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“Miles, Flora, let’s go inside, it’s starting to rain” Dani said in a quite authoritative tone as she gestured for the kids to return to the manor. They had spent the evening playing outside, and Dani needed to supervise them. Almost an hour before, at nearly 18:00 o´clock, dark clouds and a chilling breeze filled the air. A big storm was approaching. Dani had told the kids that as soon as it started raining, they had to go back inside.
“But Miss Jessel let us play in the rain” Flora said, trying to convince her.
“Well, but I’m not Miss Jessel, dear. Plus, I wouldn’t want you or Miles catching a cold”
“Okay” she replied with a groan. Miles was grumpy as well, but he didn’t say a word. He was more reserved than Flora.
As soon as they entered, Dani locked the kitchen door and closed the window. The rain was slowly starting to pour, but it seemed like it was going to be one of those long, rainy nights. She took some time to look through the window at the scene that the approaching storm had created. The trees were sweeping with the breeze, the small but constant raindrops were starting to cover the ground, and the fog that settled upon the lake created a beautiful, yet ghostly scene.
She admired the view for a while until she heard someone approaching. It was Hannah.
“So, you and the kids had quite a day, isn't it?"
"Hi, Hannah. Yes, we did. They were full of energy today" Dani replied with a smile.
Hannah took a seat at the dining table.
"At least they learned the lesson. You did a great job taking them gardening as a consequence of their actions"
“Well someone had to put them in place, I guess” Dani replied with a chuckle.
They stayed silent for a while and Dani kept on looking throughout the window, until Owen came into the kitchen.
“So, are we ready for some rainy night meal?” he said in a bubbly tone. Dani looked at him a bit puzzled.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, dear, you’ve been missing one of the greatest events here in the house” Owen replied as he took out some cooking trays and headed to the counter to take out some ingredients.
“Well, Dani, Owen likes to cook small pizzas for everyone on rainy evenings like this one” Hannah said as she stood up and leaned towards the wall. “He did it once because the kids got scared about a thunderstorm, but it’s a tradition now.”
“And we all enjoy it, believe me” Owen said as he started getting everything ready.
“Well, I can’t wait to witness it” Dani said as she looked up and checked the time on the wall clock beside the fridge.
“But first, let me go check on the kids. I believe Miles is already out of the shower, so I need to go help Flora with her bath. If you need help with anything, please call me, I won’t take long”
“Don’t worry, everything’s under control” Owen said with a smile. Dani smiled back and headed upstairs to help Flora take a bath and help her and Miles to get ready for dinner.
Once they were ready, Dani told them to go downstairs while she got ready. She took a bath and chose a warm sweater, since the rain made the temperature get lower around the house. When she was done, she turned off the lights and went downstairs as well, to join the others. The storm was getting too loud, she couldn’t even hear the constant chatting in the kitchen. She entered the room and found Flora and Miles drawing on the chalkboard behind the dining table, Owen still preparing dinner, and Hannah and Jamie sitting at the table. Dani thought Jamie had already left before the storm, as she didn’t see her around since earlier that day. She seemed as if she had just come inside from the storm; her clothes were wet, as well as her hair. Dani was marvelled at her. She seemed to handle life so lightly, yet so mysteriously. She seemed as if she didn’t care about anything at all, but cared so much on the other side.
Dani proceeded to sit down on the chair across Jamie, and besides where Miles and Fora usually sat.
The dinner went on as it usually did, with the exception that the kids were excited about what they called the “rainy night meal”. Everyone sat down and talked about their day, drank wine and had a nice time, despite the raging storm outside.
It was around 10:00 PM, which meant it was the kid’s bedtime. Dani sat up and started cleaning up before she left.
“Can we stay up all night?” Flora asked while looking up at her. Dani looked back at Hannah, not sure of what to do. She just nodded reassuringly. It was just one night, what could go wrong? Besides, they were all having a good time-including herself.
“Oh, sure, but just for today, okay?”
Flora and Miles nodded while they headed to the main hall to play hide and seek for the night, leaving Dani, Jamie, Owen and Hannah at the dining table.
“They won’t last much time awake. They always say they’re going to stay up all night and turns out it’s just an hour or so” Jamie said with a chuckle as she poured herself more wine.
They kept on talking until eventually, the kids didn’t want to play anymore.
“Okay, let’s go to bed then” Dani told them as she headed out to go upstairs.
Outside, the rain was still pouring, leaving a dangerous way home for Owen and Jamie. Owen often stayed in for the night, but Jamie didn’t. She only did when it was necessary, as she preferred not to interfere with the night routine of the house. But the storm outside made it hard for her to go back home. There had been some accidents on the road because of the rain, so she preferred to stay for the night.
“Seems like I’ll need to stay, if you don’t mind” she told Hannah.
“It’s okay, darling. You know this is your second home. You can stop by whenever you please”
“Or whenever there’s a bloody storm in the way” She replied as she stood up and headed to the living room, where she usually stayed. She grabbed some blankets from the closet and threw them on the large couch. She then took her boots off and laid down while everyone went to sleep.
Meanwhile, Dani finished helping the kids getting ready for bed and proceeded to head to her room. She got changed and was almost ready for bed, but she wanted to drink some water. She made her way to the kitchen again, trying not to make any sound not to wake up anyone, and surprisingly found one of the kitchen lights on. She walked in and found Jamie, looking for something to eat in the fridge.
“Are you still awake?”
Jamie looked at her, a little bit startled. She didn’t expect anyone to join her in the kitchen.
“I mean, it’s never late for a night snack. That’s one of the perks of staying here, believe me” she said as she closed the fridge door and leaned against it.
“So, do you stay here often?” Dani asked as she awkwardly leaned towards the dining table.
“Not quite a lot, but there’s this shitty storm out there, y’know?” Jamie said while munching on the leftovers she took out of the fridge.
“So you live far from here, I guess”
“Not much. But the road’s a bit dangerous. So I better stay in here. There’s enough room, and besides, I don’t have anyone waiting for me back home, so, I don’t mind sleeping on the couch once a while”
Dani found Jamie a very interesting woman. She never shared enough of her life away from the manor, so it was a mystery. But it seemed like she enjoys solitude. Dani wasn’t sure if Jamie actually liked her, as she was the complete opposite. But she somehow particularly enjoyed her company, even though she knew maybe it wasn’t reciprocated. Jamie somehow made her feel at peace. Maybe it was because she handled life smoothly, and seemed to have no worry in the world.
“And what about you? Why did you suddenly come and join me in the kitchen?” she asked after the awkward silence, with a smug smile.
“Well, I just came for some water”
“Yeah, sure” Jamie teased as she walked around the kitchen. “I bet you were trying to hit Owen up, innit?”
Dani looked at her, startled. She wasn’t attracted to Owen at all. In fact, she wasn’t sure who she was attracted to, after all. She knew Jamie was kidding, but the comment really made her a little uncomfortable.
“No, why?” she asked, puzzled.
“I don’t know..” she replied as she kept on walking back and forth, from the counter to the wall, “maybe a pretty girl like you would fancy someone like him, I guess”
Dani didn’t know what to say. She got it. Jamie was either just pissing her off for fun, or she was trying to strangely flirt with her.
“And what if I don’t?” she asked back, in an attempt to confront her.
“Well then, shame on him” she replied with a smirk.
Dani tried to quickly find a way to change the subject when suddenly the lights went off in the house.
“Shite”
They couldn’t see anything, and no one was awake, so they were the only ones who noticed the power went off.
“Wait, I remember there was a candle over here” Dani replied as she clumsily started to run her hands against the dining table.
“And with what we’ll turn it on?” Jamie asked. She was leaning against the counter, trying to figure out what Dani was trying to do.
“You know here better than I do. Do you know where we can find some matches or something?”
Dani was a little panicked. She clearly didn’t know what to do in order to get out of the situation and go to sleep.
“I mean, we can look for a flashlight instead. We’re not in the 1800s” Jamie said with a chuckle, which made Dani laugh.
“Fine, fine. Now what? Shall we wait until the power comes back?”
Jamie tried to walk closer to where Dani was, holding on to the counter so that she doesn’t trip with something on the way. She finally reached one of the chairs and moved closer. She couldn’t see Dani, but she guessed she was near where she stood.
“I think we can manage the way to the living room. There we can turn on the fireplace for a while, and I guess you can go back to your room afterwards”
“Okay” Dani nodded, staring into the darkness. She wasn’t sure if the fireplace was a good idea. Was Jamie really flirting with her or was it just a nice gesture?
“Come on then, gimme your hand”
Dani tried to reach out for her in the darkness until she felt Jamie’s hand on her arm. She felt something strange inside her, but she preferred to ignore the feeling. She took Jamie’s hand in hers and clumsily started walking behind her, as they both tried to figure out the way back to the living room.
Jamie walked slowly, trying to remember where every piece of furniture was located. She used her free hand to hold on to the walls, just in case her memory failed. She felt Dani’s hand tightened against her as if she felt safe with every step she took. After a while, they reached the entrance to the living room.
“And we’re finally here” Jamie said in a quieter tone since Owen’s room was almost next door.
Dani let go of Jamie’s hand and started looking for a place to sit. She found an armchair and managed to sit down, as Jamie went to the fireplace.
“Are you sure you want to turn this on?” Dani asked, a bit worried.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s getting cold in here” she said without hesitation, as she tried to look for the matches in the dark. Dani patiently waited until she heard the sound of the matches lighting. She immediately saw a spark of light right in front of Jamie, who proceeded to throw the match into the fireplace. The whole room lit up as the wood began to light up in flames. Dani closed her eyes for a second because it was too bright, as she had been exposed to darkness for quite a while now. She opened them again and saw Jamie right in front of the fireplace, looking at her with a smirk.
“I guess it’s better now, isn’t it?”
“Yeah” she said as she looked at the fire. Jamie sat down on the floor, in front of her. Dani took a moment to stare at her. She was, indeed, a beautiful woman. The way the light hit the features of her face created a blissful scene.
The scene ended moments after, though, when Jamie broke the silence again and Dani quickly looked away from her, avoiding getting caught staring.
"So," she started, sitting now cross-legged facing Dani.
"What about you? I mean, I've known you for a few days but I don't really know anything about you, y' know? Would you mind sharing with the group?" She asked with a smirk.
Dani took a deep breath before she started. That was true, this woman didn't know anything about her, but she didn't know many things about herself either. Or at least that's what she thought.
“Well, I’m not that interesting, actually” she started, as she looked down shyly.
“Oh, come on. You come from the other side of the world to take care of some weird kiddos and you’re saying that’s not interesting?” Jamie replied with a smug smile.
Dani looked away nervously, as she made a brief pause before actually answering the question. She never thought someone would actually find her past life interesting, the life before dropping everything and starting over.
“Okay, okay. Well, what would you want to know?”
Jamie smiled as she thought about something to ask back.
“Oh, well, why did you move here? Do you have any siblings? A pup, maybe? Did you enjoy college? I don’t know, just tell me something about you” Jamie said, a little excited about asking.
“Okay, um, I was a teacher before coming here, back in the US. I really enjoyed it” Dani said, not very sure about if her answer was boring or not.
“So why did you leave?”
Dani sighed before answering. That was a very tough question sometimes she didn’t even know how to answer it for herself.
“There were many things happening, that I just decided I needed a change”
Jamie noticed she was getting nervous to talk about it, so she decided it was better not to pressure her into sharing something she didn’t want to.
“Well I hope you made the right decision, then” she said with a small smile.
“I hope I did” Dani said, looking down.
“And what about you?” she asked back after a brief pause.
“Me? I’m just a gardener. Not much to see here, I guess”
Dani saw a hint of sadness in Jamie’s eyes as she described herself. She knew there was probably a lot more than what she said. She questioned herself if she’d ever get to know Jamie’s story one day.
They stayed quiet for a while until Dani let out a yawn.
“I think you should go and sleep now” Jamie said as she smiled at her. Dani smiled back but realised Jamie will be staying on the couch.
“But what about you?” she asked, concerned.
“I’ll stay on the couch”
Dani shook her head in disagreement.
“You can’t stay here with the power off and the cold”
“If you just saw the places I’ve slept in before” Jamie said with a sarcastic chuckle.
“I don’t care. You can’t stay here in the dark. Let’s share my room, it’s big enough” Dani offered shyly, with a genuine smile.
“Oh no, I don’t wanna invade your privacy” Jamie replied, looking down.
“I don’t mind, really” she paused. “There’s enough space in the room. I mean, the bed’s pretty big” Dani said. Jamie started to get nervous about it. Was she actually asking her to share a bed with her?
“You don’t have to worry, really” she insisted, trying not to think about a possibly uncomfortable situation between the two.
“I insist. I won´t let you sleep here” Dani replied in a quite authoritative tone.
“Well, you win” Jamie said, giving in to her offer.
Jamie proceeded to look for the flashlight in one of the cabinets and then extinguished the fire from the fireplace, leaving all in darkness again before turning the flashlight on.
“Here you go” she said as she handed it to Dani, who took it in one hand. She then took
Jamie’s hand in the hers, just to make sure she was following behind, and started walking out to the hall, heading to her room. After a while, she let go of her hand when she was sure she wasn’t going back to the couch. Jamie followed shyly behind, trying not to make much noise with the sound of her boots on the stairs.
They crossed the hall, poorly lit by the flashlight, and reached the door to Dani’s room. She clumsily managed to turn the handle and open the door in the darkness. Dani came in and gestured for Jamie to follow. Jamie then looked both ways into the hall before coming in, just to make sure no one was watching. They weren’t doing anything wrong, but she feared someone could get a wrong impression of the situation. She slowly entered the room and looked around, as Dani closed the door again. It was the first time she entered that room since she first started working there since it was Rebecca’s room before. From what she could see, it seemed nice. There was a perfectly well-made queen-sized bed in the middle, a big window that offered a look of the garden, and multiple spaces for storage.
“Told you, it’s better for you to stay here” Dani said as she placed the flashlight on one of the chests of drawers, with the light facing up, so that it illuminated a bit more. Both women stayed in awkward silence until Dani started walking around the room and opening one of the closets. Jamie remained standing beside the bed, not wanting to disturb by getting too comfortable. She stared at the window, where she could only see the raindrops hitting the glass and the cloudy night sky, barely lit by the moonlight.
“Aren’t you going to change?”
Dani asked, forcing Jamie to turn her head and see her. The room was dimly lit by the flashlight, but she could clearly see she was taking off her clothes. Jamie tried to look down, not making obvious that she was watching her, because she didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
“I didn’t bring any other clothes, so I guess not” she said shyly.
“I can lend you some. Come here and choose a t-shirt or something” she said as she gestured for Jamie to go with her. Jamie nodded nervously and walked towards the closet, avoiding any contact with the half-naked Dani, who was now wearing her bra and unzipping her jeans. Dani noticed her attempt to look the other way as she waited for her to choose some clothes. She found it a bit cute that she was trying not to look at her while changing, but she decided to ease the tension between the two.
“Come on, Jamie, there’s no need to look the other way. There’s nothing you’ve never seen”
Jamie laughed nervously as she took out a large plaid grey t-shirt.
“Fine, fine. Now, would you mind if I take this?” she asked as she showed Dani the shirt.
“Oh, not at all, take whatever you want, really”
“Thanks” she answered as she proceeded to unbutton her overalls and take them off. Dani continued taking off her own clothes and proceeded to grab her nightgown from the closet, and put it on. The night was a bit chilly, so she took out extra blankets as well. She looked at Jamie from the corner of her eye. She had already changed into the shirt she lent her. She looks nice, she thought She looked like a completely different person than the strong, confident gardener she’d met days before. Here, in the intimacy of the night, Jamie looked innocent and even vulnerable. Dani remembered she told her she had no one waiting for her back home, so she imagined that maybe every day after she came home and was finally on her own, she turned into this woman she’s seeing right now; this innocent; carefree but careful woman.
“Shall I turn the lights off?” Jamie asked, interrupting Dani from her thoughts.
“Yeah, that’d be good” she said as she sat on the bed. Jamie finished folding her clothes and picked up the flashlight, and turned the switch off. The room became in almost complete darkness, only with some hints of moonlight.
Jamie sat on the edge of the bed, still unsure about getting inside the covers. She knew there wasn’t anything wrong about sharing a bed, but she felt nervous somehow.
She took a minute until she slowly got in.
“Well, it was a long day” she heard Dani saying. She turned her head to where she was, and could only see a vague image of her. She was facing up, staring at the ceiling.
“Yeah, it was” she answered as Dani turned to see her and gave a small smile.
“Thank you for letting me sleep here tonight” Jamie told her as she turned to stare at the ceiling as well.
“You have nothing to thank, I mean, I couldn't just let you sleep out there with this weather” Dani said as she slowly reached for her hand, which was out of the covers. Jamie felt a chill down her spine at the touch. It was very unexpected, and she wasn’t used to it. In fact, she wasn’t used to sharing a personal space with someone. It all just felt weird, but comfortable at the same time. She stayed still, not showing any reaction to Dani placing her hand on top of hers.
Dani slowly removed her hand from Jamie’s and put it back beneath the covers.
“Good night, Jamie, see you in the morning” she said in a low voice, almost murmuring.
“Good night” she answered back, shyly. She heard Dani changing positions so she guessed she was now laying on her side, probably facing the other way. She kept on facing up, her eyes wide open just looking at the shadows on the roof created by the moonlight and the reflection of the trees outside. The room became quiet, so the only thing she could hear was her own breathing and Dani’s breathing as well. She felt awkward. She knew deep down she craved moments like this. But she still enjoyed the feeling of being alone in the dark. She felt many things all at once.
Maybe I should sleep it off, tomorrow we’re gonna leave and everything will go back to normal , she thought, evading her own feelings.
She let her mind wander for a while, until she got to the realisation that maybe she did enjoy the company. Maybe this time, she did.