“Is that an invitation?”
Elaina asked in response to Robert’s question . She was dripping wet as
if she had been standing in the rain for a while. I had the impression that she was outside
when Annie was here. Did she realize
that I was trying to get them back together?
“Of course, come on in,” Robert answered.
Elaina entered and her eyes went straight to me.
She gave me a long penetrating stare and I stared back
matching her intensity. Although her
eyes said it all, she didn’t say anything verbally. If Robert couldn’t see me, she had to pretend
not to see me as well.
I could tell that my being there bothered Elaina a
lot. If Robert ever became aware of my
presence, she knew that I could warn him of her intentions.
She would have to work quickly.
Suddenly her face softened a little as she turned to
stare at me yet again. I knew that she
had a plan. “It won’t work,” I said to
her.
She lifted one eyebrow in response as if to say, ‘oh really, just watch’.
“What brings you here?
I didn’t even know you knew where I lived.”
“It’s not that hard to find out where anyone lives in
this town,” Elaina answered.
“You’re soaking wet, can I get you a dry shirt or something?” Robert asked remembering his manners.
Elaina’s face changed.
I don’t know if Robert noticed, but I could literally see each muscle
twitch and soften until her expression was desperate. “I know this may sound strange since we don’t
really know each other well…” Elaina paused as if she didn’t know how to go on.
She pretended to struggle with her words for a while
before continuing, “…but my house is being renovated and I have no place to
stay for a while.”
“Say nothing else,” Robert intercepted. “You’re welcomed to my guest room.”
Robert thought about what he had just offered. “That
is…if you’re not afraid that I’m some type of psycho.”
“Believe me, I’m not afraid of you,” Elaina said with a
slight chuckle.
It was ironic for Robert to even suggest that she would
be afraid of him, especially when he was the one actually in danger.
“It’s you who should be afraid of me,” Elaina said, her
seductive tone hid the truth in her words.
“Is that right?”
Robert said showing that he had no clue of the danger he put himself in
when he invited a vampire into the house.
One last chuckle and Elaina turned and began walking
toward the guest room. “So is this where
I’ll be staying?”
I raised my hand to stop her, but it was useless to
object. She was invading my home and
Robert had offered her the guest room…the only room I still had in the house
that was mine.
As Robert began walking toward her, I took a
chance. “Robert! Robert please, you cannot allow Elaina to
stay here.”
Robert hesitated briefly and I prayed that he heard me.
I knew that he hadn’t when he followed Elaina into the
guest room. “So this is where you’ll be
staying. Hmm…I’m not sure why the bed is unmade,” Robert said observing the evidence that I had
been staying in the room.
“The sheets should be clean, you’re the first to ever
stay in this room,” Robert continued.
Elaina knew why the bed was unmade. The satisfied smug gave it away. She knew that taking my room would irritate
me; the one way she knew that she could affect me directly.
“I’ll just make it up,” Robert said pulling and
straightening the sheets on the bed.
I was sure that Elaina would have preferred that he changed the sheets after
she realized that a ghost had been using the bed, but she was forced to hold
her tongue. It wasn’t like she would
actually use the bed to sleep anyway.
“I cannot begin to express how much I appreciate you for
doing this,” Elaina said; her voice full of so much pseudo gratitude that I
almost wanted to believe her.
“It’s no big deal.
I have the room and you need it.”
“Yeah, but you know nothing about me. You’ve only seen me once and here I am
staying at your house.”
Elaina moved toward Robert as if to give him a hug. Robert stopped her. “That won’t be
necessary,” he said.
As smooth as a hot knife on butter, Elaina pushed his
arms outward and squeezed herself between them; totally ignoring his
objection.
“It may not be necessary, but I can at least hug the man who’s giving me a roof
over my head for a few days.”
“It’s no problem…really,” Robert insisted. “And you don’t owe me anything,” he added.
“I’ll leave you to get settled,” Robert said leaving the room.
As I stood at the door listening , I realized that maybe
Elaina’s hold on Robert wasn’t so strong after all. I considered that maybe Annie’s visit had
some effect on Robert. I wasn’t sure,
but I knew that Elaina had more convincing to do, which gave me a little more
time to figure out what to do.
Labels: Moonlight Visions