Nineteen Evelyn #2
“Okay, well—you’re beautiful, attractive, and still a genius. One fact doesn’t make any other facts—” I rambled, ignoring the shift of the bed beneath me.
A hand clasped over my mouth, cutting off my drunken attempt at mansplaining.
“Shhh.” Warm, minty breath fanned across my face as the hand lifted, then moved to stroke my hair in a calming rhythm. Her motions didn’t stop until I fell asleep just a few seconds later.
Deeper into the night, I drifted into a lighter sleep.
The blanket must have slipped off me as I began to shiver, covered by the thin sheet alone.
Reaching around blindly, trying to find the blanket, I instead hit something far warmer.
Drawn to the heat, I moved closer, snuggling against the mini volcano erupting with comforting vanilla.
Unconsciously seeking more, I moved completely on top of it, wrapping my arms around the mysterious thing and resting my head on what felt like a warm pillow.
Like that—completely and utterly comfortable—I slept better than ever.
I woke up a few hours later, the sake I drank inevitably reaching my bladder. The second thing I noticed was a woman’s body pressed under mine. Vanessa’s body. I must have moved in my sleep.
Panic hit me. I needed to move—now. I scrambled off Vanessa as quickly as I could without disturbing her.
Thank God she was a deep sleeper, because she would kill me if she knew what I’d done.
In my haste, my foot tangled around the sheet.
Not wanting the sheet’s movement on my side to yank out the portion tucked under her, I scrambled to get out of it.
Moving backward, trying to free myself, I lost my balance, falling off the bed with a loud thud.
On the way down, my wrist hit the nightstand, and I let out a loud curse.
“Evelyn?!” Vanessa’s panicked voice called out.
I fucked up.
Her night lamp flipped on as she rushed over to my side of the bed. Her face peered down at me in shock, red hair framing her face like a curtain as she tried to figure out what was going on. She looked more sophisticated and composed than a person should after having just been awakened.
“Are you okay?” she asked, slipping off the bed to crouch beside me. Her voice gave nothing away, but her brows were drawn together in concern, her eyes wide. She looked scared.
"Yes. I’m sorry, I was just trying to stay on my side of the bed,” I blurted, absolutely humiliated. Heat rushed to my cheeks.
Her face changed instantly. “You’re unreal,” she chuckled, relaxing visibly, before her eyes fell to my wrist, which I was absentmindedly clutching. “Are you hurt?” She moved closer, brushing her fingers over my arm in question, silently asking to look at it.
“No, I’m fine. I just fell on it.” I pulled away. The last thing I needed right now was to cause more of a scene.
“I assumed. Now let me see it.”
“Give me a second—I’m going to the bathroom,” I insisted, hoping she’d go back to sleep and forget this ever happened.
“Fine. And then I’m examining you.”
When I walked out, Vanessa was sitting at the desk with a first aid kit. “Are you a doctor?” I teased, finding this display completely unnecessary.
“I’m qualified. Now sit.” I did as told, too flustered to object.
The close contact brought back memories of lying completely against the woman in front of me only minutes ago.
My mind drifted back to how soft her skin had felt, until a sharp pain in my wrist brought me back to reality.
“So that got your attention. I’m guessing it hurt?
” she asked, peering up at me from behind her thick eyelashes.
“You pressed on a bruise. That always hurts.” I tried to shake off the chills her warm touch was sending through my arm, completely unrelated to my fall.
“Cut out the attitude. And for the last time, move your wrist up and down, then side to side, and tell me how it feels.”
I rotated my hand in several directions before stopping. “So, have you deemed my wrist healthy?” She’d taken her hand off it, and I could move it freely without pain, despite the purpling spot.
“Yes. It may be a bit sore. It’s visibly bruised, but nothing sprained or broken.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” I smirked.
She groaned, clearly not appreciating my joke. “Get back in bed. We’re sleeping some more.”
“Whatever you say, Doctor.”
“Evelyn, watch it.” But her poker face wasn’t impenetrable, her dark pupils giving her away.
I woke up that morning to Vanessa's abrasive tone, whisper-shouting to someone on the other end.
"It is not that difficult to follow the basic instructions I give you, Adam.
I can't go to these conferences if I can't trust the department to run for a few days without me!
" I shifted around slowly, taking in my surroundings.
My eyes drifted across the room, seeing Vanessa fully dressed and sitting at the desk with her laptop out.
She was typing with one hand while the other held the phone to her ear.
"I'm handling it now. I'm expecting you to have a talk with Michael and the others about this. "
I sat up, ready to sneak out without disturbing her. She looked busy, stressed, and not in the mood to interact with anyone else.
"Fine. If anything like this interferes with my day tomorrow, everyone will not be enjoying the day after, when I return. Do not test my patience again. I have very little for careless mistakes."
There was a brief pause as I made my move, lifting off the covers.
"Goodbye now. I have far more important things to be doing than micro-managing an office of incompetent imbeciles.
" The call ended and Vanessa let out a sigh.
She turned around, her expression softening when she saw me staring at her.
"Good morning. I was just about to wake you.
How is your wrist feeling, sweetheart?" She sat down next to me on the bed.
My breath hitched at our closeness. This was a disaster; now I couldn't even look at her. "It feels good. What time is it?" I asked, noticing an alarming amount of sunlight in the room for 8 a.m.
"It's nine. I had to take care of something, so I unregistered us from the first talk."
"Oh, I'm glad my alarm didn't wake me up," I commented, trying to calm down. My crush had amplified overnight, and my current state—after waking up to her commanding voice—was not helping.
"I shut it off so it wouldn't. You needed the extra sleep."
Of course she did. She kept doing all of these thoughtful things no one else would ever think to do for me, like they were nothing. But to me, they were everything.