~Chapter 24~
Trespass
(original posting starting on August 12, 2009)
Part 1
August
29, 1999
Hallie groaned as she rolled over and, unused to the narrow width of the couch she slept on, promptly tumbled onto the floor. Her head missed the corner of the coffee table by inches.
Missed it. So why did it hurt so badly?
Oh,
yeah.
She
didn’t actually voice the thought, but the mere process of thinking the two
words was enough to make her head pound like someone was using a jackhammer in
there.
Turning
slightly, she looked across the room to the loveseat and glared at the figure
that slept peacefully there. The
last time she had been this drunk had been … well … never.
Damn
Joanne Darnell. She
had insisted they help Renee drown her sorrows over her break-up.
Damn Jim Frayne. Then she
had insisted they help Hallie drown her
sorrows over her almost year-old divorce. Damn
Julian Peslier.
She
tried to think of other people she knew whose names began with “J” so she
could blame them, too, for her current condition.
But it hurt too much to try to think.
Her bladder felt full to bursting and she could taste bile rising in her
throat, but she didn’t think she had the energy either to get to the bathroom
or to figure out where the bathroom was.
Where
was she anyway? She placed a palm
over her forehead, groaning at the soothing coolness against her skin. Oh yes, Sally’s brother’s apartment. He was … where? Working,
or at a conference or something. She
couldn’t remember. Frankly, she
didn’t really care.
She
rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up onto her hands and knees.
She had to find the bathroom. She
couldn’t very well hurl all over what’s-his-name’s living room floor.
What was his name anyway? Began
with an “S”.
She
moaned again, still staring blearily at the carpet.
Of course it began with an “S”.
Whole damn family had names beginning with “S”.
Mart would probably have to change his name once he and Sally got
married. The perky blonde had
cheerfully rattled off the names last night, first by age, then by birthday,
then alphabetically. There was
nothing Hallie hated more than a happy drunk.
Unless
it was a whiny drunk. Well,
she grudgingly conceded, maybe whiny is
a bit harsh. Still, Renee had
moaned all night long about Jim, and with each drink the normally temperate
woman downed she got more despondent, and more tearful. Why had they broken up?
Maybe she should take it back. Jim
cared so much about her.
Maybe they could learn to love each other. After
all, Jim was considerate and gentle and a wonderful lover (that was more
information than Hallie had needed). Maybe
heavenly green eyes and a kick-ass body were more important than actual love.
Hallie
was rather relieved when Renee had finally laid her head on the bar and fallen
asleep, or possibly passed out.
Summoning
up a thimbleful of energy, Hallie began moving in the general direction of where
she believed the bathroom to be. She
had just cleared the end of the couch when she keyed in to the fact that she was
crawling. Rolling her eyes and
wincing at the pain that slight movement created, she reached up and grabbed the
edge of the narrow table that stood flush against the back of the couch.
With
a groan loud enough to wake the dead, but not Joanne Darnell, she hauled herself
to her feet, rattling the table and knocking over two pictures in the process. She stood there for a moment, trying to stop the wave of
dizziness that swept over her. While
she waited for it to pass, she tried to focus on the framed photos on the table.
Sally and Mart. One of
Sally’s brothers and his wife. Another
one of Sally’s brothers and his
wife, or maybe she was seeing double … triple, there was another one.
There were various photos of all of S-S-S- what’s-his-name’s nieces
and nephews, all with names beginning with “S”.
Hallie sighed and turned to stagger down the hall, leaning against the
wall for support.
The
first door on the left was cracked open. She
prayed it was the bathroom. She
didn’t think she could hold it much longer.
She peeked in, saw tile and a mirror and a blessed toilet and heaved a
sigh of relief, stumbling in and shutting the door behind her.
After relieving herself from both ends—and
peeing enough for three racehorses, she thought dryly—she
splashed some water on her face and planned her next move.
When
they had arrived at the apartment after ... whatever hour that last nightclub
had finally kicked them out, Sally had set up Renee on an air mattress in the
room that S-S-S- what’s-his-name used as an office.
Jo had crawled groggily onto the loveseat and curled up in a cat-like
ball without so much as a by-your-leave from anyone.
Sally had graciously offered to share the large guest bed with Hallie,
but Hallie had foolishly opted to sleep on the couch—a couch that turned out
to be about five inches too short for her leggy body. If S-S-S- what’s-his-name looked anything like his
brothers—all of whom lived in Indian Lake, and all of whom Hallie had already
met—there was no way he ever slept on that couch, or even stretched out on it
to watch a football game.
Thanks
to the stubby sofa, she had a distinctly painful crick in her neck and shoulders
in addition to her throbbing head and tortured stomach.
The clock over the sink read 5:05 a.m.
She was sure another four or five hours on that couch would leave her
paralyzed from the neck up. She
hoped Sally wouldn’t mind if she belatedly took her up on her offer.
Leaving
the bathroom door cracked open so the nightlight could guide her way down the
hall, she studied the remaining four doors in the hallway, trying to remember
which led to the guest room. She
ruled out the narrowest door, which had to be the linen closet.
Nice to know I still have some brain
cells left, she thought with another migraine-inducing roll of her eyes.
The other three were tightly shut.
Moving silently to the closest one, she opened it and had to look down to
see the occupant—Renee, sleeping on the air mattress.
She closed the door and moved down the hall to the next door on the
right. Peeking in, she blinked her
eyes hard against the darkness, just enough to see that it wasn’t S-S-S-
what’s-his-name’s empty bed, but an occupied bed with a lump on one side. Sally.
She
shut the door behind her and was immediately shrouded in pitch-blackness.
She didn’t wait for her eyes to adjust but shuffled forward several
steps until her knees hit the bed. Carefully
feeling her way around to the vacant side, she pulled back the covers and slid
in, being careful not to disturb Sally, whose blond head was the only thing
vaguely discernible to Hallie in the darkness.
The
bed was a pillowtop, firm yet soft all at once, and Hallie sighed in grateful
relief. She turned her back to
Sally and snuggled down into the pillow, pulling the sheet over her body and
falling asleep almost instantly.
***
The sound of the shower woke her the next morning. She could hear even breathing behind her, so she figured it must be Renee, or more likely Jo—who waited for no one’s blessing to do anything—who had finally gotten up. She glanced at the clock, which shone an annoyingly bright 9:42 a.m. at her.
She
rolled away from it and was startled to find herself looking into a pair of
brilliant blue eyes.
She was even more startled, however, by the trim blond mustache and
goatee.
She wanted to scream, but her throat was so dry that all that came out was a hoarse croak. Her dark eyes bugging out of her head, she quickly and instinctively scrambled backward. As she hit the edge of the bed, her hands flailed outward, seeking a lifeline to keep from falling. She grabbed the hand that was swiftly offered and was pulled inward, finding herself almost nose-to-nose with the blond god of her dreams.
“What the—who the—what are—?” she managed to squeak out.
“Good morning,” he greeted with a voice so rich and deep that it immediately melted through her skin and right into her soul.
“What the—who the—what are—?” she babbled again senselessly.
“A woman of few words. Very charming. I’m going to guess—‘What the hell is going on?’… ‘Who the hell are you?’ and...” He paused, his sapphire eyes twinkling merrily. “...‘What are we having for breakfast?’”
Unable to hold his electrifying gaze, Hallie dropped her eyes and found she was still clutching his hand with both of hers. She pulled free, shaking her fingers as if he had given her cooties. She backed up, carefully this time, until she found the edge of the mattress. Checking under the sheet first to make certain she was fully dressed, she stood. “What the hell is going on here?” she asked darkly.
“Well, I got the first one right,” he said with a grin. “But I’m not sure I can answer your question. When I went to bed, I went to bed alone.”
It was coming back to her now. Girls’ night out. Bar. Strip club. Bar. Nightclub. A lot of alcohol. Couch. Bathroom. Bedroom. Guest bed.
“This isn’t the guest bedroom.”
He shook his head, smiling curiously at her.
“You’re not Sally.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Beautiful and intelligent.”
Hallie flushed at his teasing, then flushed more deeply as she slowly took in the compliment. She raked her hand self-consciously through her hair, forgetting that it had been put up for the wedding yesterday. Her fingers were caught briefly in the tangled mess of hair that was now partially up and partially down. She freed them and reached down instead, trying—once again unsuccessfully—to smooth the wrinkles in the once sexy, expensive clubbing dress that now crumpled across her slim frame. She did not feel beautiful and most definitely did not feel intelligent at the moment.
She puckered her brow, trying to remember what she had done last night. They had visited a male strip club early on. She had a vague memory of stuffing dollar bills into a very small g-string, but she hadn’t … had she? She couldn’t remember. She tried to picture the Adonis in front of her naked—or nearly so. It was a lovely vision, but she flushed deeply all the same.
Taking a stab, she said, “You must be ... Seth—no ... S-Sam?” She closed her eyes and shook her head, quickly giving up.
“Simon,” he offered helpfully.
“Simon. I knew it was an ‘S’.”
“Now that we’ve taken care of the ‘Who the hell are you?’ ... who are you? Besides my magical wood nymph leaping out of my dreams into the dull reality of my life, of course.”
She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs. “What?”
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
Her heart was pounding nearly as violently as her head was. “We have?”
“It was last fall,” he prompted, sensing her confusion. “You work with my sister, right?”
Hallie blinked and nodded.
“It was in the woods behind the school.”
He was staring intently at her, and it made her feel very self-conscious. She remembered now. It was the day after her divorce papers had arrived. She had been in the midst of a self-pitying crying jag that morning and his sudden and unexpected appearance had unreasonably irritated her.
“That wasn’t one of my better moments,” she mumbled.
One corner of his mouth quirked up briefly. “And this is?”
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, trying to produce a suitable comeback. “I thought you were Sally,” was all she could come up with. It was lame, but at least her tone was suitably biting.
Simon nodded understandingly, although his eyes sparkled wickedly. “Yes, yes, my sister and I often get mistaken for one another. I think it’s the goatee.”
He smoothed his hand over his chiseled jaw and strong chin and winked at her. Hallie couldn’t help thinking that he looked like Satan himself plotting her fall from grace.
An extremely hot Satan to be sure…
“If it’s any consolation, my sister snores, which means you probably had a more restful night sleeping with me.” His lip twitched up again. “Although…”
He paused to sweep a sultry gaze up and down her long frame, and she was furious with herself for the shiver she felt shooting through her nerves down into her toes.
“...had I known I had such a delightful bedfellow, perhaps I could have made the evening less … restful for you.”
She hoped he could see the daggers—the poison daggers of hell’s eternal fire—shooting at him from her black eyes.
“Maybe we could try again some time?” He winked again and flashed her that devilish grin.
Apparently, he was immune to eye daggers.
Cheeks hot, she opened her mouth to tear him a new one when she felt her stomach lurch violently. She clapped a hand over her mouth, spun around, and dashed into the adjoining bathroom, barely making it to the toilet in time.
As she knelt there clutching her shaking hands to the porcelain, she heard his smug voice drifting in from the bedroom.
“Does this mean no?”
***
Jo was staring intently at the coffee maker, trying to make it brew faster by sheer will, when Sally came into the kitchen, running her fingers through her damp curls.
“You just get out of the shower?” Jo asked in surprise.
Sally grinned at her. “Jim’s always saying you’re as smart as a whip.”
Jo made a face at her. “I meant, I thought Hal was in there.” When Sally shook her head, Jo asked, “Did she end up sleeping with you last night after all?”
“No,” Sally answered, as she pulled a couple of mugs out of one of the cupboards. “Why?”
Jo put her hands on her hips and sighed, clearly unable to cope with such a complex mystery without her morning coffee. “She wasn’t on the couch when I woke up. So where is she?”
From down the hall came her answer.
“You are an insufferable prick!”
Sally and Jo peeked out of the kitchen and watched as their dark-haired friend stalked down the hall toward them, black eyes sparking with fury.
“What’s going on, Hal?” Sally asked gently.
“Ohmigod,” Jo breathed as she caught sight of the man who followed Hallie down the hall, clad only in a pair of black silk boxers. “Did you get lucky last night without me knowing about it?”
“Did I—? NO!” Hallie shouted. “Sally, your brother is—is—”
“An insufferable prick?” Sally finished, trying not to laugh.
“Come on, don’t be like that, cherie,” Simon consoled teasingly from behind them.
Hallie stopped in her tracks and spun around. “Don’t call me that,” she hissed, her voice filled with venom.
“But I don’t know your name,” Simon pointed out rationally.
Hallie stalked toward him, stopping inches from his conceited face. He didn’t so much as flinch as she snarled, “It’s Hallie Belden, not that you’ll ever need to address me again.” In a fit of temper, she shoved her way past him into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
He chuckled. “She seems to be unhappy with me,” he said charmingly.
Sally crossed her arms, trying hard not to smile back at him. “Simon, what did you say to her?”
He grinned and shrugged, turning his dazzling eyes to Jo, who was speechless for one of the few times in her life.
Sally held back a giggle at the petite girl’s clearly besotted expression. “Simon, this is Joanne Darnell. Jo, my brother Simon.”
Finding her voice at last, Jo said, “Well, I see who got the hubba-hubba genes in the family.”
“Don’t encourage him,” Sally replied evenly and turning to her brother, she ordered, “Go get dressed, please.”
“If your stomachs can tolerate it, I’ll whip up some omelets for you lovely ladies when I get back,” he offered as he sauntered off toward his bedroom.
“Omigod,” Jo said breathlessly. “He cooks, too?”
“Don’t gawk,” Sally teased. “His head is big enough as it is.”
“Really?” Jo replied, drawing the word out with lewd interest and earning a smack on the arm from a giggling Sally.
***
Hallie stared at her trembling, disheveled, hung-over reflection in the bathroom mirror, trying to pinpoint exactly why Simon Drake had her so enraged.
God, he was just so obnoxious!
She decided a shower might make her feel better, so she quickly yanked the remaining bobby pins and barrettes from her once elegantly coiffed hair, peeled off her day-old, slept-in dress and stepped into the tub, turning on the hot water and willingly drowning herself in the powerful spray. She would have loved to stay in there all morning, avoiding the damnable Drake, but all too soon the hot water began to peter out and she quickly turned off the shower and got out, pulling a towel from the rack to dry off with.
A soft knock on the door had her immediately on edge, but it was only Sally, bringing Hallie her overnight bag that she had retrieved from the car. Hallie thanked her and changed into fresh clothes, carefully French braided her long, thick mane, applied make-up sparingly, and found some eyedrops in her bag that she hoped would clear some of the redness. Finally, she decided she couldn’t avoid the man any longer. With a deep sigh of resignation, she left the bathroom and made her way out to the kitchen.
Simon was at the stove making omelets to order. His back was to her and she grudgingly had to admit that even with clothes on, his body was … well, magnificent.
Testily, she shook the thought from her mind and turned to greet her friends. Renee sounded forcibly chipper and clearly looked like death warmed over. Sally’s eyes were bloodshot, but she smiled cheerfully at Hallie. Jo looked fresh and relaxed, as if she had spent last night in a spa. She was currently studying Simon’s backside, barely able to direct food to her mouth she was so entranced. She looked like she’d much prefer a forkful of Simon. Hallie sniffed. She was welcome to him.
Simon turned and smiled charmingly at Hallie. He probably smiles that way at dozens of women each week, she thought sourly.
“What would you like in your omelet?” he asked congenially, sweeping his hand over half a dozen small bowls on the counter containing chopped ham, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and two kinds of cheeses.
She wanted to dump a bowl of shredded cheddar on his inflated head, but her stomach growled painfully and she realized just how hungry she was. She bit back her initial reaction—“Surprise me”, certain he would be glad to do just that, or make a comment that he already had—and instead shrugged nonchalantly and said, “Anything will be fine.”
“There’s a fresh pot of coffee, too,” he said, pointing in that direction.
Instead of squeezing between him and the table, Hallie took the long way around, at the same time chastising herself for acting so sophomoric. She poured half a cup of coffee, then gradually stirred in some milk until it turned a soft shade of caramel.
“Café au lait,” Simon observed, and Hallie wondered just how long he’d been watching her. “Very European, Hallie Belden.”
His French accent was passable, but it made Hallie shudder as it brought back memories of Julian and the lyrical way he always said her name.
“You’re not Mart’s sister are you?” he asked. “I thought she was the one who got married yesterday. Husband boot you to the curb already? That must be the shortest marriage on record. That’s like Hollywood short.”
Hallie stared into his teasing blue eyes. She could feel the rage bubbling inside her like molten lava.
Luckily, Sally quickly stepped in. “Hallie is Mart and Trixie’s cousin. She’s from Idaho.”
“Really? How dull,” Simon said, obviously trying to get Mount Saint Hallie to erupt.
Sally stood up for her friend. “Not at all! She went to school in Europe. She speaks two, no three languages, and—” She halted her glowing review as Hallie shot her a withering glance.
“Three languages? My, how impressive! Is English one of them?”
“Do you practice being a jerk or does it just come naturally?” Hallie snarled.
Unperturbed, he replied, “I think it’s genetic. Bad news for our children, eh? They’ll be tactless and irritable.”
With a trembling hand, Hallie set her coffee cup on the counter. She clenched her jaw until she believed she had successfully warded off the tears that burned hotly behind her eyes. The intensity of her efforts brought back her headache though, and she could feel her temples throbbing as she turned to Sally and muttered, “When are we going back to Sleepyside?”
“Oh,” Sally said meekly. “Mart isn’t expecting me back until dinnertime. He knew I’d want to spend some time with my brother today before we head home.”
Hallie flicked a glance at the evil brother in question, then looked imploringly to Renee and Joanne.
Renee’s false cheer evaporated. “I was leaving for Indian Lake with Jim this morning, but under the circumstances I asked Sally if I could ride back with her and Mart this evening. I guess Jim’s already left.”
Joanne tore her lustful gaze from Simon’s chest long enough to say, “Sorry, Hal. I have to catch the shuttle bus to the airport in, like, an hour.”
“Maybe I’ll check the train schedule out to Sleepyside,” Hallie decided. “I know Uncle Peter would be happy to pick me up at the station.”
“Why don’t you stay?” Simon suggested. “Renee told me she’s never been to New York City. The two of you could go sightseeing, unless that sounds too dull for such a world traveler as yourself.”
Shooting him a smoldering glare, Hallie turned sharply on her heel and stalked out to the living room. She didn’t go far and she could still hear the conversation going on behind her.
“Simon,” Sally scolded angrily. “Why are you taunting her?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
He sounded oddly sincere, Hallie thought. But then he continued on in his conceited tone.
“Maybe she’s an easy mark. Maybe it gives me great pleasure. Maybe—”
“Maybe you’ll go apologize to her. She’s my colleague. She’s my friend. And someday she’ll be my cousin. I don’t want her avoiding me because my brother’s a jackass.” She paused, but obviously Simon didn’t respond quickly enough. “Now, Simon!” she ordered.
“I thought you said ‘maybe’,” he answered.
Hallie could just imagine the smirk on his face. What an immature asshole! She heard a chair scrape across the linoleum floor, and she hurried to the other side of the living room to look out the window. She didn’t want to give him any more ammunition by letting him discover that she had been eavesdropping on him.
She saw him in the reflection from the window. He was obviously smart enough to stay out of her strike zone, stopping about halfway across the living room and clearing his throat softly. When she turned to give him a cool stare, he said, “I apologize for my behavior, Miss Belden. Or is it Mrs. Belden?”
She hesitated for a moment before answering, “Miss.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
When she arched a wary eyebrow at him, he continued, “I was worried about your husband coming in and kicking my scrawny ass when he heard about our little misunderstanding this morning.”
She had to restrain her laughter at the thought of someone big enough and fit enough to make Simon appear “scrawny”. But he must have seen a twinkle in her eye because he flashed his now recognizable charismatic smile as he said, “I am sorry. You seem to bring out the worst in me.”
Hallie hesitated only a fraction of second this time before saying, “Well, that’s a relief.” Simon raised his eyebrow in question and she added dryly, “I was afraid that was the best I was bringing out of you.”
Lord, his smile really was dazzling!
He held out his hand and offered, “Peace?”
There was something about him she didn’t trust, something of the devil in the deep blue sea of his eyes. She didn’t take his hand, but her eyes softened somewhat and she gave him a short nod before turning back to stare out the window.
She wondered if he was disappointed.
And
she wondered how she’d feel about it if he was.
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AUTHOR'S NOTES
Part 1
(4,170 words)
So I decided it was “Damn that Joanne Darnell/Jim Frayne/Julian Peslier”, rather than “Damn you (comma!) Joanne Darnell/Jim Frayne/Julian Peslier”. Thanks for the comma help my friends. *g*
Julian Peslier is Hallie’s ex-husband.
He’s never been seen in this uni, though he did call Hallie in Indian
Lake shortly after her divorce papers were delivered.
We don’t know much about him at this point.
More to come...
Eric Dane of Grey’s Anatomy has been cast as Dr.
Simon Drake. Nicely fitting that I
found a photo of him in costume, I thought.
Of
course, this photo and this photo were pretty hot too... *G* But his hair
is wet (as is he...yum) so he doesn't look "blond" in either. I’ve
never watched the show, so I don’t know if he has that cock-of-the-walk
surgeon’s personality, and ideally I would've liked for him to be blonder than
this, but it was incredibly hard to find a hot, blond man with
a goatee for this part. Why, I
have no idea.
Hallie and Simon first ran into each other,
without introduction, in Chapter 16-October.
Simon certainly put his foot in it, didn’t he? He doesn’t know Hallie’s ex-husband was French, or that they were divorced barely a year after getting married, or that...well, let’s just say Simon needs to do some research before he talks to Hallie again.