~ELLO! Hehe. I like this chap lots- its just so… edgy and mysterious, haha! And when I wrote it I never planned it like that, so I was rrrreally happy and surprised the way I found it all coming out! Feels like aggges since I put up some first time lol! well hope ya all like! Lotsa love, Kate xx~
This was going to be no ordinary night. She knew that as soon as she got off the phone to Becky; weird little things started occurring all over the house.
For one, all the lights in the lounge decided to go out, plunging the room into complete darkness and causing an unexpected black shadow to suddenly appear in Elisabeth’s left eye, and she jumped.
Upon inspection, the two main bulbs had gone- both at the same time, and now it was only filled with dusky evening light, which would soon fade away to uncomfortable moonlight. She had to fumble her way through the room to the floor lamp and put that on; and it cast its warm orangey glow over the furniture- it would do for now, anyway. Elisabeth had never been the best at changing a bulb…
Next thing, the kettle broke. Which was really stupid because it had been fine an hour ago- and now it was just refusing to boil anything.
“Hellloooo…cup of coffee!” Elisabeth muttered angrily at it, but it wasn’t going to work. And mending kettles?! Not an Elisabeth forté!
She’d just have to go without the hot drinks for now, until it was fixed… and she was going to need them, because suddenly the air conditioner decided to randomly come on in every room downstairs, sending all the rooms into freezing temperatures.
“God!” Elisabeth muttered, trying to turn the one in the kitchen off, but it wouldn’t work. It was as if it had a mind of its own…
She stood alone in the murky kitchen for a minute and surveyed the scene.
“There is a ghost in this house,” she decided, and with that comment she heard a large crash and a bang from the other end of the house.
She jumped out of her skin; grabbing the kitchen counter in fright, wondering where the hell that had come from and what the hell it was.
Heart racing, she gulped in deep breaths to try and calm her down, but she really didn’t like being in the house alone.
Especially when it seemed to inhabit a poltergeist.
Deciding to be brave and check it out, she edged slowly into the lounge, the little light bringing comfort to her although she could hear the breezing of the air conditioner and it was soooo cold in here!
But she walked on through, to the destination of the noise, which had come from the front of the house. It had sounded like something falling over, something big, like a shelf of things just falling to the floor… that’s what poltergeists did, wasn’t it? Be troublesome. Throw things around, move stuff about, interfere with things… oh my God.
She shuddered- stop scaring yourself, Elisabeth! She scolded. There’s going to be a perfectly reasonable explanation.
She stepped into the dark hallway and looked round tentatively, her heart leaping about like a bunny rabbit. Everything looked okay in here… and she knew it hadn’t come from upstairs… her eyes slowly fell to the front door.
Might as well check it out, she thought courageously to herself, and so she tip-toed over to that, as if to scare the ghost, and resting her hand on the handle of the door, she closed her eyes and mumbled, ‘please be fine, please be fine, please be fine’ before taking a deep breath and flinging it wide open.
She saw what had made the noise.
And then she burst out laughing.
A very embarrassed Paul was putting the last few bags back inside the steely trash can and picking up the lid before he looked up and saw Elisabeth laughing in front of him in the doorway.
He blushed. “I tripped, okay?” He explained, putting the lid back on the bin, and hoisting it back into the corner.
Elisabeth was still laughing. “You tripped and what?!”
“I fell over the bin, okay!” He spelled out for her, but that just made her laugh harder, and Paul stood there a minute, offended, but then he looked at her laughing and a little grin spread across his face, too.
“I didn’t mean to startle you, I just couldn’t see and then I think I fell over the step and barreled into the dustbin.”
Elisabeth laughed more- what a complete muffin!
“Well- why don’t you have a wheelie bin like everyone else?!” He complained pathetically, trying to stick up for himself.
“We dooo!” She laughed. “It’s out back! Now that would have hurt you!”
“I’m alright,” Paul said, brushing himself down, from odd bits of grass and what-not.
Elisabeth giggled. “You sure?”
“Ahuh! Just… kinda embarrassed.”
She laughed again. “No-one’s ever fallen over the bin before! And there I was thinking you were a poltergeist!”
He smiled curiously at her. “A poltergeist?!”
She grinned. “Yeah! You know- a tricky, ghost person!”
“Am afraid is just me tripping over my 5”5 self,” he grinned back at her, and she laughed again.
God- that had been such a relief! She’d been so freaked out the house was haunted there for a minute- and that she’d been living with an evil spirit!
Paul just continued to smile at her, and tilted his head. “It’s good to see you laugh,” he said.
She giggled. “You keep falling into my bin and I’ll laugh forever! Come on in, then,” she gestured.
He grinned and heavily exaggerated stepping carefully over the path to safety, which made Elisabeth laugh even more.
“You know- maybe you should stay outside here! It’s probably a lot warmer, and a lot safer!”
“Not safe,” he said, stepping into the house with her, and she closed the door. “Nothing’s safe out there, especially not little boyband members. Oh my God, how cold is it in here?!” He immediately began rubbing his arms.
Elisabeth laughed. “Told ya I had a poltergeist!”
He looked at her confused, and she led him into the lounge where there was some light. “In the last 15 minutes my house has decided to hate me,” she explained.
“Why?” He asked, looking round the room, wondering why it seemed different.
“Air conditioners downstairs have come on. Randomly. And they won’t shut off,” she continued, sitting down. “Kettle’s broke in the kitchen and won’t work at all, and all the lights in here are gone- ‘cept the floor lamp over there,” she gestured to it.
Paul sat down beside her. “Ahhh, just a bitta bad luck, that’s all.”
“Hmph, yeah, probably. Probably a payback.”
“Payback for what?!”
“For good luck I had earlier.” She turned to look at him properly, eyes shining in excitement. “I got through to Becky!”
His eyebrow arched up in that cool, particular way Elisabeth loved. “You did? What did she say?”
“She’s coming over sometime this weekend to talk to me!” Elisabeth beamed, happily. “Isn’t that great?!”
Paul smiled at her, again pleased she was happy. “So that’s why you’re in such a good mood. That is, really great.”
“I’m just so relieved!” She grinned. “At first she said no, and so I had to talk her round, but now it’s all okay and sorted… well, not yet, but at least I’m going to be able to tell her everything that happened and what I feel about it since!”
Paul leaned back against the curtains. “What do you think about it?” He asked.
“What do I?” She pointed to herself, and he nodded.
She looked down a little; knowing she had a few important things to say to Paul.
“Well… I learnt a lot from it all. I guess… it was a useful experience- funnily enough! As long as I’m okay with Becky in the end… it won’t have been all bad, I guess… but I learnt you were right from the start. I never should have been with him.”
“Ohhhh, Lib…” He sat up again.
“No- no! Let me say this!” She said defiantly, looking up a second. “I was wrong. I admit that freely now. I thought that… that he cared for me, really liked me, maybe even loved me… but I was really wrong, he was just using me. And I was using him.”
Paul looked at her confused.
“Well,” she took a deep breath, “Steve made me feel really good about myself. I mean, he was the first guy who had ever taken an interest in me, for Godsake! He made me feel like I was… I dunno; attractive, or whatever! And it was such a good feeling- I was wanted, and so I kept going back for more and more even though I knew it was wrong, just because it felt good.”
Paul nodded.
“And… I was really selfish. I began to get jealous of Becky and Steve, and just want Steve all to myself. That’s why I was going to sleep with him- because I thought it might make me choose me over her. I’d completely forgotten what Becky was to me, what she meant- I was completely engrossed in my own well-being.”
“Awww Lib, that’s not true.”
“Yes it is! And I thought I loved Steve, I thought he was “the one”, but I rushed it all and… and I was stupid.”
“You didn’t love Steve?!”
“Noooo! No, I was a blind, self absorbed idiot who thought love was being with someone you hardly knew! And it was all… physical!” She shook her head in bemusement and bewilderment.
Paul smiled at her. “I guess… I guess that’s inexperience for you.”
“I knew nothing about Steve,” she said, looking up at Paul. “I mean, not a thing. How naïve can I get?!”
Paul smiled again, trying to be comforting. “Have you spoken to Steve?”
Elisabeth shook her head. “No! Have you?”
Paul shook her head, too. “No- I haven’t seen him, I’ve been really busy. But- y-you don’t care anymore, then?”
Elisabeth shook her head, finding that a good movement at the moment. “No. I don’t. I thought he really liked me, and then he just left me when it all got messy- when Becky found out. He didn’t really want me at all- and I don’t care; I never want to see him again.”
Paul smiled at her, and raised his eyebrow again. “You mean that?!”
“Yeah. And I’m really sorry I didn’t listen to you,” she apologised. “You were right all along.”
“Yeah well, am always right!” Paul grinned and stretched out along the sofa and Elisabeth frowned and poked him.
“You’re so annoying, bin-boy.”
He sat up, and laughed. “Don’t call me bin-boy!”
She giggled. “Thanks for coming over, y’know. That’s really sweet of you. You’ve been really great this past week.”
He suddenly blushed, and looked away from her. “No problem,” he mumbled shyly.
“Noooo- you’ve been brilliant! I really, really don’t appreciate your friendship enough,” she continued to admit. “If you hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I’d have done! Tried to track Steve down, or something,” she muttered.
He looked up at her. “Don’t let Steve get you down, Lib,” he said to her.
She looked straight at him, in the eye. “I don’t believe in love, Paul.”
His eyes widened, and he sat right up to look at her. “Lib! Why?!!”
She shrugged, feeling a little alienated. Probably because she must be the only person in the whole world who felt like this. “I just do.”
“Lib- please- don’t let Steve ruin the rest of your future,” Paul pleaded to her. “He really isn’t worth it!”
“Paul- no, he opened my eyes! I thought love was all fairytale like- like the love at first sight, perfect, real love, all the stuff you grow up reading about- I thought it existed. But being with Steve, experiencing it for real life- I realise love isn’t like that at all. The love I believe in doesn’t exist- there’s only this poor substitute.”
“Lib- Steve is just one guy, in a massive universe!” Paul emphasised, and then grinned at how philosophical he sounded.
“I’ll never be in love like I want to be, Paul,” she smiled sadly at him. “It’ll always be something else. And that’s okay, I don’t mind, it’s not as if I’m missing out on what other people are getting- everyone’s the same as me.”
“Everyone is not the same as you,” Paul said forcibly, face completely serious.
She smiled. “Whatever. I’m happy, that’s all that matters. Becky’s all I’m concentrating on at the moment.”
Paul looked down, thoughtful a minute, and in the dim light of the lounge, he looked really young, Elisabeth thought. Little shadows were layered delicately across his face, making his skin shine all magical like- he looked so youthful and innocent that she found it hard to believe he was anywhere near the age of 27. His piercings settled into his face now, and Elisabeth could see just how much they suited him; how he wouldn’t be Paul unless he had that Indian- cross- Spanish look about him.
She was learning to be so comfortable around him now, she didn’t think there was anything he could do that would freak her out anymore.
He looked up at her, his eyes softer than before- they had that misty look still in them, Elisabeth realised. She hadn’t fully got through to him, yet.
“When’s she coming over?” He asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she replied. “Sometime, she said. I’ll wait for her.”
He nodded, and then looked away from her again. It bugged Elisabeth slightly- something was on his mind…
“I’ll go get us a drink,” she said, standing up. “You alright with plain old fruit juice or fizzy pop?”
He looked up and smiled gently at her. “Yeah- sure! I’ll go put the fire on or something. It’s like minus 100 in here!”
“Good idea.”
She disappeared off into the kitchen to do that, and also needing some time alone so she could think.
Did Paul like her anymore? She wondered. He’d been weird ever since… ever since she’d brought up the whole subject about love; and it not being anywhere near as perfect as she’d always dreamed of. Maybe he was thinking back to… what was her name? His ex-fiancée?
Clara.
That was the one. He’d never actually spoken about her again. It must still really hurt inside. Maybe he thought she was going about her loss with Steve all wrongly? Or that maybe he’d had the ‘perfect love’ with Clara… or thought he had. Or something like that. It was obviously playing on his mind, anyway. And much to her dislike, the misty area in his eyes when she dared to look was still there. It was blocking something off, keeping something from her… but what?
“Here you go,” she said, walking back into the lounge with the two glasses of orange juice in her hands, and she saw him squatting by the gas fire, looking at the coals burning all the colours of the sunset.
He looked up and smiled at her. “You have one of these old fires!”
“Yeah,” she muttered, handing him the drink. “We have an old, stupid house.”
“With ghosts,” he grinned.
She smiled. “Yesss… with the odd ghost or two.”
“Maybe it’s ghosts of the past.”
“Maybe.”
He stood up and they went over to the sofa again. “At least it’s warmer in here now!” He commented.
She took some of her drink and nodded. “Yeah, thanks. So tell me all about you.” She turned to him. “a1; and stuff.”
He took a drink and smiled at her knowingly. “a1 are fine.”
“I never really asked you about last weekend.”
“We went to Sweden.”
“Ahhh, cool. Cold?”
“Not as cold as here.”
She nudged him, playfully. “Don’t be mean! I can’t help having air conditioners who have parties!”
He laughed at her, and Elisabeth felt better. More relaxed.
“What?!!”
And then they settled into relaxed chatter for the next hour or so. He told her about a1, and what they’d been doing, and what they were up to next- it was all so fascinating for her because she had no idea what being famous was like. It also gave her a chance to completely get away from the pressures of her own life at the minute, and her imminent ‘scary’ meeting with Becky coming up- she could escape with Paul into another world for a while. And then she told him about her ‘less exciting’ work and how she was beginning to hate it at the Estate Agents, and he pushed her on a little to go and fulfil her dream of being a journalist, but she shook her head, dismissing it.
Like that would ever happen.
Eventually though, the shadows in the room began to get darker and longer, and it was getting late.
Elisabeth looked at the time. “You better go,” she sighed.
“Yeah,” he said, despondently, and put the glass down. “It is getting dark.”
“You probably have a busy weekend anyway,” she said, standing up.
“Probably.” He stood up too; and they both looked at each other a moment.
“Thanks for caring,” Elisabeth grinned, and he smiled faintly back at her.
“Sure.”
It was still there. Mistiness, cloudiness, the blanket, the veil over his eyes… it was still there.
He turned around though and Elisabeth followed him slowly to the door.
What would make that fade, that barrier go away?
She was ready to look deep into his eyes, she was sure she was.
They were like best friends now!
Paul opened the front door.
“Don’t go falling over the bin!” Elisabeth called to him, and he laughed.
“Okay, I’ll try and avoid that.”
She joined him in the doorway. “So- when will I see you again, then?” She asked, casually.
“Ermm… well, phone me when you’ve spoken to Becky- let me know how all that goes,” he said to her. “And then… I’ll see when I next have some time off.”
She smiled. “Thanks Paul. And it’s been nice tonight- thanks.”
He smiled, still looking far away, and said “bye”, before leaving the door and stepping onto the path.
“Bye!” She called after him, surges of regret flowing through her body that she hadn’t got him back to how he’d been before… because she hadn’t asked him what was wrong.
She watched him at the doorway slowly walk down the path and wondered aloud: what’s wrong with us?
And then he suddenly stopped walking; and he stood still on the front path, as if he’d suddenly remembered something.
She frowned, and stepped forward a little, confused. “Paul?”
He stood there motionless a minute, his back to her, as if suspended in thought. Elisabeth opened her mouth to say something again, but he suddenly abruptly turned around, strode back up the path to her and pulled her head to his and placed his lips firmly onto hers.