Warning: sexual allusion, body image I guesstoo
As for previous chapter, this chapter is kinda thematic, I guess. Let me know how you find this way of telling the story. Is it good or is it too repetitive to be around one theme?
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Unusual music reaches Joel's ears as he walks through the front door. Intrigued, he heads for the living room. In the middle of the room, Chloe is doing some sport. He frowns while watching TV.
"Is that... Jane Fonda?
-Yeah, Molly told me her workouts are great to stay in shape.
-To stay in shape?
-I'm getting fat with you Miller!
-Sure you are.
-Yes, I am! Look at me!
-Girl you're crazy.
-I'm not! At this rate I will no longer be able to sit on you without breaking your legs."
He sighs but doesn't add anything, letting her focus on her movements. Either way, he knows there's no point arguing with her when she's in this state of mind.
----
He bites his lip, preventing himself from laughing at her. From the bed, he watches her cross the room slowly, hunched over with stiffness. When she lets out a groan of discomfort, he can't hold back, chuckling softly.
"Actually I like it when you workout. Looks like you're 80, it makes me feel young."
She gives him an annoyed look as she flops onto her stomach on the mattress, heaving a sigh of relief. With her head half buried in the pillow, she questions him.
" Were you all superheroes? How did you manage to do this all the time?
-You just did too much. You have to get started little by little.
-My whole body feel dead. If that's how being old is, shoot me now.
- I have a better solution."
He leans over her and puts his hands on her back to release the tension. She heaves soft sighs of relief, too happy to feel her muscles loosen. But above her, these sounds give the man ideas. Very quickly his hands move towards other parts of her body. She doesn't take long to notice his little game.
"I don't know what you expect me to do with this body, but I can't.
-It's alright, you won't have to do anything. I'm taking care of you."
----
"Look, isn't that cute? Molly found it for me.
-Yeah... Cute."
He swallows with difficulty. Cute isn't the word that comes to his mind when he watches her admiring herself in the mirror, only wearing a set of lacy lingerie.
"Did women wear sets of underwear like this all the time? I mean, matching panties and bra?
-Hm, only at the start of a relationship. Or for occasions. After that it often turned back into mismatched things or indestructible, shapeless cotton stuff.
-What occasions?
-Birthday, Valentine's day... The day they expected to be naked in front of a man, you see?
-I do, but my eyes are up here buddy."
He clears his throat, blushing slightly. She decides to tease him a bit. Taking an innocent voice, she asks him.
"Do you find this sexy?
-No, not at all. You, half naked in front of me. How could I find that sexy?"
He said in his usual irony. She takes one last look in the mirror before walking past him, ready to go to the other bedroom to get her clothes.
"I have to dress for work. Come see me at the cafe later. If you can stop thinking about what I'm wearing under my clothes of course. But who knows, maybe I won't wear anything at all."
She winks at him, watching his face crumble at such words.
"Sweet Jesus girl, you can't tell me stuff like that."
He manages to say despite his tight throat imagining her not wearing anything under her clothes. She bites her thumb, making a sexy face. Deep down, she laughs softly, satisfied that she can drive her lover mad with desire like this. She knows he will make her pay later, when she is naked under him and he takes his time despite her pleas, his slowness almost painful. But right now, she's the one in charge and she's savoring every crumb of it.
-----
"No don't eat that!!!"
She screams when she sees him taste the contents of the pan. Too late, the man grimaces and spits in the sink.
"Puah, what is that?
- It's a care for my skin. That way I'll stay young and pretty.
-You don't need that.
-Yes, I do, look, I start to have wrinkles and my skin is far from perfect."
He looks at her, disillusioned. She has baby skin, and her so-called wrinkles could not be seen with a magnifying glass. He grabs the magazine open on the counter to see what nonsense she could have found in it.
"Beauty tips from Victoria's Secret Angels.
-Look at them. They were gorgeous, right?
-Yeah, but..."
He sighs, flipping through the magazine. This world has been gone for over twenty years, and yet its worst drifts hang on, poisoning the mind of his partner. He stops on a page and points to one of the women.
" You know that's not her real face there. Nor really her body either.
-What do you mean?
-To get this result, they used a lot of makeup, lights and on top of that they used computers to correct all the blemishes, smooth their skin, make them look thinner, that kind of crap.
-Why were they doing that?
-To complex women and make them believe that they were never good enough. To create fake problems that they were selling solutions for.
-You seem to know a lot about the subject.
-I had a daughter, even at her age she was impacted. One day she came home from school crying because she felt ugly. Took me quite a ride to comfort her. She wasn't even a teen yet.
-Wo. That's awful.
-You've said it."
She stirs the mixture before transferring it to a bowl, ready to head to the bathroom.
"Wait, are you going to use it anyway? Did you listen to what I said?
-What, it's not like I bought it. I'm not going to throw away something perfectly usable. And what harm it can do to my skin, it's only good products from Jackson."
He sighs. There are fights that you cannot win. She starts again.
"And then don't act like it doesn't touch you. They keep complimenting you on me at the bar, like you had something to do with your 'young and pretty partner' like they say. Really, I will never understand them.
-Neither do I.
-You should let me put it on you. Maybe then I too will have compliments on you. And I at least would deserve them.
-Approach me with that and you'll have to find another kitchen to make your mixtures."
She laughs and kisses his cheek tenderly before heading for the stairs.
----
Lying on her back, Chloe is trying to focus on her book, but she can feel Joel's gaze on her. She stops reading to turn her head towards him. He kisses her gently and then strokes her face, as if to test the efficiency of her cream. She speaks softly.
"Sell dream.
-What?
-That's what Talia used to say. We had to be perfect because our clients came to get away from it all. We couldn't risk having the slightest flaw, otherwise it would have broken the spell.
-But you're not a dancer anymore, and there's no more client to sell dream to.
-No, but there's you.
-I don't need/
-I know. But... I need it. They deprived me of my body for so long. They controlled everything. Now I can do whatever I want with it. Even if it seems futile or a waste of time and material to you. I need it.
-Okay, okay. You can do whatever you want, I won't stop you. I just don't want you to be obsessed about it. Plus, I mean, you're already the most stunning woman I've ever seen. How could you improve that."
She shakes her head but can't help smiling. He kisses her gently before returning to his book. She does the same, snuggling up to him. It has become a habit for them to end the day like this, each immersed in their reading but close to each other. Of all the things they share, this might be Joel's favorite. Sure, sex is great, but these peaceful intimate moments mean so much more. Like a normality in this world that has become so strange. Like a peace he had never known with anyone, even before everything turned to terror. All he hopes now is to live as long as possible to enjoy this simple happiness. With her.