Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series (71 page)

   “Uh - no,” the boy shakes his head in urgency. “I was looking at the floor. The - the marble is uh…”

   “My
name
is Julianna.”

   The boy nods. He can feel beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead.

   “And your name is..?”

   “Eric,” he compliantly answers with a racing heartbeat.

   “Are we done with this, Eric?”

   The horrified boy concedes with another nod.

   “If I catch you looking at me like a piece of meat again, you’re not going to like the outcome. Do we understand each other?”

   Eric notices sounds of laughter coming from the hallway that Julianna was about to enter.

   “Where’s my brother?”

   Julianna shakes her head, “Oh no you don’t.”

   She points towards the hallway leading to the kitchen area – left adjacent to the one she was about to enter, “You’re going to help me make drinks. That’s your
only
penance.” Julianna lowers her right hand to her side and rests her palm above her curvy hips. She follows with the slightest of smiles.

   Eric isn’t sure if he wants to grin, or scream and run. Is she angry or is she toying with him? His lack of social interaction with people outside of the cyber world is now bearing its full weight upon his shoulders. He looks towards the hallway he has been ordered to walk while pretending to study his latest mission objective.

   It’s not as though this incident is entirely his fault, however. The back of her violet-colored dress is completely transparent from high-thigh to ankle. As he followed her, he thought of purple curtains being swayed in a magical dance between an unseen wind and her pale legs. The slit in the upper part of her dress from neck to waist is held together by the intricate lacing formed by a single string.  His eyes were tracing the string through the loops whenever his hostess turned and upended his moment.

   To avoid any further awkwardness, he nods as though he has just figured out her meaning and forces his eyes to find Julianna’s stare once again. He is careful to jump his stare from the hallway directly to her green eyes. He sure doesn’t want her to think he has noticed her low-cut V-neck. While not transparent in that area, the girl’s shapely form is easily seen where eyes should not roam; or at the very least,
his
eyes should not be roaming.

   “Drinks it is,” Eric concedes with a faked sound of confidence. He avoids any potential response as he turns and heads for the hallway leading to the bar. At this point, he could care-a-less if she had anything else to say. He needs a moment to gather his thoughts. Gale and Alexandria wasn’t teasing him at all. This girl
is
different.

   Julianna begins to say something to the nervous boy, but decides to let him go. Instead, her left brow lifts slightly as Eric enters the left-side hallway. Her green eyes take in the new luscious backside view. She grins. A moment later, her purple high heels begin making soft sounds of clicking against the marble floor as she heads for the pool room.

   Whenever she returns with her guest’s drink orders, Julianna sees Eric sitting at the kitchen table. He is facing the direction of the hallway where she enters. Behind him, the bar sits at the ready for her intrusion into the room. The same cannot be said for the obviously nervous boy.

   “Two Long Island Ice Teas and two brewskis,” Julianna announces loudly. She points towards the right side of the room, “Could you grab a case of beer out of the fridge and place it on the table for me?”

   Eric looks to his left and sees the refrigerator. He stands up without a word, pushes the table’s wooden chair back into the place he had originally found it, and heads over to accomplish the first part of his penance.

   Julianna crosses the room, passes by the table, and rounds the bar’s right side in order to retrieve the silver cart that sits behind the counter. She pushes it over next to the table where Eric is placing the case of beer.

   Julianna points to a silver bucket on top of the tray, “If you could get some ice out of the freezer and fill the bucket with six beers inside, I would be really grateful.” 

   “No problem,” Eric answers quietly.

   “Thanks,” Julianna answers with a smile before returning to the backside of the bar.

   When she gets there, she looks at the wall behind the counter and follows the mix-drink list down to the ells. She begins reading:

      Long Island Ice Tea

      1 part vodka

      1 part tequila

      1 part rum

      1 part gin

      1 part triple sec

      1 ½ parts sweet and sour mix

      1 splash Coke.

     
Mix ingredients over ice into a glass. Pour into shaker and give one brisk shake.

      Pour back into the glass and check for a touch of fizz at the top. If not, add another splash of Coke. Garnish with a slice of lemon if desired.

   Julianna’s left upper-lip lifts slightly. She turns and looks at the shelving in the backside of the bar. She sees vodka, tequila, rum, gin, and some other stuff. She scans the inventory again. No triple sec. She isn’t even sure what that is. Is it alcohol or something like the lemon she is supposed to use?

   “Need any help?”

   Julianna looks up. Gale walks into the kitchen area with a beach towel wrapped around her.

   “I can’t find any triple sec,” Julianna attempts to sound as though she knows what she is talking about.

   Gale glances at Eric as he places bear bottles into a silver pale. She looks back over at Julianna and walks towards the bar. She notices a door on the left side of the room – the same room where she has already been in. She had to go in there to retrieve cleaning supplies to clean up Julianna’s not-so-little-mess the last time she was here.

   “What’s in there?”, Gale fakes ignorance. She wishes to avoid the fact that she snooped while in there.

   Julianna looks over and shrugs her shoulders, “No idea. I’ve never been in there.”

   “What?”, Gale teases while walking towards the door.

   Julianna rounds the bar and heads towards the door. Gale reaches it first and opens it.

   “Damn,” Gale says while walking into the enormous room.

   Julianna follows her friend’s lead.

   “Huh. I never knew it was this big,” Julianna says after entering the room. She sees shelves of food on the left side and rows of alcohol on the right. Cleaning supplies align the far wall.

   “Jackpot!”, Gale exclaims while walking towards the room’s far end.

   “Triple sec?”

   Gale reaches down and slides a box off of the bottom shelf. She picks it up and turns around, “Even better. Pre-mix.”

   “Oh,” Julianna answers clueless to the claim.

   Gale smiles while walking towards her hostess. As she nears Julianna, Gale hands off the box, “Just add ice, coke, and sweet and sour.”

   “Really?”, Julianna questions while turning and following her friend out of the enormous pantry area.

   “Alcohol content is slightly lower, but it makes life easier,” Gale responds while her hostess passes by. She shuts the pantry door and follows Julianna over to the silver cart.

   Julianna slides the box onto the middle tray, looks at the open case of beer sitting on the table, and reaches for it.

   “I’ve got it,” Eric quickly catches on and picks up the box. He slides it on the bottom shelf of the wheeled tray.

   Julianna smiles appreciatively.

   “It seems you two are getting along,” Gale observes verbally.

   Julianna turns and looks at Gale. The nurse looks at Eric with a certain scrutinizing stare before returning her eyes back onto her hostess.

   “Is he behaving?”

   “I’m right here you know,” Eric responds with a bit of defensiveness within his tone.

   Julianna grins and nods assuredly.

   “He better be,” Gale threatens. She gives Eric another warning look.

   “He’s been a perfect gentleman,” Julianna defends, “I’d let you know if he hadn’t.”

   “I’m still here,” Eric complains.

   Julianna and Gale pause while looking at the scrawny boy. They look back at each other and laugh.

   Eric grins awkwardly. He is afraid to say anything else. After all, Julianna had a chance to bust him out, but she didn’t. He isn’t quite sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. But as for this moment, he is leaning towards good.

   “Why don’t we give our hostess a break and push that cart to the party?”, Gale insinuates.

   “Can you do it?”, Julianna directs her question to Gale, “I still need Eric to help me with something else.”

   “Oh really?”, Gale responds a little surprised.

   Julianna rolls her eyes, “Not like that.”

   “Okay,” Gale says with a tone that lets Julianna off of the hook. She walks past Julianna, grabs the cart’s handle with her left hand, and points to the top of the cart with her right.

   “Glasses, ice, coke, and sweet and sour mix,” Gale observes the lack thereof.

   “Got it,” Julianna announces. She turns and rounds the bar’s backside. She grabs a twelve pack of coke and the sweet and sour mix. On her way around the bar, she reaches for the glasses aligned on the glossy surface for tonight’s party. She places the goodies on the tray. Looking towards the freezer, she notices Eric is already heading back with a bag of ice.

   “I’ll be at the pool,” Gale says after Eric places the bag of ice on the tray. She smiles devilishly at Julianna.

   “It’s not…”

   “I know - I know,” Gale teases as though she doesn’t believe Julianna whatsoever.

   Julianna shakes her head as her friend pulls the cart, turns, and begins pushing it towards the hallway.

   When Gale leaves ear shot of voices, Julianna looks over to her left and makes eye contact with Eric. His previous confidence with Gale in the room seems completely gone all of the sudden.

   “Is she always like that?”

   Eric looks down the hallway and watches as Gale turns left into Julianna’s bedroom. He looks back at Julianna, “Alexandria’s worse.”

   Julianna laughs as she turns towards the bar and grabs two shot glasses. She turns them upright and sits them back down. Rounding the bar, Julianna reaches down and grabs hold of a purple bag. When her body straightens, Eric sees the initials
CR
written in gold on the bag. He watches as Julianna unties the bag, and pulls out a bottle.

   “Crown Royal. You ever try it?”

   Eric shakes his head.

   Julianna opens the bottle, pours double-shots into each glass, and closes the bottle. She picks up a shot glass and holds it up. Eric walks over to the bar and mimics her action by taking the other glass and holding it up. She clinks her glass with his and puts the rim of the shot glass to her lips. In one swift motion, Julianna downs the glass of liquor and places the glass back onto the bar. She looks at Eric as she exhales the powerful fumes from her burning throat.

   Eric tilts the glass back and swallows. He chokes as the liquor slides down his virgin throat. When he places the glass on the bar, Julianna can see his brown eyes are watering.

   “This stuff’s a little too strong,” Julianna says.

   “No,” Eric says while pointing to the glasses, “Again.”

   “You sure?”, Julianna doubts his resolve.

   Eric reaches for the bottle, opens it, pours two double-shots with shaky hands, and sits the open bottle back down. He lifts up his glass.

   Julianna grins, picks up her glass, and holds it up high. Eric clinks her glass with his and immediately downs the harsh liquid. Julianna watches with amusement as his eyes squint closed while the alcohol works to consume his thoughts. She tilts her glass back and gulps down the familiar mind-changing friend. When she sits her glass on the bar, she notices Eric is staring into her eyes. It’s the first time she has seen him smile without his nerves messing it all up.

   “We better slow it down or we won’t make it to seven o’clock,” Julianna both teases and actually means her words.

   “I wasn’t looking at your ass,” Eric boldly states.

   Julianna pauses with her mouth slightly opened. She grabs the bottle, caps it off, and slips it back into the bag, “Yeah, we should probably pace ourselves.”

   “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” Eric says, “But I couldn’t help myself.”

   Julianna ties off the bag, “So you
were
looking at my ass like a piece of meat.”

   Eric shakes his head, “No, I wasn’t. I mean I
did
, but not when you thought I did. Wait – that didn’t come out right.”

   Julianna laughs as she grabs two fresh shot glasses with her left hand. She rounds the bar and passes by Eric. Julianna sits the purple bag with the two shot glasses onto the kitchen table and turns around to face the now frustrated and embarrassed boy.

   “Do you have anything underneath your clothes?”

   Eric looks down at his jeans and back up again, “Excuse me?”

   “Swimming. It’s not good to swim in jeans. I have a pair of shorts that you could probably…”

   “Oh,” Eric grins, “Yeah, I have shorts on. I came prepared.”

   Julianna pauses for a second and then buries her face into her hands, “Oh gawd.”

   Eric laughs.

   Julianna lowers her hands and looks up, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…”

   Eric’s laugh quickly calms, “I know what you meant. Don’t sweat it. It’s no big deal.”

   “Um - right. Maybe not for you.”

   Eric pauses briefly to soak in Julianna’s beautiful green eyes. This goddess seems so vulnerable right now and it’s as if she might be human after all.

   “Do you have some place I could change?”

   “Sure,” Julianna says while turning to grab the liquor and glasses. She picks everything up and walks towards her bedroom. She doesn’t say anything for fear she has already said too much.