This is a follow on from "A Christmas Gift..."
This has taken a little bit of writing over the last little while. Apologies for taking so long. It's a continuation from the story of Ben and Clarissa from "A Christmas Gift But Not For Me".
*****
I woke with a raging thirst. I had forgotten how the British central heating systems work in winter - not content with taking the chill off, instead making it feel like a saharan heatwave. Add to that the fact that my head was pounding and waves of nausea were washing over me - roiling, sickly. I slowly collected my thoughts, which included trying to find out where I actually was. Plain, white room, white duvet, minimalist everything. Then it drifted through the mire that was my mind - we were at Meghan's, Clarissa's best friend from Auckland who had a beautiful, very minimalist house, in New Cross - an up and coming London suburb.
The bed rustled beside me, and Clarissa emerged slowly from the covers.
"Urrrgh." She offered.
"My thoughts exactly" I responded.
"Never again."
"Nope. Never" I said.
She looked up at me with pleading in her eyes.
"Could you get me pills and water. And coffee?" She put her head back beneath the covers. "And croissants."
Clarissa was not a great morning person, and after a bottle or two of wine, rich food and insufficient sleep, she was a very, very poor morning person. I, on the other hand - could not sleep in to save myself. No matter what had taken place the night before, I had always, always woken early, which was why my hangovers felt worse than others - I was conscious as my body was trying to heal itself.
I got out of bed and laughed at how well I matched Meghan's decor. White boxers, white tee shirt, and face as white as a ghost. I held the handrail as I made my way unsteadily down the stairs, and I must have been loud because Meghan's head appeared out of the kitchen with a concerned look on her face.
"Aha. It was either my guests or drunken baby elephants. Coffee?" Meghan asked?
I nodded as I pulled up a stool at the breakfast nook in her blindingly white kitchen.
"Meghan, this room must be migraine inducing in summer" I said.
Coffee, water and panadol arrived magically before me.
"Well, being sensible, I very seldom get myself into the state that you and your good woman are clearly in this morning."
I looked up and appraised her properly. She stood at the kitchen sink drinking her water in a way that was obviously part of her morning routine. Meghan was methodical to the extreme, but as she stood on her tip-toes to empty the glass I saw that her well-worn white tee shirt didn't quite cover her bottom.
"Well, being sensible," I countered, "those knickers of yours are hardly - ordinary, routine...run-of-the-mill."
She turned to face me, looking down at the offending garment. She lifted the tee shirt up to give us both a better view. The knickers were translucent black, which showed her red bush beneath very clearly.
"A girl can't be entirely ordered, can she?" Meghan asked rhetorically. "Now, let's go and deliver the medicines to the madwoman upstairs."
She took a fresh glass of water and some pills as I followed her with the coffee. My eyes were fixed on her bottom as it swayed right at eye level as she made her way up the stairs.
"Enjoying the view, Ben?" Asked Meghan, again, rhetorically.
We walked into the guest room to see that Clarissa was still at one with the bedclothes.
"Come on you lazy tart." Said Meghan.
"Nope. Never." From under the covers, it was very muffled.
"We have coffee." Meghan said.
"Who's we?" Clarissa was deliberately delaying the inevitable.
"Me and your boyfriend who was last seen looking at and through my knickers." Meghan replied.
There was a giggle and a shake of the bedclothes as Clarissa laughed. She poked her head out of the covers, one eye closed, one squinting.
"Firstly, you harlot - for him to have seen your knickers, you would have to have wanted them to be seen. And for him to have seen through your knickers means you had to have planned it in advance."
Meghan laughed, but didn't deny it. Clarissa spied the coffee and seemed to gather some energy, sitting up quickly, revealing that she was wearing nothing on her top half.
"Jesus, Clar, you'll put someone's eye out with those things!" exclaimed Meghan, referring to Clarissa's very erect nipples.
Clarissa looked at me over her coffee. Sipping quickly, she winced at the heat. "How are you coping with all this titillation, Lord Benjamine?"
"I'm fine." I responded calmly. "However I won't be getting up any time soon."
"But you promised croissants!!" Clarissa complained.
"No - you demanded, I never complied. It's freezing outside anyway." I regarded Clarissa's still visible breasts. "But it's like a fucking sauna in here, which means there must be another reason your nipples are standing to attention."