Guess Who: He Says/She Says

Guess Who
Chapter 2: He Says/She Says

Jareth:

I remained hidden in the shadows of the oubliette while Robert Williams ranted and raved and swore to do all manner of wretched things to me.  He threatened to sue me, though what he would want with a crumbling castle, a horde of goblins and a brood of black chickens I can’t imagine.  He threatened to have me incarcerated, but I’m fairly sure he knew his case would never stand up in any court.  After all, his daughter was of age, and even if she had not been, I have on numerous occasions defended myself more than adequately before a judge and jury.  Williams continued in his tirade as I calmly listened from my dark corner of the oubliette.  He swore to, and I quote, “kick my skinny ass.”  I almost chuckled aloud at that one.  The thought of that pudgy, balding CPA going against me in a physical fight was beyond amusing.  When he threatened to kill me I could hide no longer.  I stepped from the shadows in my black leather and armor and was pleased when Williams visibly shrank back from my presence.

“Really, Mr. Williams,” I said calmly.  “Is all this necessary?  Your daughter and I were merely finding pleasure in one another.  Surely that’s not worth murder.”

Robert Williams furrowed his brow and growled at me, “My Sarah is worth it,” he spat. “She’s an impressionable girl and you have no business fooling around with her.”

I shook my head at the little red-faced man.  “I must disagree,” I told him as I paced in a circle around him.  “Your daughter, though impressionable, is hardly a girl.  And I do have every right to ‘fool around with her’ as you say since she called on me.”  

Robert Williams stared at me in disbelief.  “She didn’t…” he muttered half to himself.

“Oh but she did,” I informed him. “Twice now, in fact.”

“She wished her brother away, didn’t she?” Williams asked softly.  I halted in my pacing and turned to him, surprised by his question.

“How--?” I started to ask, but Sarah’s father shook his bald head and gave a wistful chuckle.

“Who do you think gave her the damn book?” he asked.  
***

Sarah:

“Are you madly in love?” Karen asked from out of the blue.  I nearly choked on my tea.

“What?” I asked, coughing and sputtering.  “No!  I mean, we’re just… I like him a lot.  I haven’t really thought that far ahead.  We have a bit of an odd history, after all.”

Karen nodded.  “Of course,” she agreed.  “Still, lots of relationships have started under stranger circumstances.”
“Yeah, there was that whole Frog/Prince thing,” I said sarcastically.

“You know what I mean, Sarah,” Karen replied, taking a dainty sip of her tea.  “Lots of couples start out as less than friends and then grow to love each other.”  She got a goofy grin on her face as she continued.  “Maybe the two of you can be like that movie, ‘When Harry Met Sally.’”

My mind immediately went to the deli scene and Meg Ryan’s over-the-top “orgasm.”  After six months of brain-rattling sex, I could hardly imagine ever having to fake it with Jareth.  He was a pro at anticipating my desires and needs and usually had me over the edge before my clothes hit the floor.  Even at that moment, sitting at the kitchen table with my stepmother, I could feel myself flushing at the thought of him: his pale, smooth, magic fingers, his long lithe body, his hot probing tongue…  My mouth went dry and I took a big gulp of tea.

“I certainly hope the two of you are using protection,” said Karen.

I spit tea all over the kitchen wall.
***

Jareth:

“So, after three years she called on you again and you went to her and…” Robert Williams hesitated to continue.

“Made love to her, yes,” I finished for him.

He cleared his throat and tugged at his collar.  He seemed terribly uncomfortable and I assumed it was the rather stale, musty air in the oubliette.  It could be quite oppressive.  It was important, however, that I keep him contained.  If Robert Williams was anything at all like his daughter, my kingdom would be in danger of wreck and ruin if he ever got loose.

“Just what are your intentions toward Sarah?” her father asked flatly.

I smiled, pleased at his gallant show of paternal concern, however late.

“I’d like to marry her if I may, Mr. Williams,” I told him, playing the part of the Suppliant Suitor.

“Have you asked her yet?” questioned Williams.

“Informally, yes,” I answered.  “I asked her three years ago and she turned me down flat, but she was a bit young then.  I haven’t repeated the offer.  Yet.”

“Why not?”

I thought for a moment before answering.  “The status of our relationship is…uncertain.  She knows I love her, but I’m not quite sure she reciprocates.”

“And you haven’t discussed this with Sarah?  You haven’t tried to talk to her about it?”

“Well…no,” I told him.  “Sarah hasn’t really been much for conversation lately.  She pounces on me as soon as I enter the room, and I’m sure you can understand how difficult it is to talk to a woman when she has her hand down your pants.”

Robert Williams shuddered.  “Oh.  Yes.  Certainly.”
***

Sarah:

“I can make you an appointment to get some birth control if you’d like, Sarah.  Dr. Greene is wonderful and she won’t treat you like you’re a whore or anything. She’s all for women’s rights and sexual exploration and all that,” Karen offered.

I silently prayed for the earth to open up and swallow me whole.  At least with that there was a chance that I would end up in the Underground.  

“I don’t need you to do that, Karen,” I replied slowly.  “I’ve been on the pill for over a year, and besides Jareth always…takes precautions.”  I let Karen come to her own conclusions on that one.  His magic assured that he wouldn’t impregnate me until we decided to let it happen, but if Karen chose to believe we were using condoms I wasn’t going to tell her otherwise.  I didn’t need her dragging me to the drug store and asking me about Jareth’s “size.”  This conversation had been mortifying enough.

“So…how is he?”  Karen asked slyly.

“What?!”  Our mortifying conversation had just turned into the stuff of nightmares.

Karen leaned forward and pitilessly continued. “Does he, you know… get you there?”

*Oh dear bog-slogging goblins, why are there no sharp objects within arm’s reach?*
***