A Halloween Tale

How is it that when you haven't gotten laid in a long time men seem to know it and they stay away form you, but the second you finally get some they come out of the woodwork? I swear, every where I looked, at the grocery store, the gym and at the dentist's office, men were winking at me, talking to me and asking me out. Well, there was one person who avoided me like I avoided him, but no matter how many dates I went on, I found myself thinking of Will more and more often. After a rather borning night of a movie and mediochre sex with my cutie dentist, I woke up next to Dr. Mike after a vivid and arousing dream about Will. I had to get him out of my head, but the avoidance route wasn't working.

On a partucularly bad morning, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I walked into the break room to grab a cup of coffee and Will was standing there, staring off into space. I tried to back out of the room and leave before he saw me, but he caught my glance and nodded. Feeling trapped and trying to decided it it would be more rude to push past him but not say anything or to leave and come back later, Will cleared his throat.

"Ella, we have to talk—"

"Not now!" I hissed. I subconsciously rubbed my tailbone; I had slipped on a patch of ice on my way to my car. That was on top of my alarm not going off, a lack of cold water and having to change my outfit after I spilled an entire cup of coffee on my favorite sweater and skirt.

"I know you have been avoiding me, but we have to talk."

"Look," I said somewhat snottily. " I just want a cup of coffee and I want to finish my work. I don't want to talk about what happened. It was a mistake. We both know that." I grabbed a mug and poured coffee to the top where it threatened to spill over but I grabbed it anyway...and burned my hand. "Fuck!" I muttered to myself.

Will handed me a paper napkin and then grabbed my hand and pressed another napkin to the moisture. His skin wasn't touching mine, but I felt the spark that jumped between us and I pulled away quickly.

"Are you hurt?" He asked quietly. I shook my head quickly and then backed up to the door.

"Thanks Richards," I squeaked, then I turned and hightailed it to my drafting table.

"...And that is why we need you to go to St. Maarten for the week," Patrick gave me a smirk and sat on the edge of his desk.

"When would this be?" I asked warily. There really was no choice I knew. I was being told that it was up to me to go to the island and draw up the plans for the fabulous villa for our newest client, probably some twenty-year old twit with more money and fake tits than she knew what to do with.

"You leave tomorrow morning."

"But Thanksgiving is in two days!" I gasped. "What about my plans with my family?" I had been looking forward to my trip to Chicago to visit my father and stepmother, and my little sister. I hadn't seen her in two years. God, was she really seven now?

"Of course you'll be paid and we will reimburse you for the ticket you bought to Chicago, but we are counting on you and Will to come through for us."

"What?!" I snapped out of my daydreams of torturing my boss with paperclips and staples. Did he just say Will? Fuck!

"Will Richards will be joining you. I think the two of you will make this client very very happy. You can have the rest of the day off to pack, you leave tomorrow morning." He stood up, which was my signal to leave his office, but I stood there flabbergasted. I had been successfully avoiding Will since I had left his house the day after Halloween and few weeks ago. Now I had to go to the Carribean with him? Shit!

I walked out the door, and gathered my things slowly, I was truly in a fog.

"You lucky bitch," Karen hissed over the short wall of my cubicle.

"Yeah, really lucky," I said flatly.

"You get to be on the beach, in the sun," she rolled her eyes. "I'd say you were very lucky."

"Too bad it means missing Thanksgiving with my family." I tidied my drawing board, then my desk, then I pushed my chair in under the desk. I checked my calendar to make sure I didn't have anything that needed to be cancelled, then I stomped out heavily. "See you in a week." I lifted my hand in a wave, then hurried out the door. I had a lot to do before the flight tomorrow.

Five in the morning is an ungodly time to have to be anywhere, but I had been at Denver International Airport for the past twenty minutes, and Will was nowhere to be seen. I was thinking back to the conversation I had had with my father the night before, and was on the verge of tears when Will sauntered up, his wool overcoat draped over his arm, a small carry on bag, and sunglasses on top of his head. How was it that he looked so well rested and I had woken up with swollen, bloodshot eyes and a puffy face?

"Ella," he dropped into the seat next to me not bothering to even give me a smile.

"Will," I nodded and sighed softly. I had the feeling this was going to be a very lonely week.

Over twelve nearly silent hours later, we were finally walking through the door of the villa that had been rented for us. It was a beautiful low ceillinged bungalow that was all dark colored teak furniture and white linen and canvas. Will gave a low whistle as he dropped our bags inside the entrance.

"This is amazing," he breathed in the same voice he had told me that my body was amazing. I gave a small involuntary shiver as a fleeting image of his hands grazing my sides and carressing my breasts ran over my mind. I crossed my arms over my chest self-consciously and dropped my head. I looked around the room and looked everywhere but at him.

"Do you care which bedroom you take?"

"No, you pick, it honestly doesn't matter to me." I started off toward one of the hallways off the main living room and found that it ended at a suite. The bedroom was beautifully decorated with heavy mahogany furniture—a king sized canopy bed sat in the center of the room facing a row of floor to ceiling windows. A door behind the bed opened into a large bathroom with a japanese soaking tub and a wall of live green plants. I took the time to touch the fixures in the bathroom and closed my eyes. This was heaven on earth. I ran a bath beofre I did anything else, stripped down and then sank into the steaming hot water and let the water fill up the tub with me in it.

I woke with a start. There was a knock at the door, and it took me completely be surprise. I couldn't believe I had fallen asleep in the tub.

"Ella?" Wills muffled voice reached my ears. "I was going to get something to eat, do you want anything?"

"Um, no. But thank you!" I called back. I stood up with a loud swish of tepid water. I shivered a bit, then I stepped out. I hastily wrapped a towel around my body, then rushed out the door to put on my pyjamas. When I pulled the heavy door open Will was gone. I put on a pair of flannel jammies. I twisted my hair up into a loose top knot and put on my glasses, then headed out of the room to see if there was anything worth eating in the house.

It was quiet and dark. I couldn't help but tiptoe a little. This house felt a little strange. I pulled open the refidgerator and cabinets then gave a short sigh. There was nothing there, not even a bit of milk. I closed the door and padded back to my room, bumping into Will who was coming from his wing of the house. I thought he had been gone for awhile.

"Ella," he nodded.

"Will," I gave him a little grin and turned toward my room.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" His eyes took in my casual wear. A small smile played around his lips.

"No, I think I'll just go to bed. But really, thanks, Will." I brushed past him and felt a little nervous. At least one night a week I was having dreams about our Halloween encounter and it was unnerving. No man had ever made me shiver on the verge of cumming weeks after we had been together. I ducked into my room and waited until I heard the rental car start up and leave. I stepped out into the livingroom and walked through the french doors that lead to the patio. The sight of the beach in the full moon was breathtaking. I stood and listened to the waves crash up onto the beach for a while then I sat down and sat lost in my thoughts until I heard the front door open again a long time later.

"Will? Is that you?" I turned to look over my shoulder. He was closing the door with his foot, his hands full of bags. I got up and crossed the room to take a few of the bags.

"Thanks," he muttered gratefully. "they were heavier than I thought." I followed him to the kitchen and we put the groceries away. He had gotten a small chicken and what looked like stuffing, and cranberries. I smiled to myself as i put them in the small refridgerator.Will was planning a Thanksgiving feast? I seriously hoped that he was going to do it himself because I am a terrible cook.

"You have a lot of food here," I started to say.

"Yeah, I thought you might like to eat too," his eyes met mine.

"I usually eat out. I'm not a very good cook." I gulped a little and handed him a bottle of white wine.

"What do you mean you can't cook?" He put the wine on the bottom shelf of the fridge and looked around for anything else, but found nothing so he folded the paperbags with prescison.

"It was never really high on my list of things to do. I was a bookish kid, and then later, I was always studying."

"My mother always said: " If you want to eat you have to learn to cook," His voiced changed to an English accent. "Unfortunately, she was English and everything was bland and disgusting." He turned and began to search the cabinets for something and brought down two wine glasses. "I bought a great red, would you like a glass?"

"Sure," I searched for the bottle opener, and by the time I had it in my hand, Will had the bottle in his hand and he was standing close to me. I handed him the opener and watched him work to get the wine open. His arm brushed mine and I gasped softly. I turned away to find the cheese and crackers I had put away earlier and to calm the blood rushing to my face. I had to get myself under control, we still had seven days left on this island with Will, and I wouldn't act like a school girl with a crush.

"Want to sit outside?" His fingers brushed my hand as he handed me the glass and I blushed harder.

"Sure, we can talk about the project--"

"Not tonight," he said firmly. "We'll have to work on it all week, so let's just talk about other things." His blue eyes held mine.

"Oh," I said stupidly. "Alright."

We talked all night, avoiding the subject that I was pretty sure was on his mind, and I know was on mine. Somehow, bringing up Halloween would have been more awkward than the small talk we were having along with the bottle of wine. We talked about growing up, first jobs, and our families, but nothing about the here and now. As long as we stuck to the distant past, I didn't have to worry about him bringing up the recent past, and that was just fine with me.

I woke the next morning with a pounding headache, and a sudden realization that red wine and very little sleep make for bad bed partners. The sun was beaming cheerfully through my windows and onto my face. i tried covering my face, but then my cell phone rang from the dresser and thre wa a knock at the door.

"Go away!" I called from my little corner of the bed. Will was saying something about meeting the client and banging on the the door, so I finally stumbled out of the bed and dragged my ass to the glass walled shower. The steamy water finally unscrambled my brain enough to get me going until I got my first cup of coffee. I dressed in a light cotton sweater and khaki pants, then pulled my hair into a loose bun. As I slid my feet into my sandals, Will knocked and stuck his head in.

"Hey! What if I had been naked?" I said grumpily. My headache was looming in the corner of my brain. It wasn't as big as it had been, but I could feel it creeping in like fog.

"It wouldn't have been anything that I haven't seen before," he snapped. "Are you ready to go?" His blue eyes took in my outfit and stopped at my hair. "I like it when you wear it loose." He said flatly. I could feel a blush creep up my neck and into my hairline. What was he doing noticing anything about the way I dressed?

"It will get in my face," I said inanely. I touched my hair gingerly then snatched my hand away. I din't have to look good for him. I grabbed my glasses off the nightstand, and shoved them onto my face while I searched for my portfolio.

"You look cute in those," Will said as he turned out to walk out the door. I followed him out with a muttered thanks, and shut it behind me. We got to the car in record time and soon we were zipping along the two lane highways to only Will knew where. It seemed that he knew his way around the island really well.

"Where are we going?" I asked trying not to gasp as we narrowly missed a goat that was pulling a little cart behind it.

"To meet the client," He said. I turned to the side to read his expression, but he had sunglasses on and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

"I know that, Smartass. I was wondering where we are meeting the client."

"At a little restaurant that serves the best croissants and café au lait you have ever had," he said as he stopped at an interesction and then gunned the car through it when there was no one else to wait on. It seemed that Will knew where he was going and what he was doing behind the wheel of the car. I tried not to let my frustration show, so I turned my head and watched the beautiful island scenery go by. We were on the French side of the island, and using my ancient knowledge of high school french, I could almost figure out that we were headed into the downtown shopping district. We arrived on Front Street, and after cicling the block a few times we parallel parked a few yards from the front of a café that featured a patio to eat on. We walked into the restaurant shoulder to shoulder and I watched as Will ask the waitress in flawless french if there was seating outside. I shook my head in amazement as the beautiful dark-skinned waitress smiled at him and told him to follow her. We follwed her to a table that was set against the iron fence where we could watch the world go by. Will pulled out my seat, and waited until I sat down before he took his own seat. I lifted a brow as he giggled with the waitress.

"Votre femme?" The girl asked.

"Non," Will said quickly. "Mon amie."

"D'accord," the girl set a menu in front of me. "A pity, you look so right for each other."

Will's face turned bright red, but I don't think the hostess noticed because she had already turned and was walking back inside. I cleared my throat and stayted quiet until his color turned from an alarming shade of red back to his normal pink. "Are you hungry?" He asked shyly.

"I usually don't eat breakfast," I confessed. "But a croissant and café au lait sound really good."

He motioned the waiter over and ordered, then turned to me. "Do you have any ideas about the project?" He asked as he leaned in toward me.

"We should wait until the client gets here," I said as my eyes shifted around the toward the front door. "Who are we looking for anyway? Frank didn't give me too much information about the project—"

"Ella," Will's eye bore into mine. "I 'm the client. Well, kind of, anyway." I started to stand up and he put his hand over mine to stop me.

"You son of a—"

"Wait! Hear me out before you curse me." Will pleaded. "My sister wants a house built, near the one we are staying in, and when she asked me who the best architect was in the firm; I said you. You are the best."

"If you thought that by bringing me here I was going to sleep with you you are so wrong!" My chest was heaving with pent up frustration. I was trying to keep my voice low so that I wouldn't make a scene in the very public square, I was still standing up, and I quickly sat down when I noticed the curious stares of the patrons around us. "How did you get Frank in on this?" I demanded.

"When he found out that my sister and her husband were paying all the expenses he agreed to let you go no problem." A smug smile played around his lips and I sat back heavily in disbelief. The waiter placed our food in front of us and I didn't touch it.

"I was supposed to be in Chicago today with my family." I shook my head sadly.

"I thought you were from St. Louis," he said.

"My father, his new wife and their daughter live in Chicago. I was going to visit my little sister. Fuck." I rubbed my eyes with my left hand and fought back tears. I was stuck here on a little island thousands of miles from home with Will. Now I was starting to feel alright about halloween morning.

"I'm sorry Ella. I had no idea that you were giving up family time." He picked up his coffee cup and sipped it gingerly so as not to burn his tounge. "But it could be worse; you could be stuck somewhere cold and snowy."

"Fuck you, Will!" I hissed just loud enough for him to hear me. He laughed which made me see red all over again. I stood up and started to walk away.

"Wait!" He called as I swept into the dining room. "I thought we were going to meet about the project."

"I'm going shopping," I called back haughtily. "I'll meet you back here at one o'clock."