The Unexpected

Chapter 16

Jack stood at the arrivals gate waiting anxiously for Elle to emerge. He shifted nervously as he found himself both excited and terrified at the same time at the prospect of seeing her again. He had acted impulsively when he'd chased her down in Miami, but in that moment he hadn't wanted their time to end.  Now, he'd realized that he'd invited her into his world, and that scared him.

Before, it had been easy to control the exposure that she had to him, afterall, she only knew what he decided to share with her; which it turned out was everything. But their time in Florida had been on neutral ground, so they were both free to relax and just enjoy the trip and eachother. Now, she was going to be able to see everything for herself, and he no longer had control. He'd been struggling with that realization for the last few days, but had finally decided that he really had nothing to hide; he'd told her just about everything about himself as it was, and he couldn't deny that she already knew him better than most anyway. Still, that logical reasoning was doing nothing to calm his nerves now. Then he saw her. She stood just outside the doors that seperated customs from the meeting area and he excused himself through the crowd to make his way towards her. She caught a glimpse of him coming towards her and she smiled and began to move towards him. They met while still in the crowd of people and she dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. His nerves instantly faded as he hugged her in return.

"Jack!" She pulled away to look into his eyes as she continued to smile broadly.

Jack returned her smile. "Hey you. Good flight?"

"Yes, not bad." She answered as she went to get her bag but Jack beat her to it.

"No, let me." He picked up her small suitcase and took her hand to guide her through the busy terminal. "Come on, this way."   

Soon they were merging onto the divided highway to make their way to the city outside of London, where Jack lived.

"So do you know where The Featherpoint Inn is?" She asked as they made their way along the motorway.

"Yes, I think so." Jack said, slightly puzzled, "why?"

"Well that's where I'm booked."  Elle was looking out the window at the countryside that was whizzing past as they made their way towards Jack's town. When Jack didn't respond right away, she turned to look at him. This seemed to snap him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, uhm, ya. Sure I can drop you there."

"Is everything okay?" Elle asked.

"Ya, its alright. I just figured you'd stay with me." Jack replied honestly.

"Oh," Elle responded feeling a little awkward now. "Well, I didn't want to impose, and this way if you've had enough of me I can easily be out of your hair."

Jack smiled at her, "Don't be silly; I never tired of you in Florida." He reached over and squeezed her hand. "How about we stop at the hotel so you can drop your things and then we'll go to the house for tea?"

"Sure, that sounds great."

They spent the rest of the half hour drive chatting about their time in The Keys and the things Jack wanted to show her while she was there with him. When they pulled into the driveway of the hotel, Elle smiled broadly. "Is this it?"

"Yes," Jack answered as he parked the car near some hedges. "Is it alright?"

"Yes, I love it!" Elle said as she got out of the car taking in the quaint structure. It was a cream colored 2 storey building that sat at the back of the grounds. The lawn was lush green and an impressive staircase led up to the old solid, double doored entrance. Ivy clung to the walls and veined around the perfectly symetrical windows that were evenly numbered on either side of the main doors. When Elle had pictured an English manor house, this was pretty close to what had come to mind. Jack grabbed her bag from the boot and stood watching her take the place in. He couldn't help but smile.