Breaking Free

Jasmine couldn't help but smile slightly as he held up that little black book, realizing that there was a lot more to think man than a fancy business suit and that thick accent. He was friendly and kind, and she could see in his eyes that he genuinely did want to see her safe and happy. Jasmine couldn't help but be touched by that, either - it had been awhile since someone had told her to be who she wanted, not what society told her.

For a few minutes Jasmine's eyes just flitted in between Mr. O'Connor's handsome face and the little notebooks. Secrets... they all had those little things that they intended to never share, that was, until someone special came along that deserved to see it all...

Slowly, Mina reached behind her head and she began to pluck the pins from her scarf, placing them down onto the concrete railing of the balcony. She had at least ten sitting there before she finally pulled away the fine piece of white and pink silk, revealing her face to him and for him only. She cast her eyes downward, feeling the blush surface in her own cheeks, this time completely visible for him.
 
Tighearnan's heart raced as he watched her pull the pins from her scarf and was far from disappointed when she finally pulled it away. He smiled and reached over, putting a finger under her chin. He lifted her chin up so he could see her face better and smiled. "You're very beautiful." He said, pulling his hand back. "I'm pretty sure it's a sin to hide such beauty from the world."

He tucked his notebook back away, smiling.

"I AM as lovely as a dream in stone,
And this my heart where each finds death in turn,
Inspires the poet with a love as lone
As clay eternal and as taciturn.

Swan-white of heart, a sphinx no mortal knows,
My throne is in the heaven's azure deep;
I hate all movements that disturb my pose,
I smile not ever, neither do I weep.

Before my monumental attitudes,
That breathe a soul into the plastic arts,
My poets pray in austere studious moods,

For I, to fold enchantment round their hearts,
Have pools of light where beauty flames and dies,
The placid mirrors of my luminous eyes."

He laughed softly and smoothed his suit. As he felt his heart racing a she looked upon her, he silently hoped the dim lighting of the balcony hid what such a reveal had excited from him. "Would you keep it off for me? As long as we are standing out here together?"
 
For Jasmine, it felt like she was standing naked in front of Mr. O'Connor, every bit of her on display. And for a girl that was used to concealing herself from the world, this was a huge step to take even if she figured she was going to pin it back up when she went out there. If she didn't, all the guests and the employees of the hotel would probably get all kinds of ideas and Jasmine did not want to put Mr. O'Connor under that kind of suspicious.

She smiled lightly and blushed at his kind words. She had never imagined herself beautiful, but she basked in the words nonetheless, especially coming from a man like him that had probably been with countless women. "I will," she nodded her head slowly, "but only for you. I am not ready to face the world yet... not like this. One little step at a time, as you said."
Just as she finished, a soft song wafted out onto the balcony, no doubt meant to be danced with elegantly. Jasmine blushed sheepishly and grabbed onto the railing, wondering what it would be like to glide around the dance floor.
 
Countless women.

"Well, maybe you can practice this new look while you're cleaning my room. I won't say anything about it." He suddenly swept her up into a proper waltz position and started leading her around the balcony effortlessly. "Your secret is safe with me as long as my secret is safe with you."

He looked down at her, enjoying being able to see her face. He enjoyed it more knowing that he was the only man to see outside of her family since she was a child. It made him feel special. And Tighearnan O'Connor did enjoy feeling special. "I suppose I should have asked if you wanted to dance first, but I got impatient....You really have strikingly beautiful eyes..."
 
Jasmine was rather startled when Mr. O'Connor grabbed her by the waist and hand and began to sway along to the music with her. She certainly was not used to the touch of a man, especially one so handsome and so close against her, but she had to admit that she was enjoying it. He danced well and managed to keep her stabilized on her large high heals. A blush surfaced in her cheeks once more when he complimented her eyes. For a moment she just gazed up at him, searching his face for his emotions.
She smiled slightly, "you have always been able to see my eyes."
 
"And they have always been beautiful." He replied easily, smiling down at her. He was happy right now. Happy to be dancing with a beautiful young woman who had been strong enough to leave her home alone and come to America and try to carve out her own life. He'd take the evening as far as she let him, never being pushy or rude or even asking for it to end in his room. He respected women, all women until they proved to him they deserved anything less. And he didn't think Miss Mina would be proving that.
 
Jasmine felt like a goddess as Mr. O'Connor swayed with her back and forth in his arms. She felt beautiful, loved, appreciated... for once in her life. She was used to be looked down upon and shunned and she supposed that this was her real chance to break free of the Muslim woman mold. In Mr. O'Connor's arms, she wasn't just the girl behind the headscarf, she was a beautiful young woman that had been given a second chance.
After the two was over they went and got two glasses of champagne from the main room, though they were quickly to retreat back out to their balcony unnoticed and undisturbed. Drinking was another think not allowed by her traditional Islam culture, but while she was breaking free, Jasmine figured that she could at least do what she wanted to. The alcohol burned at the back of her throat but left a nice tingling sensation deep in her belly. At least, she figured that it was the alcohol...

The two of them talked and laughed and Jasmine was surprised at how giggly the champagne made her. She laughed at things that weren't made to be jokes but was glad that Mr. O'Connor didn't seem to mind. After all she stared up at the stars and pulled off her high heals, laughing again when she returned to her normal size, much shorter than the businessman. His hand sat on the railing and Jasmine gripped it, smiling, "thank you for the wonderful evening, Mr. O'Connor. You have showed me so many wonderful things I didn't even know existed!"
 
Well, he was waltzing with her, so they were hardly just standing and swaying back and forth. He danced her around the balcony in big, sweeping, slow, easy to follow steps, taking with her all the while about random things, mostly his family and his sisters and how they annoyed him.

When the song was over, he left the balcony without a word, but came back with two glasses of campaign, explaining that he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable going back inside without her scarf on, and he really didn't want her to put it back on.

As they stood and talked and laughed, he really felt more of a connection to this young woman than he thought he was going to. He knew there had to be an age difference but he did look a bit younger than his age of 31 once he was smiling and enjoying himself. The campaign didn't really seem to effect him and he really honestly didn't enjoy it. So, as her glass grew empty, he kept pouring his glass into hers until his was empty. Once his glass was empty, he pulled a flask out of his jacket, unscrewed the cap, and poured a thick amber colored liquid into it. He screwed the lid back on and tucked the flask back away, now sipping whiskey from the campaign flute.

"Well, I'm glad I've allowed you to enjoy yourself, Miss Mina. As I said it is with hiding beauty, I'm fairly certain it's a sin for such a beautiful young woman to be upset and unhappy..."
 
Maybe it was the alcohol, or perhaps it was just the wonderful man before her, but Mina could not stop laughing. He told her stories about his sisters and family, and Jasmine found herself rather intrigued by the way that they all functioned. Sometimes he spoke in riddles and she wished to ask questions, but knew better to, afraid of what would come out of her mouth when she was intoxicated. She was not used to the alcohol flowing in her blood and thus she knew to keep her reservations.

And goodness, he was so full of compliments today! Jasmine was sure that she had never been flattered so many times by one person, but glad it was Mr. O'Connor, as he was so kind about it.

"I am not upset, just happy, now," she grinned up at him, flashing her pearly white teeth and slight dimple on her left cheek. Her cheeks were actually sore from giggling and smiling so much up at him. He was certainly a force to be reckoned. The young woman wrapped her arms around his neck and told him, "you make me very happy. Thank you for that. You have showed me so many beautiful things in this world, things I never knew I would get to experience!"
 
He slid a hand around her waist, resting it on the curve of her spine just above her rear. His other held his alcohol of course. He smiled down at her. "I'm glad. I'm honored to be the one to break you out of your shell." He sipped his whiskey and looked down at her again.

"Tomorrow night. You and I are going out. After my business meetings. I want you to sneak me out of the hotel, then I'm going to sneak you around town." He smiled. "In plain, American clothes. Just you and me. We'll go across town where no one will recognize you and I'll try and make sure no one recognizes me. No suit. I'll go buy plain clothes tomorrow. We'll sneak out and go run around..."
 
Mr. O'Connor's hand burned a whole in Jasmine's back, sending waves of warmth up and down her spine. She was amazed at that, considering just moments ago when they had been dancing, he had no such effect. There was a plethora of butterflies floating around in her belly as though, making her feel lighter and a little giddy.

Her eyes widened a bit when he mentioned going out tomorrow. Jasmine was off but she was a little hesitant to say that she would go. Act like a normal American? It had been all she had ever wanted but now that it was hitting her square in the face, she was a little scared. She cast her eyes downward but nodded, understanding that she was going to go out on a limb here and trust Mr. O'Connor. "That sounds... alright," she nodded with a shy smile.
The music began to fade from the interior of the building and a few seconds later, Jasmine heard Mr. Moody's voice come on. Jasmine looked up at him and pursed her lips, "we better get back in there, I suppose."
 
His head turned towards the doors and he sighed. "Looks like it, doll." He said, letting go of her. "I'll let you get yourself put back together." He smiled, downed the rest of his whiskey, and set the glass down. He gave her a wink, adjusted his hat on his head, and walked over to the doors. He hooked his foot under the chair he had there and twirled it out of the way, placing it back where he had grabbed it originally.

He turned to her as he put his hand on the door handle. He smirked at her, ran his fingers along the brim of his hat, and grinned. "I'll pick you up some clothes while I'm out tomorrow." He glanced her up and down. "I think I can get your size right..."

And with that, he slipped inside again. He looked around, adjusting his suit jacket smoothly. He picked up a glass from a passing waiter who was bringing the wine to someone else and walked into the crowd like he owned the place. Ya know, that wasn't a bad idea...maybe he'd buy the hotel...
 
Knowing that Mr. O'Connor's presence was probably more needed in the room than hers, Jasmine stayed out on the balcony for a long while. Of course she replaced her niqab back on her face, in fear that someone would come out and see her. As far as she was concerned, tonight her nose, cheeks and mouth were for Mr. O'Connor only. He had opened up a special part of her heart tonight, one that Jasmine was sure had been closed up since she had been forced into the Muslim headscarf.

After a few minutes of gazing out into the stars, Jasmine returned to the grand ballroom. She sway Mr. O'Connor around a few times and they made eye contact once or twice, even when he was waltzing around the room with some prim and proper busty blonde. By midnight though her shift was over and she retreated to her suite. When she removed her niqab and stared at herself in the mirror for a good few minutes, she reminded herself what he had said - beautiful. Jasmine smiled to herself as she slipped on her night clothes and washed her face, images of sweet words and handsome Irish men dancing in her mind's eye.
 
Tighearnan left the ball around 2 and was up the next morning around 9 to shower and dress for the day ahead of him. He kept his promise to the beautiful young Jasmine in the back of his mind, looking through his clothes to what all he really needed to buy. A t-shirt, it looked like. He had jeans....plain shoes. He needed plain shoes. And socks for them. He sighed, kept that list in the back of his head, and decided to get dressed.

Before leaving, he walked over to the desk and pulled out some of his nice, official stationary. On the off chance Mina cleaned his room, he was going to leave her a note. Meet me in my room at 6. I apologize if something holds me back, but I will show up. I can't exactly just stay somewhere else, can I? ~Tig. He slipped it into an envelope, wrote her name across the front of it, and tossed it into the middle of the floor. Afterall, where else would a maid fail to notice it? He smirked a bit, pulled his coat on, and left for his meetings.
 
Jasmine's head hurt badly the next day when she woke to a bunch of banging on her door. It was her day off, and thus she had no idea what in the world the ruckus was about. After smoothing down her hair and wrapping her niqab over her nose and lips, she traveled across the room and opened the door. Rachelle instantly plowed through, screeching about some note.

"I found it on his floor! It had your name on it - I bet that he thought you were going to clean his room!" she grinned, plopping down on the messy bed and handing her the note.
Jasmine didn't even have to ask who it was from; Mr. O'Connor was the only guest that would do such a thing. She smiled softly but instead of opening it up, she ushered Rachelle out of the room. The young woman pouted and pleaded to tell what it said, but Jasmine just continued to push her out until she could shut the door. Jasmine knew that this was going to start all sorts of rumours but she was more intent on reading the letter.
A soft smile fell across her lips when she read the messy scrawl, reading it over a few times and inspecting his note before falling back into the mattress and sighing. She felt like a silly, lovesick teenager with a crush, but she couldn't help but be rather excited.
 
Once again, business negotiations had gone sour. He had made sure to do the shopping first, picking out a 'I <3 New York' shirt, a pair of jeans, socks, and tennis shoes for her, plus the clothes he needed. He had them brought to his hotel room, then went to his business meeting.

After the meeting, he walked into the hotel and up to his sister's room angrily, knocking loudly. He was let in and their argument could be heard up and down the hall, including the room under theirs. Some people complained, but most likely they only complained because they couldn't understand the Gaelic.

Tig left her room with a slam of the door and slid his key through the lock of his own door, shoving it open. He pulled a flask out of his jacket and took a drink, walking over to glare out the window. He started trying to calm himself down, knowing he had a good night ahead of him...but his sister and what she was forcing him through was pissing him off...
 
At six Jasmine pulled her hair back into her headscarf and smiled slightly at herself in the mirror. It was kind of liberating to know that for the rest of the evening she would not be concealed. Of course fo a young woman like her it was a little disconcerting to be showing her face to the world, but she trusted that Mr OConnor would care for her well. And so at quarter to the hour the young woman travelled up to the top floor of the hotel and approached his room. She hesitated for a moment and then knocked carefully. For some reason her heart was beating rapidly inside of her chest, perhaps just the adrenaline of the night ahead pumping through her veins. When she entered the room Jasmine removed her scarf and smiled shyly to him. "So do I get a clue as to what we are doing tonight?"
 
When she showed up, he hadn't even dressed yet. He was still in his nice shoes and pants, his suspenders (yeah, he wore suspenders) still up on his shoulders over his white pressed shirt. He smiled though when he saw her and let her in. "Drinking, dancing, I might see one of the two underground fight clubs will let us in..." He shrugged. "Unless you'd just like to go to dinner and a movie..."

He walked her into his bedroom and pointed at the clothes that were laid out on his bed. "That pile's yours. I think I got the right size in everything...got you some new shoes, too...just some plain sneakers...guessed your size in that as well..." He shrugged. "Socks...figured you had everything else covered." He smirked and shrugged off his suspenders, starting to unbutton his shirt. "You can change in the bathroom if you want."
 
Jasmine nodded her head abruptly as he began to unbutton his shirt, revealing the top of his muscular, toned chest. She immediately grabbed the pile of clothing and rushed into the bathroom.
For a few moments she just stared at her reflection in the mirror, wondering how in the world she had got sucked into this idea. Mr. O'Connor had never really given her a choice in the matter but then again she had come up here today completely on her own will. Sighing softly she removed her long sweater and black pants before slipping into the new garments. Once more she found herself looking in the mirror, amazed at how well he had guessed her size. The jeans were a little tight around her hips but Jasmine supposed that was the trend in here America. Luckily the top was a little looser around her breasts and the white sneakers fit nicely. Jasmine smiled gently at herself; minus the dark skintone and obvious accent, she could surely pass as a normal American woman.
The young woman gathered her dark curly hair into a ponytail before slowly retreating out of the room, searching for Mr. O'Connor with a shy smile on her lips.

"Mr. O'Connor?" she murmured as she entered the room, "I... I hope these fit okay. They feel fine. I'm ready to leave when you are."
 
He turned around to look at her, smiling and looking just like a normal guy off the streets. He pulled on a flatcap and looked her up and down. "You look great." He said with a smile, smoothing down his own tight t-shirt. He sat down on the bed to tie his shoes. "Are you hungry? We can go out to eat first. I haven't had a good hamburger in a long time...I think I really want a hamburger..."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back