Hampton. 16/05/2012. 17:55.
Nathaniel stopped running upon arriving on the back door of his grandparent mansion. If the nurse who was there when he awoke, she could not recognize him. He had grown from 5"5 to 6"1 in four month which left his moms and grandma stupefied. He had gained weight and more importantly muscle. Not that he cared but he got now an impressive 6 pack which would make anyone drool on. Nathaniel didn't care about the aesthetic of it, he just wanted to have an athletic body he could use to defend himself and his loved one. He had today surpass the body of Marc in his prime which was good enough for him. He didn't plan to become a soldier nor a model nor an actor.
A soldier was out of the question. Marc fights his whole life for his country and gets betrayed by it in a heartbeat. Moreover, Nathaniel didn't have the envy or the interest to work for the government in any capacity. As for a model, he wasn't that shallow. He prefers to be known for the content of his head and not the aesthetic of it. He wasn't that categoric for becoming an actor but that implied to know people that he didn't and know how to act, which wasn't in his priorities at the moment nor one of his envy.
"Nathaniel, is that you?" Said the voice of his grandmother upon entering the house.
"Yes grandma it's me! Do you need anything?" He answered back.
"No, no dearest. I just want to remind you that tomorrow I'm taking you to buy clothes. Everything that you wear currently is tighter than it should be, not mentioning very ugly." Said his grandma happily. She never hid the fact that she hated to see him in sportswear.
Since the end of last week, she has been ecstatic. Since his height and weight started stabilizing and his body was in shape, she could now go on a shopping spree to dote on her grandson to her heart's content. His moms working, she had a free pass to buy him anything that she wanted without reservation which made her happy to no end.
Even better, she could now show off her comely grandson in front of her friends and their childrens. Even better, a good number of her friends had good-looking female grandchildren who she could present as a marriage prospect. If Nathaniel knew what was planning his grandmother, he would be scared out of his mind.
Diane had the idea to organise a party named 'Welcome back from coma' and everyone needed to come with a gift for Nathaniel. Knowing that her friends were the wife of very wealthy men or mothers from important families, the presents were going to be impressive. The party was going to take place on saturday. Every person invited was impatient to come and a number of people not invited ask to come. Nobody ever met Nathaniel and they were curious to see the future heir of the Lyndon label.
"I didn't forget, don't worry grandma. I'm going to my room now, I need to shower and then study."
"Alright Dear, see you later." Said Diane while evaluating him critically, something that Nathaniel didn't notice because he was busy taking off his sweaty clothes.
He always was cute with his kind smile, charming face and sparkling blue eyes but now that he is working the hell out, everything changes. His face lost his emaciated appearance and became handsome. His always present smile, blue eyes and thin eyebrow were giving off a kind and trustworthy aura. His carve body with his 6 pack, strong shoulders and unblemish skin could make every woman drooling. Two things could be better though she noticed. His long blond hair needed a fresh cut which she will get covered on thursday. The second thing was his skin was a little "too" white, he needed to work a tan. She started to consider sending him to a warm country for a couple of weeks to fix that.
Her evaluation finished and satisfied by her conclusion, she got back to organising the party, focusing particularly on promising young women for her grandson.
******
The next day, Nathaniel was sitting on the beach, the weather was slowly turning warmer and since a few days ago, he started to take his morning 10 miles run outside. That was more exhilarating to run on the outside than making repetitive rounds around the mansion. Moreover the beach was not that far from his grandparents home, at most 1 miles. Now that he could defend himself, he started going out more. The instinct of Marc to never be defenseless was ingrained deep in his mind. The sensation of his muscle atrophied and the feeling to be trapped in his own body was still a deep scar in his psyche.
Sitting in front of the sea, he uses the sound of the moving water, the flying bird to soothe his mind. He had the urge to start playing music again but force himself to wait. He wanted to play piano with his mom. He knew that after the accident she stopped playing and that made him feel guilty. His moms were coming every week-end whatever the work that they have and resent the fact that they could not come more. He wanted to surprise them and play again for them this saturday before the party, maybe like that he could heal his mom.
Self conscious, he ran his hands through his hair. He developed this habit since going to the barber two days ago. His messy shoulder length hair were now elegantly cut, framing his charming face perfectly.
Eyes closed, he sensed somebody approaching him. Since he correctly incorporated Marc memories, he could now use his radar like hearing even if he had a reach of no more than 50 yard, it was nothing compared to Marc ranged had his peak but it was encouraging.Opening his eyes and turning his head on the side, he could now see who was coming.
She was a stunning woman around twenty years old. Long blond hair tied in a ponytail, blue eyes, wearing a conservative flowery dress, she was positively a stunner. Nathaniel saw her before the last few days, she was keeping to herself, sitting on the beach, seemingly sad. They never interact before outside of a few nods when he was running past her.
"Hi, sorry to interrupt you but I wanted to know if i could sit here for a moment?" She asks shyly which makes Nathaniel smile.
"Of course, feel free to sit wherever you want, I don't own this beach" He said with mirth, making her laugh in relief.
"Taylor."
"Nathaniel."
"Wow, never met someone who was named Nathaniel. From where is that from?"
"My mom's family heritage is french, I had a great grandfather with that name and she always liked it."
"That explains it, I like it too, it's different."
"Thanks."
"Do you live here?"
"No, I'm from New-York but I spent the last couple of months here with my grandparents who lived here. And you?"
"Neither do I, I'm a singer and I'm going on tour in two weeks so my manager rented me a house here to rest and since I have broken things up with my boyfriend, I thought I could use some alone time." She said.
"Sorry to hear that. How does that alone time work for you so far?"
"I'm bored out of my mind to be honest" She answered with a laugh.
"Well, there is a party in my grandparents house tomorrow night, you will need something nice to wear but I believe it would be fun so you should come." He offers with his trademark smile.
"What! But why would you invite me? We don't know each other." She shouted in surprise.
"You seem nice and I believe you could use some fun after a break up."
Seeing that she was going to argue, Nathaniel added.
"This is not an offer out of pity you know, I don't know anybody here too and I could use a friend around my age."
"Very well I'll come. I need to go now to find something appropriate to wear. You need to give me the address and the hour."
Nathaniel gave her the information that she needed, which she duly noted on her phone. Seeing her leave, Nathaniel remembered something that he was going to forget.
"What is your last name? I need it to add you to the list." Ask Nathaniel.
"My last name is Swift. Taylor Swift." She answered with a happy smile before leaving.