Penance - a vingette - (part 7 of ?)

[Cloud Dancing]

This came to me today as I sat at my window and watched people pass by. It basically smacked me in the face and would not go away until I had started writing it. This is yet to fully form in the litte grey cells but I doubt it will take long.

This short story is dedicated to RoyalFlush who asked for something from the heart.

I give you...

Penance

Part 1

It was raining, but to be more accurate, it was raining sideways. The sort of rain film directors hope to recreate in disaster movies. The sky had opened its flood gates and people skittered across the pavement like ants, desperate to return to their warm, dry homes. The humble umbrella, such a proud and useful accessory too many a commuter was now rendered useless against the combined onslaught of the wind and rain. Clusters of people stood in doorways, social awkwardness forgotten, huddled in mutual fear of the rising damp which was slowly creeping up smart trouser legs and into pristine patent heels. Cars, lined up like children on a school trip honked and flashed, for though their drivers may be dry, the noise of the drops drumming on their car roofs was enough to deafen them into senseless anger. No one was going anywhere fast, expect the water, which sloshed and splashed its merry tune in uncountable variations on every surface of the city.In one particular street, its name unimportant and irrelevant, groups of people stood amazed, sheltered thought they were they began to forget the sogginess of their socks and the stains on their expensive handbags. Architecturally worthy modern office buildings rose on every side, their facades now tear stained, their empty, airy entrance halls looking cold and uninviting against the darkening sky.

Everything was static, anticipation on the lips of every inhabitant, waiting for the onslaught to end.

In the middle of the recently pedestrianized street strolled a man.

He was a tall, very smart but very wet man, whose light grey every day Westwood suite was now transformed into a heavy, dripping tuxedo, blackened by the rain. Water poured from his once thick, curly hair, and the fashionable leather satchel that was slung carelessly over one shoulder was doubtless ruined. Yet this figure strolled with the weightless care of a man who knows where he is going but cares little about how he gets there.

The sound of his shoes wetly clattering by in the torrents of water which rushed through the gutters sounded like sole claps of a single theatre goer. His body language applauded the weather, his face slightly upturned to the sky, a wry smile playing on his thinly shaped lips.

“Ihttughh…t'tchiIIEEewwww”

With a quick head shake the sneeze had erupted, loud enough to momentarily drown out the repetitive drumming of the rain. The man whisked a sodden handkerchief out of his breast pocket and swiped at his nose.

Many pairs of eyes tightened slightly, collective sympathy ricocheting from doorway to doorway. A woman subconsciously began rummaging in her bag for a packet of tissues, a vague echo of that humanity which is so often swallowed in the hive like bustle of London.

However, this moment passed easily, without tension or regret. The man stowed away his unserviceable handkerchief and continued to walk on.

This man had a purpose, a place to be. What did he care that his £200 shoes were private swimming pools for his toes? It just did not matter that vitally important papers pertaining to a legally binding contract were slowly leaking ink all over the inside of his bag, not to mention it was clearly not very bright idea be walking around in the rain with a clearly evident head cold.

It was time to accept the benediction the rain could offer and do his penance as he literally walked away his sins on the streets of old London town.

TBC..

[RoyalFlush]

Oh! Thank you so much You are wonderful to do this for me!

Now you've got me wondering what he did and where he's going! That was a wonderful introduction and I love the way you describe the rain! Such a vivid setting! I can't wait to read more! I hope you enjoy writing it as much as I enjoy reading it.

(Poor devil won't last long in that down pour! Hehehehehe!)

Thank you so much, I'm loving it already.

[tma]

Ooooo... this is incredible! Love the setting and the way that you have the story unfolding. Also, the discriptions are brilliant! I especially loved the bit about the woman subconsciously searching her purse for a pack of tissues.

Can't wait for more!

[Cloud Dancing]

Back for an update...this is one is a little weird. Usually I know what my victims are going to do, how they are going to react, the whole shabang. This time...I just don't know. I suppose I will find out when he gets there!

Apologies for being cryptic, I've been watching too much Sherlock!

RoyalFlush: So pleased you like it so far. I promise heavy duty hurt/comfort to come.

tma: As ever, I am just suprised you are kind enough to read my posts, you being the legendary storyteller that you are!

Penance

Part 2

After 40 minutes of rain-addled ambling, Adian finally reached the deserted park, the continuing downpour having driven away all seekers of green open spaces. Mud was growing and spilling out onto the paths, whilst puddles of grimy water began pooling in the patches of grass which only the day before had been frequented by eager sunbathers.

Adian was alone, expect for a lone, hardy, dog walker, bundled up in a heavy duty storm force parker, impatiently waiting for her border collie to finish sniffing a nearby tree. He was grateful for the solitude; it gave him time to think over his decision.

“Heh'nxgt!Hh….hhhersshhtxxx! sshhhoooo!”

The sound of his half-hearted stifled sneezes rippled in the air as he sniffed nosily to try to control his streaming nose. If he was honest with himself, he was having trouble distinguishing how much of the moisture on his face was due to his runny nose and how much was due to the weather. On any other day the reality of his situation would have filled him with palpable horror and self-disgust, but right now he seemed immune to it all.

Despite his rising physical discomfort, Adian thought himself caught up by the vaguely apocalyptic scene before him, the lonely swaying of the trees , the way the pernicious gusts of wind toyed with the already fallen leaves.

“Hugghh..errrSHHOOO!”

A back bending sneeze disrupted his appreciation of this natural scene. Being a inherently practical man, Adian considered it best to find somewhere to rest for a while before he continued along on his way. Even Scott of the Arctic took frequent breaks and he was simply trying to reach the North Pole – Adian’s pole was neither marked on a map nor socially significant, but it pulled him forward all the same.

An inviting looking bench beckoned to him. It was set back from the path, surrounded by a small cluster of still-leafy trees, whose branches would afford some cover from the rain. Adian moved towards it, his feet sinking into the muddy fringes of the grass, but he practically glided over to it, placing his bag carefully on mottled planks of the seat, he bent forward to read the inscription, brushing the hair away from his eyes.

In memory of Dora – my soul mate.

“ Dora, do you mind if I sit with you?” he enquired of no one in particular. He noted, without concern, the congested nature of his voice.

Naturally, there was no reply, so he sat down on the bench, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Adian arched his back and allowed his head to fall back over the top of the bench, exposing his long neck to the canopy above. The trees were beginning to turn, the orange and red tinges had begun their inexorable assault on the leaves. Shivering drops fell from the laden foliage and hit his collar bone. He found the sound strangely comforting.

“ euh’EpppsSSHOO!”

The uncovered sneeze ripped from his chest like a gun shot, but in his reclining position Adian merely rubbed his nose with his finger. It had been hours since he had given up trying to stop the sneezes from coming. Acceptance was the only true form of valor.

“euuuhh….hhheeessSHHOOO!” The spray of this sneeze mingled with the misty atmosphere

Coughing a little, feeling the blood begin to pool in his head, Adian slowly pulled his head up, mindful of the slightly dizziness accompanied by this action. Rolling his neck from side to side, hearing the muscles pop with tension, Adian considered it would not be a good idea to rest for too long. He had somewhere to be.

“herr…herr..ttshshnnxx! hhhHHHssnxxxT!”

Adain’s head snapped forward onto his chest, his hand moving to pinch his nose. He puffed out a quick sign after each sneeze, his breath misting slightly. The temperature was dropping. His hand began to tremble slightly as he reached once more for his saturated handkerchief. It was just common courtesy to use some trappings of civilization.

“Eerrrshooo! Huuhhh….eeerrrshhOOOO!”

Sneezing forward into his waiting handkerchief, Adian thought of nothing but releasing the sneezes. He realized he was tired…being ambivalent to his situation was exhausting him, but he was still spurred on by a deep feeling of omnipotence. Nothing was important but the final destination. If anything, the more he suffered on his way there, the better it would be. He did deserve it after all.

“Huhhhi..hii..hhhheeettCCHESSSWW!”

“ Jay-sus mate, you a’right?” exclaimed a Australian construction worker who was passing by, the luminescent orange of his jacket flashing eerily in the grey air.

Adian recovered quickly, self-preservation in the face of observation temporarily providing a rush of adrenaline . With a beaming smile and an assured head tilt he eyed the stranger confidently.

“ I’m very well thank you.”

The Australian raised his eyebrows, glancing firstly at Adian’s soaking clothes and then at the driving rain. Adian chuckled and loosened his scarlet tie.

“ Ya know its raneing right?”

“ I had observed the fact, yes” Adian smiled (why did he always sound like a lawyer when he spoke to members of the general public) and ran his long fingered hand through his hair, dislodging some drips from his hand with a nonchalant flick.

“O…Kay. Enjoy yourself” The passer by raised a hand in farewell and walked away, thinking it was none of his business if this nutter wanted to catch pneumonia. He had several grumpy contractors baying for his blood (Did he control the bleeding weather?) because of an overflowing sewage drain. He wasn’t the man’s mother.

Adian watched the man walk away and envied the band of gold he had seen on the man’s ring finger. No doubt, after being at work all day, this man returned home to something more satisfying than an immaculate flat and a wall mounted plasma television. What did it matter? If Adian was lucky, very lucky, he may soon be able to put a life of reckless materialism behind him. After all, people only bought things to fill the very obvious space where another person should be.

Fog was starting to roll into the park, stealing over the beaten down flowerbeds. The air was heavier and colder than it had been an hour ago and the rain had abated to a fine mist. As Adian sniffed deeply, his nose starting to run in response to the dropping temperature, in he could not prevent the constriction of his lungs and he began coughing. His chest heaved, the anticipation of each cough heavy and impressive, his chest popping like bubble wrap. A vague pain in his temples alerted him to the fact that the hastily swallowed pre-meeting aspirin was wearing off.

At the edge of the park, the phantom outline of a house could just be seen, the light from its big bay window twinkled warmly through the thickening fog. Adian’s eyes fixed on it and a very different pain exploded in his chest.

He had rested long enough, time to be moving on.

Pulling himself up, supporting his tall frame on the back of the bench, he scooped up his bag and moved off, slower than before, as if he was dragging an anchor behind him. Not far now.

***

TBC...

[pinknose]

This looks really good. Part of me feels bad for Adian, the other part wants to see how many more delicious sneezes he'll be having before he reaches his destination. Please continue!

[RoyalFlush]

Oooo! You are a master! AH, the way you descibe misery just...just makes me so giggly! Hahaha~ Oh I love it. I can't wait to see what will happen when he gets to where he's going. AH, this is already making me blush , you write so well! Eeee! So awesome! Can't wait for more!

[meepsy]

I absolutely LOVE this. Adian is already such an interesting specimen. I wonder what his sins were...

keep writing, please!

[tma]

Thanks for your lovely compliment. I'm hoping that when I'm on break from grad. school that I might be able to write something again.

Part 2- I Love your pacing and the way that you are unfolding this. Just beautiful. Reeling us in bit by bit. I *adore* this- can't wait for more!

[Cloud Dancing]

This looks really good. Part of me feels bad for Adian, the other part wants to see how many more delicious sneezes he'll be having before he reaches his destination. Please continue!

*nodds* I love this conflicted feeling. The whole torture/nurture thing is just addictive.

Oooo! You are a master! AH, the way you descibe misery just...just makes me so giggly! Hahaha~ Oh I love it. I can't wait to see what will happen when he gets to where he's going. AH, this is already making me blush , you write so well! Eeee! So awesome! Can't wait for more!

Seriously, I'm not sure I can cope with you being so complimentary. I have to read some of the horrible comments I have recieved on my past writing to balance out the universe. However, I am thrilled you like it. I hope it will be fit for purpose. Stay tuned!

I absolutely LOVE this. Adian is already such an interesting specimen. I wonder what his sins were...

keep writing, please!

Specimen is such a good word to describe him. I can't decide how I feel about him yet. But rest assured, he will play for his sins

Thanks for your lovely compliment. I'm hoping that when I'm on break from grad. school that I might be able to write something again.

Part 2- I Love your pacing and the way that you are unfolding this. Just beautiful. Reeling us in bit by bit. I *adore* this- can't wait for more!

Yay for tma's writing - best crack around. I'm glad your enjoying being reeled in...your going to love part 3!

Update on its way.

[Cloud Dancing]

Apologies for the delay in updating, very busy week and this bit took some getting used to! The first part is structured as a flashback, hence the italics....hope it works with the pace of the rest of the story. Feeback is always welcome.

Enjoy!

Penance

Part 3

“Why are you shouting?”

“I’m not shouting!” Adian yelled, straining his already sore throat in the progress.

Half a second of silence and a maddeningly incredulous eyebrow later, Adian snatched up his expensive satchel with about as much poise as a petulant child.

A hand shot out and grabbed his forearm.

“If I understood what was going on, I could at least make the effort to fix it”

“What makes you think I want your help?...” a congested sniff caused an unavoidable break in Adian’s flow, “How could you possibly have missed how important this day is to me?” he queried, breathing heavily, half in frustration, half in exhaustion. His chest felt constricted and he could feel the pressure on his sinuses growing.

“All I’m aware of is that you have a case, and for some reason this case is stressing you out, but Adian, you're always stressed. If you ever, actually, discussed what was bothering you then I could make more informed assumptions”

“If you are going to start nagging me about sharing more I swear to God…”

Adian had to turn away to cough harshly into his fist. Clearly he was scheduled to be ill this week. Pity his efficient and long legged secretary could not reschedule that particular inconvenience.

“I have no desire to nag you, but you really are so fucking aloof sometimes I find it difficult to hold back my curiosity”

Adian registered the swear word and knew he should calm down but he was already late, and it wasn’t as if the swearing was provoked. He was pretty certain he would have to cook up some form of mutually acceptable apology, but frankly, the way he was feeling, being petulant was just more satisfying than trying to be rational.

“I thought swearing was below you, you being so fond of your moral high ground and all”

He heard a tremulous sigh, and dimly registered the tightening of the fingers around his arm.

“Adian…are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

The voice was measured, patient, and exasperated him beyond reason. No human being could be that inert, that composed in the face of quite obvious impoliteness.

“No…and more to the point, I don’t think you could handle it if I did. I am not….not some kind of human character study you can then write up in one of your piss poor approximations of reality”

The hand slipped from Adian’s arm.

“I wouldn’t worry about that, I’m sure I could hardly do you justice. Thoughtlessness such as yours is entirely unique”

“Why do you insist on talking like that?” Adian whirled around, too fast for his brain to catch up and woozily searched for his car keys on the mahogany dining room table, avoiding eye contact.

“How is the way I talk relevant to this ridiculously baffling argument?” was the clipped response.

“Listen, I just do not have time for this. I do not want the luxury of telling you how you have screwed me over this morning and…and the reason I don’t tell you anything is because I don’t want your opinion”

The car keys still eluded him and if he did not leave soon he would have some serious grovelling to do. He hated having to grovel; he was lamentably bad at lying about how ashamed he was of anything he did, partly because feeling shame was forbidden by his super ego and partly because lying always felt like the cowards way out.

“If you don’t want my opinion then please be good enough to tell me what I am doing here”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I…” more coughing, this time with a whispering wheezing thrown in, “ I think you like to watch others succeed and fear having to put the effort in yourself.”

A sardonic smile was reflected in the trendy mirror in the hallway as Adian moved for the door, his hands frantically searching for the keys on top and under old catalogues of bespoke furniture which littered every bespoke surface. The flyover was going to be a nightmare and he had already left it too late to try his customary shortcut over the river.

“You should be a psychotherapist; your observations are very astute considering how self-deluded you are”

The insult sounded tired, half hearted. Adian smelled victory and the thrill of the kill temporarily seized him.

“You know what else I think? I think you like me, like being with me because my money makes you feel like you have succeeded. You don’t want to see the failure all around you, you don’t want to think about the fact you are do something which ma..mahh…” Without warning a sneeze crept on him and he hastily stifled it into his suited elbow, “…may be considered noble and yet you hate that no one acknowledges you for it. You know you are wasting your time and yet you still struggle on regardless. If you can find me a greater example of self-delusion and stupidity then you are more intelligent than I give you credit for…”

Adian, whose reflexes had always been razor sharp, easily caught the flattened hand before it made contact with his prominent cheek bones, holding it static in his steady grip.

The air sizzled, as did the liquid dark brown irises that stared at him with painful clarity. It took him a couple of seconds to register his car keys looped over the middle figure of the soft feminine hand.

“Close the door behind you when you leave” he said as he removed the keys deliberately, this time not breaking eye contact.

Adian turned swiftly, smoothly adjusted his tie in the mirror and then unlatched the door. Behind him there was the unmistakable sound of someone unlocking their touchscreen mobile. Opening the door and grimacing at the dark sky, Adian shrugged on his heavy wool coat with its trendy velour collar and snatched his wooden handled umbrella from the stand by the coat rack.

“I’ll be home late” he said a little hoarsely, throwing the words over his shoulder casually and without a trace of malice, coincidentally an emotion he felt was beneath him.

Above the noise and cloying smell of the rush hour traffic and hisses of the red London buses the reply could be heard, discreet but as clear as a chiming church bell;

“I won’t be here”

Adian closed the door behind him, flicked up his collar and headed for his car.

***

The bay window threw out the warming amber light that fought for supremacy with the darkening evening. Through the glass, framed by pale blue shutters, a lofty bookshelf loomed, filled with stories and facts from most corners of the globe. The unsteady sound of a rhythmic folk music squeezed its self through the old wood of the window frame and out into the residential road.

Adian, passing through the park gate, doggedly crossed the street, blithely ignoring the basics of road safety and continued walking until he came to an agonising halt at the bottom of the three steps which led up to bright green door. Wiping the water from his forehead with the back of his hand he leant against the iron railings for support and looked up through the window.

His tired and hazy eyes could just about make out the form of a woman who sat curled in on herself on a large sofa, the soft light from a standing lamp pitching the shadow of the book she was reading across the polished wooden floor. She head was resting on the arm of the sofa, a quilted blanket thrown haphazardly around her shoulders. Her image oozed a long absent security which the man beneath her window had felt the lack of all day.

Aidan let loose a long sigh; the quickly condensing moisture of his breath becoming a ghostly cloud that floated upwards towards the dim street lights above. His shoulders were aching, his feet felt heavy and uncooperative, whilst his nose continued run persistently and require constant sniffing to keep at bay, yet none of this even made a slight impression on Adian’s gritty determination to climb the rain soaked steps in front of him.

Four human paces later, the old fashioned door bell was inches away from the fingers on his hand which rested on the white washed door frame.

I won’t be here. The words bounced about in Adian’s head, gathering momentum until they virtually dented the inside of his skull.

Resting his forehead against the surprisingly dry door, feeling a shiver of anticipation and cold ricochet down his spine, Adian depressed the door bell and waited.

***

tbc...

[pinknose]

*gasp* Well? What happened next?! Spill it! Agh!! I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait for a another update! And you can tell I'm serious because I said it three times. Three is a very serious number. '_' *serious face*

[tma]

Wow!! I think that flashback can be tough to pull off, and you did it brilliantly! I'm with pinknose- I Cannot wait for more. You've set it up beautifully. I love that it is unclear exactly how long has past, exactly who she is, or what the relationship was.... just enough clues but doled out in a way that the reader savours each clue.

Love it!

[doggo]

Holy! This is so good. I love how nasty and miserable he is. And dressed sharp, of course. So sexy. Ah, and of course rain-soaked, cold and sniffly... Just. This is fantastically written too. I can't wait to see where this goes, so lovely.

[JulesSneeze]

Oh please MORE MORE MORE!!!! I absolutely love this, the suspense is perfect...and the sneezes oh so juicy

[Cloud Dancing]

Evening all! Apologies for keeping you all in suspence. This week has been never ending.

I cherish everyones comments and hope you'll forgive me for not answering them all individually. I have to be back at work in an hour and I thought you would prefere the next installment rather than me wittering on.

Without further ado....

Penance

Part 4

***

Outside Number 220 Lancier Road, a soaking figured rested his head on the door and waited to be admitted.

Lancier Road was deserted apart from a solitary dog walker, braving the still substantial rain to walk her dripping greyhound. The walker sloshed about in the river of puddles with her heavy duty, farmyard worthy wellington boots and absently considered whether her mother would further embarrass her at the informal meet-and-check-out-the-neighbours-bank-balance cocktail party she was holding that evening. Yanking a little viciously on Percy Brathewait’s collar (known at home as Perc) she cajoled her slim lined dog to follow in her wake as she made for home.

It was only when she chance to glance up the road that this well-bred daughter of society spotted the leaning visitor, who by all accounts had appeared to have fallen asleep, his eyes shut against the rain, his breath curling upwards in loose waves. Never one to pass up the opportunity to seize a piece of juicy gossip, the financier’s wife pulled out her black and diamond studded phone.

The muffled sound of a landline trilled pleasantly in the twilight air.

“My dear…are you aware there is a man outside at this very moment, leaning on your door?”

A woman’s outline appeared at the window of Number 220 and promptly disappeared.

Placing her phone back in her inner breast pocket of her Barber coat, the dog walker shook her head. Honestly, one could simply not conceive of how rude people could be.

***

Adian was indeed leaning on the door, a big solid door with intricate panels and covered with thick green lacquered paint. He didn’t know how long he had been waiting. He was sure he had heard the doorbell ring but had yet to hear the patter of tell-tale footsteps. With half of his body slumped against the wood, he was sure he had heard the sound of a landline trilling in the background and the sound of it being answered.

At least she was home.

He shivered violently and tried to objectively consider how fascinating the mechanism of shivering actually was. For a moment he became engrossed by thinking about the bolts of excitement and adrenaline firing down his back like bullets at a firing range. This reverie did not last long and soon he was aware of just how overwhelmingly tired he felt. His head was thumping rhythmically and he was unpleasantly aware of just how wet his clothes were.

He struggled to remember what could have induced him to do this. Why her? Why now? Why, with everything that had been thrown at him today did he consider this the sensible course of action? The answer to this spiralling line of self-questioning was, of course, completely irrelevant.

He was here because he was here. What ever happened, he could at least say he had done what he could.

The shock of the door opening unbalanced him and he fell forward so quickly his brain only registered he was falling just in time. Instinctively Adian reached for the nearest thing to cling to.

That thing was a woman.

Adian practically fell into the woman’s open arms, his head landing in the nape of her neck, his arms clinging to her wrists and he ended up pressed against her, his knees bent, his hip clashing painfully with the door frame.

Several things happened at once.

Adian felt the moisture from his hair starting to seep into the silk shirt he was currently clinging to. Simultaneously his companion breathed out heavily in shock and, with a strength which seemed completely miraculous (given her comparative size), pushed Adian’s sprawled body back into a standing position, his feet settling just outside the threshold of the door.

A few moments of heavy breathing ensued from both parties as Adian blinked rapidly to try to clear the water from his eyes, feeling too lethargic to wipe them away. The woman merely stood, a hand resting on the wall, her head bent as she recovered herself.

The soft light of the hallway was a stark contrast to the now near black backdrop of the sky. Here lived warmth, living memory, and if he was lucky, comfort.

“Kechhaaa! Hettcchhaaa!”

The sneezes where harsh and took him by surprise. He managed to turn his head away, outwards through the open door, the spray just visible as if began to freeze in the rosty air.

“Christ Adian…” Her voice was low, the frustration easy to spot as she raised her head to look at him with guarded eyes, “What are you doing?”

Adian let the door frame support his weight once more and rubbed a numb hand over his face.

“I’m afraid I cannot answer that. I’ve n…nooo… aahr… isshhooooooo…*sniff* no way of explaining myself”

In the half a second it took Adian to recover from the sneeze, he could have sworn he saw the woman flinch. By the time he had straightened himself she looked at him with peculiarly expressionless eyes. He didn’t mind much; just to be near her was more than enough.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised. You never did feel it necessary to give a reason”

“I would have thought it was obvious”

“Obvious to a mind reader perhaps, sadly I never quite mastered that talent. Has Phillippa managed it?”

“Phillippa who?”

His companion grimaced slightly, the confusion in his voice not lost on her.

“Your girlfriend Phillippa…surely you remember her at least?”

A gust of chill air forced its way into the hall, making Adian shiver involuntarily and the shoulder length straight hair about the woman’s face fluttered temptingly. He had always appreciated her more with short hair; it increased the soft outline of her jaw. Recently he had seen, and spent the night next to, too many pinched and emaciated faces, Phillippa’s, in particular, being too much for him to handle in the bright light of day.

Adian raised his eyes to a nondescript lampshade above his head, smiling knowingly.

“So you heard about her”

“I heard about them all. Six at the last count; Jada, Ellie, Mariam, Jillian, Veronica – your parents favourite- and the lovely Phillippa, who is, if I am not mistaken, my new neighbour.”

That was new information. Adian wondered how it could have escaped him to ask where Phillippa lived. It was perhaps, slightly embarrassing, that when he was with her they were invariably on his side of town. It hadn’t occurred to him that she had a life outside of his world. He never ventured far from his hunting ground.

“I always *sniff* did wonder where you’re got your information from. I must have a leak in my…the department.” The mistake shocked him. He must tread carefully. It would be a disaster if he revealed the news too early. “I suppose you are well placed to hoover up any leaked information”

This prompted a recognisable eye roll. He had missed that look. He found it vaguely comforting to know he could still annoy her.

“A friend…a mutual friend told me. Not everything is about sabotage Adian”

“No I suppose not…”

Adian lowered his eyes and half coughed, half chuckled as the full heat of the hallway began to bring feeling back into his hands. The urge to cough, deeper and more persistent than it had been all day was playing havoc with his nose and throat and Adian was forced to turn away again and stifle his sneezes as best he could.

“He-kxnt…hhh He-kxnt…Heh-yishoO!"

Again, out of the corner of his eyes he caught the woman flinching, her whole body reacting to the sound of his harsh sneezes. The tense shape of her shoulders was enough to tell him he had her attention.

“Forgive me for repeating myself but…why are you here?”

A fair question… she was always fair. Her voice portrayed her impatience, her vulnerability.

“I came to tell you… today, when I saw you in conference room…I knew...I just understood….”

Adian drifted off incoherently, supressing the urge to reach out and rub her jaw with his finger.

“What did you understand?” Curiosity killed the cat her mother had said.

From somewhere deep in his subconscious Adian somehow found the words.

“I think I fell in love with you today”

“That’s…such… a ridiculous thing to say”

“I know, but it’s true. I had no idea you were so beautiful.”

The achingly familiar woman took several steps closer to him, close enough for her to smell the vanilla scent of her skin. She hadn’t changed her perfume then. The woman eyed him doggedly, licking her lips in indecision. She must not reward him for this, and yet, she couldn’t leave him on the door step.

Despite herself, she reached up and brushed aside the damp hair from Adian’s forehead. She could feel the fever brewing, and noticed the heavy lidded slant to his eyes. A sigh escaped her lips. There was no escaping him now.

“You’d better come in.”

She forced herself to settle a commanding hand on Adian’s shoulder and she swiftly pulled him over the threshold. Adian stumbled onto the thick bristled welcome mat, more droplets dislodging from his satchel and splashing onto the cream carpet during the process. The door was pushed shut behind him by much adored hands.

She’d invited him in. The realisation hit him as an epiphany. He was on the threshold of discovering something he had lost. He spoke before he could stop himself.

“Mayra…forgive me”

The woman was not looking at him, her eyes seeming to search for strength in the fibres of the carpet. Timeless seconds later, she raised her head and stared pointedly into the room beyond the hallway.

“Damn you Adian…”

She indicated the living room with her hand, the open and welcoming gesture contrasting with her stiff posture.

He could deal with the curse. It wasn’t as if he didn’t deserve it. Not stopping to remove his shoes he moved slowly towards the well-known living room, leaving a trail of droplets behind him.

***

To be continued...

[tma]

Ooooo.... now I have to go back and re-read everything. Beautiful job thus far.

[vers]

Again, out of the corner of his eyes he caught the woman flinching, her whole body reacting to the sound of his harsh sneezes.

This is right up my alley - the impartial rain, the reflexive sympathy in this mysterious woman, the motives of this mysterious man...!

[doggo]

Jeeezus! I just keep loving this! Fantastic! Poor man! Oh dear with a fever too, I can't help chucklin with delight thinking what that stroll in that hideous weather might have done to that. Fevers! I really really wish to read more.

[Cloud Dancing]

Hello! Really sorry it has taken me so long to post this. I have actually nearly finished this peice but I have had so much real life paperwork (why oh why are tax forms so complicated?!) that I have been very distracted.

Thank you to all of you who are still perservering with this. Sincerely apprechiate all your feedback! Hope part 5 is enjoyable. Let me know what you think. This still feels a little bit weird but I'm growing to like the fact even I don't know what I am going to do with my female character.

Penance

Chapter 5

Adian shuffled into the living room, his ruined Italian leather shoes leaving angry waterlogged streaks marks on the cream carpet. He couldn’t conceive of why people still insisted on having carpets in well travelled areas of the house. They were a bugger to clean and ridiculously high maintenance. His riverside swanky apartment had glistening slate and granite floors resulting in a very low effort to cleanliness ratio. He looked down blearily at his shoes, watched the almost instantaneous stain which flared out from his soles. Carpets were a waste of money and an assault on sophisticated interior design.

A fevered mind is a fickle thing. A second later, Adian’s passions had performed a spectacular u-turn. All mean spirited thoughts were erased in an instant; Adian loved carpets, he was a carpet man, he loved her cream carpet, carpets in general. Carpets were warm, soft, inviting. Carpets broke your fall.

Dizzy and disorientated, he had been trying to avoid knocking into the oak writing desk and simply unbalanced himself. The half a second collision with the iron standing lamp had resulted in a vague cry of pain and a rapid decent to the floor, face first, his arms thrown out of break his fall. Doubtless it would have been very comic if it had happened to anyone else other than him, but Adian felt grateful that the vindicated deep pile carpet was also covered with a thick Persian rug. If he had been at home he would, no doubt, have needed the emergency services to stop by for a visit, if only to help him scrub the blood out of the white grouting in his expensive granite floor.

He laid prone, on his front, his forehead resting on an intricate floral pattern, breathing in the reassuring, vaguely musty smell of the floor, completely content with the idea that he may have to rest a while before he had the energy to get up. He coughed lazily, the dust from the floor rushing into his lungs and making his nostrils burn.

“Well it’s good to see your body has more sense than you do.”

Adian sensed rather than saw Mayra kneel down and with unpretentious gentleness roll him on his side. He blinked furiously, little patches of light dancing before his eyes. Though he couldn’t see her properly, Adian knew she was frowning. He only hoped he would be able to salvage the situation before he made her angry.

“Comfortable?” she asked, her voice sounding oddly deadened. Lying on his side was not helping the congestion he felt building in his nose.

“Very. It’s a nice carpet” Adian ran his hand through the pile a couple of times to emphasise his point. His chest burnt suddenly with unfulfilled coughs which he greedily indulged in. His cough had taken on a barking quality which only served to increase the hoarse tone of his voice.

There it was again. She flinched. Prominently.

“It is nice...currently damper than I would like...” she trailed off pointedly. Adian tried to raise himself on his arm but failed as violent shiver shook him so forcibly he only just stopped himself from moaning.

Immediately there was a warm hand on his neck, the contrast of his cold clammy skin with the heat of the hand producing another, not unpleasant, shiver to make an appearance. He could have been imagining it, after all he had just nearly knocked himself out, but he thought he felt he fingers of the hand stroke his jaw at it was removed. But why would she stroke him? She would only do something like that in an ironic poor-lost-puppy way surely? He was clearly over-thinking and over-feeling things.

“Stay” was the clipped command.

Well that made sense. She was treating him like a stray dog. Fair enough. Actually the word ‘stray’ pretty much summed him up. He had strayed from his path, had been straying for a while now. She had known that, long before he had. She was always pretty bright was his Mayra.

His Mayra? Was she still his Mayra?

Her footsteps retreated from him and immediately he missed her. She may be annoyed with him, angry even, but at least that was something. Missing her meant something.

He flopped back onto his front, his sides hurting painfully. He was experiencing that odd sensation of temporarily not feeling connected to his body. Hot flushes were dancing over his skin and it just seemed sensible to finally accept that maybe he was not really at his best.

"Huhh....huu....Huh-issht! Huh-schht!"

Burying his face into the carpet and sneezing may be good for germ control but it hurt. His back twinged angrily, but he was getting used to feeling his body protesting. If his body was a temple, it was currently falling down. He was just so tired.

He felt the flutter of his eye lids as they began to close. Pathetic, completely pathetic! What kind of a person lies face down on someone’s carpet and just lets the world go on around him. Adian was a mover, a shaker, a deal maker. He was not the sort of man who had a kip on the floor.

With a titanic effort and with the aid of a couple of half muttered swearwords which he told himself were purely motivational, he managed to push himself into a sitting position. Now sitting, swaying noticeably, cross legged on the rug which bore the imprint of his still very wet clothes, he imagined he looked more like a shambolic hippy than he did a well respected lawyer. Actually he was just impressed he could still cross him legs which is no mean feat for a 6.2ft man.

An impossibly soft white fluffy towel was dropped on his head from a great height. It covered his whole head and most of his shoulders. It was clearly just out of the airing cupboard or maybe even the dryer.It was warm to the touch and smelled of a sunny spring day.

“Time to dry off” the bringer of magical towels boomed from somewhere above him.

Adian cheerily obeyed the command, rubbing his hair dry and giving himself a brief minute to enjoy the almost humid fluffiness of the towel. The fibres were making his throat tickle but he ignored it, so much so that he barely registered he had started coughing until he felt his chest tighten because oxygen impoverished lungs.

The world burst back into fresh air and soft lighting as the towel was plucked from his head. Mayra looked him over critically. He felt the sharp attentiveness of her gaze and looked up at her.

“I hate to disappoint you Adian but suffocation is just not an option here. Come on solider...”

A hand was being offered to him to help him get to his feet. Adian stared at it dumbly. He always thought she had amazing hands. They spoke to him in a way he did really understand. Every line and soft wrinkle had a story to tell. He wanted to read them like a book.

There came an impatient sigh. It was a sigh that Adian knew well.

“Either take my hand Adian or get up yourself. It makes very little difference to me.”

Smiling in a half smug, half lopsided way, Adian did manage to raise himself from the floor in semi dignified see-sawing motion. He did, naturally, nearly completely keel over backwards, and would have done so if his knight in shining armour (could women be knights?) hadn’t sprung into action and held him steady by grabbing his shoulders.

“Easy....” she muttered involuntarily and then said, “You idiot” as if to redressing the balance.

Once he had acclimatised to standing, Adian looked around him lazily. She hadn’t redecorated much. A few new books, an old fashioned mirror to replace the one he had broken when he saw her last. The part of his brain which was still aware did register the lack of photographs. His face was nowhere to be seen in the room. Surely that had to be significant.

Mayra was unbuttoning his shirt for him, his now undone tie hanging limply around his neck. Adian scoffed, half scandalised by her clear impatience of get his clothes off.

“Mayra...give a man his dues. I haven’t even seduced to you yet.”

Ah yes, the eye roll, another one of his old friends.

“Take these and get changed. Leave your clothes on the radiator in the bathroom.”

Adian suddenly found himself with presented with a t-shirt and some sweat pants. Mayra turned on her heal and walked sedately towards the kitchen. The slight sway of her hips was just torturous. Adian focused his unwilling eyes on the bundle of clothes.

“These aren’t mine...”

His voice shook a little, confusing and an indistinct sense of dread filling him.

“I know...” came the strangely constricted voice of the woman he knew so well.

Left alone in the living room, Adian had time to contemplate, his rational mind taking the opportunity to take control. Though wearing another man’s clothes would wound his prise and be very undignified, turning up sick as a dog and babbling like an idiot was significantly more so. Better to cut his losses, change into the dry clothes and try to rescue the situation by utilising his charm and his superior mental faculties. If it all went belly up he could call a cab, go home and lick his wounds.

In that moment Adian knew why people paid him so much to stretch the truth on their behalf. He could conjure a convincing argument out of nothing. Damn he was good.

Stumbling like a new born fawn, he found the bathroom. With fumbling hands he stripped down to his boxers, his shoes proving the most fiddly to remove. Part of him yearned for the old days when Velcro shoes were in vogue. Velcro would have been a god-send.

Finally free of his soaking clothes he sat down heavily on the toilet seat, shivering persistently now.

“Errr...shooo! EeeassshHOOO!” The sneezes erupted without warning and Adian was pretty sure he felt the spray from them land somewhere near his feet. In a small corner of his brain, Adian found the sound of his own sneezes vaguely fascinated. Someone had once said he sneezed like a film star. He had been pleased by that comment. He’d always been a Robert Redford fan.

“Eeesshooo!...hheeEshhOOO!” Adain fumbled around from some toilet roll but realised he would have to get up to reach it. Standing didn’t sound like an appealing idea but he had very little choice in the matter if he wasn’t to end up disgracing himself. Hauling himself up using the sink he managed to stand before he was overtaken again.

“Huh-SCHOO! H'ISCHT! Huh...H'SCHOO!" He groaned softly as the sneezes bent him over double. Blindly groping for some tissues, he only just found some before the final onslaught nearly finished him off.

“Ihttughh…t'tchiIIEEnnnttt....hhuucccummmpp!”

The fit finally subsiding and bracing himself against the sink he had to shake his head to clear it. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. His face was pale, lined with stress of the last 48 hours. His hair was showing the first hints of silver, especially around his temples. He was getting older and his heart was getting heavier.

With a shaking hand he scrubbed hard at his face. His fever was increasing. A longing for a well made bed seized him. Sniffing loudly, he slowly started to pull on the t-shirt. It was thin but at least it was long sleeved. The sweat pants gave him the most trouble. How he was expected to co-ordinate himself whilst braced against a sink in a small enclosed space was an irritating conundrum.

In the end, the porcelain soap dish paid the price for his tall, inelegant flailings. The sound of it breaking rang in his ears longer than it should have and his wincing was partly due to him banding his elbow in an attempt to save it, and partly because he really didn’t want give her any more reason to hate him than she already did.

He didn’t have long to contemplate her historical hatred. She appeared at the door of the tiny bathroom, a mug of hot something in her hands. He could see the steam curling upward towards her face, a face that didn’t show hatred.

Sure she was frowning, but it wasn’t hatred he saw.

***

TBC...

[obsessed]

Fantastic as always!

[tma]

Wow!! I was *SO* excited to see more of this up- I cannot even tell you.

So many parts that had me grinning and I love the feel of this piece. All the best with figuring out where your female character is going to go next (I've had similar issues w/ certain characters). This is brilliant and I can't wait to see what is next.

[doggo]

Oh I just loooove how fascinated he is by himself! And how deliciously sick. Mmmmmm. I was so exctited to see a next part. Yum yum yum!

[ichixshiro14]

This is absolutely fantastic!!

[JulesSneeze]

YESYESYES!!! Simply lovely. I'm a bit of a cough-whore as well .__. so this was great

[LeadaAlexys52]

Please Please Please MORE!!!! This is so awesome. Slightly twisted and deliciously sickly! Best combination ever!