Pretty Tied Up

Chapter Three: Out of Sight

Liljana clambered out of the car on shaky legs, gripping the door for support. When she felt safe that she wouldn’t topple over, she released the door and bent to pick up the cameras on the floor of the car, handing one to Sands, “I’ll be there in a second. I’ve just got to find some filters.” said Liljana, sifting through her bag.

“Okay.” Sands wandered off into the woods. The trees were tall, standing over a hundred feet high, the sunlight filtering in through a few gaps in the dark green leaves, the floor a carpet of orange and brown leaves, golden in places.

Liljana turned around a few moments later, holding up filters, “Found the...” ‘Where is he?’ Liljana frowned. The start of the wood was at least a hundred yards away. The car was parked in a field. ‘Where the hell could he have gone within the space of ten seconds?’

“Sands?” She shouted. No answer. “Sands, where are you?” Liljana scanned the field and as far as she could see into the woods and saw nothing but tree trunks. “Huh.” She heard a scuffling sound coming from the woods and slowly approached the trees, camera by her side. She stepped between the trees and immediately felt a chill creep over her as she was shaded from the sun.

Crunch.

There it was again. To her left. Liljana walked towards the noise, the fallen leaves crunching under her own shoes.

Crunch.

Wait. That’s in the other direction... “Sands? Stop playing games.” Liljana’s eyes were flicking about, trying to get a glimpse of him, a flicker of fear creeping its way up her spine. What if it wasn’t Sands?

Crunch.

Behind her now. Liljana was confused, “Sands, this isn’t funny anymore. Where are you?” She shouted as she cautiously walked deeper into the woods. “Sa-Ow!” She yelled as something hit the back of her head. She looked down to see an acorn rolling to a stop in front of her feet. ‘An acorn? The oak tree is right over there.’ She turned to the giant oak tree, over a hundred feet away, ‘I know where you are now, Sa-’

Crunch.

The sounds of crunching were behind her. She spun around, just as the sound ceased. Liljana stepped in the direction of the sound, listening for anything that would give away where he was.

Liljana screamed, her breath leaving her lungs as two hands grabbed her waist and a voice shouted “Boo!” from behind her.

Sands was laughing, his hands still resting on Liljana’s waist as she turned around, her eyes shooting fire at him. He didn’t expect the pretty red handprint left on his cheek when Liljana slapped him. “That was far from funny, Sands. You could have been a serial killer or something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not. Don’t touch me.”

“Don’t get so huffy! I was just playing around.” Liljana glared at him, brushing his hands from her waist and storming off further into the woods. She could hear him following and turned her head, giving him a look that would make most people cower away and hide under the kitchen sink. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite have the same effect on Sands and, not looking where she was going, Liljana didn’t see the relatively big dip in the ground. She tumbled forwards and landed heavily, her ankle twisting painfully in her high shoes.

Sands started laughing when he saw her fall over onto the ground, a flurry of leaves moving up into the air. His amusement stopped, however, when he saw the look of pain on Liljana’s face, her hand clutching her ankle.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She ground out, tears filling her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. ‘No no no’ she thought as she tried to stand up, but her ankle buckled and she fell down in a heap. ‘Damn these shoes.’

“Want some help?”

“No I’m fi-” Sands moved to her and in one swift motion, scooped Liljana up in his arms, eliciting a surprised squeak from her.

“Put me down, I’m not an invalid!” Sands smirked and made as if to drop her. Liljana squealed and clutched her arms around his neck.

“No? I’ll take you back to my house, it’s only across this field. I’ve a got some ice you can put on that.”

“What about the photos?”

“We’ll just have to come back tomorrow, if your ankle is any better.”

Liljana felt instantly warm as Sands carried her out into the sunlight and helped her get in his car.

***

They pulled up to Sands house and Liljana’s first words were, “Holy fu...” Sands house was a huge country house. “Your house is... huge!”

Sands shrugged, “My parents inherited it from their parents who inherited it from their...you get the drift.”

Liljana struggled out of the car to find Sands waiting to help her hobble up to the house. He put one arm around her waist to keep her from toppling over. Liljana slumped down on a chair in Sands’ kitchen while he went through the freezer looking for ice. He wandered off for a few seconds and came back with a towel, which he used to put the ice in. “I don’t know why you came to the woods wearing these ridiculous shoes.”

“Well, I didn’t know I would be falling over in the woods this morning, did I?” Sands shrugged nonchalantly and held the makeshift icepack to Liljana’s ankle. “Thanks for doing this.” She said quietly

“Don’t get used to it. Any other time, I’d dump you off at home.”

Liljana snorted, “I feel privileged. What’s so different about today, then?”

“I kind of feel like it was my fault for you falling over.”

“Well, it was.”

“Right... so...” Both of them sat there in silence, and Liljana slowly became aware that Sands thumb was gently rubbing the inside of her bare ankle. She bit her lips as she felt goose bumps rise, despite the fact that it was one of the hottest days of the year and his touch was sending tiny tingling sensations up her legs. To cover for her embarrassment, she went to stand up.

“Well, thanks for this but I’ve got to go and meet Dave in an hour.”

“Thought you were free the rest of the day?”

“I, uh, it’s amazing what you forget, these days.” Liljana winced at her explanation and as her ankle throbbed with pain.

“You want a lift home?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I think it’s just a bad sprain, anyway.” Liljana forced a smile and took a step, but her ankle buckled and she almost fell over. Her hands flew out and grabbed at anything within reach to keep herself steady, but unfortunately, Sands stepped up to her and her hands gripped his arms. ‘His tanned, muscley, incredibly hot arms.’ Liljana chuckled uneasily and Sands sighed, before helping her back out to his car.

***

“Hey, Dave, do you want to come over tonight? My parents are out we could...”

“Sure. Want me to grab a take-away?”

“That’d be great. See you later.”

***

Liljana lay half over Dave, drawing patterns on his slightly hairy chest. ‘Sands chest was smooth and muscley.’ “So, how did you hurt your ankle? You started telling me, but then we got kind of...distracted.” He chuckled.

“I...tripped up on the porch this morning. I was in a rush and wasn’t paying attention.” ‘Why don’t you tell him the truth? It’s not like you’re cheating on him or anything.’ But strange enough, that's how it felt. Liljana’s hand had moved and was stroking leisurely patterns on Dave’s arm. She closed her eyes and saw that it was Sands that she was laying on, his arm she was stroking, and his dark eyes she was looking into. Liljana opened her eyes and looked down guiltily, stopping her ministrations.

“Hey, why’d you stop? You didn’t show me your last photography assignment the other day.”

“It...wasn’t very interesting.”

“You know, I see you owning your own gallery, one day.”

“I’d love that.”

“Love you, Baby.”

Liljana wanted to say it. She really did, but the only thing that came to her lips was, “Thanks.”