Falquen's Nest

Chapter 12

The next few days proved to be quite pleasant around the apartment. Falquen had done a few more things to help her feel welcome. He'd even brought up a spare footstool from the shop for her. She'd blushed and waved it off at first but then as soon as he'd stopped laughing, she used it quite often.

She unpacked a few items from her hope chest which she thought she might need. Like a fluffy yellow bath towel, some cheery dish towels and a blanket for her bed. The nights were getting cooler and although the apartment was usually kept at a pleasant temperature, it did get a bit cold at night and in the early hours of the morning.

Janie realized she ought to be out looking for a job, but she'd gotten so comfortable in the act of setting herself up in her new home that the week was soon over.

It was now Sunday evening, and her parents had made plans to drop by the apartment. They'd stated quite clearly that they would like to meet her roommate, Falquen.

She sighed heavily at the thought. He hadn't seemed very pleased with the idea when she mentioned it to him, but he eventually agreed to be present. It was Sunday after all, and the shop was closed.

With another heavy sigh, she promised herself that she'd start looking for a job, first thing tomorrow morning. Where and what she'd be applying for, she did not know.

Thankfully, she still had some of the money her parents' had given her to help with her move. Oh, why couldn't she just be an artist for a living? Isn't that what she'd gone to college for? Falquen seemed to be doing all right, although he did work at the store.

With a third nervous sigh, she waited by the front window, peering out from the black curtains, on the lookout for her parents' arrival.

"Janie, enough already," Falquen said, tossing his paintbrush into the water-filled jar.

"Huh? What?" she said, backing away from the window.

"Your incessant sighing is driving me insane," he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "They'll get here soon enough."

"Sorry, I just want them to be proud of me," she said, glancing around the room. Would her parents find the place messy? Probably, but technically it was an artist's studio, and well, what could they expect? They'd have to understand, right?

"They're going to hate it," he said, reading her mind. "They're going to hate me even more," he said, gesturing to himself. "And they're really going to hate that you live here with me."

"But why?" she frowned. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"Look at me," he said with a halfhearted chuckle.

"I am looking at you," she said, confused. All she saw was the most captivating man she'd ever met. She'd come to that conclusion in those last few days. Sure, he wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but his uniqueness was what impressed her most.

"Come on, most parents of pretty girls from the suburbs like you would hate the idea of their daughter living with a freak like me," he said with a slight curl to his upper lip.

Stunned that he had just called her pretty, Janie was momentarily speechless. She felt her cheeks warm up and her knees nearly gave out. "They'll like you once they get to know you," she said softly.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked with an air of vulnerability in his voice.

"Because I like you," she stated simply. The silence that followed seemed to go on forever.

She'd rendered him speechless, she realized. Too soon the moment was broken with the sound of the doorbell.

"Mom, Dad, come in," Janie said, greeting her parents with a big smile. For the moment, all that mattered was seeing them again. She'd missed them and from the smiles on their faces, they'd missed her just as much.