Chapter II
It had now been a week, three days, and twenty hours Gage had arrived in this unknown land. The place seemed cosy enough; mostly because it was a residential area. She'd finished moving in all of her stuff, and she stood in the living room to contemplate the fruits of her labour.
For an artist like her, perfection was the dominant word in her vocabulary. The walls of the entire house were painted of an immaculate white. Two white cotton couches placed parallel to each other decorated the main room, as well as the simple black carpet underneath them. Between the couches, a simple wooden coffee table on which she'd displayed some of her favourite books. The parquet floor perfectly matched the fancy painting she'd hung on the wall.
She stood in front of it, her hands on her waist and smiled at the masterpiece. It was something that looked like an eye, but at the level of the pupils, several colours were paraded. The most prevalent colour was green; she loved green.
She made a slight trip round the house, touching the freshly painted cupboards and climbing the stairs. Gage had wanted to have a home like this all her life. Fortunately, she'd made good money from her paintings. Even though she didn't know why so many people liked them, she knew she had enough to earn a decent living. Opening the door to her bedroom, what immediately caught her eye was the huge painting of her that faced the door of the room. Once again she smiled at the abundant talent the artist had shown on the painting.
It was very Marilyn Monroe- like; her eyes looked in a sideway direction, and her lips were pulled into a slight grin. What made the beauty of the picture was the Black over white effect, Juan had put over it. Juan was a Spanish artist, as tall as a giant; he had short black silky hair, and piercing grey eyes. They'd met at his exhibition. He had also been the first man to tell her she was beautiful…the first man to do a lot of things as a matter of fact.
For once in her life, she'd actually believed it when a man had said she was beautiful.
It hadn't just been a casual pick up line, or a simple compliment to flatter her ego. She had been his inspiration; his drive. She knew no feeling that could equal that sensation when a person sees so much more in you that would an average person.
Juan had thought her not only to see people through her own eyes, but also through God's. Following his lead, she discovered the art of painting and fell in love with it immediately.
From there, she'd excelled in the art, and she would forever be grateful to him. Their story didn't resist that long though; Juan was married and he loved his wife. She knew it, because she'd been a witness of all the love he lavished upon her. So, slowly but surely she moved out of his life; without asking for the money of her change, she packed and left.
There were days she missed him; days she needed him to help her thrash a single colour on her canvas. It saved her the trouble to think she was heartless when she told herself she had loved him. But deep down; she knew she hadn't been in love.
She'd just been impressed, amazed; euphoric in front of all the talent and manliness he possessed. But looking at her situation keenly, of all the men she'd known, Juan was the one who'd made the biggest mark. The others had just been annoying chumps who bored the hell out of her, with all their pampering, their flowers, their gifts and expensive jewelleries.
Romance had never been her thing; she looked beyond that, beyond the sparks and the dash. She searched their eyes to see if the sight of her ignited whatsoever fire in them, but nothing.
None.
Gage had even wondered if women would be the ideal for her; but then again at that very moment a man would appear in her life and push all lesbian thought out of her head.
"That's pretty nice."
Gage jumped, her head spinning towards the door.
"What are you doing here?" she asked furious. It was that body builder again…
"I saw the door was opened; thought someone had broken in." he said. She couldn't believe the nerve of this man; did he always have to mind other people's business?
"Well, as you can see the only intruder in here is you!"
"I actually hoped to receive a nicer reaction, but well…' he shrugged.
"A nicer reaction…huh?" she crossed her arms over her chest and nodded questioningly.
"Do you always do that?" Gage asked.
"Do what?" His voice was powerful, almost frightening.
"Put your nose into everyone's business."
He sighed again. This time, he rubbed his temple then put his hand on the back of his neck. God, his arm was huge. He could knock the life out of her in a second.
"Listen, I think you and I have started out quite badly. I wanted to apologize for that."
Apologize? Why did he want to apologize? All he'd done was try to inculcate some graciousness into her, and as always she'd taken the defensive side. Gage knew the type of person she was; the type of person who reacted badly to criticism, she did not give a damn about what anyone thought. Life was too short to waste your time in such futile details, such as friendship or marriage.
"Keep going."
"The other day, it was none of my business; and I was hoping we could go onto better basis." He finished. Gage continued to look at him, but inside she was wide-mouthed.
She knew everything had been her fault; as always. But never did she think, he'd think the opposite. Finally, she might actually enjoy herself here.
"I accept your apologies…' she stated firmly as she waited for him to introduce himself. She couldn't believe she didn't even know his name yet.
"John; John Cena." He said, stretching out his hand as she took it. She looked down at their intertwined hands and was amazed by how petite hers looked into his massive one.
"Gage Jansen."
"Gage; are you the one who did this?" he said, his gaze turning towards the gigantic face on the wall.
"No; I had an artist do it for me." She answered, turning her back to the man; to John.
"It's incredible, must've cost a lot."
"Actually; it didn't." she said, turning to John a little smile creeping to her lips.
"Let's say, the artist and I found a good compromise."
Slut!
I did not really care if she deserved it, but there was just something so nasty and vicious in the way she said it. I could even hear the gratification in her voice; compromise…sure.
I thought she'd at least have the decency to apologize as well, but seems like the word isn't part of the girl's vocabulary. Her house is quite amazing though; every article screamed expensive and exquisite. She sure must be one of those daddy's girls; who get all they want by beating down their lashes or pulling out a puppy dog look.
Pathetic.
Liz had finally kept on that idea of inviting her for dinner. She already had me apologize to her; it's not like I was gonna ask her too…no; that would just be too much. I was in the backyard, getting the barbecue started when a happy Liz walked over me and said;
"Guess what honey!" she jumped on my back. I was glad every time she did that, because, for what is was worth; I loved to have a smile on her face.
"You finally gained some inches?" I put her down. Lizzie always hates it when I comment on her height. She even threatened to fill in for divorce the next time I'll do it.
" .ha. Keep going baby, my attorney is waiting."
"C'mon babe, that's kind of low" I said putting my hand on top of her head.
"Johnny!"
"Fine."
"Good! She said yes!" her smile coming back to her face.
"Who said yes to what?"
"The neighbour! Remember I wanted to ask her to come for dinner right?"
Dammit!
"Huh; yeah I remember."
"Well, her name is Gage actually!" she said excitedly.
Like I didn't know…
"She's a painter, and she let me see some of the things she does. It's amazing!" she squealed like a little girl. Liz was always so adamant when it came to getting what she wanted…she was persistent.
"Oh! That's…good?" I shrugged; I wasn't going to pretend to be all happy about her new friendship.
"Listen, Johnny; all I'm asking you to do is to open the door when she gets in and smile once in a while." Her little frame came right in front of me, and she did that thing again.
"For me…please."
There was something about those words that always made me swoon for Liz. She was such a great person; anything she asked for, I knew she deserved it.
"Sure." I smiled.
"You're the best! Plus, I was going to think you had a crush on her or something!" she laughed.
"Oh, yeah! And Vince McMahon is the president of the United States!"
"I'm gonna get something done before she comes okay?"
"Try not to burn the whole house this time." I laughed, watching her retrieving figure. I saw her flung the door open and jumping in excitedly; she really was enthusiastic about meeting Gage.
It was lovely to see like that; but it hurt me still. The last thing I had wanted was to give her the feeling she was alone. Liz wanted a stable life, a family, two kids who'd wake us up in the morning, jumping on our beds.
Unfortunately, she had to sacrifice all that for me. Maybe not all of it; but the most part, but as long as she kept on with me, I was grateful for everything she did.
Ding! Dong!
"John! …' Liz yelled from the bathroom.
"I got it!"
I rose from my comfortable couch and went to open the door. It was eight O'clock, and it couldn't have been anybody else. It had to be her. Shit.
The distance between the living room and the room appeared to be miles as I reached it. I put my hand on the door knob and sighed. Why did it get me so nervous? It wasn't some woman who would put me in such position of inferiority!
I was John Cena dammit!
"John." She greeted, a half smile on her red plumb lips.
"Gage." I shrugged. I pushed myself out of the way to let her in. That is only when I noticed her dressing. She wore a tight fitting white-sleeved dress; it ended a little above the knees of her long, white legs, and nude pumps at her feet. She wore a simple golden-chained necklace around her neck, and her ginger hair was neatly brushed into a tight bun.
As she walked passed me, her scent immediately intoxicated the entire room. The aroma tracked all the way up to my nostrils; it was a piquant and spicy. Almost like cayenne pepper.
I closed the door, and scrutinised her outfit a little more; any other woman could've wore this dress without making it look abnormal. But her; Gage, she wore it, but she still looked like she had nothing on.
"Where's your wife? I mean; Liz." she quickly spun around. I took my eyes off her quickly before she noticed I'd been looking at her.
"Huh; she's in the bathroom. She'll be down in a second. Have a sit." I gestured, walking her over to the couch.
I sat on the couch opposite of her; the more distance I kept with this woman, the more chances I had to stay alive. I pretended to watch the lottery draw on TV as we waited for Liz.
"Nice house."
"Thanks."
I tried to keep my eyes on the TV set in front of me, but as she spoke, my gaze crossed hers. It was only then I noticed she had grey eyes. Grey and Ginger; quite a weird mix.
It suited her though. I wanted to tell her but something told me to refrain myself from any sort of contact with her. Inadvertently, I turned my head as she crossed her legs.
Her right leg moving to the top of the other one, she leaned even more into her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. She gave me a Brie Van De Camp kind of vibe, with her accented ginger hair, and her pale skin.
I was relieved when I heard the shower had stopped running and a fresh looking Liz walked down the stairs. We both stood up as she did.
This was going to be a very, very long night.
