'Cause I Like Him Too Much

Chapter Five

  ”Here is the one for the Room No. 6, sir.”, I handed a small brass key to Aunt Anne’s new tenant, Mr. Jones- a blond, stocky middle-aged man. My Aunt was expecting him.

  “Thank you.”, he nodded, taking hold of the key.

  “If you need anything Mr. Jones, I’ll be downstairs. Excuse me.”

  I rushed down to the stairs where I left a basket of laundry waiting to be washed. Aunt Anne had left me work to do, I guess it was her way of punishing me for coming home late. She didn’t get mad, she just asked why I was late. And to be sure that I wouldn’t leave the house, she also told me to take charge of the other rooms as well of the occupied ones while she was away. I got to thank her for that. Being surrounded with chores was good, I got to be busy, if only my mind would be too.

  It had been a few days I haven’t got out of the house on purpose, except if I had to run errands or anything else with my aunt’s concern. I never saw Paul or George since we left Cavern. I wasn’t just ready to face both of them. I was an idiot in both cases: reacting to much about  Paul having a girlfriend, and with George inside that ladies’ room. I wonder if his friends knew about it. No one should know. I went to the back of the house, near my aunts’s flower garden, where there was a well too. That was where I was going to do the laundry. I put the pile of dirty clothes in a basin, filled it with water. I grabbed a soap from the shelf and scrubbed them hard. They were all whites. You just can’t rely on a washer to get them cleaned.

  An hour later, I was hanging up the clothes to dry when, “Need help with that?”

  I looked around to see who it was. In the nearby alley behind the fences, I saw George on his way to our yard. George. Now there was this funny feeling inside that tells me to leap with joy, I do not know why I felt quite happy to see him.

  “W-What are you doing here?”, I almost dropped the clothes.

  “I figured out I wanted to see you.”, George looked around. “So this is where you live.”

  “Where’s Paul?”

  “Dot’s.”, George answered. “She’s havin’ fever.”

  “Okay.”, I finished hanging the laundry. I put aside the basin and went inside the house.

George followed me however. “Don’t you wanna talk to me?”

  I turned around. “What do you want to talk about, huh?”

 “Anything. You can tell me all about yourself if you want.”

  I scoffed and went to the kitchen. “Why should I? There’s nothing interesting about me.”

 “Yes there is.”, I could hear George’s voice from the back. “You are my angel.”

  My eyes went wide. “Now is that a line?”

 “Certainly not.”

 “You’re not funny.”

  “But it’s true.”, George walked into the kitchen. I was leaning at the sink when he came closer and held my chin with his thumb. “You are now my angel.”

  My heartbeat went fast. The distance now between us reminded me of what happened. “George.”, I gently pushed him away.

 “What’s wrong?”, he asked.

 “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

 George held my face as he once again made me shiver by his stare. “No, Hannah.”

  I looked down and sighed. “It was just an accident right?”, I clenched my fists, holding back my tears.

 “For me, it wasn’t.”, George said.

  Tears were already flowing from my eyes when I felt George’s embrace. What he said gave me comfort that all I could think of is him, by my side. I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I wanted him now.

“You don’t want us to stop, don’t you?”, George whispered in my ear.

 I giggled. He was right after all.

 “I haven’t told you this before.”, he held my hand.

 “What is it?”

 George smiled. “Back at the bakeshop, when—”

 “Don’t remind me.”

 “Just let me finish please.”

 “Sorry.”

 “I wanted to ask you out.”

 I let out a gasp. “You mean..”

 “Yes.”, George uttered. “I was serious of asking you to eat those rolls with me.”

I was speechless. I thought he was only bluffing in the first place, I soon considered it as a joke.

 “I knew you wouldn’t say yes.”, George continued. “Now I’m hoping you would today.”

  “I don’t know.”, I shrugged. “I got work to do. Besides  my aunt won’t let me leave the house for now."

 “How about the next day?”

 “Uh-uh.”

 “Next, next day? Or the day after that?”

 “We’ll see.”

  George couldn’t abide my answer. I’m gonna ask you one more time.”, he fixed his hair and asked, “Will you go out with me?”

  “Why of course I will.”, I answered in a riposte.

“I’m looking forward to it.”, George smiled. “One more question.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Can I kiss an angel?”

  Before I could answer, we heard a loud knock. From the main door, Aunt Anne was calling may name. She got home early.

 “Not now.”, I pushed George to the back door in the kitchen. “You should go.”

 “Is that your Aunt?”, George held against my push. “Doesn’t she like me?”

 “What are you talking about?”

 “Hannah!”, I heard my Aunt Anne called.

 “You didn’t tell her about me? About us?”, George was still at the door.

 “George!”, my voice went louder. “Just go. Quick!”

 “Hannah! Are you there?!”, Aunt Anne called out again.

 “See yous noon.”, George gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and hurriedly went over the fences.

I quickly ran to the front door and opened it for Aunt Anne who was wondering why it took me long. She had a huge paper bag with her. It must be groceries.

 “Sorry Aunt Anne.”, I lifted the bag which was a little heavy. “I was in the back yard.”

“It’s alright child.”, Aunt Anne assisted in carrying the bag. “Is Mr. Jones here?”

 “He’s in his room.”

We put the bag on the table. She took something from her handbag and it turned out to be a box with a bow on top.

 She smiled as she gave me the box. “I bought you this.”

  Inside was a soft pink coloured Sunday dress. Simple yet very dainty, any girl would love to have a thing like this. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

 “When I first saw it, I knew it would fit you just right.”, she continued.

 “Why did you buy me this? Are we going to a party?”, I asked.

  “Dear, I don’t want to be hard on you.”, Aunt Anne sat down and took off her coat. “You’re supposed to have fun, wear that dress when you go to the club tonight.”

 “Tonight?”, I couldn’t believe my ears. Wasn’t I supposed to stay?

“Hannah, go out with your friends.”, Aunt Anne patted my shoulder.

 I looked at the dress and smiled.