Brick by Brick

Part Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Sammy wasn't relaxing, she was wired, rigid beside him, and he didn't know how to change that. He'd hoped to find out what had happened earlier, but wasn't about to force her to speak to him, he just thought that it was what she needed.

She was beside him on the sofa, but sat up, wine glass clutched nervously in her hands.

"I'm not expecting anything you know?"

She glanced across at him, face taut, and he laughed, "I am offering you somewhere to stay and a little company. I don't expect you to share your inner secrets; I don't want you to feel you owe me anything. We're friends...aren't we?"

She slumped against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes, "of course we are...but everything is happening so quickly."

He laughed, "I can't begin to imagine, but I'm not here to make that worse."

She closed her eyes for a moment; her head dropped back, "I just don't know what I want."

"How about music? Your choice?"

He switched the TV to some music service flicking through dozens of albums until he settled on some eighties synth pop. Standing up, he moved into the kitchen, returning with a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

"Have some of this, I'm just going to shower, hate wearing suits outside of work."

Joel did want a shower, he'd had a long day too, but he also wanted to give Sammy some space and time. Things never seemed to quite go to plan when she was around, and he hated that they were starting to tread on eggshells around each other again. He took his time in the shower, scrubbing himself free of the toxins of work. He had used the same mint shower gel since he was a kid and he wasn't likely to change now. It was relaxing, he'd seen someone talking on TV about essential oils months ago, and apparently mint relaxed muscles and eased pain, he wasn't sure he believed in all that, but he got out of the shower feeling refreshed.

He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt. Scruffy, but he wasn't trying to impress his houseguest. Towel drying his still wet hair, he headed back to the lounge to find Sammy stood looking out of the window at the London skyline, swaying softly to the typical heavy baseline of the eighties music he knew she loved.

She had her wineglass clutched in her hands, and he noticed it was empty, so he moved to the coffee table and retrieved his glass and the bottle. Following her back to the window, her eyes avoided his in their reflection in the window.

"Nice shower?" She asked holding her glass towards him for a refill.

Nodding, he smiled as she finally looked up at him, "it's sometimes the greatest feeling."

That made her smile, "do you know I haven't had a peaceful shower in months? Well, not since Eleanor came along. First she was so little that I couldn't really leave her, now she's pulling out cupboards and drawers."

"Well tomorrow you can have a bath if you want. Relax and switch off. Me and my new best friend will get on with breakfast or something. Ok?"

He thought for a moment that she'd fight that, but then her face broke into a smile and she nodded, "ok, that sounds amazing."

Progress.

"You know what goes best with red wine as good as this one?" When she shrugged he grinned, "Cheese. I've got brie, and stilton and these little herby crackers, oh and olives. How does that sound?"