CH 5: Choices

There's a loud knocking at the door and Margo jumps awake stunned in her bed. She sits up, puzzled, thinking that perhaps she was just dreaming. Until the knocking returned with a louder drum. She pulls the blanket off of her and races to wrap herself in a robe before running down the stairs to let, who she assumed was Esme, into the house.

"Where were you, it's beyond la-" She freezes when she sees Alastor standing on the other side of the door, holding a limp Esme bridal style.

"Good Evening dear, I'm afraid your sister got rather...inebriated at work tonight. I just wanted to make sure she got home safely. May I come in?" He smiles.

Margo doesn't know what to do. She was told explicitly by Esme that by no means was she to interact with, be around, or associate with Alastor without her present, and now she's there in his arms limp as a rag and with no words to her voice.

"I...." Margo looks down at her sister.

"Dear, it is rather cold out tonight. I would hate to see your sister end up in a worse state than she already is. May I come in?"

Margo nods, opening the door fully to allow him to enter. He smiles and nods as he walks in, placing Esme on the couch in the living room. She whimpers and rolls over, tucking her head into the cushions.

"What happened to her?" Margo asks, kneeling down to her sister and stroking her hair.

"I'm afraid some miscreants put something in her drink, resulting in ... this." He says with an annoyed tone. There's a silence in the room, "This is the least of her behavior tonight, I assure you. She was quite the show." He says, walking to the kitchen. He gets a wet towel, bringing it back to begin wiping the stained makeup off Esme's face. She whines and moves her face away from him, but he's persistent and keeps wiping. She doesn't put up much of a fight.

Margo watches him as he carefully studies Esme's face, paying close attention to the spots that need to be wiped away. He was very attentive. He doesn't seem that bad.

He sighs and stands back up, before throwing the towel away. He turns to Margo, "If it's alright by you, I would prefer to stay and make sure she recovers alright."

"You...you want to stay? Here?" Margo says, widening her eyes.

He nods, "I've parked my car outside. I can watch over her throughout the night."

Margo didn't know what to do. Esme was very detailed in her orders not to allow him near. The implications both puzzled and frightened her at the same time. She just met this man, how could she trust him - especially after Esme's instructions? But there was something about the way he wiped her face and tended to her that assured Margo he was not a threat.

"I guess that would be alright." She smiles, "Thank you. Can I get you anything?" The young girl says, scurrying to the kitchen.

"That's quite alright. I've lost my appetite, but thank you." He smiles. "I can watch over her if you wish to go back to sleep. I'm sure she'll be okay in the morning." He says to her softly.

Margo nods and looks over at her sister for a moment before she retreats upstairs for the evening. She knows that's what Esme would want her to do anyway. Stay in the bedroom, far away from him.

Alastor stayed in the living room watching Esme for the remainder of the night. Occasionally, he would walk over and check her heart rate and breathing to make sure she was still recovering well. He wasn't sure why, but this whole situation caused him a lot of upset and tension. He found his eyes darting to her every move, each time she would roll over in her sleep or make the slightest noise. He begins to wander around the living room, noticing the multiple different books she had stacked along the coffee table. He picks them up and observes each one, being in perfect condition. He smiles. She was orderly, he liked that. He continues to wander around the first floor of the house, eventually deciding to use his free time to start his next script for his show. He takes some paper he finds in the kitchen drawers, along with a pencil, and sits on the floor next to the couch where Esme is lying and writes for hours.

He must have eventually fallen asleep because the next thing he knows he's greeted by the bright sun shining through her kitchen windows into his eyes. He winces and squeezes his eyes as he slowly wakes up. Dammit, how long was I out for? Is she okay? He turns over to see Esme still asleep, her face turned towards his. He leans back almost instinctively to give space between the two. He folds the paper and places it in his pocket before returning to her. Just as he did so, he noticed how the sunshine carefully laid on her skin. How her freckles were so faint they were almost nonexistent, but somehow were illuminated in the sun. How her hair so perfectly draped over her shoulders and down her torso. It was rather long, not like the other women nowadays, but she wore it with so much pride that he couldn't help but smile. As if she was saying to the world, "This is who I am, take me or leave me." He chuckles at this thought and turns back to the window. This is going to end badly, isn't it? It always does. He gets up and walks to the kitchen window where the light is coming through, pulling the curtains shut.

The noise must have been louder than he expected, because Esme slowly began to stir on the couch, eventually opening her eyes and groaning as she touched her head. He whips his head around from the sound and quickly walks to her, kneeling to the couch, "Good Morning my dear, how are you feeling?" he asks with genuine concern.

"My head really hurts." Esme says, wincing. She takes a minute to take in her surroundings, "W-What happened?" She pauses and then quickly jumps to sit up before Alastor can say anything, "Why are you in my house?" She scoots back with her eyes widened.

Alastor puts his hands up in a comforting manner, "I assure you, you're alright. You were given a bad drink last night, I made sure you got home safely."

"And stayed the whole night?!" Esme asks, still holding her head. She was looking him up and down in disbelief.

He paused before answering, finally noticing how insane and absurd it was for him to stay in a lady's house just to make sure she woke up okay. Why did he do that anyway? "It appears so, yes." He says softly.

There's yet another one of those painstaking beats between the two as Esme looks bewildered in his eyes. Those same dark brown eyes that had playful mischief and charm in them a couple of nights back now were staring her down with an expression of concern and compassion.

"Thank you." was all she could mutter to say.

"You're very welcome." He says, not leaving her gaze. Yes, this is going to end very badly...I just know it. He thinks as he finds himself lost in her striking green eyes. "Do you have any peppermint?" He breaks the silence. "I hear it works wonders for headaches."

"Yes, I have a few leaves. I suppose I could make a tea." She begins to get off the couch, but he stops her, lightly pushing her back on to the couch.

"I got it, don't worry. Just focus on resting." He smiles. He walks over to the kitchen and begins looking through the cabinets, where he eventually comes across a little baggy of peppermint leaves. He grabs a pot from the bottom cabinets, having remembered where everything is from the time he studied her movements the night they met. He filled the pot with water and placed it on the stove, dropping a few leaves in. He swiped some cayenne pepper from her cabinet and put a few dabs into the pot. A family recipe for when anyone was feeling ill. He let the pot come to a simmer and took it off the fire before it got too hot. He let it steep for a couple of minutes before pouring the liquid into a cup and bringing it to her.

Esme's nose scrunches at the smell, "It smells putrid." she complains, narrowing her eyes at the cup.

Alastor chuckles and places the cup in her hand, "Yes, but it'll make you feel better. Promise."

She takes a sip and quickly puts it down, fanning her mouth, "Why is it spicy?" she says, coughing.

He laughs at this, "It's cayenne pepper, dear. Most people here use it to relieve headaches."

"It's horrid."

"It's flavor."

"It's a horrid flavor."

He chuckles, "Are you going to drink it, or not?" He hands it back to her.

She reluctantly begins to sip at it, squeezing her eyes shut at the taste. "Thank you." She croaks.

Before he gets a chance to answer, Margo comes hurrying down the stairs. "Oh, Esme, thank goodness!" She shouts. Esme winces from the noise. Margo runs over and hugs her softly, "I was so worried. Alastor brought you home last night and said some terrible things had happened. Are you okay?"

"I assume so, thank goodness nothing happened. Although I am a bit shaken up." Esme says. This didn't surprise Alastor, he had already taken note of her bouncing her leg while watching him make the tea.

"Well, thank goodness Alastor was there to help you," Margo says, clasping her hands together. "How will we ever repay you?" She says.

"Oh please, it's no trouble at all." He says, waving a hand dismissively. Just another measly corpse to dispose of - no big deal.

Esme raises an eyebrow and then slowly the puzzle pieces start to fit into place of what he must have done. She finishes the tea and puts it down. She looks up at him slowly and nods to him as if to say, Thank you. He smiles in return. Esme notices the clock and gasps, "Oh my, we keep on doing this. Your work, I would hate for you to be late because of me." Again, she begins to try and stand up from the couch, this time losing her footing and stumbling. He quickly grabs her by the waist to straighten her,

"It's not a problem. Today is my one day off. I'm free from now until dusk." He smiles.

Esme pauses, "Oh...well either way, I'm sure you want to get out of those clothes." She says. Her cheeks quickly become flushed, a little from the tea and a little from images of...well, never mind. "I mean, you've been in them overnight, I'm sure you want to go home and freshen up."

He smiles, "I have to admit, that does sound nice." He was dying in these clothes and was in desperate need of a shower. He was honestly shocked no one could smell the swamp water on him. "I'll go, but I have one final request."

"Hmm?" Esme says, looking up at him. The two seemingly forgetting that Margo is standing right next to them. Her eyes keep darting back and forth between the two.

He takes one step closer to her. "You rest...and you allow me to return later." He smiles. Esme pauses and nods slowly.

He smiles at her and kisses her hand before saying goodbye to both sisters and exiting the home.

And yes, he would be back later that night. He would be back many nights. He would come back for stupid reasons like to say hello, to return something she dropped the night before, or to just see her face after a long day. All the while seemingly doubting the tension between the two of them and damning all hell that he had this new strange feeling within him. He was certain this was not going to end well for either of them, yet he couldn't help but go along for the ride.

 After all, it was very entertaining. 

🖤Words: 2078🖤

~ Artemis 🦌💗