A week passed before he saw her again. He took his bike by her house every day but she never seemed to be in. Cars were gone. Drapes were drawn. After a week he couldn't stand it. He pulled his bike into the drive and jumped up onto the covered porch. He knocked on the door and waited. He knocked again. Finally he turned away. He stopped when he heard the latch and a door open. Jim turned and waited. She stood behind the screen door wrapped in a bathrobe. He was startled at the whiteness of her pale face and circles under her eyes.
"Hey….' He said softly and smiled.
"Hi…" she responded.
"Have you been sick?" he asked. "I've been a little worried that you were just part of my imagination or something." She smiled wanly and brushed the lank hair away from her face.
"Can I come in?" he asked. She hesitated and looked back at the room behind her before she unlocked the screen door. She backed away from it and he pulled it open. The room was dark and scattered with papers. She had pages and pages of sketches hanging everywhere. Fashion sketches, landscapes, portraits….she was very good. He approached a series she had hanging on the wall and studied them as she watched.
"These are good," he said softly. "Really good." Maggie smiled softly and turned toward the door leading into the kitchen. He followed her and took the tea kettle from her.
"I'll fix it," he said. "You don't look like you are feeling so hot."
"I'm fine," she said. He shook his head.
"No, you're not," he said and led her back into the living room to the couch. He settled her against the cushions and wrapped a knit shawl around her.
"I'll make you some tea," he said. "And some soup. You haven't anything today, have you?"
"No…but I really don't want….." He stopped her with a soft kiss to her lips. She looked up at him when he pulled back.
"It's okay," he said. "I'll take care of everything." She nodded and closed her eyes. He pressed another kiss to her forehead and then headed into the kitchen to see what he could possibly make a soup from.
She was sound asleep when he carried the steaming mug of tea into the living room. He set the mug on the coffee table and sat down next to it to study her. Long dark hair was tucked under her cheek and short dark lashes fluttered a bit as she slept. Her eyes brows arched perfectly over her eyes and full lips pouted a bit. Her cheeks and nose were round and pale. He didn't have any clue to what drew him to her. She was hardly the type he usually hung out with. He'd been around that type every night this week and all he could think about was where she might be. He glanced around the room and sighed. There were other things he could do while she slept. He stood up and headed for the kitchen to tackle the pile of dishes in the sink.
An hour later the kitchen was clean and he had straightened the living room. He found a laundry room and had a load of dirty towels he'd found washing as well. He was standing in front of the vacuum cleaner debating if the noise it made would wake her or not when he heard a key in the lock of the front door. The door was pushed open and the girl on the other side stopped in her tracks when she saw him.
"Who are you?" the woman at the door asked. "How did you get in?" Jim tipped his head toward Maggie's sleeping form on the couch. She shook her head in understanding and dropped her bag on the floor next to her.
"You must be Jim, then" she said as she extended her hand. "I'm Gina, one of Maggie's house mates. She told us about you." His brows furrowed in concern as he glanced toward the couch. Maggie slept on despite the noise. Gina's eyes followed his and she grinned.
"Oh, she sleeps like the dead through one of these," she said. "Always does. Watch." She flipped the switch to the vacuum cleaner and they both looked at Maggie, who never stirred. Gina chuckled and flipped the switch off again.
"See?" she said with a smile. "I wish I could say that for the rest of us when she goes on one of her midnight cleaning frenzies. We have lost more than one boarder because of those." He followed her toward the kitchen and Gina stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the immaculate counter tops and empty sink. She looked back at him.
"Wow…" she nodded. "I think you are a keeper!"
"Well, she wasn't feeling well and I thought I should hang around till she woke up," he said. Gina took a coffee cup from the cupboard and poured herself a cup from the full coffee pot. She leaned back against the counter and surveyed him thoughtfully.
"You thought that after one encounter with her at a bar?" she asked as she took a sip. Her eyes widened slightly. "Damn…you are a keeper! This is great." Jim grinned sheepishly.
"Well…I've got more than my fair share of short order cooking experience."
"You cook too??" Gina shook her dark head in dismay. "How is it that Maggie always manages to snag the good ones?" She grinned and took another sip of coffee as she studied him. Jim shifted a bit uncomfortably, glanced down at his shirt and then pulled his cigarettes out of his pocket. Gina watched him light one and slip the pack back into his pocket.
"Look….." she said finally. "Maggie is my best friend and I have known her forever. I'd do anything for her….and she would do the same for me….but she's tough. Different. Gotta hang in there and sift through a lot of…stuff…. with her if you are planning to stick around."
"Stuff?" he asked as he took a drag on his cigarette. Gina shrugged and glanced at her watch.
"I've got another class in 45 minutes," she said. "I just came home to check on her. I'll catch Amy and tell her not to bother coming later. She'll be glad to hear that you are here. We're both be done with classes around 8ish….if you still don't want to leave Maggie by herself." He nodded as she set her coffee cup in the sink and followed her back to the living room. She picked up her bag from the floor, kissed Maggie's cheek quickly and then glanced back at him again. She grinned and shook her head.
"Damn…." she sighed with a smile. She waved her hand and left. Jim's grey eyes rested on Maggie's sleeping form again. Stuff? What kind of…. she be talking about? He crossed to the vacuum cleaner and kept a disbelieving eye on her as she slept through the noise as he cleaned the rug.
Maggie woke later to the smell of eggs cooking. She was hungry. She pulled herself up on the couch and frowned as she brushed her hair away from her face. The living room was flooded with late afternoon sun. Who opened the blinds? She stood up and wrapped the shawl around herself as she padded toward the noise and smell from the kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him working at the stove. He turned around with a pan in his hand and then grinned when he saw her.
"Hey…." he said. "I wondered when you were going to wake up." Her brown eyes took in his form and then traveled to the table, which had been set for two.
"I found some sausage in the freezer," he said. "I figured breakfast for dinner was better than no breakfast at all." He scooped a generous helping of scrambled eggs on both plates and then put the pan back on the stove. He reached for her hand and pulled her toward the table. Wordlessly Maggie sat down and watched as he sat across from her. Jim pushed a plate toward her with two muffins on it. One had a candle stuck in the middle of it.
"I found some birthday cards on the table," he said. "Figured you were celebrating your birthday the last time we saw each other. Didn't want to miss out on that…" A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and he grinned. Her eyes widened in dismay as he opened a ketchup bottle and lifted it toward his pile of eggs.
"What are you doing?" she said finally. He looked up and then saw that she was eyeing the ketchup bottle.
"Putting ketchup on my eggs…." He said. "Why? Haven't you ever done that?" Maggie shook her head. Jim's smiled turned rakish.
"Ah…." he sighed. "Time to try new things…" He turned the ketchup to her plate and she quickly stopped him.
"Don't you dare," she laughed. He stopped and his eyes rested on her face.
"Now that's what I like to hear….." he said softly. Her eyes met his and she smiled shyly. She grimaced as he covered the top of his eggs with ketchup and smiled in satisfaction. He watched her and waited for her as she lifted a forkful of eggs to her own mouth. He grinned and she smiled across the table at him.