Unknown Read Online Free Page A

voice of hers. Needless to say, it grates on my nerves.
     
    "Elizabeth", I finally turn to look at her, concealing my fangs with a wry smile and scowl pleasantly, "Go away".
     
    Okay, so maybe not so pleasantly.
     
    Obviously she does the exact opposite, and carefully picks her way amidst the clusterfuck that is the floor, before seating her delectable derriere against the opposite wall, away from me.
    I do what I can do best under the circumstances. Pretend to ignore her.
     
    She makes it easy and keeps her quiet. We sit in an oddly companionable silence for the next several minutes, while I tune my guitar and chance secretive glances her way every sixty seconds. After several more minutes though, the quiet begins to strain my patience, more so, as she appears unscathed by my cold shoulder treatment.
     
    Hoist by my own petard.
     
    "What does it take to send you away", I finally snap, wanting nothing more than to circle that beautiful neck with my bare hands. Her nearness is jamming my brain circuits, while her scent clouds my senses, making me feel oddly vulnerable.
     
    "I merely asked what you were playing", she chirps again, and I check the hard-pressed urge to throttle her, albeit with great restraint.
     
    "And I gave you an answer", I snarl like a true Neanderthal. What am I to do, after all? It's not my fault she brings out the caveman in me.
     
    "You were playing 'go away'? I don't know of any tune by that name".
     
    Seriously, this conversation is by far the most absurd conversation I've had so far. And I can feel it's about to take a turn for the worse.
     
    "It's all the answer you're going to get. Stop wasting my time, and leave me alone". I've gone passed slightly irked to thoroughly pissed, and am now busy yelling at her full force, Nick style. I watch her beautiful face fall and my anger deflates like a hot air balloon.
     
    "Why are you yanking away your hair? Are you crazy?" she questions a minute later with ill guised glee.
     
    Once again, I envision wrapping my hands around both her wrists, and circling her throat with the other with enough ardor, to wipe off that amusement. Or better yet, rapping her head against the wall. Since I cannot do either, I settle at imagery before I end up doing something I'll later regret.
     
    Like wringing that neck. Or kissing her.
     
    "Leave me alone Elizabeth", I reiterate in a more controlled voice.
     
    "The Steven's arrived a half hour ago. Kate's been asking for you", she explains tight lipped, looking agitated.
     
    Well, that explains it! Ryder Stevens, the older son of Mr. Rudyard Stevens, the mayor of Cider Valley, was my classmate back in school, and a friend of sorts. Now an architect, Ryder is keen on opening his own firm, brimming with some very creative designs to renovate a few historical ramshackles in the valley. I'd want to see how'd he'd manage that, since old or not, the valley is a stickler for tradition.
     
    The Tanner's are on friendly terms with the Stevens, and had come up with the idea of letting Ryder Stevens design the latest version of the Tanner's store a few years ago. It was to be a three storeyed building, complete with a super market, cloth emporium, numerous food courts, and a minimart, with an additional surprise element of a theme park. Ryder had jumped at the idea, and since Kate, who possessed the next set of business genes in the family, was handling the trade end of the deal, it was a two-fold benefit.
    Ryder and Kate were ebullient, two kids in a candy store.
     
    "She wants to introduce him to you", she offers, when I make no move to well..... move .
     
    "Whatever for? Ryder and I are practically nappy buddies."
    I'm sure I'd worn them at some point of time.
     
    "She wants to introduce him to you, I mean, as her boyfriend, I think". This was the second part of the entertainment, and the main reason for the hideout. I am not in the mood to socialize with couples.
     
    "Dammit", I mutter, and she immediately perks