I really want to share this scene with you my distracted readers!
It's one of my favorite Beguiled scenes. Read along and let me know your thoughts! Oh, I've added a couple of images so that you can have a glimpse...
The
knock on the door made my heart pump fast. I got up and looked at my face in
the mirror. Awful image. Red eyes and dark circles underneath. I quickly fixed
my hair in a sloppy bun but there was no time to change the bathrobe I was
still in.
“Emma? Can I come in?” That voice. The
voice I adored.
“Come in,” I said, biting my lip.
Christopher looked tired too. It was obvious that he hadn’t slept either. He
was holding his cell phone.
“They’ve just called. In about two minutes
they’ll call back. You’ll be able to talk to your boyfriend.”
“Stop calling him my boyfriend.”
“Right. I meant your…friend,” he mocked.
“Did you get anything out of them? Did
they say where they’re keeping him?”
“No. I’m sorry. It’s obvious that they
still don’t trust me.”
“Why don’t they? You’re one of them now,
aren’t you?” I was deliberately trying to hurt him, but he didn’t seem to take
the hint.
“You’re absolutely right. I am one of
them. Maybe I’ve always been one of them.” And just like that, he’d turned the
bow toward me. The arrow hit its target, aiming straight at my heart.
“Hmmm.” He looked around. “It looks exactly
the same. I’m surprised you haven’t changed anything,” he remarked.
What
was I supposed to say? That I’d been waiting for him to come back and that I
didn’t want anything changed because it all reminded me of him? I preferred to
let him think exactly the opposite.
“I’ve only been here a couple of times. I
never thought about changing anything. I’ll probably sell the place.” I’d never
thought about selling our house, of course, but now it occurred to me that I
should put an ad about it as soon as this doomed-to-fail mission would be over.
“That will be a very wise thing to do.” His
face remained annoyingly unreadable.
“Won’t you come inside?” I challenged him.
“Sure. Why not?”
Christopher
walked into the room with stealthy, cat-like movements. He lay on the huge bed,
his palms supporting the back of his head; a sight for sore eyes to every
woman. In another world, I would have thrown myself at him and covered him with
kisses.
With
a leisurely air, he fixed the pillows behind his head and gazed at me.
In
an act of senseless bravery, I sat on the other edge of the bed. “How… How does
it feel?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“How does it feel to be here? To be back.”
Back with me, I wanted to say.
He
smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. “What do you want to hear? That
I’ve missed this place, this house, this…bed?”
“Have you?”
“You know the answer to that, don’t you?
Trained assassins do not become attached to places or people. We cannot afford
to be.” He closed his eyes. “But I have to admit, I’ve always liked this bed.
Especially after having spent the last three hours lying on the sofa.”
So
that was his only emotion about being here. The comfortable bed. So uninspired,
so unromantic.
Then
he looked at me through his half-open eyes. “But you know this, don’t you? I’m
sure you and your boyfriend make the most of this bed when you meet here.”
“What are you trying to prove?”
“To prove? It’s just pure biology. Don’t
tell me I still shock you! As far as I remember, you’ve overcome that stage.”
I
felt my cheeks burn. I had an intense urge to slap him.
“There’s no need to be so cynical,” I said
instead. Suddenly, thinking of Alex made
me want to laugh. What would he say if he heard Christopher talk this way,
considering my silly fixation on keeping myself pure “until the prince came
back” as he used to tease me?
His
mobile vibrated next to him and he took his time to answer it, ignoring the
twitch I couldn’t hide.
“Yes?” he said. Then he passed me the
phone without saying anything, his eyes more blank than ever.
“Alex?” My voice trembled.
Keep being distracted by reading,
Urania
