Billie and Stone lay on the lounge kissing for a long while. Rain tapped against the window and the lamplight threw gold and purple light around the room. Billie enjoyed the feeling of timelessness that surrounded her. The way she seemed to think of nothing but the feel of his mouth against hers and their hands roaming lightly, but she slowly became aware that Stone had something on his mind. She drew her nails down his back and listened to the sound of his in drawn breath.
'Gabrielle?' he whispered and she groaned and turned her head away.
'Gaibriél' she corrected. 'And don't.' She dug her nails in a little for emphasis.
'Why not?' he lifted up on his elbows to look at her.
'You don't need to know why, just not to.' she remained serious.
'French?'
She closed her eyes, a little annoyed. Why would he rather ask questions than kiss? She looked at him with her face carefully blank.
'No, Irish. Gaibrrriél.' she enunciated, the rolling r's giving it a lilt all of its own, then pulled him in for another kiss.
'So Billie is a stage name?' he queried, pulling back again.
She sighed and rolled her face into the cushions in what was only partly mock frustration.
'No, Billie is my name.' she raised her eyebrows as if to say 'are we all good? can we get back to kissing now??' but he wasn't deterred by her avoidance.
'So what's your full name?'
She dragged the pillow down her face exaggeratedly and peered at him from over the top, giving him a long suffering look.
'Gaibriél. Aoife. Sainte-Claire.' she spoke evenly.
'Eva?'
'Aoife. Ee-fa. Also Irish. And yes before you ask Sainte-Claire' is French.'
'But no Billie?' he smiled at her a little, confused by her evasive maneuvering. He'd gotten to know her enough to understand that she was intensely private, but his curiosity was piqued.
She took a deep breath and made an effort to calm herself. She knew she was being defensive but she was tired and making a trip to the workshop had reminded her that she was going to have to return to reality. One that she had been avoiding. She was feeling stronger but things were still complicated, and now there was, well, whatever this was too.
She knew it wasn't Stone's fault that she was touchy. The message from the lawyers had prickled her nerves, but she couldn't be mad at him, he was too lovely. She took a deep breath in, let it out slowly and tried to focus on his question.
'No. No Billie. It's a nickname. My Da's name is William and we are very much alike. My granny used to call me Little Billie. My Mam is really the only one that calls me Gabby. Well except for Danny who calls me Gabriolet but that's just because he's a dickhead.' she rolled toward him and smiled a smile that was only slightly a grimace.
'Danny who's coming to visit?' his eyebrows went up in question. He'd seen a photo on her bookshelf and had a suspicion but didn't want to pry. Well he did, but he didn't want to seem to be prying.
'Apparently.' she said drily. She could see his curiosity bubbling inside but she said no more.
He just nodded and then smiled and said 'Gaibriél Aiofe Sainte-Claire' quietly to himself and for some reason it sent a frisson of some unidentifiable feeling through her to hear her true name in his mouth. It didn't sound so bad when he said it like that, in his soft drawl and the feeling made her nervous. She needed to change the subject.
