The house looked different in daylight. The foreboding exterior that put pressure that weighed down on Kelsey's stomach the night before appeared quaint in the mid morning glow. Fledglings flew out of the hedges and behind the house to the tress beyond, the sun glinted off the spotless window panes and the red door felt more welcoming than murderous. Closing the car door carefully, Kelsey waited for Sean to lead. Her hands fidgeting in her pocket, a loose cotton thread twirled around her index fingers.
"You really didn't have to pay for my stay Sean." She said. The guilt and annoyance had crept up on her during their drive over. He had spoken about life in the city and they shared common places of interest, made jokes and spoke on the general inhumane aspect of the underground in the summer. But the jokes had stopped with the cars engine and Kelsey had the sobering realisation the Sean had made the rather presumptuous decision to pay for three nights for her.
Sean turned back to look at her, his eyebrows furrowed at the confusion of her sudden low toned comment. He smiled delicately at her.
"What do you mean? I was happy to."
"Yeah but you didn't ask, Sean. You just did it like it was nothing to you." Kelsey answered, the thread winding tighter and tighter around her finger. Sean hesitated before the door, his eyes scanning Kelsey's face and posture.
"I didn't mean to offend, Kels. I just wanted to help out." He replied. "I'm sorry I didn't ask first."
Kelsey loosened her grip on the thread, the tip of her finger regaining some feeling as the blood rushed back into it.
"Us big city boys just love to make things dramatic, eh?" Sean joked "Isn't that what you said earlier on our way here? Something about splashing our cash as a sign of over compensation." he winked to lighten the air, easing the tension that had built around them. Opening the door he held it open for Kelsey to step through into the warmth of the hallway.
"I accept your form of self deprecation as an apology." She laughed.
"Kind of shot myself in the foot with that one. Can assure you if I ever planned to splash cash for compensation it would not be on a two star travel lodge."
"You just keep digging that hole. You're already making me feel so much better."
Kelsey turned to Sean, a wide smile spread across her face as she watched him fumble over his own words.
"Thank you. But I will be sending you the money as soon as possible." She reached to where she usually keeps her phone in her back pocket to realise she was still just in the leggings and jumper that she threw on in a hurry. "Shit. That will have to be a bit later on as my phone is still in my room at the hotel."
The kitchen was probably messier than it had ever looked to Kelsey, which is not saying much as it just looked like a well loved kitchen in regular use to anyone who didn't know Martha Henderson and her cleaning habits. The plate and cutlery from the night before laid soaking in the sink, a couple of empty glasses of which that were still partly filled with water sat beside each other on the counter. Her empty bottle of wine was still in the middle of the island alongside an open but still rather full bottle of beer.
"Sorry, I didn't tidy before leaving this morning." Sean said from behind Kelsey. His eyes scanned the slight mess before them and pointed down at the foot of one of the kitchen stools that they were sat at last night. "That's where I found your ring. Let's hope your purse is just as easy to find."
Kelsey skimmed over the counter top; wine bottle lid and crumpled receipts, the odd piece of change and a pack of chewing gum. All things she recognised that usually resided in the bottom of her bag. But no purse.
"It'd help if i knew what it looked like? You seem a bit lost." Sean asked as he flicked the switch of the coffee machine to turn it on. "Also, coffee?"
"It's a dark green and has blue flowers embroidered on it." Kelsey answered "And oh my god yes please, my brain needs a good kickstart."
The sound of coffee beans being ground filled the silence as the two of them looked around the kitchen. A lipstick was found under the pedal of the recycling bin and hope was briefly found when an old, used gift card was discovered between the apples in the fruit bowl.
Slouching against the counter cradling the hot beverage in her hands Kelsey let out a sigh of defeat. She watched as Sean lifted the large decorative vase, his muscles flexing beneath the thin layer of his t-shirt, she watched him move it to the side he huffed when no purse was revealed to be hiding behind or inside it. Placing it back down with a dull thud Sean turned to her with his arms raised.
"I give up." He said. Picking his mug up from the counter and raising it to his lips taking a swig. "Let's take a break." He swung one of the kitchen stools round to face Kelsey and slumped into it.
"Did I go in any other room last night?" Kelsey asked, her mind straining to recall any information from the night before to help her.
"You went to the bathroom but I remember helping you up the stairs and you definitely didn't drop anything nor have anything on you to drop at that part." Sean replied, his fingers tapping on his mug rhythmically. A slow smile spread across his face. "However you did decide to do a sweet rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody whilst in the bathroom as you said you didn't want me to hear you pee whilst I waited outside to escort you back down the stairs."
Kelsey's eyes widened dramatically. The hot liquid rushing down the wrong way causing her to splutter. She most definitely did not recall that part of the evening.
"Dear god I'm sorry you had to deal with that."
"No no," Sean laughed. "Not only did I find it highly entertaining it also gave me a sense of relief to know you hadn't just passed out on the bathroom tiles." He placed his mug down on the island beside him and rested his chin on the palm of his hand, looking directly into Kelsey's eyes. She felt the burning warmth tinge the tops of her cheeks. She didn't know what had come over her all of a sudden, just that whenever he looked at her with those calming, blue irises she felt weak at the knees and her heart beat seemed to become incredibly more noticeable to her.
"Even plastered you can still hold a tune." Sean cracked, breaking eye contact and the hold he had on Kelsey. "Which reminds me I forgot to ask. Are you still doing all that music stuff?"
Kelsey stared deep into the swirling brown liquid as she thought about her answer. It'd been a couple years since she even thought about the degree she had hidden away in the bottom of her wardrobe.
"It's kind of on the back burner at the moment." She answered, tipping her mug back and forth watching the contents tilt dangerously close to spilling over.
Sensing that she didn't want to go into that topic of conversation any deeper Sean cleared his throat.
"So they guys at work have given me one task to do whilst I'm away." He spoke, bringing Kelsey's eyes up briefly away from her coffee cup. She raised an eyebrow slightly, a sign he took to mean to divulge more. "Date."
Her mug was now fully a second thought to Kelsey as she stared at him with both eyebrows raised.
"I sure hope this isn't your way of asking me on a date, Sean?!"
"Oh please, no." Sean laughed, a tinge of pain shocked Kelsey in the chest with his response. "But I could use a bit of female input on the matter."
"You'd like me to tell you how to date?"
"Well no, more like help setting up my profile so it's not too robotic and too-" Sean waved his hands around in the air whilst he thought of a response.
"Bland."
"Boring."
They both said at the same time. Sean nodded, his right hand back to fidgeting with his coffee mug.
"I'm really not very good with these things, Kels. And i thought whilst i had your company for these next few days-"
"Bold of you to presume I'd want to spend my free time with you." Kelsey cut in jokingly, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Touché." Sean responded. "If you would like to spend your next few days test driving some date ideas with me I'd really appreciate it. Just want to know what I'm doing if I plan to do it at all properly."
"So use me as a practice run?" Kelsey questioned, locking eyes once more.
"It sounded better in my head when I thought about it." Sean said. "You can say 'No'."
"I mean it could be a laugh." Kelsey answered, pushing herself away from the counter. "I do owe you one for dropping in unannounced last night and sorting out the whole fiasco this morning." She started walking towards Sean. The rhythmic tapping slowed down as she approached and he automatically sat up straighter in his chair, his eyes not leaving hers. "Plus, it could be fun."
She outstretched her hand towards him. He swallowed and suddenly felt his heart pick up pace. He took her hand in his, her warmth electrifying.
"What are we doing? Making a business deal?" Kelsey's voice brought him back to reality, the corner's of her eyes creased as she chuckled. "I was asking for your phone, genius. So I could check out your profiles and see how much damage control I need to do."
Their hands dropped instantly. Sean hoping the world would open up and swallow him whole.
"You really are missing that womanly touch aren't you." Kelsey laughed, causing Sean to crack too.
"I thought you saved the crude jokes after you've had a drink or two."
"Oh no, they're part of the package of being friends with me."
Looking anywhere but at the woman who stood in front of him, Sean took his phone out of his pocket. The screen black.
"Well you can get to judging in a little while." Kelsey looked at him in confusion. He turned the blank screen to face her. "I forgot to put it on charge last night it seems."
Running up the stair two at a time Sean turned into his room and grabbed the wire protruding from behind his desk. Plugging in his phone he waited till he saw the logo reappear on the screen, once it lit up with the sign of life he placed it down and turned to head back down to the red head that assured him she could think of some ways to make this town a potential fun dating hot spot.
Sean's phone laid silent for a minute or two. As enough power brought the battery back to life his phone lock screen lit up. A flurry of dings sounded to no one in the empty bedroom.
4 missed calls: Jake
6 Messages: Jake
The last message appeared displayed for when Sean was to return.
FFS, what do you want with Kelsey?!