Jaquelyn woke the next morning earlier than usual, and even though she was awake, she lay for a few moments. The body that was with her all night was gone, as she expected, and she was left even more confused and upset than before. Sitting up, she allowed the covers to fall away from her upper body. She blinked and stared at the wall, her head buzzing with so many thoughts so quickly she couldn't even grasp hold of one of them to put it into words.
"I hope you don't mind, but I used your shower." What? She whipped her head towards the voice that snapped her out of her thoughts. "Good morning." He said when her eyes finally settled on him standing by her window.
"Your still here." And shirtless.
"I thought I might explain my actions to you..." He watched her as she started to cover her body, then exasperated shoved the covers from her body. Stepping out of the bed, she walked towards the adjoining bathroom.
"Yes, you do owe me an explanation." He grinned at the view of her backside. The sound of the shower and them the sink turning on almost drove him to follow her into the bathroom, but he decided to give her some space.
"Would you like to make the bed?" He called through the door. Hmmph, he had the slight hint of a Southern accent.
"No!" She hollered back, "Just strip it."
As she scrubbed her body her mind slowed to a reasonable pace...Should I be mad? Should I hit him? Why is he still here? And the nerve of him to be standing in her room with no shirt on, showing off all his muscles! And using my shower! Not that I would have noticed if he hadn't told me-But still! He raped me!!!! Even if you like it, it's still rape. Isn't that what Stabler said on that episode of Law And Order:SVU one time? Or maybe it was some other detective show. Whatever... She stepped out of the shower and toweled herself off. When she was done, she wrapped herself loosely in it and walked back out into her room. He was standing there looking at the pictures on the dresser.
"Excuse me." She said reaching towards the top drawer. Stepping to the side, he watched her drop the towel and slip on a pair of panties. He grinned at her again as she searched for more clothes. She was uncannily comfortable around him. When she finished dressing, she turned to study him. Her head cocked slightly to the side as she surveyed his face, her eyes came to rest on his. He was calm under the scrutiny of her gaze. He had no desire to hide anything from her.
"What's your name?" she questioned, eyeing him closely as if she were looking for facial ticks or other signs that he might have been lying.
"Michael." He responded plainly.
"Your full name."
"Michael Robert Collins."
"How did you get in my house?"
"Through the front door."
"Did you disable the alarm?"
"No. I just put the code in."
"And how did you get the code?"
"Oh, from your ex."
"What????" Her ex? Her crazy ex? Well that made sense. But why would he do that knowing how afraid she was of living alone? Why would she give someone the means to break into her home and possibly harm her? "You knew Taylor?"
"Yes."
Jaquelyn swallowed and sat on the edge of her stripped bed. She muttered to herself, things Michael couldn't really understand, as she stared into her lap. Why would he do that to her? She knew the breakup was not a mutual one, but surely he wasn't driven to such extremes to get back at her. Sitting down next to her, Michael inhaled deeply preparing to explain the messy situation.