Liquid Lucidity (A Novella)

Chapter Six

David had moved in all the boxes from her car into the apartment by later on that afternoon, leaving her to unpack them as he began to make them dinner at his house. 

It was more than enough space for her, larger than the apartment she'd just moved out of. And it was already more or less furnished. Apparently this is where he had house guests stay rather than in the actual house, despite there being more than enough room.

Hannah placed each box in the area where it would be unpacked and worked on the bedroom first since the kitchen already had everything she needed in it and the bathroom had the basics. Almost every box for the bedroom was unpacked within a couple of hours and Hannah decided to head to the main house for something to drink in the hopes she wasn't intruding on David's personal space. 

As soon as he'd pulled onto the property, Hannah knew there was nowhere else she'd rather be. Though it was only a few miles out of the city, it felt like another world. Only a few houses shared the lake in the backyard and he had a large garden filled with homegrown fruits and vegetables. His windows were so large that she could see straight through the house from the front to the back patio. It felt a little modern for him, but the inside had the rustic, simple touch that reminded her so much of the man she'd met only a few days before.

After tapping lightly on the front door, she saw through the large window him gesture for her to come in. She closed the door behind her and took off her shoes, just in case. Everything about his house seemed perfectly in order and cleaned perfectly and although he hadn't asked either her or Meggie to take off their shoes before, she didn't want to do anything that would make his life messy. 

"Please tell m-me if I'm be—ing a nuis—sance."

He flashed her a gentle smile as he cut vegetables like a pro in the kitchen, his shoulder length hair tied back away from his face. "I think that would be the last word I'd use to describe you."

Curiosity got the best of her and Hannah set herself on a stool across the island from him. "Prom—mise?" She looked into his eyes when he glanced up at the word, but there was no sign of forced politeness, a look Hannah had become an expert at spotting. 

David set down the knife and placed his large palms against the granite countertop, a shorter strand of his hair falling against his gray-blue eyes. "If I thought for a second that I wouldn't enjoy havin' you here, I wouldn't have invited you. Simple as that. And now that we got that out of the way, what can I get ya?"

"Some—thing to drink?"

"Soda, water, juice, coffee, tea, milk- that one's probably expired."

She couldn't picture him much as a milk drinker. "I'd t-take a juice."

David gave her one short nod and turned around, opening a cupboard near the sink and grabbing a glass. "I'll take you grocery shopping tomorrow so you know where it is."

"You've tak-ken enough t-time off, David." She hated that he took today off for her and didn't want him taking off a second. "I c-can fig—ure out where it is."

"That wasn't a question," David told her as he filled her glass with orange juice from a pitcher. "That was me telling you that I'll take you grocery shopping tomorrow. Besides, somethin' tells me everyone's havin' a better time at work without me there."

Hannah took the glass from his grasp and took a small sip, noticing quickly it was fresh squeezed. "Would you mind if I used your p-pool sometimes?" She could absolutely swim in the lake if he said no, but a pool told her how deep she was and she wasn't a very strong swimmer. "I  used to go to the Y.M.C.A where I lived. It helps with my mm-motor skills. My left leg didn't work v-very well after the acc—cid—ent."