey, I figure you know all about dirt, if you work on a dig." He grinned at his own wit.
"Oh, you're doing excavations?" Alistair was back, carrying a stack of pizza cartons and beaming at her. "That is so cool."
Jory nodded quietly and joined them as they sat down on the floor and distributed the pizzas.
"They're from the Italian restaurant next door," Alistair explained, handing her a fork and a knife. "And when I told them we're in the middle of a move, they even gave me some cutlery."
"Huh." Daveth tore a large slice of his pizza with his bare hands and shoved it into his mouth. "Whatever for?"
Exchanging a quick smile with Alistair, Ella began cutting up her pizza. It was warm and tasted heavenly, and she finished it at an embarrassing speed. Up to now, she hadn't realized how hungry she was. Or how tired. Leaning back, she suppressed a yawn.
Jory immediately took the hint and got to his feet. "I need to be going. Good night, Ella. Thanks for the pizza."
"No, thank you!" She smiled at him. "I couldn't have done it without you. Without all of you."
Daveth smirked. "No worries, luv. Always glad to help a girl out. But I need to be off, too. Got a late shift at the bar."
The two of them headed out, and Ella found herself alone with Alistair.
"We should clean up." He cleared his throat and bent down to gather the pizza boxes and the cutlery.
"You don't have to-"
But Alistair just smiled, and before she knew it, he had already carried everything to the kitchen, bundled the boxes up neatly in a stack under the sink, and washed and dried the knives and forks. "I'll take those back to the restaurant for you."
"At least let me pay for the pizza." Ella was feeling a little flustered. "Here."
Digging into her pockets, she handed him a few crumpled notes, her fingers brushing against his.
"Sure." Alistair's ears took on a faint red tinge. "But, Ella…" He hesitated for a moment, but then he raised his head and met her gaze. He had rather lovely eyes, Ella couldn't help but notice. "Please let me know if there's anything else you need help with. I mean, you're going to need a kitchen table, and some chairs, I think? And probably some curtains and a proper bed…" He was really blushing now. "If you want… There's an IKEA out by the motorway and since you have a nice big car... I could help you with transporting and assembling stuff, you know. I'm good at that sort of thing."
"I'm sure you are." Ella swallowed. He was such a genuinely kind person, and she couldn't believe her luck in having him living right downstairs. The fact that he was really easy on the eyes didn't hurt either. "Thank you so much, Alistair. I will see you tomorrow, I'm sure."
"Tomorrow!" His eyes lit up at her words. "Yes. See you, Ella." Another shy smile, and he was gone.
Ella glanced around at the unpacked boxes, the mattress on the floor, and the bare walls. It wasn't a palace, that much was sure. But right now, there was no place she'd rather be.
