Can You Hear Me?

Chapter 5

April 17, 2001

Sasha sat up in bed and fluffed up her pink pillow before placing it back. Then she smiled to herself as The Smashing Pumpkins song Disarm started playing. She sang along quietly as she picked up the book she was reading. It was Perfume, The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind. It had to have been her eighth read-through since her Grandmother bought it for her. Suddenly right as the song ended, she heard the front door open, then close before she heard the familiar voice of her uncle, Thomas.
"Sasha, are you home, sweetheart?"
Sasha quickly put her floral bookmark on the page she was at, then closed it and got up, turning off her CD player before making her way out of the bedroom.
"Yeah, I'll be down in a second."
"Okay, honey."
Sasha heard Thomas reply as she walked back into her bedroom and quickly changed out of her pajamas, putting on a pair of tight jeans and a Nirvana t-shirt. As she turned to make her way out of the room, she jumped back a little at the sight of her uncle.
"I said I'd be down in a second."
"Oh, sorry. I was only going to ask if your parents had any coffee in the house?"
Sasha blankly looked at him for a moment before walking past him and spoke.
"Yeah, they do. Come on. I'll make you a fresh pot."
"Okay, thank you, sweetie."
They both walked back down the stairs and to the kitchen. Then as Sasha went to get the coffee pot ready, Thomas sat down, and without her noticing, his gaze drifted down her sixteen-year-old body. His eyes stopped at her ass as her back was to him, and he licked his lips. A tiny smile tugged at his lips as he looked back up as she turned around.
"Oh, I got you something for you on my trip."
"You did?"
"Yeah, let me go get it from the car."
Thomas said as he stood up and gave her a friendly grin before turning and walked around to the front door, then outside. Sasha leaned against the counter and thought about what he could've possibly got her this time from his business trip.

"What you doing, babe?"
Thomas looked up and smiled at his wife, Christina, as he held up a painting.
"Getting the gift I bought for Sasha."
"Did you buy me anything?"
"Yes, I did. I'll give it to you later."
Thomas said with a playful wink, then he walked over to Christina and gave her a loving kiss as he reached around and grabbed her ass. As he pulled back, his hand stayed on her ass and gave it a little squeeze as he licked her lips.
"You'll love it."
"I bet I will."
She said with a chortle as she reached up and rubbed his cheek.

Sasha turned on the little radio in the kitchen. Then she started scanning through the stations until she found one that was playing ABBA. Sasha turned to the coffee pot and poured two cups before walking them over to the table. After she set them down, she went back and turned the radio up a bit and grabbed the containers of cream and sugar. Thomas walked back in as soon as she set the cream and sugar on the table.
"Just in time."
"Perfect."
Thomas walked over to the table and handed the painting to Sasha before sitting down. He watched as she held it in her hands and examined the art. Her eyes danced around the canvas, it wasn't super big or anything, but she did find the erotic nature of the piece to be a bit odd. Her eyes lifted from the painting and met his, they were friendly, but something seemed off about them too, like he was hiding something. She quickly pushed those feelings aside and forced a fake smile, hoping he wouldn't notice.
"Thank you, uncle Thomas. It's beautiful."
"You're welcome."
Thomas stood up and hugged Sasha, his hands resting a bit low, which made her think for a second as she hugged him back, but she assumed that it must have been an accident. Well, at least she hoped it was anyway.
"I'm happy you like it."
Thomas rubbed her lower back as he spoke, his fingertips brushing over her ass, making it seem like he didn't know his hands were that low. Then Sasha pulled back and looked at him with another forced smile on her face.
"I'm going to put this in my room."
"Okay."
Thomas picked up his coffee cup and took a drink. Then as Sasha walked past him, his gaze was drawn straight to her thighs and ass. He closed his eyes and focused on not getting an erection, then as he opened them, he saw that she was already halfway up the stairs.
"Wait, would you like some help hanging that up?"
"Um, sure."
Sasha said with a shrug as she kept walking up the stairs, then made her way to her bedroom. Thomas took another sip of his coffee before taking a deep breath. He stood up and licked his lips before quickly making his way upstairs. Then, as he walked into her room, he looked around and rubbed his hands together.
"So, where you thinking you'd like it hung up?"
"Ummm."
Sasha looked around the room as she nibbled on her lower lip, then pointed at a bit of blank wall above her dresser.
"I think it would look good there."
"Yeah, I think it would look good there too."
He said with a nod as he looked at the blank bit of wall. Then he pointed out the door with his thumb.
"I'll go grab some tools. Are they still in the garage, right?"
"On the shelf where you left them after you borrowed them last time."
"Oh yeah, that's right. Okay, I'll be right back."
He gave her an oddly flirtatious wink before he left her bedroom. She listened as he made his way down the stairs, then she walked over to her CD player and replaced her Smashing Pumpkins album with Disintegration by The Cure, which was Milo's, Nemesis's, and her own favorite album. As Plainsong started playing, she sat on her bed and waited for her uncle to return. An almost silent sigh escaped from between her lips as she picked up her book and read for a few minutes until she heard his steps creaking back up the stairs.
"You find them?"
"Yep."
He said as he held up the bag he put them in. She just stood there as he walked past her and went right to work. She watched as he used the stud finder, then he marked them off and started nailing in the hooks to mount the painting. Then before she knew it, he was done and had it hung up. She was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't crooked.
"Wow, that's perfect, thank..."
Before she could finish speaking, he was hugging her.
"You're welcome, sweetheart."
He said as she hugged him back. Then she had to force herself not to tense up as she felt his hands rest on her ass.