Happy Easter to all!! Hope all is well with everyone. Want to thank all of you who have given "The Night House" a look and commented.Thought I would go ahead and post the next excerpt. As always, hope you enjoy and I would love all constructive comments and criticism to help make this the best it can be!
Thanks Again,
Ethan
Needless to say
it isn’t every day that an artist meets one of his adoring fans and falls for
her but there was something about Alexandra that Nicholas could not ignore. She
was eighteen, almost nineteen when he was twenty at the time they met. That day
she wore a red Cardigan which, despite its function, showed off her figure
well. Her dark brown hair was simply hanging loosely, down past her shoulders.
Her smile and
eyes worked together in a combination of piercing grace and sensuality. And the
thing that attracted Nicholas most of all was that she didn’t even have to try.
She was just herself, and because of it, he felt incredibly comfortable around
her. More comfortable in fact, than any other girl that he had been ever been
around.
They
spent the summer getting to know each other. He would stay in Jersey City for a
week and then he’d drive back up to Boston to be with his family for a week and
this cycle continued on for much of the summer. While he was in Jersey City, he
could see New York and this excited him. He grew up in Boston, but New York’s
size was something to behold.
He
would take Alexandra across the bridge over the Hudson River and he would hail
a taxi for her and they would go to Times Square. They would go to Chinatown.
They would go to 5th Avenue and this excited him. The bright lights
were incredible, especially at night as the whole city became electric. The
electricity drew him in and made it incredibly difficult to leave.
As
they would walk Times Square, Alexandra was impressed as she always had been at
the architecture, but when she really looked inside of herself, she longed for
Chatham. The serenity of not hearing
a taxi driver blaring its horn seemed like a distant memory to her now and
though she loved spending time with Nicholas, she wished it was in a different
place. A place where one could find pleasure in the water and sand getting
stuck in between your toes. A place where the horizon went on for days and you
could actually see the sun and stars. A place where you were considered a
coward if you ordered beef from the menu. But despite her longing, the summer
traveled on and she loved it.
Eventually
summers end.
**
“Nicholas,
we are having the wedding in Chatham whether you like it or not. It is home to
me.”
“You
lived there for five years and your whole family lives in Jersey City. What
would we do, drive them all up there?”
“I
don’t think you understand. The five years that I spent in Chatham were the
best five years of my life…or…at least the best five years of my single life,
and I think it would be nice if we all kind of tied life in full circle and
went back to the place that means so much to me.” She wasn’t mad at him for
considering other options. They had already determined that after the wedding
they would move into a house in Cape Cod, but Nicholas thought that the idea of
a wedding in, say, Vegas, would be a bit more electric than in a small town of no more than a couple thousand
people.
But
Nicholas would always bend for Alexandra. She brought out a side to him that no
other woman was able to. She made him feel like he was the only person in the
world that mattered. She made him feel like there wasn’t a thing in the world
that she wouldn’t do to keep him safe.
“Okay, I guess
Chatham it is.” He said with sarcastic disappointment.
“Well
if it such a bad thing, then why don’t we just…Not get married?” she replied back, her sensual smile crossing her
face. She began to walk towards him.
“Oh
I don’t know. Maybe there is something about you that I just can’t resist.” He
began to play with a ringlet of hair that fell beside her cheek.
“And
what might that be Mr. Durand?” She could hardly contain her laughter and pride
at the same time. She bit her lip.
“If
I told you, the secret would be out. And I don’t like to tell secrets.” He touched her face gently and
kissed her on the eye once…twice. She touched his face in response and did the
same.
“Nicholas,
have I ever told you what you mean to me?”
“Let’s
see, I think the last time you did was about half and hour ago.” They laughed.
“But feel free to tell me again, it never gets old.” They began to kiss
passionately. His hands could not leave her face as it was so precious to him.
There was a fervent desire that neither of them could contain and it was about
to be unleashed.
“Hold
me. Just…hold me.” He did.
The
passion was growing as they headed toward the bed. He began to lay her down
gently. They were each so ready in their own way for the love to unfurl.
The
doorbell rang.
“You
have got to be kidding me.” Nicholas said, the top two buttons of his shirt now
undone.
“I’ll
get it, you stay here.” She began to get up and then Nicholas laughed.
“Alex,
you can’t get it…you’re naked. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” He walked
casually to the door and opened it. He was surprised to see Alexandra’s brother
from Phoenix standing before him. He shouted down the hall.
“Alex,
it’s Jonathan. Why don’t you show yourself.” He laughed to himself. I love secrets. “Jonathan, it’s great to
see you, what are you doing here?”
“I’ll
tell you both when Alexandra gets here.” His face was rather grim and this
caught Nicholas off guard as Jonathan was very much a happy go lucky kind of
guy.
“Alex,
would you hurry up dear, we don’t have all day.” He shouted down the hall. “We
were making omelets.” I love secrets but
I hate lying. “Why don’t you come in. Could I get you something to drink?”
“That
won’t be necessary, thank you though. I’ll be very brief.” This really caught Nicholas off guard.
Jonathan was never the one to turn down an invitation, especially when it came
to his family.
“Alex,
would you hurry up, the omelets will be fine.” Lies and it made him laugh.
Finally
she appeared, dressed in a bathrobe that was several sizes to big. It belonged
to Nicholas. She beamed as she saw her brother.
“Jonathan,
how are you?” she ran up to him and embraced him, the excitement ringing in her
voice. It had been about a year since they had last seen each other and every
meeting was a special one.
She
looked up into his face and in an instant knew that this was not a surprise
visit. Something was gravely wrong and he had something to say. She began to
prepare for the words.
“Alexandra.”
His voice was low and frantically dusky.
The
urgency was in her eyes. A tear began to fall from her eye. Nicholas placed his
arm around her. He knew it would do little to comfort her.
“Alexandra.
Mom died.”
She
fell to the floor.