Eleanor wouldn’t have considered herself much of a light sleeper, but the minute that Jackson’s soft snoring stopped and he flopped over in the bed that morning, she found herself wide awake. She knew immediately based on how tired she was that she hadn’t gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep. But at the same time, she was wide awake and ready to start the day.
“Why do you always have to get up so early?” Eleanor grumbled. “We’re on vacation.”
Jackson chuckled, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You know me, I’m an early riser. You can go back to sleep if you want. I can make coffee here; and wait a bit before I head up to the house for breakfast.
Eleanor yawned. “Did you say coffee?” She sat up.
Jackson chuckled. “You look exhausted, Ellie. You went to bed at the same time I did.”
Eleanor yawned again. “I got up through the night and went for a walk outside. I ended up meeting Lilith in the movie theatre, and we watched a bit of TV and reminisced a bit. I think I remember drinking two bottles of wine between us?” She squinted, suddenly realizing how bright their room was. “Can you close the curtains?”
Jackson chuckled. “Ellie, did you get drunk?” He teased. “You haven’t been drunk in ages.”
Eleanor smoothed her hair down. “Believe me; I didn’t intend to drink as much as I did. We just started talking, then before I knew it there were two empty bottles… God, I haven’t been drunk since college.” She grumbled.
Jackson was grinning at her.
“Shut up,” She told him, knowing that he hadn’t said a word. This only made Jackson grin more.
Eleanor sighed, and pushed back the blankets on the bed. “I’m taking a shower. If you go to breakfast without me, I’ll kill you.” She warned.
“Alright.” Jackson chuckled. He turned and walked out into the living room, leaving Eleanor standing in the bedroom, wondering if her head was ever going to stop aching.
She walked into the bathroom and shut the door. She turned on the water in the shower, and let it run for a few moments. Sitting on the counter in the bathroom were Jackson’s painkillers. She opened the bottle and peered inside. The bottle was nearly full, and he only took them when the pain was unbearable. Eleanor slipped one out of the bottle with her finger and downed it with water from the sink. Jackson wouldn’t mind, and if they needed more before they returned home; it was easy to find at any drug store.
Eleanor stripped off her pajamas and climbed into the shower. The hot water felt wonderful, and the rain head shower was amazing. She wondered how much they cost and if Jackson could put one in their condo. But like everything else in the bathroom, she assumed it was probably one of the most expensive shower heads that money could buy.
Even the shower head made her think about whether or not to take up Lilith on her offer. Was she crazy to turn it down? Was it too good to be true? Could she fill another writer’s shoes?
Eleanor stood under the water for some time. Her mind was racing with ideas and reasoning, and it all made her headache worse. She turned off the water and climbed out of the shower. She wrapped herself in an impossibly fluffy white towel and stood in front of the mirror.
She dried her hair with another white towel, deciding that she was going to take advantage of not having to do the laundry. She tossed the towel into the hamper and set off to the bedroom to get dressed. Once she was dressed, she debated on making the bed, but decided again that one of the housekeepers would do it for her. Eleanor might be able to get used to people doing things for her, but it still felt strange.
She found Jackson flopped on the sofa in front of the television. He was watching the morning news as he often did. When he saw Eleanor come into the room, he sat up. “Ready to go for breakfast? I’m starving.”
Eleanor nodded, even though it hurt her head to do so. “Coffee,” was the only word that came out of her mouth.
This made Jackson snicker again.
Feeling like a strange hung-over zombie, Eleanor shoved her feet into her shoes and followed Jackson from their bunkie. The sun was bright, but the fall air was on the cool side. For some reason both of these things made Eleanor’s head hurt more.
“How’s your arm today, Jacks?” Eleanor asked, trying to deflect from her aching skull.
Jackson grinned. “It’s alright. How is your head?”
Eleanor groaned. “I am seriously so hung over.” She grumbled.
“Do you need to throw up? You can throw up in the bushes. It’ll be just like college all over again.” Jackson teased with a huge grin plastered on his face.
Eleanor punched his good arm, but even that movement made her head hurt.
They crossed the perfectly manicured lawn together and reached the courtyard. Jackson held open the door for her and Eleanor stepped inside the warm house. A fire was going in the sitting room, which made the room smell woodsy and feel warm.
They walked down the hall, past a kitchen that was filled with the sounds of clinking dishes and sizzling foods. The smell wafting from the kitchen made Eleanor’s stomach rumble, though she could have sworn that the last thing on her mind was food.
Together, Jackson and Eleanor walked into the dining room. They found Lilith sitting in her usual place at the head of the table. A mug of tea was sitting in front of her, but had been pushed aside slightly. She was busy signing documents that Corrine was placing in front of her. She paused as Corrine lifted one page and pointed to a place that required a signature on the second.
Lilith was again dressed completely in black. She was wearing black leggings, with a black sweater. Her hair was elegantly swept back into a ponytail, with the ends of her blonde hair expertly stylized. Eleanor immediately felt under dressed.
Lilith looked up over the rims of her reading glasses as Jackson and Eleanor entered. “Good morning.” She said warmly. With a wave of her hand, Corrine quickly gathered up the paperwork, and took the fountain pen that Lilith was holding out to her.
“Good morning,” Jackson grinned politely, sitting down at the table. Instantly, a waiter arrived to fill his mug with fresh coffee. The same waiter poured coffee into Eleanor’s mug and she drank it , even though it was much too hot and it burned on the way down.
“How did you sleep?” Lilith asked, sitting back in her chair and lifting her mug of tea.
“Very well,” Jackson grinned. “But I can sleep pretty much anywhere.”
Lilith turned her attention to Eleanor.
“I think I may have drank a little bit too much wine last night.” She admitted. “I’m not usually much of a drinker.”
Lilith smiled. “Yes, we did get carried away. Can we get you anything?”
Corrine stepped forward eagerly, poised and ready to retrieve whatever her employer asked.
“No, no. I’m fine. Thank you. I’ll probably feel much better after I eat something.” Eleanor said quickly, taking another sip from her coffee.
“Speaking of food, what is for breakfast?” Jackson asked, looking up at the waiter.
“Eggs Benedict with spinach and prosciutto.” The waiter said. “Chef Ashford makes the Hollandaise sauce himself, and it is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. He won’t even tell me the recipe. On the side will be grilled asparagus.”
“Sounds lovely.” Jackson said with a grin.
Eleanor’s stomach rumbled again, and she secretly hoped that it wasn’t audible in the room.
“What are your plans for the day?” Lilith asked. She removed her reading glasses and set them on the table in front of her.
“I’m not sure. What do you suggest?” Jackson asked, carefully setting down his mug of coffee. A waiter was instantly beside him to refill his coffee.
“I had suggested last night to Eleanor that you go into town. The town is quite lovely, a lot of very cute shops. If you’re interested. I’ll have my driver take you.” Lilith said. She held her tea in both hands.
“You won’t be joining us?” Jackson asked.
Lilith seemed surprised by this invitation, and glanced quickly between Jackson and Eleanor.
Eleanor nodded. “Yes, of course you should come with us. You can show us around.” Eleanor thought that if she could get a bit more insight into the writer’s life and behavior, it might help her write the article—if she did in fact end up writing it.
“Are you sure?” Lilith asked. “You wouldn’t enjoy the time alone?”
“No, no. You should definitely come with us.” Jackson insisted. “We insist.”
Lilith looked up at Corrine. “Do I have anything scheduled for today?”
“Nothing that can’t be rescheduled.” Corrine said without missing a beat. “I’ll take care of everything.” Corrine quickly swept from the room a mere second before a waiter arrived with a tray of food. He expertly moved into the room with the tray balanced on one hand. He placed a plate of food in front of Eleanor, then an identical plate in front of Jackson.
“Enjoy,” The chef bowed and left the room almost as quickly as he had come.
“You’re not eating?” Eleanor asked, already eagerly digging into her meal.
“I ate already this morning,” Lilith smiled warmly. “Please enjoy your meals.” She took a silent sip from her tea.
Corrine returned moving around the table to speak to Lilith. “I have called the driver. He will have the car ready in the next ten minutes. The driver will be ready when you are.” Corrine announced. “Your commitments have been rescheduled and fit into your schedule for next week.”
“Thank you, Corrine.” Lilith said. “Please get my handbag ready.”
“Of course.” Corrine said. She exited the room quickly and obediently.
“I’ll gave to go and get my purse,” Eleanor mused.
“I’ll send Corrine for it.” Lilith said. She put her glasses back on and picked up her phone. She sent a quick text message to her assistant, then promptly removed her reading glasses again. She smiled at Eleanor. “Done.”
Jackson cleaned his entire plate of food. He ate so well that the waiter brought him a second helping of everything. He had devoured even the second plate of food. Eleanor was slightly shocked at his appetite. Eleanor wasn’t even sure if Jackson knew what asparagus was. She had never seen him eat it before, but he ate it like it was the greatest thing in the world.
Eleanor downed two more cups of coffee before her headache finally eased and she felt ready to start the day.