Chapter 08 SHANA
There was so much for us to talk about, but for one night, all I wanted was the peace we’d once had in each other’s arms. I decided to let our past go for now, getting up to straddle Charlie's lap. I pressed my head against hers and wrapped my arms around her neck. She was once my safe space, and as I got older, my priorities around safety shifted. We fell apart, and we were both to blame. But sometimes relationships needed adversity in order to grow, much like the changing of the seasons.
Her fingers swept over my back softly. Goosebumps mapped patterns across my skin as I dipped my head to brush my lips against hers. We took our time learning each other again, though it wasn’t so much a relearning as it was a fusion back into place, full of everything neither of us were ready to say. The apology I couldn’t yet vocalize was spoken through my lips against hers, and through the sighs and whimpers we released into the room.
Charlie’s hands cupped my ass, and I ground down on her, our kisses and grunts forcing me to remain present in the moment here with her. I gripped the couch behind her as I maneuvered her leg atop mine, making it easier to grind my growing erection against her clit. She threw her head back, moaning, and it shocked me out of what we were doing. I was okay with waiting for the conversations about our pasts, but I wasn’t ready to take this further.
I disentangled our legs, breathing hard. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I started that, but I’m not ready yet.”
She hugged me close for a moment, breathing me in as she set herself back to baseline. “Thank you for telling me. I’m okay with that,“
she paused, “besides, there’s no way to tell whether or not our resident ghost has been watching us.”
I laughed, playfully moving the sheet to search the room for the ghost. Only when I did, I actually saw something out of the corner of my eye move back behind the staircase. Bolting up, I scared my new friend Beau into action, who ran faster than I could around the corner. Out of breath, I looked everywhere, but no one was there.
Charlie came up behind me, concern crossing her face as my face drained of color. “What happened?”
I shook my head, “I could’ve sworn I saw someone.”
I could tell she was trying to hold back a laugh. She went into the kitchen from the formal dining room we were standing in, and I willed my heart to stop racing. I was convinced that the resident ghost really was watching us. A cork popped in the other room, the sound of stemmed glasses quietly set against the granite countertops.
I called for Beau, whose tail was wagging lazily. “Come find us when you’re ready, Charlie.”
We went back upstairs. Beau once again pointed to the photo of me. I didn’t believe in coincidences. He was trying to tell me something about this picture. I touched the wall surrounding the picture, and lo and behold, my nail caught on an invisible latch. There was a secret passageway. Before I decided to go exploring, I snuck back to Charlie’s room and finally put pants on. I didn’t want to be stuck in some sort of emergency without first having on pants. I wasn’t even sure if Charlie knew there was a secret passage in this house, but my curiosity got the best of me.
I pushed into the secret latch on the wall. A click, then a crack in the wall opened up to a dark stairwell. It was likely servants’ quarters when the home was first built. I left the passageway open, turned on the flashlight app, then crept my way down the stairs, heart hammering. It smelled like old wood and dust, so I lifted my shirt above my nose to keep from coughing again.
The stairs led to a single room. It was an old office, but I couldn’t tell where in the house it was. It was centralized, but there wasn’t any indication if the room was in the basement or on the main floor. Atop the desk against the wall was paper and a few pens, and an old lamp still plugged into an outlet. I walked over to click it on, but the bulb seemed long burnt out. As I went to read the paper, Charlie called for me.
“Down here,“
I shouted, before cringing. It didn’t seem right to disturb the quiet in this space.
The light from Charlie’s phone shone down the stairs, but her feet quickly came into view. Her face was ashen as she stepped foot into the space. “How did I miss this?“
she asked, almost to herself.
“Beau found it, honestly,“
I replied.
“It’s a time capsule. I wonder where this is in relation to the house?” she said.
“I was just thinking the same thing. I think I’m going to go try to find other rooms. I was going to read the note on the desk, but it’s your house. I think you should do the honors.“
I kissed her cheek, taking Beau with me to find out if there were any other cool spots to check out.