The sounds of Ryder rummaging around the house were muffled through the bathroom door. As Allison listened a knot in her stomach began to grow progressively tighter. Her arms were crutches propping up her body before the mirror. Her hair a curtain of emotion hanging in front of her face. She found herself bouncing back and forth between the rise of anger and frustration over the doubled edged fortune of her circumstances, only to swoon at the thought of being close to Ryder, completely deflating all of her fighting spirit. She turned her eyes to the mirror, and gazed at the girl she saw there. A strange detachment allowed her to examine that girl with an abstract fascination. She could see that concern and anxiety that revealed itself in her eyes. She looked at that girls gangly and unfamiliar form, with its lumps and curves where there should be none. Despite knowing how beautiful Allison was, she couldn't shake the feeling that this body was unseemly, and not fit to be exposed in public. She took a deep shuddering breath, and the spell was broken. She looked away from the mirror, and brushed her hair from her eyes.
"The stone has got to be here." She stated plainly. "And I need the stone." She bit her bottom lip, "Sooo... Maybe, I'll try to look through Ryders stuff? And... And if I can't find it, I guess I'll, like, play along with all of this?"
Her cheeks flushed at the thought of playing the damsel to Ryder's shining knight, but despite herself she wasn't sure if that feeling was revulsion or excitement. Shaking her head, she corrected the errant thought. "And maybe if I'm his girl, he'll just give it back? He does love me, right?" She couldn't help herself as she glanced back at the mirror, feeling somewhat better about her body. After all, Ryder liked how she looked. It couldn't be that bad.
Again she began to chastise herself like she did before, but as she felt the same roller coaster of struggling and swooning come upon her she merely dismissed the thought all together and turned her attention elsewhere.
"I'm naked" She laughed ironically at the observation, and began to slip back into her romper and chiffon duster. She caught glances of her body as she wiggled back into the clothes, and couldn't shake the feeling that she really was sexy. In response to the thought, she obstinately pursed her lips and pushed out the bathroom door. As she finally left the safety of the bathroom, her heart began to quicken in her chest, pounding heavily in contrast to her light and dainty steps as she tip toed to the living room to look for Ryder. As she peaked around the corner of the hall, she found him standing out on the back porch staring at the waves. Maybe this was her chance to look around?
She yelped in surprise as the air conditioning turned on, blasting her body with cool air, but a quick glance told her that Ryder didn't hear, so she turned her attention back to the master bedroom.
Both of their luggage was still piled up, and clearly they hadn't unpacked yet. Her own suite case was rather large, hard shelled navy blue, and with a minimalist pink and green wild flower pattern. Atop it was a large black and white stripped carry on bag. Piled up all around it were different bags from boutiques, airport gift shops, and even one from "Chic Mommy" maternity shop. Allison hazarded a peak inside the white bag featuring a daringly posed pregnant silhouette, and found a box of heart shaped floral patterned cotton pads. They were black in color, and a little smaller than a drink coaster. "Nippies" the box advertised in curvy lettering. She raised an eyebrow at the curious things, then shook her head deciding it best not to confront any of this maternity nonsense.
Instead she turned her gaze to Ryder's luggage. In contrast to her overflowing pile of bags, and luxuries, his all seemed to be packed tight in two lean, soft shell, black luggage bags. Swift as she could manage, she hefted the smaller of the two onto the bed, and began unzipping and searching through the large front pockets.
The stone had to be in one of them, right? As she looked she tried to remember what it looked like. It was... Well... It was large-ish for a rock right? So maybe it had to be tucked inside? She unzipped the main front flap, and opened the case before beginning to dig around what she found inside. The first thing she noticed was the smell. It was rich, and fresh, but still rugged, like a luxurious aftershave, or cologne. The smell was surprisingly pleasant, and even familiar. A flash passed through her mind. She was biting her bottom lip. The room was dark. She gazed longingly up at Ryder as he smuggle smirked down at her. His solid defined muscles pressed against her soft form, and he positioned himself to penetr ... That's enough of that! She growled angrily and slapped herself repeatedly on the cheeks, not softly.
Despite herself, she was already hot and bothered, and her mind was distracted by the memory that wasn't hers... Couldn't be hers! She angrily felt around the various folds and pockets of the luggage but couldn't feel anything! Maybe the stone was smaller than she remembered? It was... well it was Maybe the size of her fist and black and red? Or was that too large? Didn't it have some brown in it too? She grumbled as the image of the stone refused to reveal itself to her memory, It had only been a week, and for some reason she had just assumed that she'd recognize it when she saw it. Still she hadn't found a rock at all. So instead she turned her attention to the other luggage case.
She wrapped it up in a bear hug, and with a grunt, hefted it as high as she could to get on the bed... She promptly got stuck half way up, and began painting as her arms trembled at the effort of getting it the rest of the way. With a clatter it fell back to the ground. The world was silent, save for her heartbeat, and heavy breathing. Her ears practically perked up like a puppies as she listened for any signs of Ryder, but fortunately it seemed he hadn't heard, and was still outside.
With a sigh of relief she opted to just unzip the damned thing on the ground... But as she felt around the pockets she slowly came to realize that it wasn't there either...
The sounds of the back door opening sent a rush of adrenaline through her body, and she hurriedly zipped everything back up and returned the smaller bag to the floor.
