ALL THAT GLITTERS...

22.

"I swear I put it here somewhere."

My hands were rampaging the hotel drawers for my hairbrush. My hair was a mess, still, damp from that early morning shower and I really needed my brush.

I gave up with a sigh and opted for a comb and a dryer instead. I didn't want to leave my brush here, it was the only thing that I hadn't packed and we were supposed to leave in two hours.

My mind was busy trying to make sure I didn't leave anything behind, I hadn't caught a breath to think about what had happened the previous night. Seth was convinced that his mother had planned it, but it didn't make sense to me.

What would she achieve by upsetting the hosts? And a minor humiliation at my expense. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind, it wasn't like I was going to see those people again. It was useless to mull over it.

I was just about to rid of the morning robe and change into my clothes when I heard a loud knock.

'That was fast.' I thought, room service usually took longer than that to bring up any of my meals.

Only it wasn't room service.

"Oh."

"Good morning. Are you busy?"

It must have looked that way, I was still breathing heavily from all the wrestling I had been doing with that comb and my hair. This is why I needed my brush.

"No, not at all. Come in."

Seth casually walked in like he owned the place. He looked different today, gone were the suits I normally saw him in. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt and some jeans, his hair wasn't combed neatly like I was used to, it just naturally sat on his head. He was a sight for sore eyes.

"I have some information regarding your mother." I immediately stopped checking him out and paid attention. His voice was so serious, it had me concerned.

"Go on."

"Most of the details of her story checks out. The university knows as much as you do about her life, of course with the exception of the knowledge that there is no record of her in any of the nearby orphanages."

I didn't know whether this meant that we had hit a dead end.

"There is one thing though. You said your adoptive grandparents prepared college funds for both your mother and aunt?"

I didn't know where he was going with this but I nodded.

"Your aunt, Lorraine Carter. She got into that college on scholarship, your mother however wasn't. Your mother paid her way through university, never missed or delayed a payment."

I could see his eyes ask the same question I was. Why did they both lie? Was there more to this than met the eye? I didn't want to believe it but there were a lot of holes in my mother's life story.

"I asked to look at some of your mother's documents but it's a bit problematic to have them sent all the way here."

"Do you think there is more?" I didn't want there to be more. I didn't want to ruin the memory of my mother.

"Yes. I don't think your mother covered whatever she was trying to hide very well."

"Then we should go there. We should go back to Jacksontown and look at those documents." I blurted out.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

Seth asked me, eying me carefully.
No, I wasn't sure. There was so much pain and trauma back there but I couldn't give up this chance, I needed to answer all these questions in my head.

"Yes." It was barely a whisper but I knew Seth heard it because he nodded.

"You'll ride with me on the way back. We need to plan that trip back to your hometown.

*******************************

"Do you know what you're going to tell your aunt?"

Lorraine was never one to pry, if I told her I was going back to see some old friends, she wouldn't ask. I obviously wasn't ready to back there, the tightening in my throat was proof of that.

I had moved to escape the bad memories and the bad friends, i really didn't want to go back but I had to.

"Yeah, I will make up something."

Hours later we were turning into my aunt's driveway. The lights were off, it was well past 11 pm.

"Let me help you with your bags." Seth said, getting out of the car with me.

"It's not necessary, there isn't much."

He ignored me and went on to pick up my weekender bag and other bags that I had acquired during my trip. I only managed to hang on to my toiletry bag and purse. We walked silently up to the house, the door was unlocked.

I walked in first, hoping to find the light switch somewhere on the wall.

"Just place the bags down here whilst I try to find the switch."

My hands were all over the wall trying to find the switch, the tiny streaks of moonlight trying to light up the room were not very much help.

I backed up to try and reach for my phone but only managed to trip and stumble back into something hard.
Someone.

"Careful there." He breathed into my ear.

His arms wrapped tightly around my waist and help me up. He was supposed to let go then but he didn't.

My entire back was pressed against his front and I could feel every everything, I mean everything.
My mouth released a small gasp when I felt one of Seth's fingertips lightly caress my arm. It was a simple movement but had my body shuddering in the most pleasurable way. There was a change in Seth's breathing, it almost matched my own, my body involuntarily relaxed against his. The fingertips moved lightly to my neck whilst the other hand firmly held me against him.

I stood very still and waited for more, but just as fast as it had started, the moment ended. Seth moved a step back and left me in my space again and just in time to cause the light switch on the other side of the room to turn on and my aunt appeared.

"I thought I heard something."

Aunt Lorraine appeared on top of the stairs with a bat in hand.

"Hope I'm not interrupting." She smirked at us and my whole face heated up.

"I better get going. Good evening Miss Carter, Lisa." He nodded at my aunt then me before walking out.

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