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Hot and sweaty withsand sticking to the most unimaginable of places, Alex felt as if he had never enjoyed a shower more than he did at that moment.
Despite Sarah’s assurances that the shoot wouldn’t take very long, he had sat in that ‘viewing area’for about three hours before she had come to collect him. It would have been nice to think he had been cool about it, or at least to have handled the situation well, but that would have been a lie and Sarah had only giggled at his shocked expression before dragging him off to a late lunch at her favourite Chinese restaurant. He would never have thought of it, but he had enjoyed listening to her explain the differences between true oriental cooking and the western comparison. It had reminded him of their more peaceful days in school and of the girl he had known, so very long ago.
Upon arrival at her home, a modest two bedroom flat in the Balmain suburbs, Sarah had given him a tour before excusing herself to freshen up and Alex had been glad of the chance to have a much-needed shower. The scolding water pelted his body in a ceaseless torrent, easing the stiffness in his muscles and scouring the sand from his skin. Unfortunately, the water could not cleanse him of all his troubles and as his hands swept his flesh with soapy suds, he brooded over the enigma that was Sarah Snow.
She had changed so much since those days in school, flourishing while everything else in Alex’s life had withered and died. The girl he’d once known had become a woman unlike any he’d known, but despite it all, she was still Sarah Snow, the odd little orphan girl, the dearest of any friend, the first woman he had ever loved...
A stiffening sensation in his loins quickly reminded him of the dangers of such thoughts. Feeling strangely embarrassed, and more than a little dirty for getting an erection in Sarah’s shower, he reluctantly turned the hot water to cold. The sudden icy blast made him almost leap out of the stall and his engorged shaft quickly wilted as the soapy lather ran off his body onto the porcelain before draining away.
Shivering, Alex quickly turned the water off and pushed the fogged glass of the cubicle door aside. The bathroom was thick with a warm cloud of steam and he was forced to reach out blindly for the towel he’d placed close by before towelling himself down and wrapping it around his waist. Stepping from the shower into the cloud of steam, he traced a path from memory to the door leading to the adjoining bedroom.
The room was lit only by the dim glow of the bedside table lamp. Alex shut the door before any steam could leak into the bedroom.
Though he couldn’t exactly call the room spartan, it would be a long stretch by any imagination to consider it homely. Sarah had, of course, furnished it with all the basics, a double bed, bedside tables, a chest of draws. However, the walls were painted pale, the carpeting basic, and there were no decorations or photos to speak of, nothing to give the room the feel of a home. It was almost as if he were staying in a hotel.
He’d left the room’s one window open and could feel a cool evening breeze blowing in from the not so distant bay. Its touch was like ice against his flesh and he shivered when a cold drop fell from his still damp hair to roll down his spine. Feeling it pool against the towel, he undid the fluffy white cloth and let the damp material fall around his feet to leave him standing naked in the glow of the lamp.
His holdall sat open in the centre of the bed, and as he looked inside, he suddenly realised how little he’d packed. Everything about this trip had been rushed. He’d scarcely given any thought to what he might wear and had simply grabbed anything that looked suitable, or else clean, for the tropical island climate. With only three tops and a pair of black jeans for his selection, he’d have to have Sarah take him shopping sometime in the next few days.
Grabbing a pair of black boxers, he quickly pulled on the undergarment before dressing in his only pair of clean trousers and pulling on a dark red shirt. Doing up all but the top two buttons, he towelled his hair one more time before glancing sideways to the mirror fixed to the back of the room’s door. Satisfied with his appearance, he switched the bedside lamp off and, guided by the warm orange twilight shining in through the window, left via the door opposite the foot of the bed and into the hallway beyond.
The door to Sarah’s bedroom was directly opposite the guest room and it was shut tight. He was about to head towards the living room when he thought he heard a series of muffled gasps from beneath the door. Worried, he paused before the pine barrier, raised a hand to knock, and then suddenly thought better of it. Dismissing the sounds as woman’s stuff, he turned on his heel and followed the carpeted corridor to the flat’s living area.
Sarah seemed to have made greater effort to decorate the living room than she had with the guest room. Though undeniably utilitarian, its design was just what he would have expected of her. There was only one sofa, a two-cushioned piece of supple black leather set against the main inner wall and within easy reach of the two-tiered coffee table in the centre of the room. A corner of the room was dominated by a desk upon which sat a Laptop, printer and Sony CD player, as well as a mass of papers and pens. Three, four-shelf bookcases had been arranged around the desk, all heavily laden with an assortment of books and ornaments, two of which were mostly hard backed reference books while the third was creased and dog-eared paper volumes. Curious, he took one of the moreusedsoftbacks off the case’s top shelf, only to feel his cheeks burn scarlet as he read the title.
The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl... Christ, Sarah reads sex books!Embarrassed, He hurriedly put the book back in its place and almost tripped over the cat bed that had been subtly stowed in the corner as he backed away.
Sara’s ginger tomcat was curled up fast asleep, too lost in his own dreams to notice he’d almost been flattened. Alex quietly stepped over the sleeping beast before performing a quick sweep of the rest of the living room, but there was nothing remarkable however except for a virtually brand-new Sony thirtysomething inch LCD TV and DVD player set up on a modern metal and glass stand in the opposite corner. Neither machine looked to have been used recently and had thin coatings of dust, but there was a pile of DVD cases beside the player. Unable to resist investigating, he bent forward for a closer look.Serendipity, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Titani-
“Find anything you like?” A voice whispered in his ear, making Alex jump and wheel around to find Sarah standing there, a sly smile tilting her full rosy lips. Her hair was still damp from the shower and she’d changed into a silky black robe that she’d tied around her waist. Feeling ominous, like a child caught with his hand in the biscuit tin, he could only look down in shame as his face burned a bright red until he heard Sarah giggle and say “Oh, don’t look so guilty Alex. I said to make yourself at home, didn’t I?”
With a surprisingly firm grip, she took his hand and guided him to the sofa before playfully pushing him into the leather cushion. She walked through the archway in the wall that led to her kitchen. “I’ll get us something to drink.”
His eyes followed her until she was gone from sight, his heart beating like a drum in his chest. What was wrong with him, this was Sarah, his Sarah. Why was he so nervous? He knew her as well as he knew himself, and she considerably more so. So, what had changed? Why could he not take his eyes off her? Why was her voice suddenly like music to his ears?
Of course, in his heart, Alex already knew the answer. He’d thought about it a lot over the past few weeks, and he feared it as much as he longed for it. Her rejection would kill him more assuredly than anything else on earth.
His thoughts fell silent when Sarah stepped back into the room, holding two shot glasses in one hand, and a bottle of pale blue alcohol bearing the insignia of a serpent in the other.
“You still like Vodka, right?” she asked, placing both glasses on the table and unscrewing the top.
