Part Five: Head Games

DISCLAIMER: I used a line from a soap I used to watch, so in case anyone recognises it, I admit to it! LOL!

Sleep gradually ebbed away and he stretched his arms out high above his head, stirring beneath her. The unfamiliar heaviness across his chest was instantly explained the moment he inhaled the pleasant scent of her subtle perfume. Oh that’s right, he thought, remembering their first night in their little cottage. Rather than be startled by her presence, he was amused by it, even gratified by it. What didn’t amuse him, however, was the light blonde hair that had tangled into a rat’s nest just under his chin, and he found himself picking bits of it from his mouth...ick, hairspray.

It amazed Nigel how much that he and Karen shared in common. They spent most of the evening in the first night and watched some satellite television, too tired to enjoy much else. He’d been feeling a little home sick, so she found a channel for him that ran nothing but British comedy all night long.

"Oh my God Nigel, is that Prince Regent guy for real?" She’d howled... Karen had never seen The Black Adder before. "He’s such a flaming wuss! It’s no wonder that Black Adder guy is always trying to screw him over! Oh, and poor Baldrick... Look, that Prince Regent guy is wearing a big ol’ girlie wig!"

"Well, that’s the Prince for you..." He replied, more entertained by her outbursts than the show itself.

Glancing to the coffee table, he at once recalled the reason for the mild throbbing at his temples... at least eight bottles of American beer lay scattered in every direction, all empty. He couldn’t remember who turned off the TV. It must have been Karen he was certain, because she was laying right on top of him, every inch of her delightfully ample figure pressed intimately against him in sweet slumber. He glanced down at her, almost laughing, but trying really hard not to. She had racoon eyes, her make-up smudged ever so slightly, and that sensuous, pouting mouth was slightly agape, a small hint of drool sliding from one side, oh, and half dressed. Then there was the matter of her snoring... Well, maybe it hadn’t been that bad, and had to at least admit he could live with that.

Studying further, he realised she really was incredibly sweet for all her shortcomings. She annoyed the hell out of him regularly, but that wasn’t such a big deal. Bringing up his free hand he threaded his fingers through her soft hair, contemplating life and how strangely it could twist things. It felt good to touch someone like this, to have her this close, and he closed his eyes relishing in the moment. All of his senses consumed Karen’s sleeping form, he was lonely, and that was painfully obvious to him. It didn’t matter that she was oblivious to what he was thinking, it was just as well...

Nigel must have nodded off back to sleep. Karen’s movements literally him jarred him awake as his cell phone began to cry out for somebody’s attention.

"Damn that phone!" She muttered, still half asleep and not too terribly happy for the intrusion. It continued to ring, ring, ring, and she determinedly began to hunt it down, her goal, killing it.

"Oh God Karen, it, it’s in my jacket..." He muttered, and turned over on his side, crossing his arms over his chest to rest some more. "Can you get it?"

He listened to her fumbling around when finally she yanked it from his wind-breaker. Falling back to the couch, she pressed talk. "Uh, Nigel’s jacket..." She quietly mumbled, teetering slowly towards consciousness in her seat. Her voice was so sleepy sounding, and she was barely audible.

"Uh, yeah... he’s here." She held the phone over to him. "It’s Sydney."

Nigel’s eyes popped open and he jumped into a sitting position, shaking his head no, no, no and waving a hand in her face. She gave him a questioning, almost annoyed look and shoved the phone in his face, motioning for him to ‘take it’!

"No..." He whispered, "tell her I’m in the shower... Something!"

Karen just rolled her eyes and sighed, heavily, giving him that LOOK. The one she had reserved for him when she thought he was being a total moron. "Syd, he’s just in the shower. Can you call back in say, five? Thanks, okay, bye."

"Thank you."

"Don’t you dare thank me Nigel Bailey, I hate lying to someone who knows it! Why didn’t you just talk to her?" The look on Karen’s face was one of utter disbelief.

"I can’t talk to her! Besides, why should I? How long did I literally beg her to talk and she waved me off? No, forget it. What ever it is she can damn well wait until I come back to work!"

The phone started to ring again, and without thinking, Nigel answered.

"Nigel, short shower."

His heart sank. He could tell by the tone of her voice that she knew she’d been lied to. The next ten minutes of their conversation was a contest of wills. One minute he was yelling at her, the next he was silent, and holding the phone away from his ear while she shouted right back. Nothing was accomplished. She was not impressed that they had turned the ringer for the room phone off. It took her almost ten minutes to track down his new cell phone number.

"You’re what?"

Karen’s brows knitted together, wondering what she was saying to poor Nigel that had him so upset.

"NO! Listen, I am on my time Sydney, I’m not at work...no. I don’t care what it is, I am not even going to entertain it. No, Syd...no...don’t you dare!" She hung up on him. He happened to glance out the window, seeing his problem was a lot closer at hand than he had originally anticipated. "Dear God..." Time to panic.

"What did she say Nigel?" Karen was on pins and needles sitting there clad only in her underwear and one of HIS button-down shirts with the sleeves rolled up.

"Just go along with me, okay?" He grabbed her by the arm and in a rush of movement had her pinned firmly against the wall with his body, one hand at the side of her head and the other hooked onto her hip. The look of shock on her face was mixed with that of mild delight. "Sydney’s going to walk through that door any second, the moment you hear the handle turn, please, go along with me...please!"

Karen didn’t bother waiting for that. She circled her arms around his neck and pulling him flush against her, he felt her full lips parting against his, and she quite plainly, devoured him.

Motivation: Head Games... Foreigner


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