Christopher and Laura

The burning wood in the fireplace crackled pouring light and warmth into the vast room. Walls floor to ceiling lined with books and shelves. The glow of the fire made everything in the room look like burnt sugar and honey casting about a calming sense of feeling. But on the contrary an infuriated man hurled a large thread bound text against the wooden wall in anger letting out an estranged growl in doing so. He let his gaze linger on the dent in the wall. He rubbed his palms over his face and massaged his eyes lightly as he did so. All my life's work stolen and passed off as hers his brain grumbled. Yes it was true that he didn't have to care any more about it because the death of his parents left him with the estate and a fortune to enable that he never needed to work a day more in his life. Still what did he work so hard for? For that wicked wench to get credit? He thought that they were friends, partners. Now he felt betrayed.

The sun had not long set and it was cold outside on the brink of winter. Storming out of the room he drew on his long coat climbed into his car and drove to her. Why did he always find himself going to her? Cursing under the stars as he approached the town's tavern he didn't know what he was going to do when he saw her. Christopher Hummington was not the sort of man who hit women. He was well mannered, polite, hardworking and honest like every good man should be. He knew she would be in there. Bursting through the door to the pub, he spotted her almost instantly. There she was, Laura Summer. They'd laughed at her that she was so pale her last name did not define her. But then again Irish women often are.

Her hair was long red and wavy against her smooth skin exposed in the open back of her black dress. She was sitting on a stool leaning with her elbows against the bar counter. Everything about her was so feminine. He watched the way her shoulders descended to her small waist and then flared to her wide hips. It had been almost twelve years since he had last seen her, since they had last spoken. His boots monstrously thudded the hard wood floors as he pushed unsuspecting people out of his way in the noisy crowded room. When he reached her she too was unsuspecting as he grabbed her by the elbow. "HEY! What the Hell..." she started, but as she turned she gaped at the site of who was standing behind her. Her eyes widened, "Christopher?" she questioned out loud.

"We need to talk," he grumbled still gripping her elbow and dragging her outside. She was all but stumbling as he pulled her. Outside the pub it was much quieter. He pulled her around the building into an alley, cornering her against the wall.

"The book Laura, its half of my work. How could you do this? We worked together on the research. And you publish it without my permission? Without my knowledge? Without my reference? Its mine too Laura. But you gave me no recognition!" He said, the words leaving his lips in a soft white condensate as he spoke in the chill of the November air.

She looked up at him into his eyes. They were the same icy blue as she had remembered. But he seemed so different now. Laura and Christopher were studying at Cambridge University when they were both working on research in plant pathology. But when Christopher's parents died he had been overcome with so much grief that he left town. There were rumours that he became a monk and some thought that he died. But all he really wanted to do was get away and so that was what he did. He had travelled the world, climbed mountains, sailed the oceans and tried relentlessly to find his soul. But after so many years he found himself back home. He was tired.

"What was I supposed to do Chris? You left us. And I was the one who finished our research. You didn't deserve to be given recognition to. I finished it while who knows what you were doing. You left me in the middle," Laura countered in her Irish drawl, "I had no clue where you were for years. No calls, no messages, no visits. You simply left leaving no one with any idea of where you were. I was almost sure that you were dead Christopher!" She was almost angry. But the cold was now biting into her skin and her exposed back pressed against the stone wall made her flinch. Laura shivered.

"Where is your coat?" Christopher demanded impatiently.

"Well you dragged me out so urgently I didn't exactly have time to grab it so it's still inside." She gritted between her clattering teeth.

Christopher sighed and shrugged off his coat and draped it around her slender shoulders. She seemed smaller to him. As if she had lost weight. He was looking at her now. Her cheeks were not this gaunt but they still flushed pink and her hair was still full and beautiful. She was still beautiful with her big brown eyes blinking up at him.

Without his coat Laura could see that Christopher was not the same skinny, nerdy boy she was accustomed to twelve years ago. His shoulders looked broader in his crisp blue shirt and the muscles of his flat chest and abdomen was tightly secured under a black vest. Of course she couldn't see it but his shape in the outside was divine. His arms were more muscular and his skin was evidently tanner as if he spent a lot of time out in the sun. He looked good she thought. His black hair was a shaggy mop on the top of his head.

Christopher was staring into her eyes and his gaze raked over her face resting on her lips. He thought back to the day he left. He always liked this girl but she never had that interest in him. He had wanted to tell her he was leaving but he decided it would be better not to. He wanted to kiss her then and tell her how he felt, that he felt so much for her but what use would it have been. Standing this close to her and inhaling her delicious smell made him want to kiss her again. NO! He told himself, he hadn't come here for this. But her lips looked just as delicious as it did twelve years ago. And he felt a tension between them building.

"Christopher," she whispered quietly interrupting his sentiments. He moved involuntarily into the small space separating their bodies, beaconing to her call. Her breathing grew shallow as she drunk in his appearance. He had been so angry just a moment ago. He placed both his palms flat against the wall behind her on the sides of her head. He leaned in his head and pressed his forehead against hers. They both remained breathing. "Im sorry," she exhaled closing her eyes, "I shouldn't have done what I did with the text, I'm sorry Christopher." There was no denying her guilt. He pulled away from her running his fingers through his thick black hair.

"How long have you been back home Chris?" Laura asked.

"Just about a week now," he replied putting his cold hands into his pocket.

"Where did you go?"

Christopher sighed, "It's a long story Laura. When I saw the papers published I was upset that you hadn't mention me. We were partners. I felt betrayed."

"I know," she said hastily.

"Don't worry about it I just wanted to know why."

"Christopher," There was sadness in her eyes now, "I really am sorry. What I did was terrible selfish and unprofessional"

"Can we go somewhere less... cold?" Christopher asked.

Laura smiled they exited the alley and she retrieved her coat. They got into Christopher's Mercedes and drove back silently to the estate, Chris' parents' home. It was only a half an hour drive but they were forced to share the awkward silence of friends who had changed so much. The tension was palpable in the small cabin of the car as he shifted the gear to speed faster.

Laura thought how did he know where she was, but then she remembered they had known so much about each other when they were friends. She wasn't oblivious to his feelings twelve years ago but she always fell for other guys who were bad for her. Eventually she realized what a fool she had been and decided to take a break from those kinds of guys. The kinds that just wanted her for sex. She hadn't been with a man in two years.

In the twelve years Christopher had been away he had taken countless women to bed. He had apparently become a great lover. And in turn these women lavished off of his body. All the physical work and activities he found himself into made him stronger and defined his muscles and he used it to his advantage to always get his way. But coming back home and awakening old emotions felt dangerous to him. As he sat just inches away from her in the car he put both hands on the wheel and tried to focus all this attention on driving.

Damn she looked sexy in that tight long black dress. He wanted to put his hand on her knee and slid it up to the apex of her thigh. The thought of feeling her there made his stomach clench and made his cock twitch. Laura glanced over at him watching his jaw clench and unclench and watching his Adam's apple bob lightly as he swallowed. It made her want to brush her lips against the sun kissed skin of this jaw and neck. She wondered what her mysterious long lost friend was thinking.

Christopher pulled into a long drive way lined with tall leafless trees. The road lead up to a circular drive at the front, behind which stood a large erie old mansion. His parents' estate house. It was his now, being the only descendant of his great great grand-parents owner of the cotton estate.

Laura gaped at the sight of the land. She had never seen his parents place before and she marvelled at it dark beauty. As Christopher rolled to a halt the gravel beneath the tyres crumbled softly. He exited the car and walked around to her side to open the door for her. Laura followed him up the stone steps to a pair of large double doors framed with rich oak wood and centered with gold and blue stained glass in an ornate floral pattern.

"This is so beautiful," Laura remarked "You've lived here your whole life?" she was astonished.

He nodded as he extracted a lone key from his pants pocket to unlock the door. Christopher led her into the house finally. It was warm inside and everything was beautifully ornate with dark furniture and honey colours. It felt mid evil almost to Laura. There was a large staircase opposite the door entrance and Christopher led the way upstairs without saying even a word. He lead her into the study of his private wing where the fire was burning still and it made her red hair dance with its flames.

She shrugged off her coat exposing her slender shoulders and long neck. With the mixture of emotions going on in his head this was all to mesmerizing for Christopher. He hadn't expected for such a sudden reunion with her especially under the present circumstances. Laura glanced in the corner where she saw the book almost ripped off its cover and binding lying open on the floor. She moved over to it and picked it up. It was her text. Seeing it in this condition she didn't know how she felt. Did she deserve to feel hurt after what she had done? Christopher watched her he hadn't spoken in so long. He didn't know how to describe nor express what he was feeling. Was it possible to be angry with someone and yet want to make love to them all at the same time? He wanted to touch her skin, feel her breath warm against his neck as he wrung every ounce of passion from her undulating body beneath him.

God he was sweating now. He had forgotten his coat on so he peeled it off his shoulders and dropped his body into a large arm chair by the fire. Laura put the almost torn book onto his desk and walked to the far side of room opposite the fire away from him. She eyed the books on the shelves.

"You said you wanted to talk Chris, but you haven't said a word in almost an hour," said Laura reading the spines of his books as she touched them with delicate fingers.

"Why were you always so loose with men Laura?"

She didn't turn around to meet his gaze so he let it rest on the curve of her slender back he bit his lip thinking of kissing her there.

"What are you trying to say Christopher? Is this your way of calling me a whore?" she asked knowing that he hadn't ment any offence. "Didn't you want to talk about the book?"

She hadn't heard him come up behind her so she jumped when she heard, "No," near her left ear. She turned around and he was up in her face. "I don't have to care about the book. I have enough money to throw away. Its simply that I felt betrayed." Laura gazed at his handsome face so close to hers. She couldn't help but stare at his full lips pressed into a hard line. The fire on the other side of the room cast shadows on the smooth planes of his face. She reached out a timid hand to his cheek and touched him feeling his jaw unclench under his skin as he let out a slow breath. He closed his eyes and leaned his face into her hand.

"I...I've missed you, you know," Laura spoke softly.

"Laura, you know I've always wanted you. I've wanted you to be mine. I've to hold you and kiss you goodbye but I couldn't bring myself to it before I left this place. I hate this place. It reeks of my past, of the boy I didn't want to be, I feel my dead parents in every room. Laura you were my only friend," Why was he confessing this all of a sudden.

Laura recoiled her hand and turned to face the window behind his large desk. The room was warm but the chill of guilt ran through her. She always denied what she thought about Christopher. There was a point during their studies together that she did feel something for him. Actually it was more than something, it was love but she was afraid it would have ruined their friendship and so she never told him. Was she hurt when he left? Of course she was.

She hugged herself and shivered. But a bitter laugh escaped her lips.

"Don't pretend to know anything of my feeling for you. I was falling for you but you left. Then after years you show up here demanding answers? Trying to pick up where we left off. Maybe I wanted you too Christopher."

"Oh please Laura. You had no interest in me. I was never even your type. You slept with every other guy on campus. I know I was there. Instead I cared for you."

"Yeah! You cared so much that you left me!"

He ran his hand through his thick hair, "I had to Laura, If I had stayed here I would have combust and burn in this hell of a town. After mum and dad died in the crash I just had to."

"Why did you not tell me anything?" Laura asked her accent getting stronger with her building emotions.

"Because, I was afraid I would be hurt...again," he said simply.

"Christopher... I," She whispered turning to him he was leaning against the desk behind her now. She bent her head after meeting his eyes. He had his arms folded across his chest.

Dammit what the hell am I waiting for Christopher thought to himself. He reached out grasped Laura at her hip and pulled her to him. The movement was so swift and fast she didn't even realise it until she was pressed up against his hard chest. He slid one hand behind her neck and up into her hair and pressed his lips against hers. It was like an electric shock pulsating through her body. Her heart thundering in her chest as he slowly took her mouth with his. She felt her insides melting but suddenly alarm bells were ringing off in the back of her mind. Coming to her senses she pushed him away and extracted herself from his grip.

"Christopher, I can't do this with you," Laura started

"Why not?" he asked smiling.

"I'm engaged to another man," she replied.

His smile faded. He turned from her scowling. But then a snide laughter began building in his throat growing louder. He picked up the first thing he could get his hands on, a snow globe paper weight of New York and he hurled it against the wall yelling in frustration.

This nightmare of loneliness won't ever end he thought. Swearing aloud he trotted into the master bedroom frustrated at anything and everything.

He stripped himself of his vest then tried to unbutton his shirt. He fumbled with the top most button at his neck. Laura walked in at that moment and interrupted his frenzy.

"Allow me," she said reaching for his shirt and slowly unfastening each knob from the top down, exposing his chest and abdomen inch by inch.

Laura was a thirty three years old woman living with her still alive parents. She always sought to take care of them in their state of old age but as she was increasing in age she found that it was difficult to settle down with a man especially after she left her past behind her. Thereby her engagement was arranged to a man named Collin Harrison the son of a close family friend. It wasn't as if she didn't have dreams of marrying and having a family, but as the years went by she focused on her research and those dreams seemed like less of a priority.

Christopher grabbed her wrist as she reached the second to last button of his shirt stilling her hands. He felt utterly vulnerable in this god forsaken place, that he had opened himself to her. he didn't want to scare her away. She was the only friend he had left in this town. He wondered if the kiss would now ruin what they had. Did he think himself a fool, that she had been right to keep their distance. They were friends but could have been much more. How could she not see that? He wanted her to see him as the new man he had become.

"You are making this hard for me," Christopher whispered.

Laura looked up here eyebrows quizzical and her lips in a smirk. Could he have been that oblivious to the innuendo in his words she struggled to hold back a laugh but she couldn't. Christopher was confused for a moment and realisation hit.

"I mean, I didn't mean that," he said and he to laughed a little.

It was so easy to break the tension.