Seeing You Not Seeing Me (COMPLETE)

II.the jolly girl

Even without seeing her, Jude Kane knew Mari Milch was still a young girl judging from her endless chattiness and her unladylike chuckles, snorting occasionally in between her talks.

The second Mari entered the room, the second his ears picked up the soft sound of her footfalls, the first thing he noticed was her pleasant smell - flowers, that he is confident of. And how different it scents from the greasy and tragic odor of him and his room.

That suddenly made him conscious about his looks to which he lectured himself about since he is not in the position to worry about such nonsense.

Everything about the girl his brother sent him just radiates young. Well, even the better he guesses, for the younger she is, the easier it is to scare her off and send her away just like what he did on the previous spinsters.

Throughout the day, he could sense her staring at him. It's either she was silently judging him like the previous companions or pitying him. Nevertheless, he felt his neck turning crimson from sheer embarrassment.

Then, he recalled his room. He knew the room's in a war-like state. For six months ever since he lost his sight, he resided here in Buxton, in this godforsaken land when he should be in London, writing blatantly honest reviews, publishing them for the affected socialist to loathe him, and attending pathetic balls filled with two-faced aristocrats.

Jude's not foolish. Since day one, he is most definitely aware of London's polite societydetecting every corr of his being for who could not? Not only because of his aggressive line of the profession but also because he confessed he is one hell of a man, always committing the seven deadly sins. It was as if he was a man who had just awoke from his ten-year coma, enjoying life to the fullest.

It doesn't surprise him when they called his loss of vision due to the accident a vengeance from God and a blessing for them.

On the other hand, Jude is generously conscious of his scarred body due to the accident half a year ago. Yes, not only his face and his neck, his body as well, his arms, his chest, his hips, and God knows where.

Not like that matter for what he did to his mother was way worse, it was completely his fault. If it wasn't for his foolishness, he wouldn't be here in this stuffy room with this young girl, and his mother would still be in London, being a prima donna as she always was.

Though frankly speaking, Jude confesses that long before the disaster, he is no handsome fella unlike his younger brother Charles who seems to charm everyone with his good looks and endearing personality.

Charles is a great brother, Jude couldn't deny that. Charles with his utter kindness to him who insisted on hiring women to take care of his blind older brother.

And for the first time since the accident, this curse of his was taken from his mind even for a minute because of her endless senseless tales.

From her birthplace Eyam being hailed as the plague village which he already knows ever since he was young. Surely, everyone knows that, right? Still, he chose to not comment about it for he wouldn't want her to think that he is listening to her, despite how much he seems too amused by her.

Even when she proceeded to talk about the shapes of clouds she recollects glimpsing back in Eyam, Jude still found himself listening to her sweet soft voice and was astonished at her abrupt unladylike chuckles. That alone almost provoked the corner of his lips to twitch upwards. But, alas, he consumed all his strength to do no such disgrace.

Jude hadn't met a girl like her. Tell you what, he was used to wooing ladies, with their excessive fanning and their phony giggles and only mumbling a few words to play hard to get which he found so endearing before.

Women whom he could easily control, a woman with their pretend virtues, their excessive spendings, that's the type of women Jude is used with, and let's say, fond of in bed.

And he couldn't blame himself nor the women of London society since that is practically how they are brought up.

Yet, now, he found himself... quite enjoying this young girl's blabbering. And perhaps, just perhaps, he'll just let the girl stay for a month and with that, off she goes back to plague village or in God knows where.