Chapter 2 2.

''Thank you for preparing dinner, dear!''

I smile back at my mother. I guess Stan said nothing to her. Damn it! Why can't this name get out of my head?

Jeremy Stan

That guy has too much confidence in himself. It has been two days since he came here and made me all apprehensive with that comment. I don't even open my window anymore; I don't want to risk seeing him like that again.

My mother said something about him living alone and working in an advertising company. I showed as little interest as possible until she commented he was excellent company.

...

''Stan asked me out,''

I swear I can't believe what I just heard.

''What?''

She continues:

''To celebrate his company's participation in our office.''

After a while, I turn to her, who is looking at me over her shoulder as I dry the dishes as she passes me.

''Isn't he too young for you?''

''Sam!''

My mother looks at me incredulously and laughs. I am still serious. She then says:

''It's not a date! Jenna will go too. And he is not that new to me, even if there is no interest on my part.''

...

My mother is standing in front of the living room mirror putting on her pair of earrings to go out with that guy, she says it's not a date, but she looks as excited as if it was. The doorbell rings and she asks me to answer it. I open the door and when he sees me; he raises the eyes that were looking down and smiles that way again, a pretentious smile at the corner of his mouth. He is wearing a dark gray shirt and his hair is a little wet and this makes him look more cat-like than ever.

My mother interrupts my reverie, comes up to him, and greets him with a kiss on the cheek as if they were old friends and he says she looks beautiful. She asks him to come in, he then turns to me and says hello, dry and dull as he always does when my mother is around. My mother says she is going to her room to get her purse. He watches her go up the stairs with that smile he always has. I roll my eyes and walk out toward the kitchen, making him understand I don't like what is going on here. He is coming up behind me. We look at each other the same way.

He bobbles his eyes down my entire body again. I want him to stop smiling like that, but the only thing I can do is ask:

''What is it?''

He approaches and says:

''I ask you what! Why are you so angry?''

I just answer:

''I am not angry!''

But as he says this, I am, but even I am not sure why. He comes even closer to me with that intense look and the smile that finishes me, a sexy smile that makes my legs go wobbly. I then say:

''I just think that...''

He knows I mean him and my mother. And on and on:

''You are going too fast!'' He seems to find what I just said amusing and then says:

''It is not what you are thinking.''

He notices the way my body is subtly changing and I hate how clear it is to him. I leaned against the wall below the stairs when he moved closer. He comes right up to me, looks at my mouth, then raises his eyes to mine, and then turns his face away so that he can say it in my ear:

''And... You know I like it slow.''

As I hear this, I close my eyes and feel a chill run through my entire body. It is frustrating how this guy can do these things to my body without even touching me. He slowly walks away and, still smiling, looks me in the eye and then tells me:

''Breathe, Samantha.''

Then I realize I was holding my breath this whole time and hate myself even more for making it so transparent about how much his closeness affects me. He walks away from me, biting back a naughty smile because he realizes that my mother is coming down the stairs. She comes over to me, kisses me, and tells me she won't be late.

She says goodbye and when I look at him again, he seems to smile with satisfaction at something. I close the door and rest my head there for a moment. This guy is going to drive me crazy yet.

...

It was already over eleven o'clock at night when my mother came home. She came into my room and said good night. Minutes later, when she was already in her room, I heard Stan's car start up, rolled down the window, and could see that he was leaving again. The only thing I could think of after that was:

''Bastard!''

...

I am in the living room watching TV, suddenly I hear voices at the front door. My mother enters talking to someone. I see she is accompanied by Stan. I exhale. She says she is going to the office to get the papers, leaving me alone with him. I am already preparing myself for his onslaughts.

But he seems to concentrate on some papers in his hands. But I am sure he is only pretending. After a while, I look in his direction; he is still looking at those papers. He looks in my direction because I am staring at him, but he looks back at the papers again, leaving me all confused. My mother appears and says goodbye to me and they head for the exit again.

...

In the days that follow, I see through the window that he goes out every night and comes back with different women. I won't open this window anymore. I don't want to risk seeing him and one of these women like that again.

...

My mom won't be back until 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm. So I decided to go for a run. I never feel like it, but today I am in the mood. I put on leggings and a sweatshirt because it seems to be cold outside.

...

I realize I am getting further away from home, but I find other people walking in the opposite direction and I feel much better. Someone is approaching me and I can't see who it is because of the sweater and the hood over his head. Some women greet him from the other side and I feel calmer. I stop near the entrance to a tunnel and the guy does the same. I get ready to call for help if he tries anything, but he removes his hood and...

''Stan?''

He smiles and I say:

''You scared me!''

I lean against the tunnel wall as I seek to breathe normally again. He says:

''I need to talk to you.''

I look at him standing there looking at me and remember that I am furious with him. There is silence for a while. Then I say:

''I didn't like how you treated me earlier today.''

I know I sounded a little childish, but so what? I'm annoyed with him.

He just says:

''Neither do I.''

He says no more. I continue:

''You are frustrating.''

He just says:

''I know.''

I didn't expect him to agree with me, so I don't know what to say now. So I just say:

''Look, if you're going to continue with these empty answers, I think I'd better leave.''

As I turn to leave, he grabs my arm and pulls me close to him. I look away, but he holds my chin and makes me look into his eyes. He takes a deep breath and says:

''I can't get you out of my head,''

I swear my heart has raced now.

Then I realize something and say:

''Are you kidding me?''

He looks at me, surprised at what I just said, and answers:

''Of course not!''

But I try to get away from him, who holds my chin and makes me look at him again. He runs his hand over his eyes. It looks like he is the one who is frustrated now. He takes a deep breath and says:

''I really can't stop thinking about you.''

He's making me breathless again, but I will not fall for that cheap trick of his that easily. He continues:

''Ever since that night when I drove out and saw you standing in that window, I... ''

I interrupt him:

''It was not the same night I saw you...''

He looks at me and I conclude:

''Oh, you know, with that woman like that.''

He continues:

''I know you don't believe it, but...''

He is looking for the right words because I swear I cannot believe anything he is saying. He continues:

''Nothing was supposed to happen between Emma and me that night. She just came into my room, because she had long forgotten one of her earrings that I kept in the bathroom closet.''

Ouch, I want to laugh at that now, but not because I'm finding it amusing. But he realizes and continues once again:

''She took her time, and I ended up going up to my room as well, but when I got there all I could think about was the girl I had seen earlier. I swear I wanted to believe that you were Lauren, because Jenna had already told me she was divorced, so I would have a chance and not feel so bad about fantasizing about being with her all night.''

I swallow and he continues:

''But deep down I knew it was much more likely that you were her daughter. Emma came up behind me, hugging me, and as she kissed me, all I could think about was you. I'm a little out of breath right now.'' He continues when he realizes that this confession is affecting me.

''So I let myself go and when I looked again at your window, it was open and all I could think was that you were there just a few feet away with that wonderful body and... I turned around again to look in that direction and you were right there looking at me. That was enough for me to finish what I had started with Emma.''

I don't know what he is up to, but he is getting my full attention now. He looks at me, trying to understand what I am thinking, but I can only think of one thing:

''So why ignore me like that earlier today?''

I raise my eyes to look at him and continue:

''And... All those women?''

As he says this, I practically confess that I have been spying on him again and it is embarrassing. He says:

''Lauren tells me you are only seventeen.''

He says it as if he wants me to say something different. But it is true. And he understands this when I just stare back as if it were obvious. He closes his eyes again, biting his lower lip. I think he is going to walk away, but he just comes closer and says:

''Do you understand? I had to get you out of my head!''

I can only look at him and challenge him to say if he made it, even though I wish he didn't. Then I ask:

''So what? Did you succeed?''

He moves even closer to my body, and I can feel his erection around my waist. Then it becomes obvious what his response is. It makes me hot in parts of my body that I have felt nothing like this before. He comes closer and when I think he is going to kiss me; he turns his face away and rests his forehead on his hand, which is on my cheek, close to my head.

And I can feel your breath, and it is so heavy and warm. My face is close to his neck and I close my eyes as I smell his perfume, the smell that I've been longing to smell so close to these past few days. I lift my hands and grab his sweater, making him even near me. I feel him take a deep breath and I want to kiss his neck.

Just as I am about to do so, he holds my wrists lovingly and pulls them away from his body. He also steps back from the wall beside me and lowers his head for a while, taking a deep breath; I don't know what to say right now.

He then turns around, looks at me with sorrow I've never seen before, and runs back again, but now toward his house. I stand there watching him walk away and trying to absorb everything he said. I go back home, no longer in the mood to run. I stare at his house for a while. Hopefully, he is feeling better than I am.

...

My mother calls me and tells me not to prepare anything for dinner because she is bringing pizza. By not preparing anything, my mind is free to think about everything that happened earlier today.

...

While we are preparing the table, Jenna arrives talking to someone and...

I don't believe it. It's him!

She says:

''I found him alone in front of his house. So I invited him too. You don't mind, do you?''

My mother promptly replies with a smile on her face that no. I give my best smile and they accept it is okay. I swear I can't believe he is here and by the way, he looks at me when he passes me, I can tell that this wasn't in his plans, either.

While we are sitting at the table, I try to convince everyone that I am feeling good about his presence. But I am sure that I am not convincing him. I leave them there and go towards my room. As I leave the table, he looks at me and I would say that he looks relieved that I have done so.