The Terrors of Loneliness - Chapter 14

1K 23 8
                                    

Hannah was unable to contain her curiosity as Lucas unlocked the door to his flat. She wondered what sort of home he'd made for himself, imagining it would be open plan, quite minimalist with few personal objects...maybe just a place for him to crash.

Her imagination hadn't let her down. It was a large open plan flat with white walls, lots of light and clean lines. The kitchen was a bit of a surprise. It looked to be far from basic with a huge Smeg fridge and a range cooker. It was a serious kitchen. Hannah wondered if Lucas had chosen it or if it was just part of the fittings. Everywhere was spotless and apart from two Blake prints on the wall, which she was instantly drawn to, there was little to identify this as Lucas's home. The prints were The Ancient of Days and The Great Red Dragon & the Woman Clothed in Sun. As Hannah stood in front of them Lucas moved behind her and slipped his arms around her waist.

"So what do you think then?" he spoke softly against her ear sending shivers down her spine.

"It's a great flat," she paused, trying to find the right words, "I can see why you chose it."

Lucas turned her round in his arms and raised an eyebrow, "You can?"

Hannah nodded, "It's light, open, airy and spotless...everything that prison wasn't." She smiled softly at him, reaching up to cup his face in her hand and caressed his cheek as he looked into her eyes.

He kissed her gently. "No-one else has ever made that observation...and if they have, they've never spoken of it to me."

"I'm right aren't I?" Hannah could understand how important it must've been for him to be somewhere that was far removed from the terrifying and suffocating squalor of the prison.

Lucas nodded slowly, "Most people prefer not to mention Russia. It's as if they're pretending it never happened."

Hannah knew exactly what he meant, "It doesn't help does it?" She remembered the few friends she had fussing over her after the accident but never actually mentioning what had happened. They all seemed to be walking on eggshells around her. It became unbearable and she'd wanted to scream at them but she hadn't. Instead, she'd just distanced herself so much that once she stopped working she lost them altogether.

Lucas showed her round the rest of his home, finally ending up in the bedroom. The large bed was neatly made with crisp dark blue cotton bedding. Over the bed was a large skylight, the view of the sky unhindered by blinds. "Like sleeping outside," Hannah said as she looked upwards.

"Exactly," Lucas nuzzled her neck as he wrapped his arms around her.

--

As he kissed her softly, Lucas had never felt so loved. It was almost as if she'd always known him. He pulled away and stared deeply into her pale green eyes, brushing her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ears. "I love you," he whispered as he leant forward to kiss the tip of her nose.

Hannah smiled and repeated the words back to him making his heart swell, and for a while he lost himself in her embrace, thinking of nothing but her kisses and the feel of her body pressed up against his. Before losing himself completely he pulled away and gestured towards the bathroom. "How about I run you a bath then you can soak the day away while I cook you dinner?"

Hannah smiled at him, "You cook? I should have guessed seeing that kitchen."

"I try...food has become more important to me than it was before...Russia." He surprised himself with that little revelation. He'd never thought about it like that. The truth was that when he wasn't working or running off his nightmares he frequently found himself buried in cook books trying out new recipes. Before Russia he'd taken food for granted eating mainly ready meals and takeaways. Since he'd been back he'd unconsciously turned his nose up at the easy option and, when he had the time, took pleasure in good home-cooked food. He was however, still rather partial to a jam doughnut.

The Terrors of LonelinessWhere stories live. Discover now