Chapter 37: Chapter Seven-1

*** When I woke up from my nap early afternoon yesterday, Sebastian was still there next to me, fully awake and watching me, his fingers combing through my hair in slow, leisurely strokes. He smiled—a half-fond, half-wry quirk of his lips was more like it actually—and pulled me close, his lips grazing down the bridge of my nose and pressing softly against my lips. Ah, that really had been heaven. In the space of a few seconds, the future had flashed at me—mornings of waking up like this, wrapped in Sebastian's arms. It was an alluring thought but one I chastised myself for thinking, knowing that beyond this summer, Sebastian would always remain a dark prince in a fairytale that didn't exist in reality. We spent the rest of the day at the garden before making a quick dinner of chicken and vegetable kebabs. We finished the evening off with a walk along the beach, watching the sunset. He had walked me to my bedroom, kissed me an ardent goodnight and with great reluctance, walked away. The next day, Jennison arrived. He quickly chatted with me as he helped me with the fresh laundry I was carrying into the linen room and although he didn't ask too many details, I could tell he was ascertaining for himself that nothing of concern had gone on. When he was satisfied, he bid me goodbye and headed to the library/office where Sebastian had been all morning, going through some paperwork. "With Alfred gone, I'm now the chairman and CEO of the company," was his brief explanation when I reached up and kneaded the deep lines on his forehead that morning at breakfast. "People openly admired his leadership while they considered me too savage. They're growing restless knowing he won't be around anymore to tone me down. I'm doing what I can to reestablish some peace of mind. A few hours, that's all. I promise." I didn't even ask him for anything but I let him swear on his heart (the one he claimed wasn't always there) that he would be done by lunchtime. He made good on that promise—Sebastian didn't make light of his promises—and joined me for lunch, even extending an invitation to Jennison if I didn't mind. The man had looked awkwardly uncertain for once but I just grinned up at him and asked him to help us bring out the salad bowl and platter of sandwiches out to the covered patio. The small team of guards who usually accompanied him stopped by at my request to grab some food for themselves before resuming their jobs probably patrolling around the grounds. Jennison, who didn't really seem used to having any other kind of regular conversations with his boss about anything else but work, gave Sebastian several updates including the media interest in him after they speculated that he'd gone into hiding. He suggested we stay in as most people believed Sebastian was somewhere abroad right now (which he had been as Alfred had been in his vacation home in Italy when he passed away) but that if they got one whiff of him around Cove Manor, they'd show up and try to barrel down the gates. His PR team had already released a statement saying that Sebastian will officially take up his additional role come fall after he'd had some time to mourn a dear, dear friend. Sebastian seemed to have taken all of this in stride, his expression somber yet thoughtful. I was curious to know of his plans but he didn't say much about the matter. After Jennison left, Sebastian came into the kitchen where I was loading up the dishwasher and handed me an envelope. "What's this?" I asked, peeking in. I gasped and stared up at him. There were crisp, new hundred-dollar bills in there. "That's about five thousand dollars in cash," he explained calmly. "That should cover some of our food expenses for the week." "This is too much for a week!" I sputtered in disbelief, instinctively thrusting the envelope back to him. "Take this back. This is too much money." He grasped my hand with both of his and gently pushed it back towards me. "If we have money left over, spend it the following week. Use it as you see fit. Tell me right away if you need more." The look on his face told me this was such a minor thing he was irritated for us to be both fussing on. I sighed and slipped it into the front pocket of my apron. "Alright. I'll forward you a detailed list of expenses at the end of every week with receipts attached. Another couple of weeks and Mrs. Simmons will be back to sort this out again anyway." "Good." He smiled and pressed a quick kiss on my mouth. "And whenever you feel like it, I can accompany you to Dover's and get you your books." "Jennison said it's best if you lay low for now," I said. "It's not urgent. We can do it when there's a better time." He argued with me a little about that but in the end he left it to me to decide when and where. The next couple of days went by like a dream. We still spent the mornings together having an early breakfast. The rest of the day we spent out in the garden or swimming by the pool. Late afternoons, we walked by the beach or stayed in read at the library. We made dinners together and spent the evenings sitting outside watching the moon and the stars or snuggling in the library, sipping tea or listening to him read me some of his favorite classics and most beloved poems. In a matter of days, I was fully immersed in the poetry of Neruda, Keats, Tennyson, Rumi and many others. For someone with a supposed flinty exterior, he had quite a romantic heart. As for our physical relationship, Sebastian was still holding back just a little, but what little resistance he had quickly melted away at the slightest touch or invitation. I think in his mind, he worried he was taking things with me a little too fast but I didn't push him. I just didn't hold back as much, considering all that I'd have with him was this summer. We kissed between snuggles and cuddles, we held hands while we walked along the beach, we wrapped ourselves in each other's arms as often as we could. One evening, while I lay in bed, waiting for sleep to come and struggling not to leap out of my room and hurry down to join Sebastian, I made my decision. Here and now, in this slice of paradise, was a man I wanted like no one else. There will be no other man like Sebastian—as uncertain as the future was, this I was sure of—and if all that I could hang on to for the rest of my life was the memory of our magical summer together, I'd be happy. I wanted to be as close to him as he'd let me and the logistics of reality were inconvenient but to me, they mattered very little.