Best Of Joy

Chapter 3

I sat in my damp clothes as the smell of chocolate began to fill the room.

I looked around at the many candles that were beautifully lit. They cast a perfect dim light on the peaceful room. This was what Michael called his Serenity room; he’d actually named the room that.

“Where are we going now?” I’d asked.

“Serenity.”

“Huh…”

I really had wanted to go take a shower and dry off, but when I’d complained, he replied “No time!” He was worrying that it was now 10PM and that maybe I would want to get home soon. He wanted to spend as much time with me as possible, and vice versa.

Anyway, the room—I mean Serenity—was painted an apple-red color with white, nearly-transparent curtains that hung to the floor and danced as the California breeze came in through the tall windows. It felt good in contrast to being soaked in ice-cold water an hour or two before.

There were two long, white couches that sat parallel to each other with a cute, glass coffee table sitting in between them. There were paintings of roses and sunflowers hung elegantly all over the walls.

I sat by the fire, which was lit at the front of the room in a beautiful white fireplace, and tried to get dry while Michael made his way around the room lighting candles; there were dozens, all sitting upon marble platforms that I wanted to call tables but that wasn’t quite the right name. More like giant marble cubes of various sizes that were scattered around the room on the white carpet. On each of them stood about 10 candles, so as you can imagine, we were completely surrounded. They completely lit up the room, and it was beautiful. He had amazing taste in décor; no room in my house wasn’t nearly as attractive.

I watched him as he carefully lit a match and went from one candle to the next, his clothes still damp, too. His white t-shirt clung to his torso from the wetness, and I couldn’t help but stare at his perfect figure. His hair was now flat and clung to his beautiful face from the dampness. It appeared longer and darker than it actually was.

I continued to huddle up with myself by the fire, still a little chilly from my clothes.

The smell of chocolate grew closer.

Michael sat down beside me on the white carpet holding two cups of hot cocoa, handing me one.

He crossed his legs and shivered.

“I’m still sorry about that,” Michael said.

That had literally been the 23rd time he’d apologized for his brothers’ mischievousness.

“Michael. It’s oh-kayyy.” I assured him.

“They like to stop by and pester me. I guess that’s what brothers are for? Of course, there’s a time for pranks and a time for…er…no pranks.” He struggled with the last part of the sentence, remembering our little moment in the movie room, and he looked down in embarrassment.

I smiled and tried to ignore it.

“You should confiscate their keys. I can’t imagine having people barging into your own house randomly every day,” I blurted.

“Gee, you don’t know how much I’d like to do that! Unfortunately, this isn’t just my house… I guess I left that out,” Michael explained.

“It’s almost like a timeshare. Some of us still live here. Though I’m sure our parents wish we’d all just get out and stay out sometimes. We’re still like little kids, we do that sorta stuff to each other all the time, and I know they gotta get sick of it,” He said, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. He shivered.