Part Playlist:
• Lost - Frank Ocean
• Whataya Want From Me - P!nk
• I Wanna Be Yours - Arctic Monkeys
• Stay - Rihanna
____________________________
All morning I've been nervous.
I've just been sat against the wall of the studio, looking at the door and waiting for her to get here. All I knew is that I would see her, but I didn't know when.
I thought about texting her, but I didn't know if that was being too pushy.
And she said she had something for me. I really wanted to know what.
Trying to pass time, I looked at the skin on my arm. I was wearing a plain blue t shirt so the arm was bare. It looks so soft. So... boring. I really didn't feel like I had a personality at all. I didn't in particular want heaps of tattoos, but just, something. A new wardrobe, pair of shoes or hairdo. Something that made me stand out.
I stood up to the small kitchenette area, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. I was starving. There was food here, but pre packed salads and hardly anything that filled me up. Nor anything that I actually enjoyed eating. So I sat back down tiredly. Tiredly... at 11am.
I didn't sleep well at all last night due the searing pain in my shoulder. The skin had bruised deeply, I didn't realise how badly until I dressed myself this morning.
I lifted my sleeve up to look at the bruise, lightly touching it and hissing.
Then the door knocked.
I got up so fast, stepping over quickly towards the door. I opened it and Rhea was there, smiling a little at me. She had on these loose black jeans with rips in the knees. A tight black top on. Her hair looked very soft and she looked so beautiful with no makeup on. I noticed the bag she had in her hand. "Hey, Kat." Rhea whispered, making my eyes snap to her blue eyes. "Come with me."
My eyes widened. "What? Where."
Rhea put a gentle hand my way. Did she want me to take it? "For lunch, Kat."
I shook my head and declined her with a hand out. "I can't go, Rhea."
"You want to." Rhea told me.
I shook my head again. "I don't have a key, Rhea. I can't leave here, not to mention my father would-"
"Forget about your father and what he wants you not to do. What's the worst that could happen if he finds out?"
Oh, if she knew...
I didn't answer so Rhea put her bag down and crossed her arms. "We can find something to leave the door open a little."
I shook my head. "Rhea, no. I don't want to. Sorry."
Rhea rubbed over her forehead in some annoyance and I felt pretty bad for making her feel like that. "Then I'll be back." And she turned around and walked away.
What?
She'll be back?
I slowly shut the door, unsure of what to even think about that interaction. Where was she going? Did I make her that upset and angry? Was she so annoyed at me she had to leave?
Carefully walking back to my spot, I sat down. I picked up the phone to start typing a text to Rhea. But then I deleted it, wrote another, debating whether or not I should press send.
Kat: Hey. I'm sorry if I upset you.
Then I deleted it, and started rewriting a new one.
Kat: You shouldn't have been so annoyed at me. It's really not my fault.
Then I deleted that too. I don't even know how to react after that.
I sat in silence for the next 10 minutes, until the door knocked again.
It took me longer than usual to stand up and make my way over there.
Opening the door, Rhea stood there again the same as usual. Just a smaller smile. She had that same bag, but then another plastic white one. That smelt delicious. "Can I come in?" She asked me quietly.
I nodded, and moved to the side to let her in.
She came in, putting the bag near mine and the plastic one she kept in her hand, sitting it front of her on the floor. I watched as she started unpacking it, containers of something.
Rhea looked up at me. "Come and eat, I got us sushi." She opened the containers and many sushi rolls. Colourful and covered in beautiful garnishes.
"I've never had sushi." I told her, slowly sitting across from her and examining the food between us.
Rhea handed me chopsticks, and I hesitantly took them. I tried to hold them, but very awkwardly failed. I saw Rhea smile a tad at me out of the corner of her eye. "I can't use these-"
"Open." Rhea whispered. I looked at her and she had a piece of sushi between her chopsticks, just in front of my face. "It's a salmon and avocado roll." She told me. "It's really nice." She brought it closer to me, wanting me to eat it from her.
I was still a bit nervous to eat from her.
"Do you like fish?" Rhea asked me again, staring at me with deep eyes. I nodded. "Try it, you can spit it out if you don't like it."
Pushing past the hesitancy, I lent in, looking at Rhea. She watched me, heat scorching through my body for some reason. I nearly looked away as I ate the sushi, taking it completely in my mouth.
Rheas jaw twitched as I started chewing softly on the piece. She looked down and picked up a piece herself and ate it.
I swallowed it. "It's really nice."
Rhea smiled, swallowing her piece. "I told you it's good. Here, try this one." Rhea picked up a new one and held it out to me. "It's a spicy tuna. You like spice?"
I shrugged. "I don't really know. I've never had something really spicy."
"What about tuna?"
"I think I've had it before. I don't cook or decide what I eat." I told her.
She's sat back a bit. "What do you mean you don't decide what you eat?"
I shrugged. "My father prepares the food and serves it for me. He packs my fridge for me here." I pointed to the fridge nearby.
Rhea looked over my shoulder curiously, her eyebrows creased in some anger. She put the sushi down, and stood up, going to walk over to the fridge. She opened it and inspected it, rifling through the items inside. Opening a few containers and examining the contents. "This is barely food, Kat. No protein, no carbs. Aren't you tired?" She shut the fridge and started walking back.
I looked down to the food. "I've never eaten much meat or like bread or rice or anything."
"Why?" She asked, not picking up the chopsticks again. She was just lent on her knees, watching me and making sure I was going to answer her.
I looked to the wall. "Dancers are usually really thin. Father wants me to look like mother did, skinny."
Rhea tilted her head. "You're already rather thin, Kat. It would be unhealthy if you were to get any more smaller."
I shrugged. "Apparently not."
Rhea cleared her throat. "So it annoys you then? Have you spoken up about it? He can't control what you eat?"
"He can." I replied. It just came out softly. I didn't and couldn't look at her face.
"What do you mean by that? What does he do, Kat?" Rhea lent in, in an attempt to find my eyes. But I didn't look at her.
Then soft, yet a firm grip came on my chin. I couldn't help but flinch a little. But my eyes found hers, and she was studying my face. She was only inches across from me.
"There's something about you." She whispered. "I want to care for you, and I don't know why. I feel responsible for making sure you're comfortable all the time. The thought of something bad happening to you makes me livid. I don't even know you. But I know there's something you're not telling me, Malysh."
My eyes softened as I took in what she said. Those kind words... I'd never heard anything so kind and so praising before. So caring. "Why do you care about me so much?"
Rheas finger softened on my chin but she didn't let me go. "Ever since I saw you. Came over and talked to you, I've felt at peace. I don't want to leave you. I just want to stay in your presence, even just here." Rhea looked around a little, then back to me. "What I want with you... is something you call a sin, Kat." Rheas blue eyes softened as she looked down my face, settling on my lips for a second, then back up. "I don't know much about this religion of yours... But it sounds like you don't want to be in it. It's your choice to break it, Kat." Rheas eyes dropped to my lips again. I couldn't stop looking at hers now, and she softly licked her bottom lip.
Rhea kept whispering, her breath so warm and so fresh against my face. "It's your choice to break it, or not. Either way, I'm going to be here for you. I'll wait, if I have to... but-" Rhea moved her hand up my cheek, teasingly and softly up to tuck my brown hair behind my ear. "You should know, I am also a rule breaker. I've been really fucking gentle with you so far. But there's this side of me, that's going to tease you, and try and break you. I hope you know that."
My breaths were deep as i took in everything she just said. This was like a very different person since the last few times. "And that side is this?" I motioned softly between us, where she still had that hand on my jaw, circling it. Where she was staring at my face, and my lips and further down.
Rhea nodded, and I thought she was going to do more but she pulled away. She cleared her throat. But she didn't pull away completely, she grabbed my hand, touched my finger and more specifically the silver ring on there. "Do you want to have this?"
I looked down to my finger where she was rotating the ring around my finger. "Is that all you want from me?" I asked. It was just the first thing on my mind.
Rheas face fell a little. "No."
I took a heavy breath, but answered her. "I don't really know."
Rhea raised her eyebrows a little. "What would happen, Kat, if your father and your brother walked in here right now and saw us like this?"
Oh, I didn't even want to think about that. Now my heart was racing. I looked to the door and scratched my head. "I don't want to talk about that. Can we keep eating?"
Rhea let out a quick breath but picked the chopsticks back up, picking up that piece from before, and she held it out for me.
I gave her a small smile and lent in to bite it. I chewed it for a second, before whimpering a little.
Rhea smirked a little at me. "Spicy?" I nodded, and she let out a small laugh.
She fed me a few pieces before I claimed to be full, and she made me eat one more before finishing the rest off herself and packing it away.
"What did you bring?" I pointed to the bag she also brought with her.
Rhea wiped at her mouth. "Oh." She remembered and reached over, opening it. "I actually have a couple things." She reached in and pulled out some sort of kit. "It's a watercolour paint set sort of thing. I just thought it would give you something to do that's also creative. You could use it in your drawings."
I took it from her with a smile, studying the beautiful colours that I can already put together in my head. The colours were stunning. This was such a nice thing to gift me. "Thank you." I really meant it.
"Another sketchbook too." She handed me a really good quality book.
"Rhea..." I whispered, taking it and looking at the empty pages, begging for some colour.
"Can you sketch something for me? An outfit?" Rhea asked, pulling out her phone. "This is my last outfit at the recent event. All of mine are dark, and usually spikey." I nodded, because of course I would. "My next event isn't until Crown Jewel, which is in Saudi Arabia. The outfit needs to be practical, and cover up my body and limbs."
My eyes widened. "You wanted to wear what I design?"
Rhea shrugged. "I'd rather you design and make it, but I can get someone else to make it from your drawing."
"What if you don't like it?" I looked down to the book.
"I think I'll love anything you come up with." She said gently.
I opened the watercolours, wanting a closer look at everyone. I could already see the colours coming together in my head. Already see something amazing I could do for Rhea.
"You really light up with art." Rhea pointed out.
I smiled. "I've always loved it. I really want to sew."
"If I got you some fabrics, could you-"
I shook my head. "No, Rhea."
Rhea was silent for a little, probably debating what to say next. It took her a minute. She cleared her throat. "I want to see where you live."
I shook my head again. "You can't come over."
Rhea raised her eyebrow. "I can't come over without your father knowing, Kat. What if he doesn't know?"
"There's cameras, he'll know someone is there."
"The cameras are everywhere?" Rhea asked.
I shrugged. "Not my bedroom or the bathroom. But I know there's some outside and everywhere else."
"How many outside?" Rhea asked curiously.
She seriously wasn't thinking about trying to sneak in right now... "I don't really know. My bedroom is on the top floor, Rhea."
"Anything to climb?" Rhea asked, and she had a small smirk on her face. She shouldn't even be thinking about doing this.
I shake my head. "Rhea..."
"Is there?"
I huffed a little. "There's some like wooden lattice, but I don't know if it's even possible to climb."
"Tell me your address." Rhea said.
I rubbed my chin nervously.
"Tell me your address, Kat." Rhea grabbed the hand I had on my chin, stopping it from rubbing my skin. "Or I'll follow you home later."
"But you can't come-"
"I'll do whatever I want." Rhea interrupted me.
I swallowed, carefully taking my hand from Rheas. "114 Willow Road. Inwood."
Rhea tilted her head. "That's quite north isn't it?"
"About 40 minutes from here."
"Alright, thanks." Rhea said, pulling out her phone and typing on it. About 10 seconds later, her eyes widened. "Forgot to mention you live with a family of fucking vampires. The house is gorgeous."
I didn't expect her to like the house.
"Which one is your bedroom?" Rhea turned the phone around, showing me a picture of the front of my house.
"You can't see it here. It's the furthest to the right."
Rhea nodded. "Is there a side or back entrance to your house?"
I tilted my head, my breathing had picked up a bit in nervousness. "Rhea..."
"Kat."
"Why do you want to come over?" I asked.
Rhea put her phone away, and lent back on her hands, arms flexing. "I want to see where you sleep. What you have. What you like to wear."
"I can send you a picture-"
Rhea cut me off. "I'd rather see it."
I looked down, unsure and hoping she doesn't show up at my house. I wouldn't even know how to react or do. It would be so tense. But she could also get in so much trouble. So could I.
I reached up to stretch my scalp, trying to ease some stress.
"What is that?" Rhea said firmly, and her fingers came on my arm, turning it so she could inspect it. Then she lifted up the sleeve further. It must have rode up a bit. Rheas she's were dark as she studied the deep bruising. "Kat?"
"I fell. It happens a lot, I bruise easy."
"Is that why there's also some scratch marks around it?" Rhea asked boredly, like she didn't want to hear my excuses.
The other marks would have been from the bottom of his shoes. Or his fingers as he dragged me out of here yesterday.
"What happened?" Rhea asked again, looking at my face this time.
"I fell, Rhea. The scratch marks must just be from me." I said. I lied to her.
Rhea scoffed, shook her head and looked down. "If someone did that to you, Kat. Tell me who and-"
I put my hand on her knee, and she stopped talking immediately and her eyes strayed down to her crossed legs. My hand right there. "It's really nothing." I told her.
Rheas jaw twitched, but I think she decided to let it go. I took my hand off her, sitting back.
I wanted to fill the now silence. "Can we watch some WWE."
Rhea smiled a little. "Of course." And she shuffled over to the wall, pulling her phone out and nodding me over.
I slid nearby, not too close but enough to see.
Rhea stopped what she was doing on the phone to look at me. "That's far too far." She said, pulling her legs up to her chest and opening them a little. "Come in here, Kat."
I looked at her. "What?"
"Quickly." She said snappy.
I swallowed and moved around, backing between her legs. I was uncertain, but Rhea wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling my back snug against her front.
Then she grabbed the phone, putting it in front my face so we could both watch it. "This is from the recent event. I wrestled one of my closest friends actually, Raquel Rodriguez."
I felt a little awkward and uncomfortable to start. But as I got engrossed with the match, I relaxed. Rhea also helped, making me put my hands on her knees. I'd relaxed into her front, my head resting on her chest. Rhea had her head resting on top of mine.
I'd never felt more safer and more at peace in my entire life.
For the entire 4 hours she sat with me, watching WWE, I noted every beat of her heart. I physically felt her heartbeat slowing down as she relaxed into it.
That, made me feel even better.