The Pirate & The Porcelain Doll (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 15

Waverly released Nicole's hand, brushing away dried leaves attached to the front of her skirt as she stood. "Stop drinking. Stop smoking. And, stop trying to protect me."

"I'm not," Nicole shouted, watching Waverly walk away. "I'm not. I'll drink and smoke as much as I like. Do you hear? I can do what I like. I'm older than you. You realise that."

"Then act it," Waverly shouted back.

Nicole raised herself up from the log, knocking over her glass in the process, cursing out loud. She returned to find Jinny reclined on the chaise longue, casually flicking through a magazine. Refilling her empty glass, she plonked herself in an armchair, mulling over Waverly's words. "Do I inspire you?" she asked after a several minutes' contemplation, taking a sip of champagne, removing a small piece of leaf from her mouth.

"Constantly," Jinny replied. "In the most delightful ways imaginable. I will add you are a conundrum, waiting to be solved. Or, perhaps not. Perhaps that is your most alluring quality. Being an enigma. Although, I suppose we are all mysterious and impossible to understand, even to ourselves."

"Waverly says she can see through me."

Jinny laughed. "That would make you a ghost, my darling. Perhaps what she means is she can see the nakedness of your heart."

"Good heavens, I hope not. She's still so young. I don't want her seeing anything naked about me."

"Oh...oh my," Jinny said, sitting up, tossing the magazine aside. "Oh Red, you have desires for your protégé. How did I miss this? I will say she's delicate and delicious, a delight on the eye. What a dilemma for you."

"I do not have desires. And, she's not my protégé. I simply have known her a long time. Most of her life in fact. Which makes this all the more awkward."

"For whom? That your eyes linger a little too long on her quivering lips. That your tongue seeks the taste of her ripening breasts..."

"Enough," Nicole demanded. "She is a family friend. I will not involve her in my life. Not in that way."

"Why not? Has she not the same right to you as the rest of us?"

"Right? Right? No one has a right to me. No one. Not you, not Charles. And, certainly not Wiggle."

"Oh my. Torn between desire and duty. I can hear it screaming from your desperate denial. I wonder why? I wonder what is going on inside that pretty head of yours to want to treat her differently. Oh...oh, I see it. Oh, how foolish of me. Your darling Wiggle has your heart. Doesn't she?"

"She most certainly hasn't. Don't be ridiculous. I'll remind you again, she's sixteen. Too young to know love. Too young even to know what love is. And, far too young to know me."

"Is that what's worrying you? Oh Red, my reluctant Red. How tragically romantic. And, how terribly sad."

"I don't want her to be influenced by me. I don't want her thinking she has to be like me. In every way. She's too precious to everyone to cause them the pain I cause those I'm supposed to love."

"You will hurt her far more by withholding your love. For whatever reason you have convinced yourself is right. And, you will hurt yourself."

The evening meal was a quiet affair. Waverly ate in the main dining room, noticing some colour had returned to the cheeks of Nicole's mother, who seemed more relaxed compared to when they arrived. Nicole and Jinny chose to eat separately in the breakfast room, her mother agreeing given how drunk her daughter was again, choosing not to reprimand her on this occasion.