The Locked Door

Part 6

The handyman Jaya had called did not think it would be a problem getting the door open but he could not come out until the following day. Jaya sighed and agreed. So much for going home she lamented.  

For the rest of the day Jaya cleaned up the mess that she had made looking for the keys, repacking all the boxes she had emptied. Once she was done she decided to make the most of the time she had with nothing to do and relax. With this in mind she ran a bath. After soaking until she was wrinkly she ordered a pizza for dinner and went to bed. 

The next day, just after lunch, there was a knock on her door at the time she had agreed with the handyman.

Excited to solve the mystery at last Jaya was already smiling when she answered the knock. However one look at the man on her doorstep and her smile faded away.

“Jaya Hughes?” he said.

“Yes” she said looking him over whilst trying to appear not to. For some reason she had been expecting an older person, someone retired perhaps but the man standing before her looked to be close to her own age, late thirties at most. He was good looking too, with short dark hair and dark blue eyes. “Walker Jones?” she asked.

He smiled “guilty. You have a locked door.”

His smile was devastating and Jaya returned it with a nervous one of her own before stepping back. Swallowing hard she said “please come in.” He did and Jaya closed the door before moving past him to lead the way down the dark corridor towards the back of the house. “It’s in the back bedroom” she said. “I’m not sure what’s behind it but I need to clear it out before we sell.”

“You’re not staying” he said.

She turned her head and glanced at him. He sounded disappointed but maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part. “No” she said “it was my grandmother’s house. I’m just clearing it out for my mother. She owns it now.”

“Right” he said. 

Again she got the sense that he was disappointed by her information. But she had to be imagining things. Walking into the bedroom she allowed him to enter before pointing at the offending door. “That’s it” she said.

“So you have no idea if it’s a cupboard or a room” he said as he inspected the edges of the door.

“No, no idea. Mum didn’t even know it was there and she lived here.”

He looked over at her “that’s weird.”

“I know” she said in a distracted tone as she became lost in his eyes.

He held her gaze for a moment and then smiled before looking back at the door.

Released, Jaya let out her breath on a soft sigh and then smiled to herself. It had been a little while since she had felt that first excitement of attraction, the fluttering in her chest and the rise in her core temperature. Even if nothing came of it, it had livened up her stay.