Seduce Me ~ The Path To Forgiveness

Path One, Step Ten: Unanswered Questions

I make my way to one of the chairs pushed against the wall and sit there for two hours lost in thought, the kiss and the apology that followed replaying in my mind, until James enters the room. He glances around at the furniture still haphazardly placed around the walls before turning his worried eyes to me.

"Is everything alright, Miss?" He asks as he approaches.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I reply, forcing a smile that doesn't seem to fool him as his brow furrows.

"If my brother has done anything to upset you.." He trails off as he searches my face for a reaction but I merely shake my head.

"No, I'm simply not feeling very well." I lie quickly, rising to my feet.

"It seems odd that he would leave you here to do all of this heavy lifting alone." He muses with clear disbelief as he motions to the chairs and the long, heavy oak table that I probably couldn't move alone if I tried.

"He was in a bit of a hurry when he left, it must have slipped his mind. If you wouldn't mind helping me with the table I can take care of the rest."

"If you aren't feeling well you should go rest, I can handle this."

"It's alright I can.." I start but he cuts me off with a wave of his hand.

"It's no trouble, Miss. I'll call for you when dinner is ready."

I take him up on his kind offer without further argument and slowly make my way up the stairs. I stop in front of Eriks door, my hand poised to knock but unable to bring myself to. I'm shaken, the days events fresh in my mind, and decide to talk to him about it tomorrow after we've both had some time to cool off. I head to my room and lay on my bed staring at the ceiling lost in my thoughts. When James texts me letting me know that dinner is ready I reply that I'm not hungry and silence my phone.

I find myself remembering the time my father brought home an assortment of puzzles. I rummaged through them, stopping as I came across a breathtaking scene. A beautiful princess with hair as bright as the sun and sky blue eyes locked away in a winding tower with a man dressed in shining armor just barely visible in the distance riding upon a white stallion toward her stone prison. Cliche I know but it stirred something within me, feelings of sorrow and despair followed by the unadulterated joy of tasting freedom at last, and I fell in love with it instantly. I spent hours slowly piecing together the puzzle only to find after all my hard work that the final, and perhaps most important, piece was missing. We searched around the room for at least an hour trying to find the small cardboard tile adorned with the mounted knight to no avail before conceding that it must have been missing from the box before we even opened it. I was filled with an infuriating frustration that only grew with each passing day as I stared down at the puzzle, it's missing piece causing it to take a darker theme. The puzzle sat incomplete on the dining room table for weeks until I could no longer bear looking at the doomed princess, fated to wither away in that lonely tower, and threw the accursed puzzle away.

I'm consumed by that same frustration now as I try to make sense of the jumbled up mess of thoughts in my head, a vital piece missing from this infuriating puzzle. It was clear that he wanted it as badly as I did so why did he leave in such a hurry? 'Why do I desire you?' His words still linger in my mind, his tone filled with need and yet strangely laced with guilt as if he knew he shouldn't. It also seems strange that he wouldn't look at me during or after our kiss. But perhaps the strangest thing was him running off, not the apology or him leaving but that it happened just as his fingers ran over the brand on my shoulder. I try to brush it off as just coincidence but it continues to fester in the back of my mind demanding my attention. My thoughts continue warring for hours before I finally drift to sleep.