A Study in Fragrance Pt. 06

She took the back stairs two at a time, hearing hammering from The Study. She looked at the opening and saw fresh framing and a pile of dust and debris on the floor.

"Hey! Cos?" She continued down the hall and stopped in her doorway to wait for him to stop hammering in her closet.

"Hey!" He stepped back and looked at her, his eyes betraying him as he took in her outfit, staring at the top of her legs where she knew he could see the shadow of her triangle.

She shifted uncomfortably, but didn't want to make it worse. She walked in and looked past him into the closet and was surprised to see the door opening completely demolished and framed with fresh lumber. She saw the middle octagonal window across the short end of the room. It completely changed her perspective of her own room's relationship to The Study. She suddenly felt a renewed excitement for getting this done.

"Wow! That's amazing!" She poked her head through and saw the pile of debris and the light from the back stair. With the two openings, The Study looked larger and felt less claustrophobic. She could even feel a light breeze flowing through it. She turned back and caught him checking her out. Fuck. I've got to get out of here! But as much as it concerned her, she felt herself light up a little at the attention. No. Really. You've got to go.

"So...," he looked like he needed to tell her something. "I ran into something curious when I started sawing through. Let me show you."

She backed out to let him through.

"Check this out." He was standing just inside The Study opening pointing to his left, her right.

She poked her head through again and the wall to her right was right there, running straight to the back of the house. She looked the other direction, her eye traveling the length of The Study to the other opening. "Is this three feet?" She pulled back.

He nodded. "Just. That's the thing. I kept it as flush to the hallway side as I could, and it's a lucky thing." He ran his hand along the right hand frame. "There is a fuck-ton of lumber right there. Like, it's framed as if it's structural, or as if there was supposed to be a door here."

She looked back at the side wall running to the back of The Study. "A door? Where would a door go? That's the outside?"

He nodded. "Yep. And take another look at that window."

She walked along the wall to look at the window that had given him so much trouble the other day. He'd gotten it open. "And?"

"And check this out." He walked along the wall and right in the middle, he pushed down on a piece of the wainscot molding. It rotated away revealing a lock.

She looked up at him and smiled like they'd found buried treasure. "Oh my fucking god," she laughed through her fingers. "Abby, you little..."

He looked at her. "Abby?"

"Hold on. Hold it right there." She ran upstairs and found the box of Abby's things, the ring of skeleton keys and raced back. There were only five, so it wouldn't take long. She got it on the third one. Looking up at him she waited, thinking hard. "Do you really want to see what's in here?" She looked back at the lock and back at him dramatically. "What do you think she kept in here?"

"Who? Who's Abby?"

But she didn't want to guess. She pulled on the door and it wouldn't budge. She double checked the lock had opened and she pulled again, feeling it creak.

"Hold it!" He ran to get a tool and came back. "It's probably stuck at the molding. Okay, gently keep the pressure on and I'll try and slip in this lady slipper."

Lady slipper. Sheesh! But she did as he directed and moments later the door opened with a creak, the molding swinging away with it to reveal an entire built-in cabinet. Drawers from her waist to the floor, a counter running along their top and shelves above. There were more off to the left, and she found a latch near the counter edge. Releasing it, she pulled on the left-hand door, Cos slipping the crow bar at the bottom, until it swung wide into the room. With it came the floral herbal tangy aroma, dense and invisible, enveloping them in a deep orange fog. That's the way it felt to her. Dense, orange and embracing. She felt herself lighting up again, like she had the first time she smelled it through the hole.

"What the fuhhhck?" Cos seemed frozen in place, looking at the cabinet, the shelves lined with mason jars, all labeled and organized.

"Abby, Abby, Abby," Emily kept whispering over and over again, taking stock of this new treasure trove, the tendril uncoiling. "You little witch," she said under her breath. It was all so neat and tidy, just like her handwriting. Everything in its place. A rectangle on the counter caught her eye. Everywhere else was a slightly darker color except this one spot. She knew exactly what belonged there.

"Uhh, Emily? Who's Abby?" He was transfixed by the jars.

"I...she...this is fucking incredible." Em turned to him and just shook her head. The fragrance and the heat were overpowering, the tendril had uncoiled and all she imagined doing was stripping off her clothes and kneeling in front of him. She tried to shake the image and pushed past him to get out of the room.

He looked after her, following a few moments later.

"Uhhh, I'll have this framed up by the end of the day." He looked back into the room. "If you want to get started cleaning up the debris..."

The cooler air helped clear her head. The scent was still there but much fainter. She interrupted him. "Yeah, Cos...I'm thinking I need to go see my parents and my triathlon practices don't start again until Tuesday, so I won't be able to help..." She felt uncomfortable, guilty even, like she'd let him down, confused by the intensity of the image that still lingered. Praying to his cock! What the fuck?

He nodded, looking at her face. "Okay. Okay." He wiped his face and looked confused. He smiled a little awkwardly.

"I'm so sorry...I hope it isn't a problem...," she felt bad, like she was a quitter. "I'm not...it's not..." She stopped, looking down.

"It's totally okay Emily. You don't need to be here every minute." He looked over the room. "But you'll owe me."

His voice had changed, just slightly, a hint of something dark, but not so obvious it made her frightened. Just nervous. She melted. The image of kneeling to his erection re-emerged, the tendril bright green and twining around her spine. Part of her just wanted to hug him and kiss him and tell him how incredible the day before and the day before that had been, but she needed to keep her distance, to sort through everything she'd been through. "It...I'm...you're amazing, Cos," she said quietly. "It's partly...I need some space...but not because of anything you did. I...I just need some time to think about what I've been doing."

He smiled internally. Yes. You should think about it all the time you're away. About how my dick is going into all of your holes. "Okay," he said slowly. "Yeah. We hit it kind of hard this past few days."

It was clear he didn't expect her to be off the hook. "We still have a deal, Cos. I'm not backing out on that. I just can't be here right now..." She hadn't thought she'd have felt so strongly about it, but she could feel her tears welling up and she didn't want to go there. She wiped them.

He nodded, his eyes dark and intense. He didn't back away, but put his hands on her shoulders. "You're okay, kid," he replied. "I'm going to keep working on this side. When do you think you'll be back? I just need to know cuz some of the next phases depend on the finishes." He paused, wiping his mouth and reconsidering. "Fuck it," he said without judgment, "I got it. There's plenty for me to do...and there'll be plenty for you to do when you get back."

She looked at him, seeing the double meaning in his look and felt herself clench, the wave of arousal so intense it almost made her change her mind. She felt a tear drop down her cheek and turned away to figure out what she was going to pack and what to pack it in. It was only a couple of days, but the weather could be tricky. As she plucked a suitcase out of Frankie's bedroom where she'd dumped that part of her closet, she remembered she wanted to take some of the stuff from upstairs to show her parents. She put it back and found a larger one.

"Do you think you'll be working on the electrical?" She shouted down the hall.

"What?" He paused. "Yeah! I'll probably switch over to that!"

So, she needed to clean that shit up as well. She looked at her phone. 1:00. She needed to pack some food or eat here. If she was good she could be on the road by 2 and there by 6. She looked at her phone and dialed her mom.

"Hey!"

"Hey Boopsie! What's up?"

"I'm packing a few things and heading up there. You guys have dinner plans?"

"Seriously! That's so wonderful! We're so lonely without you! Yes, come up! No. We were just going to cook up some fish. Oh! Since you're coming," and her mom gave her a small list of things she'd needed. "You leaving now?"

"In about an hour. Hoping to get there by 6. Anything I should know about on the road?"

They chatted for a bit more and Emily cut it off so she could get going. "See you soon!"

She dashed upstairs to clean everything up and decide what to bring. The coins for sure, she decided, but what about the cloak? No, better not. The pamphlets? Maybe, but meh. The apothecary? Definitely not. One of the recipe books? Yes! And the journal! She wasn't sure what was guiding her decisions. Mostly it was trying out the conversations with her parents. "Hey mom, what do you think about this?" And then what? Here's Abby's apothecary! What do you think?

The coins were easy, though, and her jewelry would be fun to go through. Which then led to how she was going to even broach the subject.

She turned to the mess and carefully put everything back as she had remembered. It actually was a lot easier, especially since she reserved out a few of the items to bring with her. She moved the boxes to the side of the stairs, expecting to carry them down when The Study was finished.

Shoving bathing suits and underwear and a couple of changes of clothes, a wind breaker and a hat into her duffel, she pulled half of them out and put Abby's things in and packed around them. When she was done it was heavy. Then she remembered her friends had invited her to go with them. She stopped and commented on their posts, sending regrets at her last minute change in plans.

She stopped at her room. "Hey," she said, her guilt returning.

"Hey! You all ready?" Cos pulled the earbuds out, his expression upbeat, his face open and smiling. "You take it safe, k? I have plans for you!"

She glanced away, the double-meaning slapping her like he'd spanked her, but when she glanced back, he was still smiling without a hint of malice. She couldn't stop the image of kneeling and taking him into her mouth. "K. Thanks. I'll see you in a couple of days. You stay safe and don't do too much without me." She could hear how forced she sounded, but she couldn't muster much enthusiasm feeling she'd broken a commitment.

And then she was on the road, with every mile, her mood lightened, her thoughts shifting to what she was going to say about the attic and how she had ended up rummaging around in it.

"Oh, hey, one of Mac's guys needed to trace the electricity and when I opened up the attic, look what I found?" She didn't like the way it sounded, but it was the best of several white lies. She hated lying to her parents, but she really wasn't ready to let them know about the room.

While she was thinking things through her phone buzzed.

"Hey Caroline," her heart skipped a beat. Why is she calling me? "Wassup?" For some reason the image of her kneeling in prayer to Cos's erection popped into her head. What the fuckkk...

"Hey Em, I was just checking in and making sure you got home okay..."

Emily hesitated, focusing on her words and wondering what the real reason was. "Yeah! I'm actually driving up to see my folks up in Maine." She waited.

"Oh! That's cool. I...well...a couple things. One was that I was going to invite you to come over tonight, but that's not going to happen. Bobby is coming over and I thought we could have a barbeque."

"Shoot! That sounds like fun. Yeah, I decided last minute, with my practice on hold til Tuesday it would be a good time to go. You said there was something else?"

Caroline didn't respond. It sounded like something had crashed on her end of the phone.

"Caroline?"

"Oh! Sorry. Mom just dropped something and it scared the shit out of me. Yeah. No. Well. Yeah. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Like, about earlier. You seemed a little freaked and I didn't want you to worry...or I didn't know if you were okay with it...shit. I don't know what I'm saying. I just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed it and I hoped you did too, but if you are having trouble with it, please please please talk to me, k?"

Em smiled, exhaling in relief. "It was pretty weird, Caroline. I mean, you're not weird! I really enjoyed it. It was just weird that I enjoyed it so much with you...Fuck! That's not what I meant. Do you know what I mean?"

By then Caroline was laughing and reassuring her she thought she knew. "It's still okay, Em. If you have anything you want to say to me, all I'm asking is to just call me and talk about it. I didn't expect that to happen. I want you to know it. I just sensed you needed something and I guess I should have thought twice about it before acting on it. Especially if it meant getting something in the way of our friendship."

The memory of what they'd done was still fresh. It wasn't like they'd seen a movie together, or went to a concert they didn't like. It wasn't like they were talking about their boyfriends Hah! You don't have a boyfriend! It was about them having sex. About Caroline giving her one of the most powerful orgasms she'd ever experienced. She felt exposed, but not violated. She felt a little embarrassed, but not so much that she couldn't talk about it. Maybe Caroline is feeling embarrassed too?

"I...it was so amazing, C. I'm still not sure what happened. I...don't want you to feel bad about anything. I wanted you to do it." And saying the words, Emily remembered the struggle and her desire to just let it happen. Like jumping off a cliff, knowing it was safe, but scary as hell. "Really. I could have stopped you, but I didn't want to. It was amazing!"

Caroline was quiet. "Thank you Em. Really. I was pretty worried I'd fucked things up after you left. Call me when you're back, k?"

She hung up, her thoughts in a whirl. The image of her kneeling kept returning, her legs spread open, her head bowed, Cos's penis hard and jutting against her face, his hands on her shoulders. Nooo! She felt the black dot of anxiety growing, enlarging from her chest. She had to get this under control before it took over everything.

Emily began her breathing exercises, carefully inhaling for a count of 10, holding for a count of five, exhaling for 10, holding for five. And again. And again. The image remained; she didn't fight it, letting it drift in and out of focus. It could mean so many different things. It felt...good..how could that feel good? But the same thought swirled about the spanking. She didn't question herself, just focused on the breathing, feeling her chest rise and fall, her eyes on the road.

Eventually, as it did most of the time, the attack passed. She was able to return her thoughts to the construction and how to tell her parents without the image of her praying to Cos overwhelming her. How to explain the bookshelves in the hall? The answer came about 30 minutes before she arrived. She had thought it would be cool to build something that stored all of the things Abby had left behind. She wouldn't tell them about it at all this trip, but wait until she'd put everything up and present it to them after it was all built. She could see the crystal ball sitting by itself on a shelf, glittering in the light from the stairs. Yes. She'd tell them they'd looked in the attic and she would show them after they got back what she'd done with all the things.

The temperature had dropped 20 degrees by the time she arrived at the cabin. Turning onto the gravel drive, she saw the lake framing the house, the late afternoon sky reflecting a deep blue off its surface. She loved this place and simply arriving washed away the tensions that had crept back after she'd left Caroline's. She grabbed her bags and walked in.

"Hello! I'm here!" It was closer to 6:30 than 6, but there wasn't a real schedule up here.

They came out from the kitchen, all arms and hugs and smiles with offers of food and drink.

"I thought we could eat out on the deck," her mother kept up a quiet patter after Emily had cleaned up a little. "We picked up some amazing asparagus at the farmer's market today."

As they ate, her father turned the subject to her triathlon. "How's it going, kid?"

She lit up. "Coach told me that if I kept up the way I did yesterday, I'd definitely place. I really think I've got a chance." She went into more details than they really wanted to hear, but it was a much safer subject than the other things on her mind.

They sat and watched the sun setting, enjoying a bowl of ice cream and fresh picked berries when she finally brought up the topic of Abeline Crewitt.

"Hang on a sec," she said, bolting inside to get her bag. "Check out what I found yesterday!"

She pushed a few dishes aside and set down the box of jewelry and the diary, keeping the coins in reserve. She studied their faces as she explained what she had found, worried they would be concerned about the white lie. Equally important, she realized, was whether they knew anything about it.

"Jimmie!," her mother turned to her father astonished. "Did you have any idea such things were in our house?"

Emily could read her parents as easily as anyone else. That was authentic. But why would her dad have anything to say about the attic?

He turned down the corners of his mouth, shaking his head and looking at the stuff. "First I heard of it."

Emily could tell he wasn't quite certain. "Dad. There were three boxes stuck off in the back of the attic. You don't remember putting anything back there?"

He looked up and off to his left. "The last stuff I put in there was after the holiday clothes drive, last year..."

"...But when did you put the stuff in there in the first place," Emily interrupted him, eager, her eyes glinting.

He looked back down at her and smiled. "That's what I was trying to remember. We remodeled the attic 20 years ago, and there were already boxes up there." He paused. "You know, I don't think...I think they were already there...in the house...remember Jennie? We poked our heads up there that first time, saw a bunch of junk. I remember we talked about how we'd have to figure out how to get it all out of there. Remember all that junk?"

Now Emily was really intrigued. "Junk? What kind of junk?"

The two just shook their heads. "Oh, there were some antiques—a spinning wheel of all things—I just remembered! Remember that Jen?"

"Oh, yes." Her laugh sounded like tinkling glass, light and cheery. "And that horrible old chest of drawers. That was nearly a catastrophe getting it down from there!"

"Drawers?" The memory of the cabinet and its treasures filled her head.

"Oh, it was perfectly awful. The antique buyer gave us a little bit of money for it, but I can't imagine who would want that piece..."

"Were the drawers empty?" Emily was concerned another piece of the Crewitt history had been lost.

They both looked at her, puzzled. "Empty? Well, actually, yes. We couldn't get the damn thing down with the drawers in it, and they were empty when we pulled them out. Why?"