Nerthus“Ouch,” I groan, trying to lift the death weight off me. “You are heavier than you seem.”Danny wails with his head hanging. “I’m sorry, Ambaaa.”“Oh my God, Danny. Are you drunk?”He starts groaning and sobbing, and I try to calm him before he wakes up the entire house.“Shhh. Danny.” I finally get him to stand up, even if it seems hard for him to keep his balance.“Come on, let’s get you some water,” I whisper, closing the door and pushing him into the kitchen.Looking at the bar stools, I am pondering over whether I should better take him to the couch. “Can you sit…?”“Sure,” He answers full of pride as he hops onto the kitchen island. “I learned that a long time ago.”I laugh, turning to take a bottle of water out of the fridge.As I hand him the bottle, he sighs deeply, letting his arms slump into his lap. “I’m sorry Amber. I didn’t know where to go.”“It’s okay, baby. You can come over whenever you need to. Now drink!” I cross my arms, gesturing to the bottle in his hand
Nerthus There are a few moments in my life where I could say that I nearly had a heart attack. But I guess the moment I jolt awake because of the sound of a horn will definitely make it to my top three. “What the fuck?!” I screech, hearing Danny cussing as he turns to bury his face into a pillow. “Nice couch you have here.” My heart skips a beat at hearing Arawn’s voice even before my eyes can find him. “Are you insane? You woke up the entire house with that thing!” He is just standing there with his phone in his hand, looking at me disparagingly as I hiss at him. Pulling my blanket up to my chest, I look over to Danny. “He was just feeling lonely. Why are you like that?” Danny groans about not telling him once again as Arawn clicks his tongue. “Sure, there is nothing better to cure loneliness than a pair of big boobs.” “Wouldn’t you know?!” I don’t get to gasp in time as he is already standing at my bed, tearing my warming blankets off me. “Out. I have things to do. Don’t l
Arawn Thank you for the flowers.I laugh at my own simping as I knock on the door. “Danny, open up!”He doesn’t respond, and I knock against it once more.“Come on! Open this door.”Turning at the door handle, I click my tongue. “You surely don’t want Amber to have a broken door, don’t you?”This bait works, as I hear a low click, and can finally open the door fully.Disclosing a teenager sulking while sitting on a small couch, I nearly have to laugh but I keep it in.I urgently need to leave here.“Danny! What are you doing?” I ask him as I close the door behind me.The room is a small library mixed with an office space. It is cozy, even if it fits the sterile style of Nerthus’ taste in interior design.Sitting down in an office chair, I roll to sit next to Danny. “Are you still feeling unwell?”He shakes his head, still avoiding my gaze.“How much did you drink last night?”I get another non-verbal answer as he shrugs.“Danny!” I lean forward, propping my elbows on my knees. “Were
Nerthus It’s official.I’m going to die.Right here and on the spot.Just because my heart can’t take it anymore.“Amber!” Danny’s voice tears me away from staring at the lights and decorations in awe as he and Arawn seem to have moved through the crowd.“Sorry,” I mumble more to myself as he is too far away to hear it as I reach Danny, who is waving for me.This afternoon and evening have been so much fun but also quite depressing.Don’t get me wrong.I’m certainly used to having fun, and Jenna and Gigi surely are the best friends a girl could ever desire. But this is just different.I had spent some time on my own in the arcades as I was in my teens after I had come to New York.But Coney Island?!The afternoon at the arcade has already been much more fun than I had imagined, as it is different from being there alone.Danny and I had raced each other on the race car simulators and threw a few baskets on the basketball machines.We even won some tickets that we could exchange for fu
Nerthus “Relax,” Arawn says annoyed, taking his cigarette package out of the inside pocket of his coat. “I got your message loud and clear. I just needed him away as long as possible because my head is killing me.” Taking a pull of his cigarette, he looks into the distance. My heart squeezes in my chest as this isn’t the message I intended for him to get. Yet, I was never the type to give such messages. I wouldn’t deserve to be this type of woman, and he surely is better off without me troubling him with all my emotional baggage. It’s shoved deeply down, and this is where it should stay. I really can’t risk having it spilled just because I can’t seem to keep my emotions in check with him. And still, my tongue itches to ask him about his card and his text. About what he meant exactly. I know that I’m being stupid, and I’m continuing to convince myself that I’m interpreting it wrong, as I’m just acting like a love-sick teenage girl. So unprofessional. Men would do anything fo
Nerthus Feeling the urge to pant for air, I squirm in my seat.The little voice in my head is screaming how I should recognize that this isn’t about work. He can’t say such things or do certain gestures if he wasn’t into me on an entirely other basis.But I drown it in my doubt immediately, shutting it up.And I surely have enough material to do it, as he had treated me badly enough to never get her to re-emerge to gasp for air.Clearing my throat, I fight hard to keep my voice from trembling as I try to get the conversation going in another direction.And without those breathtaking words of his.“What about me falling for you and you threatening to drop me?”“I’m sorry if I acted like this. But you have to know that this is all new to me as well.” He shakes his head, capturing my gaze with his intense one.“I was just doing my job,” I whisper, and he smirks.Lowering his voice as well, he leans in even more. “But you liked being with me, didn’t you? You had feelings for me.”Had…“Y
Nerthus “Why don’t you take your brother as well? We will just not give him any candy.” I ask him, and he rolls his eyes.“No way. He is a total pain and such a crybaby. All a mama’s boy. Ugh, I was closer to my dad. Just like Arawn was.” He smiles proudly, and I squint at Arawn as he scoffs.“Danny…” Arawn warns, putting out his cigarette.Danny sways his head from side to side. “We have many things in common. Both our fathers came from Wales.”“Oh, wow!” I say, listening as he continues to explain something geographically to me that I don’t quite understand.“But I can talk Welsh, but he never learned.” He turns to me, leaning in while lowering his voice as if he were to tell me a secret. “But it isn’t his fault. He did take him in too late.”“Danny!” Arawn barks, making us flinch, and I fear that even the fisherman sitting on the rails next to us was about to fall into the water because of the scare.Danny starts talking what could be gibberish from what I know as I don’t understan
Nerthus I’m leaning against the seat of the fancy limousine Arawn drove us to the amusement park in. With a deep sigh, I watch the city pass by my window, the smell of the leather and the constant rumbling of the motor lulling me to sleep.After having brought Danny home, who left the car under strong protest, we didn’t speak once.My heart is beating so strongly in my chest that I fear that he can hear it.After another few minutes of painful silence, his deep baritone disrupts it, making my heart jump in my chest. “Are you alright?”Turning my head to look at him, I see him staring at the street forcefully while he clenches the steering wheel. His exhaustion is dominant in his traits, even if another emotion seems to push through.It could be uncomfortable nervousness, but I could be wrong.Maybe because of what he said to me.He might sense something as he usually reads me like a bluff.“Yes,” I say, sighing again. “Will you promise me not to freak out if I take a bit to answer yo