Full Figured Chic Ch. 08

"Here are the rest of your things." He looked at her with warmth and compassion. "How do you feel here? Do you think you will be comfortable?"

She had an impish look on her face. "I know you think I didn't hear you, but I did. There is a woman coming isn't there? She's coming tomorrow morning. And Greg thinks she's beautiful." She smiled a broad smile. "Oh honey, she will be the one. She will be perfect for us to use to get rid of the curse."

Still sitting outside of himself and staring in, Jay could hear himself say certain words to her that he intended for her comfort. "Yes mother of course. She will be the one. And we will do whatever we have to do to beat the curse."

Jay heard a shuffle in the hall and turned to see Greg standing there holding more bags. Jay, compelled to look into his face, saw the anger there at his words to his mother. But he couldn't take the time to comfort Greg at the moment. He'd have to deal with that later. For the moment, his mother needed to be pacified so that he could finally settle down and do some creative work on the line.

"Mother why don't you get settled in here. We will have a big day tomorrow, because I want to get right to work, and you will have to do the same." Jay noticed his mothers sharp eyes dart between himself and Greg.

"Okay darling. I will freshen up and we can have some dinner together."

Jay left her standing in the room and walked out past Greg into the hall. He shut the door on his mother and made his way into the next room. Greg stayed fast on his heels.

"Jay! I heard what you said to her. Don't mess with this woman. I don't want you to do anything with her to make your mother happy for any other reason. She's perfect, do you hear me, perfect, and I can't stand the thought that you might use her for some dumb hocus pocus that your mother conjures up and put her in any kind of danger. Or worse, driver her away from us and away from the studio."

Jay plonked his bags beside the large double bed and looked around the room. The apartment that circled the top of the warehouse was here when Jay bought the building to use as his studio. The three bedrooms ran along one wall and the other had the kitchen and a lounge area in it. The two showers and toilets made up the shorter side. Greg would sleep either in the room next to Jay's or he would move into the bedroom that sat near his office. He'd have to create room for the makers down stairs. They would only be here in the final weeks anyway, so their presence wasn't so necessary. For a short while Jay could avoid the tricky question of where the four of them were going to sleep while he worked on the designs.

He kept this unit maintained because of his ridiculous hours, but he'd also had it cleaned and made up by a team just that morning. It looked good. Jay still felt separate and detached from everything, but he could feel the design table calling him and he wanted to get to his office. The lure of his work could be the only stabilising influence at the moment. "Jay! Are you listening to me?"

He turned to Greg. "Of course I am. It'll be ok. There is nothing going to happen to that girl. And don't forget, I haven't agreed to have her yet. I may decide that she's about as inspiring to me as daytime TV."

"I'll take that chance" said Greg as he walked out the door.

How did I get myself into this mess?

Jay shook his head. If he was going to get on with designing this line he'd have to wake up and let all the thoughts of his mother and anything else out of his head. Grabbing his bags, he slung each of them loosely into a corner of the room and snatched some sweats – perfect comfort clothes. Immersing himself in his work for the rest of the day will serve the double purpose of preparing him for meeting this woman in the morning and get his mother and her antics out of his mind.

He stepped out of his room and into the bathroom at the end of the hall. Thank god the apartment was reasonably well kept up. He stripped off fast, letting the cool shower wash away the days misery from his skin as if it didn't go any deeper than that. No matter what his mother said or thought about things, he would have to get a grip. Focus was required now, and focus was what he would need.

Like a talisman of doom, Sutomi Lim's pictures came up in his mind. He felt like he could kill him for stealing his precious designs. They were like children to him. But it gave him the necessary strength to wake up out of the mental funk that had him dazed for the past 12 hours. The line was coming out. And it was coming out before that bastard could steal what his whole life was building up toward.

Tap tap tap...Jay felt the irritating clamour at the base of his skull.

It was back; an ever-present reminder that as long as he placed himself under any kind of stress he would be facing madness and what he believed was his own potential demise.

Oh well, so be it. If he had to stand on the brink of madness and fight a supernatural force far greater than himself to do it, then that is what he would do. This was his beautiful creation and he wanted his name in it.

If only he didn't feel so alone.

Loneliness was part of a life Jay had long ago accepted. The death of people that he loved, the intellectual demise of his mother, and the isolation of being at the top of your field all worked together to keep Jay separate from other people.

He stepped out of the shower and dressed into his comfortable clothes. It didn't ease the tap tap in his brain, but it did help him feel ready to get to work. He glanced at his watch and saw that he had some solid hours before he would have to sleep.

This is fine. I'll get myself down there and get into my work and I will forget about everything other than getting that line out and beating Lim at his own game.

He emerged from the bathroom, and tossed his clothes on his bed. Feeling fitter than he had all day, he walked out of the apartments and moved to the balcony. Looking down into the large open studio area, Jay saw that his Mother had painted an enormous pentagram on the whole studio floor. He stood for a few minutes looking down in horror. Then he noticed Greg standing beside him.

"Welcome to hell" Greg said, slapping him on the back.