Past, Present and Passion

Tub Thinking

Kelsey woke up smiling. Her dreams were full of Charles. She couldn’t wait to see him again. She reached for her phone, wondering if it was too early to text him. Jared hadn’t texted her back, but she didn’t blame him. She was sure he was not happy with her. Right now she had to follow her heart, and her heart said Charles.

She pulled up her texts with Charles. She started to text him but thought better of it. She didn’t want to seem too eager. She put it down and headed to get ready for work.

She walked happily to work, taking in the beauty all around her. She made a mental note to visit the local church over the weekend. As she was walking up the pathway, she heard her phone ding. She grabbed it quickly. It was him!

“Hey, so I’m sorry but I got called to London on business. I’m not sure when I’ll be back. I’ll text you this evening.”

Kelsey was crushed. She also hated that she was crushed, but she couldn’t help it. What did this mean? Was he really called to London? Or was he just not that in to her? He seemed like he was last night, but she really didn’t know this guy at all. He may just be a player. She sighed and continued up the path to the door. She had to push it out of her mind so she could focus on work.

Ms. Smith greeted her again. “Unfortunately, Mr. Scottsfield is still not available. But he did ask that you move to the library once you’ve finished the parlor.”

“Sounds good. I think I have a couple more days in here but I’ll work as quickly as possible.”

Kelsey dove in. She thought about nothing but antiques and art. She worked as fast as she could. She really wanted to get to the library. She loved old books. And it was another opportunity to find information about the Princess. Maybe she’d find an old Bible with lineage. Or a diary? What a find that would be!

Instead of stopping for lunch, she downed a protein bar and juice and kept going. She didn’t want to slow down. Things were moving faster than she thought and she might get the room done today after all. That would mean starting in the library tomorrow. Before she could finish though, Ms. Smith came in and asked her to stop for the day.

That was a bummer, but she knew that she would finish the next morning and still get to the library. The possibilities in a library were endless. She was so excited she had forgotten about Charles being gone. As she left the estate though, she remembered. She had planned to go back to the pub but now she just headed home to the cottage. In reality, she hadn’t settled in yet. She’d been here for almost 3 days and hadn’t even unpacked. She’s been too distracted. So Kelsey spent her evening putting away her clothes and organizing herself.

Meredith called her after dinner, checking in and to let her know that she was still home. She’d been put on bed rest for the week so she was working from home. Kelsey gave her the daily update, then spent some time responding to emails and checking in with her assistant Jenn. All the while, hoping for Charles to text.

As the night went on, her hopes of hearing from him dwindled. A bath and a glass of wine were calling her name. The bathroom had the most beautiful claw foot tub and she had been dying to try it out. She poured a glass of wine and headed to the bathroom. She filled the tub up with hot water and slipped out of her clothes. She sat her phone on the counter next to the tub, still holding out hope for the test from Charles.

As she sank in the tub, she tried to think through the last few days. Had she made a mistake with Jared? Was she actively making a mistake with Charles? Maybe she should just focus on herself and work right now. Maybe she shouldn’t be thinking about another guy.. but Charles. He was just different. He was unlike any other man she had ever met. Her attraction to him was so intense, so impassioned. Was it purely a s****l desire? Or was it something more?

Kelsey was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t hear her phone ringing at first. When she finally noticed she reached out with her wet hand, nearly dropping her phone in the water. She saw Charles on the screen and immediately swiped to answer, scared she would miss it.

“Well hello”, Charles was looking back at her, naked in the tub. It was a video call. In her rush to answer, she hadn’t even noticed the FaceTime on her phone. She quickly lifted the phone up to her face, wondering if he had seen anything.

“Hi, hi I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that it was a FaceTime. Uh, How are you?”

“Good, um, are you in the bath?”

Kelsey gave a nervous giggle. “I am. It was a long day, just needed to relax.”

Charles gave her a slightly devious look. “Too bad I had to leave. Wish I could join you.”

“I’m sad you had to leave too. It’s a lovely tub. When will I see you again?”

Charles groaned a bit. “Honestly I don’t know. There was a bit of an emergency at work and I’m just trying to sort it out. I hope to be back by the weekend. Do you think you can find time to see me?”

She gave a sly smile. “Hmmm maybe. But I might need to take another bath this weekend.” She let her phone slip down slightly, watching as his eyes followed along, begging for more.

“I do love a good bath.” His green eyes sparkled with delight. He was hooked. She knew it. He knew it. Both wanted the other. They could feel it even through the phone.

“Shoot, Kelsey I’m sorry. I’ve got to go. I have drinks with some of my coworkers. Still trying to work this evening. Figure the more I work, the sooner I get back.”

“Then you better go, call me tomorrow? I’ll try to be dressed”

“Absolutely will call you tomorrow. But it’s all good, dressed or not.” He gave her a wink and wave and hung up.

Kelsey say her phone down and couldn’t help but let out a little squeal of excitement. She grinned and dunked herself under the water. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.