8
1000 Words
“This is insane.”
“That is the third time you have said that.”
“I know, but… it is. It’s crazy,” Elizabeth was in awe of the myriad of expensive classic and luxury cars in the large indoor garage they had parked in, “is that a f*****g Bugatti?”
“Yes, it is,” Sawyer sounded both impressed and surprised that she had known, “it’s a Type 50, from 1937. It belonged to my great-grandfather; the man who had this place built. He was also the original Tobias Nathan Sawyer, for what it’s worth.”
“He had exquisite taste.”
“He did,” the compliment pleased Sawyer, though he had never met his great-grandfather himself. He had been raised to believe the guy was more of a God than a man.
They reached a small door at the end of the garage, but rather than opening it, Sawyer pulled Elizabeth close to him and kissed her.
“What was that for?”
“I don’t need a reason to kiss you now, do I?”
“You know exactly what you do to me by kissing me like that at the moment.”
“I do.”
“You are a frustrating man.”
He rested his hand on her lower back as he entered a code on the digital lock beside the door leading out of the garage, and then slid it a little lower as the door swung slowly towards them so that she was consumed by her need for him and wasn’t able to be nervous or even inquisitive about what lay on the other side of the door.
She stepped through the door after him and was immediately taken aback by her surroundings.
“This whole place is like something from the Great Gatsby. It’s beautiful,” she exclaimed, staring up at a large Art Deco light fitting on the wall of the corridor they had entered.
“You think so? I always thought it was really dated when I was younger but looking at it through fresh eyes I suppose it is rather pretty.”
He walked with a confident familiarity down the ostentatious corridor leading Elizabeth past a number of closed doors without bothering to explain what was behind them. Finally, towards the end of the hall, he swung open another door, stepping through into a grand entrance with a white stone floor and the same exquisite Art Deco styling as she had seen elsewhere.
Their footsteps echoed on the floor as Elizabeth looked around, surveying her new surroundings and trying to find evidence of anyone else living there. It was weird enough to think of a grown man like Tobias living there, let alone trying to imagine what it must have been like to grow up here as a child.
She wondered whether she’d get to see some pictures of Sawyer and his sister while the were still young, and glanced at the walls trying to look for photographs.
He laughed, and she knew that he had realised what she was looking for.
“No chance. And there’s no grand old oil painting of us all stood around Tobias, either – thank fuck.”
She continued looking around the place, following him towards a staircase but not knowing what to do when he sat down on the steps facing the main front door.
He smiled, then patted his knee teasingly.
She knew it would only frustrate her, but she sat down on him anyway and buried her face into his neck, kissing him softly and enjoying the feeling of his hand snaking around her to rest on her thigh. He allowed himself to get lost in the moment, even though he had waited on the step for a reason.
Elizabeth had guessed that, too, but it didn’t stop her wanting more from him. He squeezed her thigh gently, then nudged her off his knee and onto the step beside him.
“That’s enough for now.”
She didn’t protest, despite her instincts telling her to. She just say watching the front door the way that he was.
“Are we waiting for someone?”
She whispered it, but she wasn’t entirely sure why seeing as the others would be able to hear anyway.
“Not anymore.”
The sound of a key turning in the lock of the huge old door echoed through the entry way before it opened dramatically inwards, revealing a small group of people.
Sawyer was still sat casually on the stairs looking across at them. He didn’t make any move to stand up, or to acknowledge them, and so Elizabeth did the same. She hoped she looked as calm and casual as he did, and not just afraid and submissive.
“What the hell happened to Tobias?”
A young man with honey-blonde hair and dark brown eyes was stood a little in front of the others. Elizabeth guessed correctly that this was Andrew.
Sawyer stood up slowly and walked towards the group. Each step built anticipation as they watched him approach and waited expectantly for an answer to the question.
Elizabeth had remained sat on the stairs, and she watched the way Andrew and the others responded to Sawyer with interest. Andrew took a step backwards as Sawyer reached the group, but tried to stand tall. He was around 6’, and not short by any stretch of the imagination, but he still had to look up at Sawyer and it evidently made him uncomfortable.
“Do not take that petulant tone with me.”
The young man didn’t even consider answering back or challenging him in any way, and seeing the level of respect they had for Sawyer despite everything gave Elizabeth a little more courage.
Sawyer looked at each of the members of the small group in turn. Elizabeth noticed the way they responded, and thought she could tell which of the group were involved in attacking him just from the way they squirmed as he stared them down.
“Nathan, please…”
A woman a little older than Sawyer spoke. Elizabeth wondered for a second if this was Cordelia, but she didn’t seem confident and self-assured at all. She looked like she was barely keeping herself together.
His posture relaxed a little, and Elizabeth thought she had figured out who the woman was; the mother of his younger half-brother. She had just lost her son, and now she had lost her mate.
“He’s dead.”
- Writer
