Chalk Butterfly: Part One (First Time Erotic Romance) (16 page)

“It was… great,” Elijah said, all eyes on
him. “Yes.”

“Oh,” Natalie replied shortly, all of her
matchmaking gone awry. She’d always known Elijah was as queer as a
goose, but Alexander didn’t have the good sense to see a good thing
when it was right in front of his face. She gave Alexander a
sympathetic look, the poor boy was probably secretly crushed over
his best friend’s relations. “Don’t worry sweetie, you’ll find
someone to take care of you.”

“You will,” Elizabeth added. “You’re
intelligent, kind and good looking. Just ask Eli.”

Elijah gritted his teeth together once
again, but nodded. “If only I wasn’t previously engaged with
someone else, you’d totally be my type,” he said, laying it on
extra thick in his annoyance.

Alexander could hardly take all of the
attention, and when his mother placed a gentle hand on his own, he
lost his well-kept cool. He stood up, nudging his chair back.

“I don’t need to be set up, or taken care
of,” he said. “I think I’ve lost my appetite, excuse me.” Turning
quickly on his heel, he hurried to the bathrooms at the back of the
cafe, leaning heavily against the sink as he entered.

“This is becoming standard,” he muttered to
himself, looking up at the mirror. “Fall apart in public and sob
like a girl in the loo.” Before he could really fall apart, Elijah
entered.

“Alexander, god, I am so sorry,” he said. He
stood a few inches away from his best friend. He didn’t want to
invade Alexander’s personal space, but he couldn’t just stand there
like an idiot. Reaching over, he pulled some paper toweling from
the roll beside the sink and handed it to Alexander.

Alexander took it and looked over at Elijah.
“I’m not completely helpless, you know,” he said, wiping at his
eyes.

“I know that Alex, we all know that,” Elijah
said..

“Then why can’t I keep it together? I’ve
never been this flighty before, crying every other minute and… I
broke down in front of Daniel last night.”

“Fuck, Alexander…”

“I can’t even imagine what he must think. I
told him everything, and… I don’t even want to talk about this.”
Fresh tears formed in his eyes but he held them back.

“I am such an ass, Alex. I totally forgot. I
can’t believe how selfish I’ve been,” Elijah said. He stepped
closer and pulled the coarse paper toweling away from Alexander,
who had been shredding it in his shaking hands.

“It’s fine,” Alexander whispered. “Really. I
just, don’t want to talk to my mum about it. Thanks for saving me
out there.”

“Don’t thank me. I got you in the mess to
begin with. Thank Elizabeth.”

Alexander couldn’t help but crack a grin,
the situation suddenly lightening. “My mum thinks you’re a complete
poofer now, Eli.”

“Not like she didn’t already,” Eli replied,
smiling back. “Maybe she’ll stop trying to set you up with me now
that I’m taken. Or is Daniel already taken?”

Alexander blushed again. “Elijah, we better
get back out there. I don’t want my mum to have an aneurysm because
I went to the loo on my own.”

“Hey, I’m here to assist,” Elijah added, and
Alexander laughed.

“You wish.”

***

Natalie Price was on a mission.

“Mum, those are in alphabetical order, you
cant rearrange them!”

She was going to clean her son’s apartment
whether he liked it or not.

“Sweetheart, you have too many of these
larger ones at the end. It really overwhelms the space. You ought
to interweave them. You know, when your aunt lived here, God rest
her soul, she kept this place immaculate. If she could see this
place now she’d biff me over the head for letting you have it. You
are one lucky boy, Alex. Do you know how much rent in the city
is?”

Alexander groaned and sank further back into
the couch cushions. His mother never failed to remind him that he
was lucky to have the apartment. His aunt had spent very little
time stateside, but the apartment was bought and paid for and now
it was Alexander’s. Well, it was technically his mother’s, a gift
left to her in her wealthy sister’s will. He knew he could never
afford an apartment in the city on his own, and he would be forever
grateful to his mother for the gift.

Alexander looked down at the worn copy of
“Jane Eyre” settled in his lap and rolled his eyes at the host of
cleaning supplies at his feet. His apartment was by no means messy,
but there was no telling his mother that.

Natalie flitted all about the apartment with
a dishrag, the fat tabby cat following her everywhere, winding
around her legs. Cat, for all of his grumpy behavior and general
dislike for most of the non-Alexander population, had a soft spot
for the eccentric older lady.

She spoiled the chubby cat like she would a
grandson, and Cat would shun nearly all of Alexander’s attentions
when Natalie came to call.

Natalie walked back into the living room
with a closed can of tuna.

“Alexander, you need to make sure Elijah
opens these for you when he takes you shopping,” she said
seriously. Alexander grunted in response, hiding behind his book.
“Are you listening to me, Alexander?”

“Yes, Mum,” Alexander replied, not looking
up.

“Or you could just buy a new can opener,
seeing as you destroyed the electric one I got you for your
birthday. They do pay you enough at that library to purchase a
little electronic can opener, don’t they?” Alexander didn’t reply
and Natalie huffed and began washing down the small windows.

Alexander had gotten quite good at ignoring
her more nagging traits, and this was one of those times when he
was better off not paying her much attention. He didn’t want to
snap back at her, or hurt her feelings. So he kept his mouth shut
and let her think what she wanted. Alexander had also gotten quite
good at letting others think for him.

After an hour or so of sulking in the living
room, comprehending not a word of his favorite book, Alexander
decided he wasn’t going to get any reading done, especially not
with his mother vacuuming right beside his head. He was about to
move to his bedroom when the phone rang. If there was one thing to
be said about Natalie Price, it was that she had excellent
reflexes.

“I’ll get that!” she called, switching off
the vacuum cleaner and bolting into the kitchen before Alexander
could even stand and protest. Cat lunged after her, his belly
swaying to and fro as he ran. Alexander could hear her answer the
phone from the kitchen, and he prayed to God it wasn’t--

“Daniel? Daniel Sommer? That’s German, isn’t
it?” she asked.

“Mum!” Alexander squeaked, making his way
toward the kitchen. He found her leaning casually back against the
counter, phone in one hand, and a dust mop in the other. Cat was
splayed out at her feet, cleaning himself with slow licks.

“Well, I thought so,” she said. “Why isn’t
that rude!” She let out a short, high pitched giggle. “I’m his
mother, darling. Oh, you as well.”

“The phone, Mum,” Alexander demanded,
holding out his hand. She shooed him off, returning to the
conversation. Alexander wished he could hear what Daniel said in
reply to his mother’s remarks, but at least she was still
smiling.

“Do you know an Elijah Grey? Ah, so you’re
the mysterious love interest, are you? Well, I do say! The poor
lad, he’ll be devastated. Alexander? Oh yes.” She pulled the phone
from her ear and turned to Alexander. “Sweetheart, can you take the
call?”

Alexander let out a tense breath and nodded
tersely.

“Here he is, then,” she said, handing
Alexander the phone and giving him a curious look.

Alexander took it quickly and pressed the
receiver to his ear. “Hello?”

“Well, that was interesting,” came Daniel’s
warm, low voice. "I'm Elijah's love interest?"

“Just a moment,” Alexander said. He pressed
a careful hand over the mouthpiece. “I’ll be in my room, Mum.”

Natalie looked up from where she was digging
through the refrigerator and nodded, a jar of old jam in her hand.
"He said he doesn’t fancy Elijah,” she mentioned, just as Alexander
was about to leave the kitchen.

“Different Daniel,” Alexander said, and she
made a silent “oh,” and went back to foraging through the
refrigerator. Alexander slipped through the living room and then
into his bedroom. Once he was settled in, he pressed the phone back
to his ear.

“Daniel?”

“Alexander.”

“Sorry about my mum,” Alexander said,
flushed from the embarrassment.

“She seems like quite a handful, but I
didn’t call to talk to your mother.”

Alexander smiled at the low undertones in
Daniel’s voice. No matter what he told himself, he liked this
man.

“Why did you call then?”

“I wanted to make sure you were all right,”
Daniel said.

“If there’s one thing that I don’t need
today, it’s another person concerned for my well being,” Alexander
said, a touch of humor in his voice.

A moment of silence passed, and Alexander
was about to apologize for his remark, when Daniel spoke. “I hope
you don’t regret opening up to me last night.”

Alexander bit at his lip and looked down at
his wrapped hand. No, he wouldn’t think about that now. “I don’t,”
he said softly. “I’m glad I told you. I want us to be friends.”

“What about--”

“Friends,” Alexander repeated. “I don’t
think I have more than that to offer you.” He could hardly believe
that he actually had the strength to utter those words.

“Is it something I did or...?”

Alexander could hear him shifting around,
perhaps stepping out onto his balcony. “No,” he said honestly.
“Things are busy now, and I’m… unsure of things.”

“Alexander, I really like you,” Daniel
said.

The tone of his voice sent shivers down
Alexander’s back, but he couldn’t give in, not when he had made it
this far.

“I like you too, Daniel. We can still do
things together, but I’m not really in the right place for
anything...” He trailed off, feeling something hot spike in his
belly. “Intimate.”

“All right,” Daniel said. “Then have
lunch with me on Monday, as
friends
.”

Alexander frowned, pressing the phone to his
ear. He’d thought Daniel wouldn’t want to talk with him again,
especially after the way Alexander had reacted the night before.
He'd thought Daniel would jump at his rejection, that he would
quickly pull himself out of Alexander’s life.

‘Not that I’ve allowed him in very far,’
Alexander thought. ‘But a lot deeper than others.’

Somehow, out of all of the people in New
York city, Daniel affected Alexander. It seemed that Daniel would
fight Alexander. He would hold onto the smallest offer of
friendship, and Alexander would be hopelessly lost.

“On Monday?”

“Yeah, and I’ll bring the pen.”

Alexander’s frown curled up into a smile.
This man would be nearly impossible to shake off, especially since
Alexander began to grow attached. All of these new feelings
frightened him, but they weren’t bad, not necessarily.

He took a deep breath, things were about to
change.

“My lunch break is at twelve.”

***

Natalie held Alexander’s wrist firmly
in her hand, rubbing the corded tendons with her thumb as she
pulled
off the last strip of
gauze.

“There you are,” she said softly, tossing
the gauze into the trash. Alexander sat on the side of the tub, his
head resting on his mother’s shoulder. The blisters were especially
tender that night, and he could hardly turn down the offer of help
with removing them.

His mother was extremely gentle at removing
the bandages, a skill gained after years and years of practice
looking after Alexander. Any other time he would have been on the
defensive, pushing his mother away so he could prove to her that he
was strong, that he could take care of himself.

But he was tired, and his hands were
exceptionally sore.

“Sweetie,” Natalie whispered, looking down
at the abused skin. “Your hands. What happened?”

“I slipped a few days ago, grabbed hold of
the counter,” Alexander said into his mother’s shoulder, color
brightening his face as he admitted to his accident. He always felt
silly owning up to his mistakes. “They haven’t quite healed yet,
and they’re still worse than usual.”

“You seem stressed,” Natalie said, lifting
Alexander’s chin in her hand. Alexander lowered his eyes. “Who was
that Daniel?”

“Just a friend,” Alexander said, pulling his
hands close to his stomach.

“Don’t hurt yourself, Alex,” his mother
chided, bringing his hands back out. She looked at him seriously.
“He sounded older.”

“Older than what?” Alexander asked, wincing
as some stinging ointment was massaged gently into his skin.