ALANA'S MISTAKE ✔

Chapter 9

Elias pulled on a pair of jeans and wrapped a belt around his waist. He went over to the tall mirror that was in the corner of his room next to his small, wooden wardrobe and ran his hands through his dark, wet hair. He shook his head a little and adjusted his hair again. Meanwhile, Alana wrapped herself in one of the sheets and asked him where the bathroom was.

He directed her to a room, just next door, pointing to a towel that she could use, sitting on an old radiator. It was a large bathroom, with antique tiles and a large painting of a mermaid above the sink. She closed the door behind her, then let the sheet drop and got undressed once again. She turned on the water, letting it heat up under her hand, then stepped in to the cubicle once it was steamy and hot, just as she liked it.

She let out a long sigh as the warm water rushed over her skin. She bent back her head and let her hair get soaked right through. She found the soap and began to form a lather all over herself, whilst the walls of the cubicle steamed up completely.

She was trying not to panic, trying to rationalise what had happened. She had never, ever done anything like this before. She wasn't the girl that did this stuff. She was the girl that had one boyfriend and ended up marrying him. She wasn't Riley, she didn't go from party to party, from guy to guy. She had a daughter. Every time she thought of that she felt the same pit of dread and sickness in her stomach. Noah and Snow must never, ever find out about this. Ever.

As she massaged the shampoo through her hair, as if trying to cleanse herself of her own actions, as if washing hard enough might make it all go away, she heard movement in the room and then saw the door to the shower cubicle slowly opening. She was startled, almost enough to cry out. She reached for her body, instinctively wanting to cover up. It was Elias, naked, giving her a mischievous wink.

'Why do you keep doing that?' he said. 'You should never feel like you have to hide yourself, not around me.'

He has seen it all now anyway. She wanted to kick herself. Before she had a chance to respond he stepped in to the shower and stood under the hot water, letting his body stand next to hers, allowing his smooth skin to connect with hers as the water ran over both of them. As he began to run his hands over her and bend his lips towards hers she stepped back as far as she could in the cramped space and told him that she was going to get out. He caught hold of her wrist, then pulled her towards him, making their bodies meet again.

'Stay,' he said.

'No,' she replied. 'I can't, I have to go.'

He looked down at her again and all she wanted to do was cover herself. What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? As she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in the towel he looked at her from underneath the water.

'That's not what you said last night,' he said.

She didn't have a reply to that. He was right. She hadn't said much at all last night, as she remembered it. Not once they got here. Where had her mind been? She returned to Elias' bedroom and began to dress again. Soon enough he followed and handed her a piece of clothing.

'Wear this t-shirt,' he said. 'It's clean. I don't have any girl's trousers, but at least you can wear this.'

She looked at the t-shirt, white with the words 'Pearl Jam' on it. One of her favourite bands when she was a teenager. She took it out of his hands and put it on. It smelled clean, like him. Then she grabbed her dungarees from the floor and pulled them on.

She picked up her handbag and felt slightly better to have clothes on. She followed him along the hallway to his small kitchen, passing the front door as they went. She longed to go to that door and run out, down the stairway and out onto the street, all the way home. But it seemed like if she did that, he would be offended and the last thing she needed to do now was upset him. She just needed the whole thing to die away quietly, so that they could both move on from last night and she could forget that it ever happened.

As she sat on a stool in the kitchen, watching him make eggs for her she thought about how a guy like Elias must have a thousand girls waiting to be his. He didn't need a married, part time student with a child. He didn't need her at all. What happened last night was a one off, an anomaly in her life that she hoped, with time, could be completely forgotten. Elias got out a plate from the cupboard and filled it with eggs and toast then presented it to her with an affectionate smile.

'You're a lucky girl, you know,' he said. 'I hardly ever make breakfast for anyone. Only people I really like.'