The steady beeping of the alarm clock pulled Kait from her sleep. Her eyelashes, sticky with salt from her tears, blurred her vision as she opened her eyes to her sunlight filled room. It was seven in the morning on the first morning of October. Today was Monday, and Kait had to go into the gallery. She and three other local artists shared a gallery, splitting the rent and the notoriety, helping them all prosper.
Dressed in a plum sweater-dress and white thermal tights, her leather boots pulled up almost to her knees, Kait grabbed her bag and walked out her apartment door. In the crisp wind, she shuddered slightly waiting for a taxi. The shudder wasn't just because of the chill. It was also because she was out in the open. Out in the open after whatever exactly had happened the night before.
In the yellow cab, she thought about the people that had stormed onto her roof, had held a knife to her throat. At the same time, she thought about the brothers, the mutated turtles that saved her, for no reason other than it was the right thing to do.
Absentmindedly, she touched the bandage Don had put on her neck that was hidden beneath the high collar of the dress. Out of the cab, onto the bustling sidewalk, and into the small gallery. The huge windows in the front and back cast bright natural light onto the paintings, photographs, and sculptures of four of the city's artist. Kait gave her trademark smile to Milo, the other painter, as she dropped her bag behind her desk. Each of the four artists kept a small desk full of paper work for their sales, their client lists, sketchbooks, and notes for future projects.
Milo, a modern impressionist painter, walked over to her desk, his chocolate hair bouncing around his face, with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. "Good morning, Kait." He smiled, the chip in his front tooth showing. A hard adolescence still showed itself on his person, but not on his personality.
Kait gave her smile back, accepting the mug greedily. "You always know exactly what I want, Milo."
He sat on the edge of her desk, watching her drink the coffee for a few moments, judging if he had added the proper amount of cream, sugar, and cocoa powder. "What happened last night?" he asked quietly.
She was instantly thankful they were alone in the gallery. With a deep breath, she let her eyes fall on Milo's green ones. "I was painting on my roof last night when…" She was interrupted by the slight creak of the door as Joey walked in. Joey was the sculptor of the group, known for his minimalistic and useful art. "I'll tell you after work, Milo." She murmured quickly. She liked and trusted all three of her "coworkers," but Milo was different for her. They had been friends since college and had stayed just as close since then.
With a nod, he walked back to his desk a few feet from hers and waited for the customers to come. After Anabeth, an urban photographer and the fourth of the artists arrived just before 9 o' clock, the customers began to stream in. Some were the stereotypical patrons of the art, some were just curious, some were brought in by good words of the art, and some thought they were going to see a piece of New York culture. Many that did not know the artists or those who had not been there before would pull aside one of the artists and ask why they shared a gallery with three other artists, citing that, surely, it must detract from their business. Whoever they had asked would usually laugh and explain quite simply that they were not competition to each other. No one who likes photorealistic paintings, Kait's specialty, would be drawn aside by Joey's sculptures. This was true for the other artists as well. In fact, it helps business because those who were satisfied with what they find recommend the artist to those who may or may not agree with their tastes. Thus, if a person comes in on a recommendation to Anabeth's photography but in fact is drawn to Milo's loose brush strokes, the gallery has done its job. The coalition of artists helps each other gain.
A few hours after the doors had opened, during the lunch time lull, the door swung open and a thin, beautiful red headed woman walked into the gallery, her hazel eyes scanning the room quickly. Her eyes lighted on Kait quickly and her graceful legs brought her over to her nearly as quickly.
"Hi, my name is April O'Neal. I was recommended to come by to see your work." Kait smiled her polite, business smile.
"Oh? Who recommended you?" Kait quickly rifled through her notebook of past clients, waiting for her to give a name.
April gave her a small giggle. "He won't be in that list of yours. He saw some of your work last night." Her voice had dropped to a whisper.
Kait paled more than she already was, her hand automatically coming up to her neck. "The brothers?" she whispered back.
April nodded slightly. "My fiancé and I are friends of the Hamoto family. Don told me about the piece he saw last night and told me your name. He saw it on a certificate on your wall. So I decided to stop by and see it for myself." Her eyes glided over the painting as well of Kait's slight body. With a small chuckle, her lips pulled up a little at the corners. "Raph was right. You're so different than her, but you both have something in common. But I can't quite put my finger on it either." Her eyes were clouded with sadness, but her mouth kept smiling.
"Different than who?" Kait asked quietly. She vaguely remembered the brothers talking about another girl when they had brought her into her apartment.
April focused her eyes on a painting over Kait's shoulder, her eyes and lips tightening a bit with emotion. "Emily."
"Who's…"
"You'll have to wait for Raph to tell you that." April cut in, her eyes returning to Kait's. "He's very protective of her. Even now, even after they know, even after what they did to her. I guess it's just a habit he doesn't want to break without her."
Kait nodded slightly. "Will I ever get to see them again?" she asked quietly.
April took her turn to nod, a kind smile on her face. "For at least the next month or so, one of them will be on your roof every night. They're there to protect you from the people you met last night, but I'm sure they'd be willing to talk. And just so you know, they have a weakness for pizza. So if you want to get on their good sides fast, have a slice or two waiting for them when they get there." She took one last look around the gallery before she walked back out the glass doors, her kitten heels clicking ever so slightly on the hardwood floors.
The rest of Kait's day was a blur. Her mind constantly looped over and over the idea of talking to one of them. Of getting to sit down with one of them, one on one, with Raph, or Leo, or Mikey, or Don. Milo had to leave early to take his dog to the vet, but he promised to take Kait out to lunch the next day to hear her story.
She flagged down a taxi as the sun began to sink below the first of the skyscrapers, robotically getting in and giving the driver her address. Just as mechanically, she climbed the flights of stairs to her fifth floor apartment.
Sitting patiently at the door with her feather duster tail swishing slowly across the hardwood floor was Cujo. The Saint Bernard colored Ragamuffin looked up at Kait with her huge green eyes and her top incisors hanging out over his bottom lift, making her look like a little trick-or-treater that had arrived early for Halloween. Kait smiled down at her faithful cat while she kicked off her shoes and dropped her purse on the end table. Her clothes became dark jeans a teal thermal long-sleeve shirt while she laced up her paint covered sneakers.
Cujo followed her obediently, waiting for her nightly treat before dinner. Soon, enough, as Kait knotted her hair into a messy bun, she sliced off a piece off of a tuna steak from the refrigerator, letting Cujo jump to catch it between her teeth. The overgrown fur ball happily padded over to her chair by the window while Kait began to hunt for her dinner.
She opened mesh front cabinets and the painted refrigerator. On one of the lighted plastic shelves, she saw a preformed pizza crust and instantly remembered April's comment about the brothers enjoying pizza. After further searching, she found sauce and shredded cheese, but no meat. She just hoped whichever brother came to watch her didn't mind cheese pizza.
With Cujo's bowl full of cat food and the pizza in the oven, Kait gathered her art supplies for a new painting. While the paints and easel were outside, the brushes and canvas were tucked under the bed. She opened the window to a crisp evening breeze and grabbed her down coat off of Cujo's chair before climbing out onto her roof in to the sunset. Cujo followed, laying herself out on the warm vent for the heating unit.
She sat on pins and needles while she worked, waiting for the slightest rustle of the approaching brother, much like she had heard before the Foot clambered onto her roof. But she heard no sound before the gravely chuckle behind her, making her jump off her stool.
"Yer just askin' for them to get a hold of ya, aren't ya?" The deep voice and thick accent were enough for Kait to know it was Raph.
Her first thought was Emily, the mysterious woman under Raph's domain. "Maybe, or maybe I just know one of you would be here."
With a heavy sigh, Raph leaned against the low wall of the roof. "Ya paint?" he asked politely, his caramel eyes trained on her canvas. She nodded. "I bet April will like ya, then. She likes all that stuff."
"She did seem to enjoy the gallery when she stopped by this afternoon. What about you?" Kait tried not to let her curiosity and excitement into her voice.
Raph shrugged loosely, pushing off the wall and sauntering over beside her. They sunk into a mostly comfortable silence as he watched her work and she watched the twilight sky fade to night as she also watched Raph in her peripheral. He was different than the others, she could see that much. He stood rigidly with his face set in grim, sad lines. He would be the perfect subject for a tragic painting or sculpture. Kait couldn't shake the feeling that the mysterious Emily had something to do it.
She couldn't contain her curiosity any more. "Who's Emily?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.
His face closed and his caramel eyes hardened over. "What have the others told ya?" he asked darkly, his hands tightening into fists.
"Nothing other than that if I wanted to know anything, I would have to ask you." Kait's voice dropped into an ashamed murmur.
He nodded slowly, shutting his eyes tightly. "And I'm not ready to tell ya who she is. She's mine, and that's all ya need to know."
And I'm back!
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, even though it's mostly just fluff….
As always, reviews and suggestions are appreciated!
Thanks for reading!
CM