Through the Glass (6 page)

She blow-dried her hair shaggily and pulled on a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater that fell off one shoulder. She made sure to put a vest top on underneath so as not to be too provocative. She smeared a little gloss on her lips and wrapped her Oxford scarf loosely around her neck. That was it, she was ready. Taking a huge breath and mustering up as much courage as she could, she made her way down the stairs and over to Jim’s block. She located his room, checked her watch. It read six twenty-five. She knocked lightly almost hoping he didn’t answer so that the decision would have been made for her. He opened the door.
Dammit!

~~~~~

A wide grin spread across Jim’s face at the sight before him. He had expected her to be late, in true female fashion, or to simply not turn up at all. His respect for her grew as she stood before him looking simply gorgeous. “Oh hi. Felicity, right?” She nodded. He smiled at how anxious she appeared. “Want to come in for a quick drink before we go? I think we’ll be too early if we go now.” He stood aside to let her in. She looked so nervous as she stepped into his tiny room. He handed her a bottle of Budweiser and removed the cap for her. “Sorry, I’ve no champers.” He laughed, trying to make her feel at ease.

“Oh, that’s fine. I quite like Bud.” He watched as she picked at the label. An awkward silence descended and the two of them looked around his room as if grasping for conversational topics upon the blank walls.

He saw her eyeing his guitar. “Do you play at all?”

“Sadly, no. I wish I did, but I spent so much time painting at home that I never really made time to learn.”

“So…you paint?
What
do you paint?” His interest in this pretty, gorgeous girl was just growing and growing.

“Whatever takes my fancy really… I like to observe scenes on train journeys, car journeys, and so on… Then I sketch what I remember seeing through the glass onto canvas…then I paint.”

“So are you working on anything right now? I’d like to see sometime.”

Felicity blushed and fiddled with her bottle. “I’m not that good. I don’t tend to show people…apart from my parents.”

“Ahem, isn’t art supposed to be subjective? And shared? Shouldn’t the viewer be the one who decides whether it’s good or not?” he teased.

“Well…I… I suppose but—”

“So, what are you working on right now?” He was determined to knock down her defences. She was so painfully shy.

The red in her cheeks grew stronger. He felt a surge of guilt as she sat avoiding his eyes. Eventually she spoke. “Oh …it’s just a scene that I saw through the car window on the way up from Hampshire…just fields and trees with some ponies. Nothing special…”

“Aye well, I think you should let me have a look. I bet you’re selling yourself short.” He hoped he had encouraged her. She sat silently picking at the label on her bottle
. Idiot, now you’ve scared her off.

They sat for a while and Jim felt awkward. He coughed and tapped his fingers on his bottle. “Aye…aye…well….err…ooh, hey, look we should give you a nickname!” He was full of bright ideas. This wasn’t one of them. “Aye, I reckon Felicity is too…proper…you know? Too…serious.” He pulled a scowl at her to mimic his meaning.

Felicity’s nose scrunched and she seemed to ponder his words. “Do you think so? My mum used to hate nicknames, so I’ve always just been plain old
Felicity
. I hate it. It’s very formal…I think you’re right. I…quite like the idea of being a little rebellious.”

Jim saw a glint in her eye. “Aye? Well then…let me think…ooh I’ve got it!” A flash of inspiration came from goodness knows where. “
Flick
! We’ll introduce you to everyone as
Flick
! They’ll all think you’re cool and interesting and not at all posh!” He cringed as he wondered if he had overstepped the mark.

A grin spread across her face and she nodded. “Flick?...Hmmm…I quite like that.” She stood up and held out her hand to Jim. “Hiya, I’m Flick…Flick Johnston-Hart…pleased to meet ya.” She made a mock introduction, in a bad cockney accent as Jim stood there grinning.

He shook her hand and blurted out, “Watcha, Flick, I’m Jim.” He also failed miserably to mimic the accent, resulting in a cross between Geordie and Welsh.
Epic fail.

Flick burst into fits of laughter. “Good grief, Jim! You’re worse at that accent than I am and I usually talk like I have plums in my gob!” She was beginning to relax. It felt good. Flick was a sweet girl and insanely cute.

When they had calmed down, Jim stepped closer. “I like you in that scarf.” He flicked the knitted standard issue Oxford garment up in the air playfully. Secretly he was thinking that he would quite like to see her in the scarf and nothing else. She giggled and wrapped it around her neck with a flourish.

They headed out for the party at around seven thirty, laughing as they walked. They had covered just about every subject known to man in the short time they’d been chatting. Jim had learned all about Felicity’s dad, well know biographer Edgar Johnston Hart, and her middle class upbringing, whilst Flick had discovered that Jim came from Dumbarton and thanks to his many educational merits had received a scholarship to attend Oxford. Felicity was bright-eyed and enthusiastic when she spoke of her dad. He sounded like an amazing man. Her mother on the other had sounded rather like the Ice Queen from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Jim held the door open for Flick and she hesitantly walked under his arm, chewing on her lip, and into the busy refectory. The room was large with arched windows that reached almost to the beamed ceiling. The woodwork and flooring was a rich mahogany and it was evident that the room hadn’t changed much over the years. There were tables and chairs arranged around the edge of the room and a band was set up at one end on the stage.

~~~~~

A delicious aroma, which smelled remarkably like lasagne wafted through the air. Flick’s stomach growled. Jim waved to his friends and walked her over to introduce her to them. Matthew, Charlie, Clara, Stubbs. Jim later informed her that no one knew why he was called Stubbs because his name was actually Levi DeWinter, which made her giggle. Polly, Melodie, and Stefan. All made Felicity feel very much at ease, all came from similar backgrounds to hers. They had much in common. Unlike Jim who hadn’t quite noticed he was, in some ways, an outsider.

After the introductions, Flick, as she had now become known, felt a lot more at ease and thought she could maybe fit in after all. The band began to play and included a lot of covers that Felicity knew. Jim was clearly into his music and sang along to almost every song. They jigged about chatting loudly over the noise.

She watched him as he moved in time with the music. He looked good, graceful even, for a ruggedly handsome, unsuspecting, tall, longhaired man. The band began to play a slow melodic number, announcing it to be a cover of Pearl Jam’s
Black
. She had never heard it before but the fact that it sent shivers down her spine told her she definitely liked it. The words were heart-breaking but beautiful. She vowed to listen to more by the band, especially seeing as Jim obviously liked them.

She smiled as he closed his eyes and swayed, the coloured lights from the stage highlighting his almost shoulder length, dark brown hair, turning it from red to blue to green. His face was incredibly handsome and she noticed the shivers traverse her spine once again, though this time it had nothing to do with the music. His forearms were very sexy and her eyes followed the line of his tendons as they transitioned into the muscular biceps under his T-shirt sleeves. His shirt this time had the words
Soundgarden
and
Louder Than Love
on the front, and she presumed that one of these must be the name of another band she was yet to hear. Her eyes trailed down his back and rested on his tight bottom… Felicity shook her head to dislodge the thoughts.

“You okay?” Jim lowered his head so that he spoke directly in her ear, causing her to shudder. “You looked a bit like you’ve seen a ghost.” She snapped her eyes up to his and nodded fervently.

~~~~~

He smirked. He had actually caught her looking at him. He liked the fact that she’d been watching him and looking him up and down. He found her very,
very
attractive. Her long, wavy, blonde hair was just stunning. Her exposed shoulder and neck just begged for attention, but he wouldn’t be so bold. She had the curves of a goddess, too. In no way skinny, just as he liked. He wondered what it would feel like to have that luscious hair trailing over his face as she sat astride his torso…
naked
. He gulped his drink down hoping to quench the fire that had begun to blaze inside him.

The band was taking a break and No Doubt’s
Don’t Speak
came over the PA system. He glanced over at Flick again, plucking up the courage he needed to ask the question on the tip of his tongue. “Oh sod it,” he muttered. “Flick…would you like to dance?” He gestured toward the space in the middle of the room that had become a makeshift dance floor.

“Oh…okay?” She accepted almost as a question. She took his hand and he led her to the dance floor where other couples had begun to congregate. Jim slid his arms around her waist and pulled her a little closer. Her hands started out at his elbows as he gazed into her eyes. A shot of heat ran through him as she slowly moved her hands up his arms until her hands were clasped around his neck and she took the final step to align their bodies.

~~~~~

Jim lowered his head and nuzzled her neck, sending electric shocks down her spine, right to her core. Overcome by shyness, she rested her forehead on his chest.  Being this close to him felt so right, like she was meant to be in his arms. The closest she had come to this before was when she had kissed Adam St. John on the doorstep when his father had returned them home from the cinema. Her mother had caught them and been very upset.

“
You most certainly do not kiss a boy on your first date and especially not when you are sixteen-years-old, Felicity!
” her mother had chastised. “
What kind of girl are you?! Think of the reputation you will have once he goes back to boarding school and tells his friends!
”

“
Oh for goodness sake, Penny, leave the poor girl alone!
” Her father had done his best, as always to defend her.

Jim sang along with the words of the song as he held Flick tight against him. She lifted her gaze to meet his. He smiled down at her. Their noses were almost touching. Her heart was pounding so much she was sure he could feel it too. As he looked directly into her eyes, he lowered his face toward her, paused as if waiting for her to pull away. When she didn’t, he gently brushed her lips with his. She inhaled sharply. His lips were soft against hers, and his stubble lightly scratched the edges of her mouth.

Despite the fact they had only just met, she had wanted him to kiss her, but there was no way she would have made the first move. Now that he had, she gained the courage to reciprocate the kiss, and he seemed encouraged by this as his hand moved up her back until he reached her hair. Her body tingled and her heart rate increased further. He held her to him and kissed her deeper, his tongue flicking out tentatively. Her insides turned to jelly and her legs felt weak. Heat rushed to parts of her body she wouldn’t have expected from a simple kiss. But then again there was nothing
simple
about this kiss. She broke away from him and locked onto his gaze.

His brow furrowed, a look of guilt washed over his gaze. “I’m sorry, Flick… I-I just got carried away.”

She watched his expression cloud with regret. She didn’t want that at all. Keeping her hands around his neck and stroking her fingers through his hair, she shook her head. “No, Jim, please don’t be sorry…I-I think I had to just check…”

“Check what?” He looked confused.

“That I wasn’t dreaming.” She smiled and tiptoed to meet his lips with hers once again. She felt him smile against her and she parted her lips to invite him in. His tongue danced with hers, and he scooped her up into his arms so that her feet were dangling just over his shoes. She gave a little squeal of delight as he spun her around.
Wow…literally swept off my feet,
she thought gleefully as he swayed her to the music.

At the end of the night, Felicity was aglow with the events of the evening. Jim had been by her side all night and they had kissed several more times. Jim offered to walk her back to her room and she accepted. They chatted comfortably as they walked.

Jim tentatively took her hand and laced his fingers with hers as they made their way across campus. “So did you enjoy the craic then, Flick?” He smiled remembering her reaction to this phrase when they had first met.

“Yes, the
craic’s
been great.” She smiled up at him, mimicking his accent and blushing as she did. He laughed at her attempts and squeezed her hand. They walked in silence for a few moments.

He suddenly stopped and pulled her to him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, Jim, you can.” She felt shy again and her gaze darted around, anywhere but to meet his. He held her chin gently between his thumb and finger and smiled down at her.

“Do I make you nervous?” he asked, frowning a little but still holding a half smile.

“Is that the question you wanted to ask? I…thought it would be something different.” She tilted her face to one side, finally meeting his inquisitive gaze.

He laughed. “Oh…no…no. Sorry, that wasn’t the question. That was a pre-amble.”

Felicity liked his laugh. It seemed to come from somewhere in his boots and vibrated through his body. She pursed her lips before answering, “Well, I
am
a little nervous but not because of anything bad. I’m just…a little bit shy.” She dared to hold his gaze and her breath caught. Even under the street lighting she could see he had the most amazing brown eyes, like melted caramel.

“Don’t be nervous. I don’t bite… Well, not on weekdays.” He winked.