Winter Getaway - A Storm and Silence Fanfiction

chapter five

Lilly's POV

    I stared at the fire that was burning for what seemed like an absolute eternity. Okay, so maybe it was only thirty minutes. But this is a book, so I have to think things take longer than they really did. After thirty minutes of sitting in the parlor and staring at the fireplace I was starting to get slightly irritated. One of Mr. Ambrose's business associates had stopped by. I'm not sure why, since their meeting was tomorrow, but for some reason he saw it necessary to see him tonight. Before he had came to the door Mr. Ambrose was saying that he cared about me and then he leaned closer...

    "He was probably leaning closer to tell you that you had something stuck in your teeth."

    My inner voice was usually right. But, for some reason I had felt like he was leaning closer for another reason.

    "Another reason like what? A kiss? He would never! He doesn't care about you."

    Okay, now she was starting to sound like a bit of a downer.

    "Mr. Linton are you still waiting here?" Mr Ambrose's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

    "It's only been a few minutes, it wasn't a big deal," I replied trying to nonchalantly play off the long wait.

    "It has been upwards of thirty minutes and it is starting to get late."

    "Well, aren't you going to eat first?"

    He sighed, clearly annoyed with my questions. Before, he would constantly argue or challenge everything I said. But, recently, he seemed to actually listen to me when I told him something. He turned around and went back into the kitchen. A few moments later he came back with two bowls of the soup he had prepared. Though the soup had been a very simple meal, I was still very excited to sip it down. With the temperature so cold, burning hot soup would hit the spot. How nice of him to get me soup...

    "Thank you for the bowl..." I started, reaching my arms out to grab the bowl of warm soup from his hands.

    "Er, this was for Karim actually," He moved the bowl slowly away from my grasp.

    "Ha! Told you he didn't care about you."

    Okay, now I was totally done with my inner voice.

    "That's okay," I got up from my chair and went into the kitchen to fix myself a bowl as Mr. Ambrose took the other to Karim.

I pretended as if it wasn't awkward that I had thought the bowl of soup was for me and like I wasn't disappointed that he hadn't gotten me one. In all honestly, I was surprised when I thought he had gotten a bowl for me, but I was even more surprised at the fact that he had gotten a bowl for Karim. Why was he being so caring? Was it the cold weather?

    When I came back into the parlor Mr. Ambrose was sitting there quietly, paying no attention to me as I sat down in a chair to the right of him. The only thing separating us were the chairs we were sitting in and a small table in between us. We drank our soup in silence, neither of us saying anything, though there were so many questions left hanging in the air. I've never heard silence quite that loud.

    "This is good," I spoke, breaking the silence.

    "Thank you," he muttered coldly in reply.

    I put my bowl down on the table between us and turned my body in the chair so that I would be facing him.

    "Let's play a game."

    "I would rather not Mr. Linton."

    "No, it's a simple game. You won't mind it."

    "I am sure I will."

    "Humor me?"

    He sighed and placed his bowl down next to mine and faced me with his icy stare, "Fine. Go ahead," He gestured for me to continue.

    "Why are you so cold? Personality-wise I mean. Not temperature-wise. Obviously not temperature-wise. You're very warm temperature-wise. Er, not that I would know."

    "This does not sound like a game Mr. Linton, this sounds like you bombarding me with questions."

    "Well yes," I started, "I will be asking questions but the fun part is that you get to ask me questions as well."

    "I've found that in life being cold seems to be the best answer to most issues. When you get emotions or feelings tangled up into things, the outcome never seems to be good. And, when you let your emotions show to people, most are very quick to take advantage of it. From my point of view, I see no benefit in showing warmth and feeling."

    "Interesting," my thoughts were swirling in a million different directions.

    He was actually going to play my game? Was he opening up to me? Why had he answered my question so honestly? Was this all some kind of trick?

    "Your turn," I said, pushing my thoughts to the side.

    He leaned back in the chair and placed his arm on the armrests, appearing to think deeply about what his question towards me would be.

    "I can not think of a question," He said finally, after a few minutes.

    "That's no fun, then you aren't playing the game correctly," I pouted jokingly.

    "Mr. Linton, I think I am going to go to prepare for my business meeting tomorrow," He used his hands on the armrests to push himself up, ready to leave to his room.

    I decided to let him go, but once he had fully stood up a pressing question couldn't help but escape me.

    "Why did you kiss me weeks ago?"

Mr. Ambrose, who is already quite a statue, turned into even more of a statue. His already chiseled and stone-like features hardened even more and he stood absolutely and completely still. There was no twitch of a finger or even the slightest movement.

"I can't believe you just asked him that," my inner voice screamed inside my head.

"I can't believe it either!"

I suddenly clamped my hand over my mouth when I realized I had said that out loud.

"Excuse me?" Ambrose sat back down in his seat and faced me.

"Um sorry, I was talking to myself but that doesn't matter! Answer my question," I commanded, feeling a surge of confidence.

He turned away from me and stared at the wall. There was a silence that echoed between us and sparked through the air.

"Did you hear--"

"I heard your question," He cut me off quickly.

That shut me up.

"You remember the kiss?" He asked incredulously.

"Of course I remember," I said quietly, "Even though I was a little...inebriated."

"A little?" Ambrose looked at me and I swore I saw the corners of his mouth twitch upwards in what looked like it had the possibility of turning into a smile.

I chuckled lightly, "Okay maybe a lot."

"You're still not answering my question," I teased lightly.

Ambrose sighed lightly and I was shocked that he was even showing that much emotion. Usually all I got from him was an icy glare and a small twitch. The fact that he was sighing meant that he was going to say something, even though he most likely did not want to.

"I kissed you because..."

author's note: honestly cliff hangers are part of my DNA now. sorry this took so long to upload but like i explained, im currently very busy with school. i did enjoy  writing this chapter and even though i took few liberties with it, i hope you enjoy! also make sure you're staying caught up with In the Eye of the Storm. how did you like Lilly & Ambrose's reunion?