6. chapter 6 Mismatched (1/2)

chapter 6

after having a horrible day with mchallan insulting him, he was finally looking forward to something. jerome walked up to

portia's door. it was about 9 o'clock at night, and he was meeting her for dinner at her flat. knocking on the door, it opened,

to show portia in a classy black dress, quite plain and surprisingly conservative, with short sleeves, and the hem to her upper

ankles, as were most of her dresses. she was quite beautiful. he said, "good evening. you look gorgeous."

she grinned and blushed, and said, "come on in." her flat was all red, the exact opposite of his. the kitchen tiling was

black and white checkered, and the carpet was plain white. to the left was a sofa and a television, and to the right was the

small kitchen. she took his coat, and they gave each-other a quick kiss. "dinner's at the table," she said, and showed him to

a small vintage table, with 2 candles and 2 plates of steaming pasta. there was champagne too.

jerome laughed, and sat down. she followed him, and started to eat. he took a bite, and said, "portia, this is delicious."

"my mum's recipe," she replied, and they continued with their dinner, talking about all kinds of things; how their day went,

their families, and how much of a jerk james st. clair was. portia said he was making passes on her at the ball at the palace,

and how she smacked him across the face, which made both of them erupt into laughter.

about an hour later, they had finished the meal, and portia cleaned up the table. jerome sat on the couch, and then she sat

with him. she took out some altoids from a drawer in her coffee table and took one, because there was garlic in the sauce,

offering one to him too. then, she took out a picture from the coffee table, looking at it, smiling.

it was a photo of both of them in the park. "look, jerome," she handed it to him.

he took it from her, and viewed it over. it was a picture they had an ice cream seller take, a few days after they had met.

portia was wearing a green dress, and jerome was in his usual wrinkly trousers and a white shirt with a loose tie. in the

background was a pond with ducks, and green grass, the park on the sunny day. they were hugging eachother and grinning

happily at the future. he smiled at her, saying, "you got the pictures developed?"

"yeah. remember when we went to madame tussauds wax museum, and took the pictures with all the statues, and the one

where i was pretending to kiss the charles lindbergh, and the security people came and stopped me? well, they got in the

picture," she laughed with him. "it's funny, you see me looking all confused and embarrassed, and then the security man

scolding me!" portia did an impression of the gruff security guards, in her fake english accent, "excuse me, kissing the

exhibits is not allowed!!"

they laughed and laughed, then jerome said, "we need to go to hyde park again soon."

"well, how about tomorrow?"

he thought, "ok. we'll ditch practice. sound good?"

"sounds great," she paused to laugh, "god, that was the most fun i've ever had," and looked at him, into his eyes. "do you

love me?"

"why, what do you mean?" he chuckled..

"well, i mean, how long have we known eachother?" she asked.

"about a month."

"you don't think it's too fast. i mean, it's only one month," she slumped back on the couch and sighed.

"oh, is this the 'love or lust' discussion?" he asked.

"yeah. i guess it is," she embarrassedly said.

"well, of course i love you. do you believe me?"

portia smiled and said, "yeah, that's what i think too. you know, we should make a tally of how many times that's said

between us." she paused. "have you ever been in love before, jerome?"

he laughed out loud, and replied, "no. never. why, have you?"

she shook her head, "nope."

jerome was quiet for a moment, and then asked, "well, have you. . .uh. . .ever had. . ."

"no, no one before you," she instantly said. "is that what you were going to ask?"

he smiled, "yes, that's exactly what i was going to ask."

"well, what about you, huh?"

he shook his head, "no."

"truly?"

"truly," he said.

portia yawned and rested her head on his shoulder. he put one arm around her. "hey jerome?"

"yeah?"

"why are you going to be in the english channel cup?"

"because i want to prove myself, i guess."

she sat up straight, "prove yourself? haven't you already?! i mean, you're the best swimmer who ever lived!! you've won

every challenge you've come up against!!"

"no, i can always get better," he said.

portia laughed, "ok."

"well, why are you entering the race?"

she thought for a moment. "just for fun."

"for fun?!" he laughed.

"yeah, i wanted to try it. and you know, it can't be too hard. i mean, i was caught in a rip tide when i was 6. so after that i

was a really strong swimmer. my dad would go out on his boat, 20 footer, just a boring little fishing boat, and i would jump

off in the middle of the sea and just swim. i'm not an olympic athlete or anything, just a girl who swims for fun and the

challenge."

"but you have a trainer?"

"yeah, this is the english channel. the weather conditions are supposed to be very extreme," she said.

"oh, i thought you were an olympic swimmer or something," he replied.

"hell no! why, are you disappointed?"

"no, of course not!!" he exclaimed. "i would never think of you as anything less if you weren't. . ."

she interrupted him by laughing. "i know, i know. you take things so seriously! it's hilarious!!"

jerome smiled and sat up straight, slouching, looking at the coffee table. portia put her arms around him and just hugged

him for a long time. he did the same, and kissed her on the cheek. "i love you."

"i love you too," she said, and let go of him.

he looked at the clock, and the time was 10:30. "well, i think i should go," he sighed, and stood up.

"are you sure? i mean, i made a cake, or you could. . ." she tried to get him to stay, and stood up also.

jerome grinned and chuckled, "you want me to stay?"

"yes!!" she blurted out. but she realized her error, and tried to act indifferent. "well, if you want to, i mean, i'm not forcing

you to or anything" she said, acting very calm, cool, and collected, despite that was the very opposite of her, and sat on the

kitchen counter.

he smirked, and walked to her. "ok. i'll stay."

portia smiled, jumped off the counter, and said, "oh, ok."

at the same exact time, they quickly threw their arms around each-other and deeply kissed. well, perhaps more than that,

because soon, they were in her room.

portia woke up yawning at 6 o'clock the next morning, very tired from the night before, but feeling strangely happy. using

her toe, she opened the drapes, allowing the morning sun to shine through. she looked over her shoulder, and saw jerome,

still sleeping (and snoring), with one arm limply draped around her waist. he was right up against her, and she could hear

him

eathing quietly. she smiled and kissed his forehead. then she carefully picked up his arm, trying not to wake him,

and sat up, her legs dangling over the side of the bed, but immediately felt dizzy and queasy. her head hurt, but she could