The Tragic Tale of Teddy Woven

Chapter 8

We reached the shed; Teddy lowered himself to the ground to let Luna pounce out of his arms to scamper towards the front of his shed. I fidgeted with the key shyly, knowing that most of his attention would turn to me. Teddy exceeded my expectations, examining my profile as we walked side by side. I reached out for the doorknob, letting the key gently slip inside of the lock. His voice broke the silence as he inquired: “What do you think of my house?”

“I like it.”

“Yes, but could you elaborate on it a little?” He watched me turn the key to unlatch the door. “I think it deserves a little more than that.”

“It is beautiful. How could you not like it?” He tilted his head questionably. “It is located by the sea.” I propped the shed door and moved backwards to let it swing open. Teddy watched me step through, taking on a vow of silence for some unknown reason. I turned on a light switch, noticing how it flickered on and off. I did my best to find the lawnmower, keenly aware that Teddy was standing just outside the door.

There was rubbing of flesh against a hard surface, and when I turned my head it was to see him standing there with his arms outstretched to rest his hands over the sides of the door-frame. “And is that all?”

“I’m sorry.” I rubbed the back of my hand against my nose since it was so dusty in here. “What do you mean?”

The light flickered off just as Teddy stated: “Your opinion on my house.”

“Well… what am I supposed to say?”

“My grandfather fell in love with this place the second he saw it. The former tenants had been living here for generations, only selling it when they suffered through financial hard times. They told my grandfather it was built by blood and sweat alone.” He raised his chin up proudly. “But perhaps I put too much thought into it.”

“There is nothing wrong with being proud of it.”

He stepped forward, and then flickered on the light switch a few times until it came back on. “I must fix this,” he muttered. “Add it to my list.”

I had my back to him, not liking how we were trapped in this tightly enclosed space. The light flickered on, creating a strange yellow halo just over my head. I blocked the light a bit with my hand, so I could see the very back of the shed. “The lawnmower must be here.”

“Here let me,” he insisted. I felt his arm brush over mine as he passed by, and then he knelt downwards to have a better look. “I should have a flashlight or something here.”

“It would be safer.”

“Yes, add that to my list as well,” he drawled out softly. “Do you see it?”

“There are boxes in the way.”

“Yes, but I haven’t cut the lawn myself in quite some time.” He scratched the top of his head, brushing up his short brown hair. “I guess we can’t call her?”

“I tried last night, but she wasn’t home.”

“Call Daphne?” he said with a note of sarcasm. “Whatever for?” This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

I chose to avoid eye contact with him as I lied: “Ask her about the garden.”

“If you have any questions on the design of the garden then it would be better to ask me.” He let his hand rest at the back of his head. “A change in lighting and now I can see it. Rather small, isn’t it?” He pushed a cardboard box aside to take a hold of the heavy machinery. “I think I will do it.”

“Teddy,” I scolded, hardly believing a word of it.

“No, I will cut the grass!” he argued back. “Take a step back, my dear. You are in the way.”

I had to backpedal until I was out of the shed, seeing him cart it out with certain ease. He brought it down onto the grass, letting out a shrill whistle to Luna that had softly padded over to us. “Luna is in the way.”

“Carry her back to the house,” he quietly instructed. “No! Let her be. This machine is quiet, and it has a manual handle. She won’t be in the way.” He left me to retrieve something else in the shed. I crouched onto my knees to pet Luna, liking the soft purring noise that escaped her as I stroked my hand over the side of her. Teddy returned to my side with sturdy gardening gloves in hand. “I see there are some weeds along the side of the hut. Would you remove them for me please?”

“Certainly.”

“Try and keep Luna near you.”

I left his side to retrieve gardening gloves as well and a small bag to put in the yard waste. Teddy returned to the shed to speak to me, trapping me in completely. “Everything alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“Do you have any food allergies?”

“What?” I nearly laughed since I was so caught off-guard by his inquiry.

“Once I am done with this, I hope to prepare lunch.”

“Oh! No, I am not allergic to anything.”

“Thanks.” He left the shed after that, intent on mowing the lawn near the front of the house. We would be separated for quite some time, but luckily, I had little Luna as a friendly companion. The wind was brisk, although it was not intolerable. As a matter of fact, it was very peaceful out here today, almost making me forget the occurrence of strange incidents around this household. Teddy didn’t seem to be in any trouble, and I saw no signs of him speaking to anyone aloud. He appeared quite content as he rolled the lawn mower over the grass. I watched his tall figure, the way his long legs outstretched themselves as he moved forward. I did not find him a handsome man at first, but he did have some qualities that made him attractive.

I went to the side of the shed and began to pull out the prickly weeds, knowing the feisty dandelions were the next to go. If we weren’t careful it would take over the whole lawn. Luna was out on the field, chasing after a moth that captured her attention. I laughed at the spectacle and then continued with my work.

I thought it was ambitious for Teddy to want to mow the entire lawn in one day, mainly because his property was so extensive. It was so large that he didn’t need a fence to divide his property, there was nothing but wide open fields. In the distance of his backyard I could see a line of trees, tightly clustered together to give a natural shelter to the outskirts of his yard. It was nice to see him take pride in his home. I lived in a small flat, barely enough room to move around, so it was a sharp contrast to see the enormous house belonging to Teddy. He appeared to be proud of this ancestral house, but I did notice he had not spoken much about his family. He was an only child, yes, but shouldn’t Teddy have been close to his parents? He mentioned his mother died. Did she pass away recently or when he was a child? He hadn’t made one mention about his father yet. As a matter of fact, Teddy did say he was taught how to play the piano by his guardian. Did that mean he was an orphan?

So many questions.

I looked over, seeing the current homeowner was cutting the grass with a peaceful air about him.

And so little answers.

***

I had come to the realization that I had felt far too comfortable around Teddy. He was seated in front of me, quietly cutting up his grilled asparagus. Luna was settled over his lap, fast asleep the minute she leapt over that comfortable spot. Silence had descended over the table the moment we sat down, but it was not an uncomfortable one. His salmon was delicious, dripping with flavours of lemon zest and healthy herbs that made it rather difficult to suppress a smile.

“Your food is delicious,” I piped up merrily. “You’re a good cook.”

Teddy swallowed his food thickly, apparently startled by my words.

“You seem to excel at everything.”

He lowered his right eyebrow as he quietly answered me: “No, not everything.”

“Well, it is quite delicious,” I assured him. “Thank you.”

He straightened his back against the chair once he realized he was unable to answer me. Perhaps, Teddy Woven was not the type of person that took compliments well.

His answer was delayed, though it was full of politeness as he gently replied: “I am delighted to hear that.” He watched me nod my head in understanding as I chewed on the salmon. His stare lingered for a little too long as if something had captivated his attention. “Do you know I can’t remember the last time I shared a meal with someone?”

“You take it alone?” I asked with disbelief.

“I believe so.” He let his gaze fall away from me, half tempted to look over his shoulder. “Or at least at times it feels that way.”

Soft pelts of rain pattered against the glass window, which quickly captured our attention. Teddy had assured me that it would not rain this afternoon, but it seemed he was wrong in this case. I watched him look over his shoulder, taking in the sight of the tall green ferns leaning over to the side. The breeze was harsh, warning of a coming storm. He did not appear to be disturbed by the sight of it, rather it held his attention for some time.

“Are you not hungry, Teddy?” I asked of him, hoping he would not take offense to my question.

He turned his gaze to me, arching up an eyebrow in surprise. “I am,” he spoke plainly. “But I became distracted. It seems that I was wrong.”

“Yes, it is raining,’ I practically giggled. “You are not a fortune teller.”

His smirk was unmistakable as he replied: “I try to be.”

A strange smile was shared between us. Embarrassment overtook me, and soon I was letting my eyes fall downwards to my plate of food. It was clear Teddy was taking a liking to me, nevertheless he was my employer and I had to behave in a respectable manner.

“We got a lot of work done this morning,” he spoke up in a confident voice. “I look forward to continuing it tomorrow.”

“You were out of the house the whole time,” I agreed with him. “I promise it will not become a habit.”

He waved his fork around nonchalantly. “There was work to be done.”

“Yes, but it is not your job.”

He let his fork stick up, pointing it towards the ceiling. “This is my house,” he stated with a slight tilt of his head. “I must take care of the grounds, otherwise…” He let the lids of his eyes close a small fraction. “It will start to look like something of a wilderness out there.”

“As untamed as the sea.”

“Yes,” he drawled out with interest. “You should see it sometime. Maybe… maybe sometime this week I will let you take a little break. Oh, we can’t go out sunbathing…” The corner of his lip suspiciously quirked upwards. “But we could find something to do.”

I swallowed hard with nerves, feeling like Teddy was making a sly invitation to have a date with me. “I thought…”

“Yes?”

“I don’t think…” I let my fork and knife settle down on the edge of the plate gently. “Teddy,” I began. “I am being paid to take care of your grounds. I feel as though I would be taking advantage of you, if we should do that during work hours. I hope that makes sense. It is rather hard to explain.” I let out a nervous laughter afterwards, letting it fade away once I caught a certain look that crossed the sharpness of his dark brown eyes.

“The only solution would be doing it after hours,” he proposed, which startled me completely. “Then none of that would be an issue.” He ate the last piece of his salmon with satisfaction, as if the flavour had been suddenly intensified.

“I think it would,” I whispered, but it was low enough for Teddy to overhear it.

He stopped chewing his food, letting it linger over his tongue as he stared at me. He watched me pick up my utensils, and once I began to eat my food he forced himself to look away. I knew that he felt my rejection quite keenly, but I felt that I was overstepping a boundary.

The rest of our meal was eaten in silence, a painful one at that. Teddy was the first to finish his meal, and soon Luna was lifted up into the air so she could sleep on his lap no longer.

“Teddy, I never meant to upset you,” I apologized. “I only thought it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“I…” He laid Luna down on the kitchen floor with extra care. “I was getting ahead of myself.”

“It would be nice,” I ventured forward, which immediately made him turn his head in my direction. “But you are my employer.”

“Absolutely right,” he answered me in a faint tone of voice. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” He let out a nervous chuckle, while bringing his cloth napkin upwards to wipe at his mouth. “I am going upstairs to fetch my raincoat. It looks like it will be a downpour soon enough.”

Teddy unexpectedly got up from his chair and sped out of the kitchen. I made him feel self-conscious, perhaps even embarrassed for trying to ask me out. I was flattered he showed a romantic interest in me, but I did not want things to become overly complicated.

Rain pattered against the window harder, peppering it enough for me to know a storm was nearly here. The howl of the wind was vaguely heard throughout the house; faint creaking of the ceiling overhead showed that Teddy was walking around upstairs to retrieve his coat. His house was peaceful, more than I had ever expected. I turned in my seat to simply watch the raindrops splatter against the clear glass window, noticing how blurry my vision was when staring past the wet sheet of glass. Luna must have left the room, for when I looked around for her in the kitchen she was nowhere to be found. I wanted to make myself useful so I gathered up our plates and brought it next to the kitchen sink. His yellow sponge was lifted upwards, and I applied a small amount of dish detergent to let it soak into the

material. It felt strange how natural I fitted into the surroundings. I watched the cold water fall from the spout of the tap, splashing against the dishes to wash the soap suds away. There was a stillness to this house. I looked over my shoulder to see that Teddy had not entered the kitchen yet, and then looked at the calendar that was next to his fridge to find it completely blank. There was a stock photo of a garden in the photograph above it, reflecting Teddy’s own love of nature. Once the dishes had been washed I dried them gently, letting the towel wipe over the smooth surface with a calm air about me. I could hear the distinctive footsteps of Teddy coming down the stairs. By the time I looked over he was standing in front of the doorway with his hand frozen over his coat zipper. He simply stared at me, as if stunned by my presence.

“I thought I could wash and dry your dishes,” I softly explained. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” he said in a strangled voice.

“I don’t know where to put them.”

He zipped up the front of his long black jacket. His eyes shifted to the right, glancing at the cupboard that was not far from me. “I will put them away,” he suggested.

Soon we were standing side by side, putting away the dishes. Teddy was pursing his lips the whole time, and I could not help but notice he was most determined to not look in my direction.

“The storm is picking up,” I sighed aloud. “Will you be fine driving in this weather?”

“I would never let you stand out in a storm.”

“Yes, I know that but-”

“Sela,” he cut in with sudden sharpness. “You mustn’t feel bad when I try to take care of you.”

“Okay.”

“I know you can take care of yourself,” he added. “After all, you are an independent woman.”

My smile was so large I was sure he could see it from the corner of his eye.

“You must understand I only have a cat to care for. Luna is a sweet creature, but she is only a cat.” He paused his efforts and let his hands fall downwards. “If I have a privilege of taking care of someone else, I will gladly take up the offer. You are a hard worker, Sela. I think you deserve a little something extra for your efforts. If that means driving you to the station, or making you lunch… I will do that.” After this speech he turned his entire body in my direction, having no qualms to stare deeply in my eyes. “Please allow me that at least.”

“I will, Teddy.”

“Thank you.” He blinked slowly with a tiny sigh of relief. Teddy then turned away from me and walked over to his chair. He laid his hands upon the top of it, squeezing it tightly as he tried to regain his composure. I pretended not to notice this subtle gesture and simply put away the last of his dishes.