Amelia's POV

I pulled his limp body and grabbed him by the collar on his jacket and hauled him inside my room. I needed to make sure he was not seen in by whoever was at the door. I know I was going to get an earful from whoever it was and I already knew who it would be at this hour.

I really wish some people would just go away sometimes.

“What are you doing? What do you mean hide?” He said something else but I barely remembered any of it.

I ignored him and the cute/confused expression he had on his face. I looked at the time on my nightstand. OK, how was going to handle this? Closet? Maybe, but I have clothes in there. Bathroom? I’ll come back to that. Where else? I don’t have a roof. Alright.

I pulled him by his arm and pushed him inside the bathroom. “Stay there.”

I shut the door and tried to calm down. Any signs of worry and depression are definitely obvious on me. I had to focus. Plus I had to be ready for anything when it comes to this.

OK, here goes. I closed the door softly and walked toward the door. Peeping through the eyehole, my suspicions were right on the nail. Shit, I wonder how long this is going to be. Almost forgot this was a weekend.

I flung open the door and put on my best believable smile I could manage. I was getting used to hiding my feelings now.

I was immediately greeted with two European style kisses on each cheek and stomached through the Ben-gay aroma that fumed my nose with an ew alert. The old smelling tea rose perfume wafting in the atmosphere didn’t help either. Why do old people insist on smelling like the early 1900s?

“Amelia, darling! I know it’s late but I just thought I would stop by once again to bring you these squares I baked from the sale today. Those kids were eating them like crazy and I almost felt bad for saying stop. How are you doing my dear? I haven’t seen you in ages!”

Another “smile” just for her, “Oh wow! Thank you Erma, you keep giving me so much I’m about ready to open a bakery myself.”

She chuckled in delight and my body rolled it's eyes. “Well it’s the least I could do. You’re practically family since I live right next door. How are things with you?”

I nodded a little too fast. Damn, I was losing my character. “Things are great. I haven’t gone into work today, just taking things easy at the moment.”

I was about to turn back inside and close the conversation for good when, “Oh, dear? My grandson Will is coming to see me in a few days. It’s his mother’s birthday and he will be stopping by my place. You remember Will, right? Such a nice young man, green eyes, looks just like his mama, my daughter. You should come by this Sunday so you two can finally meet. He’s about your age.”

Ugh… she has always, since I could remember tried to fix me up with this Will grandson of hers since I moved here. I’ve never even met the guy and I really don’t want to. From what she tells me, he’s an actor, a failed one but "very busy" (which is a major contradiction) and is occasionally in town for birthdays for the family. Mormons have a lot of birthdays to cover. No thanks. Plus she says this a lot and whenever I run into her every time I come from work. She always says he just stopped by and left. At times, he wouldn’t come at all which was great for me. I would always give her a reassuring “next time maybe” to ease her matchmaking pain.

I love this part because I give the same answer every time even though it leads her on. She’s old, she can’t remember much anyway.

“We’ll see Erma. I have a very difficult project due Monday and I need to buckle down on some work. Thank you again.” I was greeted by another kiss and a heartbreaking smile.

“Thank you dear. He’s really excited to meet you. You both work so hard it’ll be nice for you two to finally meet.” I’ll bet he’s excited.

She always smiles like that when I give her hope. Eh, I made her happy. It’s no big. She placed the bowl of squares in my hands and went back to her door. I took that as my cue to immediately turn on my heel and shut the door behind me. I never know when it comes to her.

I put down the bowl of squares on the coffee table and collapsed on the couch. Well, at least this one was pretty short. Usually I’m prepared for more talking about the latest tabloid or sad stories about her husband in Pearl Harbor and how strong he was for having endured so much for someone so young. I’m not heartless but when I usually hear stories like that I feel awkward and really depressed. Erma Nipper can really chew off your ear for days if you let her.

I usually have fun with it. Nobody else in the complex comes to see me and I take it with a grain of salt usually. Plus I have no plans to see this Will anytime in the future. I’d rather have painful anal sex then go out with somebody that Erma Nipper thinks is right for me. Well maybe just anal sex, scratch the painful, that’s verging on sodomy and not my style. That’s probably something JC would be into single-handedly. Hell, he probably has got lube in all different colors and flavors. Being a professional manwhore, you gotta have the tools.

“Closing your eyes darling?” I felt his breath all over my ear and jumped upright.

He had that disgusting shit eating grin on his face and it just annoyed me.

“I wasn’t closing my eyes. Why don't you just take yourself out? Its late and I'm tired.”

His eyes scanned the bowl of lemon squares and raised his eyebrow. "Who was that?"

I shrugged and took the bowl to the kitchen and placed a sheath of plastic over the top. I really didn't wanna discuss someone annoying with someone who's equally annoying.

"Nobody. Look, I probably should have thrown you out myself earlier but I didn't wanna be grilled for you being here so late at night."

He laughed and smiled wide, "And that's a bad thing why? Are you embarrassed by me or something?"

I stared him down with a tired look.

"Point taken. Who's Will? Cheating on Brian already?"

Shit. I was really hoping he wouldn't mention that guy. How much did he hear? "JC, please leave. I'm asking you nicely now."

Fuck. The doorbell again. My eyes nearly popped out and I instantly grabbed him by the jacket again. I ignored how great he smelled. OK, what do I do? I paniced. I said the first thing that came to me.

"Bedroom, go." I ordered and pushed his body to my room.

"You plan on joining me later?"

"Stay quiet. " I pointed my finger at him and shut the door quietly.

I know this was the worst plan I had but I needed to do this to avoid pestering questions about this mystery guy in my apartment after midnight.

Until I was sure the coast was clear, I went over to the door and looked through the eyehole. I whipped the door open and breathed deep.

"Oh, I'm sorry honey I forgot something. My husband made too much and I couldn't for the life of me fit the jelly cookies anywhere in my cabinets. Can you be a dear and take them off my hands? I would like that very much."

I wanted to say no but, "Alright. Sure, thank you Erma. I appreciate it. Good night."

I took a second container from her and waved as I closed the door. I made sure to lock it and blew a big chunk of air I was holding in. That's twice in one night. I really need to get this guy outta here. This is like the ultimate of intrusions.

What the fuck could he be doing? I went wide-eyed and bolted toward my room. Can't believe the best thing to do was to put him there. I flung the door open and heaved.

"Gimmie that." I took the frame away from his hands and hid it behind my STATs books.

Can't believe he had the nerve to just go and touch my things. I was really growing tired these games and I needed to stop him before anything else happened.

"You were so cute. Was that you and your dad?"

I was shaking so hard from anger and embarrassment I had to steady my body on the dresser. I really didn't wanna be on Oprah and discuss my history with some loser. That's the last thing I'm thinking about now.

"JC, go." I tried to suppress the shake in my voice but it was no anvil.

I could feel him moving toward me and I couldn't do anything about it. Come on. Fight him. Kick him where it hurts the most. Do it. Once you do it he's going to leave. That way you can physically throw him out. I hadn't realized the dresser was moving until his arms came over me. Major violation. I stopped shaking. I froze. What the fuck was I doing? He was holding me. The fucker was actually holding me and getting away with it.

"I fucking hate you. Don't touch me." My voice never stopped shaking. I couldn't bring the conviction out.

He leaned forward next to my ear, I could feel his warm breath blanketing over me senses, making me shiver inside.

"You don't mean that. If that were true you wouldn't allow me to do this, would you now?" He growled the end of that sentence and proceeded to envelope me completely with his embrace.

I was so nervous I let myself break down again. No, this cannot be happening. Why can't I pull myself together around him? Please God. Give me a sign so I can wake up from this nightmare? I have to.

"You need to stop this. I shouldn't be doing any of this with you."

He laughed softly, "You're not doing anything. I am. And you're letting me."

Oh my god he's right. Its all because of me. I didn't try hard enough to push him away. I should keep trying. I need to do this.

"Stop..." This was starting to be more than a hug.

I think he felt it too because his grip around me loosened and I was almost instantly free until--

My cell went off. Yes. Saved. With all my strength I pushed passed him and hopped at the end of my bed to fetch the buzzing mobile.

"Hello?"

"Amelia? Hey, is it too late? I'm here."

"Come up." I clicked off the phone and threw it on the pillow.

I looked around me and noticed he was gone. I craned my head around my room and checked every other room. It was like this night never happened. He was gone. There was a knock. Finally, maybe the night did have a happy ending after all.