TLO Chapter 7

 Chapter 7

Next morning, somebody touching my private parts woke me up. I elbowed the giant who literally was on top of me, kissing and drooling over my face. 

 “Moody already, shrimp?” He laughed like an idiot and I would have punched him right in the eye but he looked kind of… sexy with his disheveled hair and boyish smile, like ten or fifteen years younger. 

“Don’t you have an ounce of decency?” I buffed and tried to push him away from me because that bed was large enough for both of us and he had no need to use my space too. No way; he’s big like a brown bear and said bear had just found the honeycomb. 

“I love when you protest so much,” he told me before he jumped on top of me and began to kiss my neck. My strength wasn’t enough as to push him away so I let him do it. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are?” he asked me when he stopped kissing, well biting, my neck.

“If you’re a rapist, maybe my refusal turns you on.” 

He jumped away from me and I was for a few seconds confused. That was surprising. Was that all what was needed to send him away? 

“I’m not.” He looked at me furiously. “It’s you who’s in denial. You want this as much as I do but you have to make a drama out of everything. I’m getting tired of your lies.” 

“Sure! Because I asked to be in your bed,” I replied sarcastically. 

TLO Chapter 6

 Chapter 6

Ever felt that panic that washes you over when the familiarity of your own bed is gone? Well, I  do and quite frequently too. I hate sleeping anywhere but my bed and it takes some time for me to get used to the change. After spending a night with someone one would expect to find that someone in bed, especially if it his. Not in my case. 

The asshole was away. I really don’t know when he left and I’m not a very heavy sleeper. It was quite clear for me that he isn’t the romantic type and I could kiss goodbye our “honeymoon” if the first thing he does in the morning is disappearing. 

I went back to my bedroom and got ready for the day. Then I needed to fetch my breakfast or at least track down a bar where I could get it. So far I was getting food if he was around and I didn’t know if the rule still applied if the lord of the manor was away. 

As it happens, it did. A maid told me to sit in the dinning room and I got breakfast from her. It was good to speak Spanish again though I was still in my own land. The English and Swedish I had been hearing for the whole weekend was getting to my nerves. Her name was Glenda and she was from Peru. She was telling me something about where to go clubbing in Cáceres (figures!) when Nils Holgersen and his goose burst in. She ran away at the sight of them. 

“Don’t speak with the servants.” Nils scolded me as he sat next to me. “You distract them from their chores. Mr. Berggren has a strict policy on that.” 

What the hell? Get a Roomba if you want somebody a hundred percent focused on his job. “Does it apply to you too?” I asked but he didn’t bother to answer me. 

“This is Sven Larsen but you can call him Mr. Larsen.” Nils introduced the goose because that man had the air of a goose. “He will be with you today.” 

TLO Chapter 5

 Chapter 5

Next morning, I was very nervous when I followed Nils back to the jerk’s lair. Maybe my plan would work, maybe not and then? I wasn’t ready to go horizontal with him. No, no and that’s a big no. 

Lars was again in the private room where we had dinner; sitting alone with an impressive display of food (I mean, that was the whole buffet from the breakfast service) on top of the table and on a side table. He was already drinking some coffee but he had not touched the food. 

“I didn’t know what you like,” he told me and strangely, that was good to hear. He’s not omniscient. 

“Thank you for the clothes,” I said as I sat in front of him. There was only one waiter and he served me coffee and disappeared. “Is your allergy so bad that you have to take so many precautions?” 

He seemed to be happy that I had shown some interest in his well-being and I nearly hit my head against the fruits bowl on the side. That wasn’t the right way of getting rid of him!

“It’s under control now, though it’s annoying not knowing when something could trigger a reaction.” 

“Do you carry an Epi-pen with you all the time?”

“Yes, I do but seldom use it. It’s been more than five years since I suffered a shock. I have to be in direct contact with the material to trigger a reaction. In your case, as I hope to be very close to you, it hurts nobody to take some precautions.” 

TLO Chapter 4

 Chapter 4

Saturday started like a normal, nice day. A bit cold, -well, freezing kind of-, but sunny morning. I woke up early, had breakfast (if a cup of tea and a toast can be called that); swept the two upper floors (which were cold as hell) and thoroughly cursed the boiler before I opened the store. 

I sat behind the desk and felt a pang of remorse because that was Eusebio’s place. I did nothing else but to sit there and watch through the small windows -almost at ceiling level- the running feet of tourists and locals rushing to visit the Cathedral or the Casa de las Conchas. Though people were visiting a city famous for its university, nobody was looking down, at our basement’s windows in order to discover the many books hidden in the shadows. Not even the students would look at us. We mostly lived from internet sales or seeing a few selected collectors- customers now and then. 

Just being there without nothing better to do but looking at perfect strangers’ shoes was nerve racking. Besides the situation with the psycho who wanted to become my boyfriend lover, I still had the tax-inheritance-problem (the nobility thing was almost out of my mind), my employment status (no, that one was solved: I had quitted the previous night) and a boiler on strike. All of my problems were the kind of situation that requires money; money I didn’t have and I debated with myself if I should ask my sisters for money (and humiliate myself a bit more). In a nutshell, I was royally screwed.