The Winds of Autumn Ch. 01-02

"Is everything okay? You're awfully quiet. Did I say something to make you uncomfortable?"

"No, no! You're perfectly fine. I get lost in my own thoughts sometimes..."

"Oh, sorry about that."

"No, it's okay," Emma started, before trying to appear more cheerful. "So, you don't have a wife or kids or anything, do you?"

"No kids, and I haven't had a girlfriend in a long time," the man explained, pouring himself an even heftier drink. "I don't really have the best luck with women. As a matter of fact... Well, never mind..."

"Oh, you can tell me," Emma urged as her eyes grow big. "That is... only if you're comfortable with it."

"Uh, I don't know why I'm telling you this, but... a few hours before I met you, I sort of got rejected by one of my co-workers. We were out having dinner, and I sort of thought it was a real date, but she was just being nice to me, so I'd continue helping her out."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that... You must be crushed..."

Taking another sip from his class, Daniel simply shrugged his shoulders once again. "Eh, not really. If I'm being completely honest... I kind of lost interest in her when she told me she was talking to this married guy at our office."

"Yeah, that sounds kind of silly," Emma assured.

"Well... maybe I shouldn't badmouth her when she's not here to defend herself. It is what it is. I'm sure she has her reasons for liking him. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that as a defense mechanism?"

"Maybe I am. Who knows, really? But I don't want to play games where I pretend to be a certain type of person just so a woman will like me. I wish someone would just like me the way I am. But I'm kind of over it right now."

Emma just sat there for a second, staring at the man with her deep brown eyes. Wow... if he's putting on an act, he sure is good.

"Well, anyway... sorry for venting. My head hurts. I probably had a little too much to drink, so I'm going to set some blankets on the floor and sleep there. You can have the bed."

"Oh, that's okay!" the young woman politely argued. "It's your bed; you should sleep in it! Please, allow me to take the floor."

"No, you've had it rougher than me," Daniel expressed as he started laying out some blankets. "You take the bed."

As non-aggressively as she possibly could, Emma grabbed Daniel's arm and attempted to bring him towards the mattress. "You should totally have the bed! I'm just lucky you're letting me sleep here."

Suddenly, as Daniel tried to gently pull himself away, he tripped over one of the blankets that he had just put on the floor. As he was falling, Emma immediately reacted and grabbed him, hoping to prevent him from hitting the ground. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't strong enough to help, and ended up falling with him.

Before he realized what had happened, Daniel was on his back, and Emma was lying directly on top of him. As their eyes met, they both grew red in the face. They became even more embarrassed once they noticed his hand was on her lower back, and her hands were on his chest.

Quickly, they separated from each other before they both got up and sat on the bed. They exchanged awkward apologies before asking each other if they were okay.

In that moment, as Emma's heart raced, she finally accepted the conclusion that she knew was inevitable. The weather was only going to get colder, her situation wasn't getting any better, and no matter how nice Daniel seemed, no man was just going to let her stay over for free without expecting something in return.

Taking a deep breath, she accepted her fate and did what she felt was necessary. Looking over at the man, she expressed, "Hey, Daniel... As you know, my tent now has a hole in it, and it's going to be super cold for the next several days... You've been so nice to let me stay here, but may I please stay just a little longer?"

Raising his head, Daniel became wide-eyed as he stared at the nervous woman. However, before he could answer, Emma took a deep gulp before leaning closer and further explaining, "I know I can't expect you to let me stay for free, but if there's anything you want... I'll do it..."

They continued to stare at each other as their hearts raced and their breaths became heavier. After what felt like an eternity, Daniel nodded his throbbing head as he scooted closer to the nervous woman. "Actually, there is one thing I want."

Taking a deep breath, Emma once again accepted whatever was to come next. He's going to let me stay, and that's all that matters. He's getting closer to me, but I won't back away. Sorry Mom and Dad. I know this isn't what you would have wanted, but this is what my life has come to. I'm just going to let him do whatever he wants, because I have no other option...

Slowly, Daniel started to lean forward onto the bed. Emma leaned back as she kept her eyes on him, almost getting directly in front of him. As she took another deep gulp, and waited for him to crawl on top, she started to feel his presence getting closer. However, she soon realized he didn't want to lay a finger on her.

When she finally opened her eyes, she witnessed Daniel grabbing a pillow from across the bed before hopping off so he could lie on the floor with it. "I want my favorite pillow," he explained as he nonchalantly rested his head against it while facing the opposite direction.

Emma, who was still lying on the bed, leaned over and stared at the man's back with her mouth wide open. "Wait, that's all you want?!"

In a tired voice, the man answered, "Yeah... it's like the perfect mixture of firmness and softness. It's my favorite pillow in the world. I would let you use is it, but I'm really tired, and I want to sleep with it tonight..."

"Wait! So, you're not going to... You don't want..."

"What did you think I wanted? I thought you knew I was talking about my pillow. That's why you tried to block me from it with your body."

Going red in the face, Emma almost started to explain herself. "I wasn't blocking you..." However, as she came to the slow realization that Daniel truly had no intentions of taking advantage of her that night, a little smile came over her face as stared at him from behind.

"Goodnight, Emma. Oh, and you should stay here as long as you want. At least... until you figure something out... Just try not to make a mess, and you can't get mad at me if I snore."

"I promise not to get mad!" Emma responded with a giggle. The reality that her new roommate was actually a generous guy who wasn't going to take advantage of her started to settle in, and she suddenly became giddy. "And I promise I'll clean every day! Thank you so much!"

As the man quickly drifted off to sleep, Emma could hear his breathing getting heavier. As she rested her chin on her knuckles while lying on her side, she couldn't help but stare at him with a smile on her face and a blush on her cheeks.

"Goodnight, Daniel... and thank you for tonight..."

To be continued...