OK! The LONG awaited update is finally here!!! And I'll be updating MUCH more often, I promise
Paul Byrom woke up with his back hurting and realized that he wasn’t in his bed. Then he looked up and saw the small hand dangling above him, and he remembered. He remembered all that had happened last night and why he was on the floor.
Paul sat up and looked down at the sleeping form on his bed. Her golden hair was a tangled mess, fanning out across the pillow, her lips were slightly parted, perfectly formed, an attractive shade of pink.
What had happened to her? Why had those men been after her? And what was that package that she had been clinging to? The package. Paul looked around, wondering where it had gone, and saw something wrapped in brown paper lying on the floor next to the bed.
He picked it up and slowly unwrapped the small package. Inside lay a small, delicate necklace. It was gold, with pearls studded along the outer edge and a brilliant ruby encrusted in the middle.
Paul’s jaw dropped open at the piece of jewelry and he looked at the girl. Who was she?
Just at that moment, she stirred, her long lashes fluttered open, and Paul’s blue eyes met her brown ones.
She let out a small gasp and pulled the covers up to her chest.
“Hello”, Paul said in a small voice, not wanting her to be frightened. “How did you sleep?”
The girl seemed taken aback by his unexpected politeness, she pulled the covers closer to her chin. “Umm.. well, I suppose. But… where am I?”
“My apartment.” Paul answered simply.
The girl looked around in response and her gaze fell on Paul’s hands, which was still holding the necklace.
“Oh, yea, uh… sorry I opened it,” he tried to explain. “I, um, wanted to see what you were so eager to try to protect. Here,” he put the package on the bed next to her.
The girl silently sat up and clasped the gold chain around her neck.
“Are you hungry,” Paul asked, starting to get up from his place on the floor. “I could make eggs, or toast… or maybe none of the above. I have cereal, I think. Or bagels… no, I ate the last one yesterday. Sorry about that. I could go to the store if you want…”
The girl blinked, looking unsure of what to do.
“I’m sorry, I’m being terribly rude”, Paul realized that he had, once again, been talking way too much. “I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Paul Byrom.”
“I’m Mia”, the girl smiled slightly. “You’re the one that saved me last night?”
“Well, I’m not sure if ‘save’ is the right word. More like, ‘helped you out of a potentially disastrous situation’”
Mia chuckled. “I think that would be the definition of ‘save’.”
Paul smiled. “Yea, but it sounds less conceited my way. But sure, we could say that I saved ya”
“Well then, thank you”, Mia smiled, her teeth white against her tan skin. “What were you doing in that part of town that late at night anyway?”
Paul debated answering her, but then thought better of it. “I could ask you the same question”, he said instead. “And I could also ask you why those men were chasing you. And why they were after that necklace.”
Mia looked at him thoughtfully for a minute. “It’s not important”, she finally whispered.
Now Paul was really curious. What kind of trouble was the beautiful woman in? But he figured that now was not the time to press the situation.
“What happened to those men last night?,” Mia asked suddenly. “I don’t remember much…”
“Oh, I just knocked them out”, Paul explained easily. “Then I brought you back here”
Mia’s eyes grew wide. “You knocked all of those men unconscious??”
Paul couldn’t help the swelling of his chest in pride. If she didn’t stop flattering him with all this ‘hero’ business, his ego was going to get the better of him. “Well, I kinda had to”, he kept his answer light. “They were going to hurt you if I didn’t”
“Still… there were three of them and only one of you”
Paul shrugged. They were, once again, getting close to the subject he didn’t want to address, so he changed the subject. “Right. So. What do you want for breakfast?”