Captivation

Captivation Part 30

Jared was at the breakfast counter reaching for a mug of coffee that was poured for him on arrival, when Caitlin entered the room. They made eye contact. Then she quirked a brow, but said nothing to him and just strolled past as if he was nothing more than a bit of furniture. Jared nearly laughed. That's what he liked about this woman. Her strength of character.

Although it was 8 in the morning, only six of the party were up. Jared, and two other guys, Tom and Joshua, and two of the women, one of whom was Lisa and the other was Anne-Marie.

They were all dressed casually, prepared for the outing to the pottery shed later that morning.

"Morning." Caitlin said blithely a few seconds later, having decided that she was going to have to be the one to break the silence that had descended on her arrival. She got a chorus of loud responses from the men present and somewhat lackluster responses from the two women. Jared noticed that both Lisa and Anne-Marie then proceeded to give Caitlin the cold shoulder, while Tom and Joshua who had been trying to impress the two women, sheepishly but ineffectively tried to include Caitlin.

"Coffee?" Jared asked, when he realised that Lisa had no intention of offering to make Caitlin a mug as she had done for the others, but instead had gone so far as to place the percolator back in the stand. Lisa could have simply poured some coffee into one of the mugs lined up on the breakfast counter and handed it to Caitlin. No love lost there, Jared finally acknowledged.

"Please." She kept her voice in neutral.

Jared put his mug down and ambled toward coffee, "How do you take it?" As he reached for the coffee he couldn't help but remember Douglas' words. Was she really interested?

"Black. Please." Came the straight response.

He filled a mug, "Easily pleased." He smiled, hoping to tease her into replying. Instead Lisa snorted, then quickly engaged in conversation with Anne-Marie. Jared handed Caitlin the mug. "Here you go." He made eye contact, "Careful." He turned it round, cupped it, shifting it so that she could reach its handle. Maybe it was time to up the stakes, flirt a bit more. See just how interested she was.

"Thanks." She smiled blandly and then headed for the large table. Jared watched her go, and wondered whether Douglas had misunderstood. For she didn't appear to be interested in Jared. She'd barely held eye contact and hadn't made any effort to extend the conversation. She hadn't flirted or attempted to touch his fingers as she took the mug. All in all, she was giving him no signals to work on. Perhaps Douglas had it wrong.

The rest of the group remained by the breakfast bar. Caitlin sat facing them. She placed her mug on a coaster and silently contemplated how she was going to hang onto her composure.

A minute later, two other men entered the kitchen. Lisa offered them a coffee. Caitlin banked her grin, so that was their game. She took her time drinking her coffee, and by the time she had finished, several more of their group appeared in the kitchen. Talk ramped up the volume in the room. The room was getting busy. Caitlin picked up her mug and took it over to the sink, she rinsed it and placed it in the dishwasher. Then she quietly snuck out of the room. Jared saw her go and contemplated going after her. Was this the right time to have that talk that Douglas suggested? Or should he wait for another opportunity? What other opportunity?

Caitlin was smiling to herself when she bumped into Douglas and Candy on their way into the kitchen. They were recounting some of last night's anecdotes.

"You're up early." Candy smiled somewhat sleepily.

"Actually you guys are late. There are hordes in there." Caitlin told them with a wry smile. Then she thought she ought to double check the plans for the day. She wasn't paying too much attention last night, for at the time she was doing her best not to scowl at Jared. "Nigel said we'd leave between 10 and 11, didn't he?"