Breathless (Alan Rickman Fanfic) COMPLETED

Chapter 12 Julia

Chapter 12

Julia

Friday came...

Julia and Mrs. Woods is expected to arrive home this afternoon, Jasmine who's obviously with lack-of-sleep and keeping distance to her employer was currently cleaning the outdoor pool. It was a warm day for fall. The sun shone through the leafless trees, casting spiky shadows on the grass. Alan was kneeling over the remains of a flower bed, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up as he pulled weeds.

He enjoyed watching Jasmine drown herself on the scenery around her, eyes roaming around while cleaning the pool with struggle, shaking his head he continued pulling the weeds.

She was debating whether to go inside and clean the house or help him, when he suddenly jumped to his feet. He swatted his back.

She hurried to his side. "What's wrong?"

"Bee!" He answered. "I think it's in my shirt."

She lifted the back of his shirt to find the attacking insect, still on his back, stinger embedded.

"Hold still," she instructed, flicking the bee away. "Is that the only one?"

"Yeah," he responded, teeth gritted. "Did you get the stinger?"

"I think so. Come inside and let me look closer."

Unbuttoning his shirt as he walked, he entered the kitchen and spun a chair around backward to straddle as she examined his back. He faced the back of the chair, his chin resting on his arms folded the across the top.

Jasmine leaned closer to look at the angry welt. At least the stinger itself was gone. "I'll make a paste." She crossed the kitchen and began rummaging the kitchen cabinets and through the cupboard in search for a baking soda, thank goodness she'd watched survival tips on the National Geographic Channel with Rol once.

"I wouldn't have thought the bees would still be out," he said while she mixed the soda and water paste.

"It's been warm the last few days. I guess they're getting ready for winter." She turned away from the sink to return to him and lost the ability to speak.

Shirt gone, he sat, straddling the chair, a lock of his dark blonde hair brushing against his brow. He had leaned muscles and looked every part of Romeo he had played last night. He had hairless chest but with a smattering of dark hair that crossed his bare chest narrowed to a line disappearing into the waistband of his trousers. Averting her eyes immediately, she prayed he hadn't been aware of her staring as she hurried behind him to apply the paste. "This should help," she muttered, embarrassed that her voice had broken.

She rubbed the cool paste against the red swelling sting, too conscious of the warm skin beneath her touch. She'd known his shoulders were broad, but she'd had no idea they were so firm that touching them would affect her like this. Allowing her gaze to travel down his body to his waist, she noticed the fabric of his pants hugged his hips and thighs. And for a brief second, she wished the bee had sting him a little lower.

"Well," she said, needing to get away her mind from those inappropriate thoughts, "that should do it, Alan."

"Thanks for the salve," reaching for his shirt. Luckily, Julia's excited squeals brought them to reality.

"Daddy, I'm home!" she announced. The little girl stepped into the kitchen doorways almost tackling her father in a bear tight hug. Alan ruffled Julia's hair in a way Jasmine'd never seen him do before smiling at his daughter, he picked her up. "Welcome home my lovely daughter." He kissed her forehead. Julia jumped down from her father's arms and took two steps before giving Jasmine a hug. Jasmine laughed and returned the adorable little girl's hug.

"I'm so happy Daddy hired you!"

"I'm glad too." She honestly admitted looking over at Alan's reaction which seems pleased at hearing her answer.

"I'll teach you how to make biscuits." Julia suddenly exclaimed.

"Julia," Alan said, "Jasmine knows how to make biscuits."

"Oh... uh..." Jasmine glanced up at Alan to Julia. "I think baking biscuits is fun." She said tentatively.

"Yeay!" Julia jumped up and down, clapping her hands as she jumped.

Baking biscuits was how the girls spent the entire afternoon of course the adorable Chef Julia Rickman made sure our female protagonist knows the fundamentals of biscuit baking before the latter could use the oven. It was the perfect afternoon in Jasmine's life, Alan on the other hand was more than satisfied to watch her daughter's enjoyment on role-playing as a chef and poor Jasmine as her student/apprentice.

It's been a long day in the Rickman residence and by the clock strikes nine; the entire household was already retired for the evening except for the master of the house. Entering his office quarters, Alan let himself dropped into a leather chair by the window and stared at the cold fireplace. He leaned his head against the back of his chair; he looked at the small table beside him and started pouring the whiskey on his empty glass, the bottle thumping loudly as he returned it to the table.

"Cheers for another day of surviving without you." Tipping his glass in a salute to his deceased wife's framed picture, he downed the contents in one go. Alan couldn't count how many glass of liquor he had drunk but seeing the bottle almost empty told him he had enough for the evening, no one knew about his evening sessions except maybe the ghost of his house, if there's any.

"I'm missing you greatly Rima." He set his glass on the table and leaned forward to rest his head in his hands. The room was chilled and a fire would be nice, but he deserved to feel cold then maybe Rima would come and give a warm embrace just like the way it used to be. Slowly, he opened his eyes, allowing his vision to play a trick on him and imagined his dead wife standing in front of him.

Still that beautiful red-headed girl he remembered when they were in their teenage years. He shook his head. The alcohol is doing illusions on his head. He reached for the whiskey, taking a swig without even bothering with the glass but still the image of Rima was still there in front of him. Smiling.

There at that precise moment he looked at her through his dreamlike state, "I'll go to hell and back to be with you again, you know." His voice sounded calm but it was hollow, empty and no life. The corner of his lips lifted as he continued, "Julia became a great biscuit baker while you were gone," tears slowly streamed down his face. "Why did you leave us like that, my love? Do you know how much pain your death caused me?" He paused rubbing his hands on his face, frustrated. "On the first couple of days since you've been gone I resembled a human whose body's perfectly normal but with no soul attach," here he began to sob. "David even took Julia in his care since I've been neglecting our daughter. I was so devastated Rima. I even thought of following you in the afterlife!"

Alan kept his head bowed down crying until the alcohol's effect took place and he felt numb inside, passing out seconds later.

Jasmine hadn't meant to hear Alan's sorrowful lines if she isn't thirsty and her heart sank at how vulnerable and broken he is right now.

"Alan." She called but she was just answered by his steady breathing she watched him shifts his body to find a better sleeping position on the chair he's on. She sighed. She quickly cleans his office of the whiskey he'd just drunk earlier.

Tucking him to bed was the hardest part but she wouldn't want him to wake up with stiff shoulders and a terrible hangover. With his full weight on her she miraculously carried him to his bed where she bathed him with warm water using a towel, so the smell of the alcohol wouldn't linger on him once he wakes up and changes his upper clothes with a much comfortable fabric, switching the AC after so he could have a nice sleep.

Jasmine then placed a pitcher full of water and an upside down glass on his bedside table together with an anti-hang over medicine. Turning around to see if everything is in place she exited his bedchamber, at least in his dreams he'll feel a bit lighter.