Turn Around

 

Chapter six

Day seven, Wednesday

 

Furler.S: How was lunch this time?



It was close to two in the afternoon and I couldn't help but let out the tiniest of laughs. Sem was meant to be in meeting. It was up another floor, in a conference room, and I'd seen him take a laptop up with him at just gone nine this morning. I had no idea that it would run past lunch but I should have known. Do high flyers get time to eat at regular times? I'd have to ask.



Joonas: Are you concentrating on your meeting enough while typing to me?



Furler.S: Sure, sure. No one cares. The meeting has gone from well mannered arguing to personal insults between three guys right now so I think it'll end pretty soon. Bloody hot up here. So are you still up for shopping tonight?



Joonas: I guess. Do you have a place in mind? Will we drive?



Furler.S: There's a place I like in the city but yeah, we'll drive so we don't have to trek back here with all the shopping bags. Is shopping likely to make you have an... Episode?



Joonas: I have had to do my own shopping for years, Sem. I think I'll be okay with it. But if I'm not then you're always there to hold my hand and make your doctor so very happy.



Furler.S: Ha! I'll meet you downstairs then.



I had been typing in between the ding tone that signalled a new message, trying not to let my standard of work drop, but now I felt restless, unsettled. I couldn't decide whether it was nerves, excitement, or something else entirely. But what did I have to be excited over? Food shopping was dull, right?





I felt utterly moronic stood in the huge and empty reception area of the building, just waiting for him. I must have been waiting fifteen minutes before I saw the elevator numbers flashing and soon enough out he stepped. As he strode towards me with his powerful gait and casual speed he was yanking his tie off and undoing his top button. I smiled politely when we made eye contact and as he reached me he had rolled his sleeves up.



“Let's go shopping!” Maybe shopping excited him in some weird way too.





“Erm,” We were getting out of the car, him grabbing some reusable bags and handing them to me when I said I didn't really want to be in control of a trolley. “It's kinda big, don't you think?” The building took up almost my entire view, deliveries queuing up down one side, waiting to get around the back. No wonder really, I thought, since most deliveries happened in the evening. And it was already starting to get dark; the giant, two floored supermarket beaming bright lights out and into the carpark. I still felt a tingle of excitement; I knew exactly what I wanted to do.



Once the fumbling for change to put in the trolley had taken place we were inside, the warmth hitting us. A sign hung right in front of us, stating that food was downstairs, clothing, electricals and a cafe upstairs. I let Sem lead the way and he sauntered around the fresh fruit and vegetable section, me shuffling with quick steps behind him, spying fruits I'd never seen before. The orange pebbles that were labelled 'Kumquats' seemed awfully expensive to me. And Dragon Fruit? It was oddly pretty but I had no idea of the contents and nor did Sem.



Just as I was beginning to feel like a fruit virgin, Sem gave me the job of bagging things, taking them to the scales, weighing them and whacking the little sticker on. Looking at what he was getting, he liked bananas. A lot of bananas. “Ya like bananas, huh?”



“Bananas help you go.”



I stared after him as he began to head towards the mass of shelving holding bread. “... I'm sorry, what? They help you go? .. Oh.” I snapped my mouth shut, nodded and caught up with him. “Hey, Sem? Is it okay if I go look around a little bit while you contemplate whether you want croissants with strawberry jam or chocolate in?” I don't think I'd ever eaten either.



“Knock yourself out. But yell if you have a freak out because if people see you going crazy in here they'll probably just call an ambulance.” I shuddered at the thought. “Maybe we should get you a whistle so you can use it when you need something...”



I left him with that thought and, patting my pocket to double check I had cash on hand, I headed down the middle aisle, looking left and right, trying to find something good. And it had to be very good. No half assed measures. I found the aisle that sold chocolates and figured it was a good place to start. And, to help me out there was a specific gift section right at the bottom. Giving a sigh of relief when no one else was browsing, I took in what options were available. 'Thank you, teacher' gifts were out of the question. The medium sized boxes of assorted chocolates seemed like a safe bet since I wasn't sure on his taste but the red, heart shaped one would have been too awkward and the ultra basic ones just didn't feel right. Checking the backs of several, I shied away from the booze centred chocolates. Truffles and strawberry middles sounded safe but classy. In the end I picked a square black box with matching ribbon, figuring it was as manly as a box of chocolates got, and was heading down the aisle to pay sneakily without Sem noticing when he showed up around the corner, trolley already half full.



“What ya doin'? You look shifty.”



“Not shifty. Just...”



“You just thought you'd buy yourself some over priced chocolates?”



“Not for me, dumbass!” Hell, he could be so stupid sometimes. “For you! You let me stay at your place for free, you help me at work you... You do the other thing-”



“I never asked for anything in return though, Joonas.”



“No, which is the problem. You're too nice. You don't get anything from me and I get so much from you. It's not fair.”



“I get plenty. I get a sporadically pleasant housemate for a while and I get a guy who has potential to work for me. You know how hard it is to keep momentum up in that place some days? All they need is a whisper of cake and no work gets done for an entire afternoon. You were mid freak out and yet you were still ashamed because you hadn't completed masses of work.”



“Why won't you let me get anything for you to attempt to say thank you?!”



“Shut up, Joonas. Go and put them back so we can continue shopping like normal, sane people.” Ow.



“No! I need to do something-” My mouth was open and he took advantage of it, crushing my bottom lip hard with his own, barely missing my nose, tongue -hot and wet- in an urgent search for my own. Kissing someone and staring at them while they stared back may have been awkward for many but it had its benefits for both of us. It allowed him to judge when I had calmed down. It allowed me keep both feet on the ground and not end up jellified on the floor. I didn't kiss him back for that exact reason. I wanted to. My body begged to move, to push his tongue back and shove my own into his mouth in return, to wrap my arms so tightly around his neck. The ghosting touch over my side heightened the agony caused by keeping so still but I couldn't.



He pulled away shortly after and I put my head down, pressing it against the top of his chest. “It's not nice to refuse to kiss back, Joonas...”



“It's just difficult here. I'm sorry.”



He tapped my shoulder and I looked up. “Why is it? I thought that this worked for you.”



“The people...” I glanced from side to side as people wandered by.



A hand held my chin and pulled me close to Sem's face. “The people don't give a shit and even if they did you shouldn't.” Another slight tug from the fingers on my jaw and his mouth was on mine again. His tongue was sliding over my dry bottom lip and he whispered against my parted lips, “Do it. It's better when you do.” It was all the encouragement I needed. I was in no way elegant and graceful, my arms lunging up to get around his neck, knuckles cracking when I hit his shoulder instead but he paid it no mind and took to wrestling with my tongue instead. Arms wrapped around my waist, hands palm down and pressing lightly on the small of my back, pushing us up against eachother. When we parted, him smirking at my wobbly, perhaps drunken state he held me still. “See? Nothing bad happened.” Just as we parted properly I felt it against my abdomen, fleeting but hard and impossible to miss... But I couldn't complain. “Let's finish shopping and go back to mine.”

~~~

Author notes: One week in. Two weeks to go. Thank you, as always, to my beta, Missusann (fp).

Lisa: Joonas never mentioned his pets before because he took one look at the state of Sem's home and though 'fuck no, he'll never say yes'. I am, however, a grand total of eight chapters ahead of the posting for Turn Around and he only just recently got his pets. Things sort of... Get in the way :D

Reader1962: Ha, just say hi! I'm not the type of person who demands lengthy reviews. Sometimes I just think 'maybe all those people (the hit counter) read the first chapter and dislike it, hit the back space and never return'. Paranoid, much. But yay! You like it! This makes me happy.