This one is a little shorter than usual but I promise the next ones will be waaay longer. I have a big exam coming up and couldn't do anything better, sorry :')
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January 7, 2022, Monaco
Lewis POV
"Yes, mum, we'll stop by to visit this month." I say into the phone.
"I thought you were coming to celebrate your birthday here" I lean on the kitchen counter holding the phone to my ear
"It's not a big deal we will go soon, plus I have to stay several weeks to be able to go to the factory next month, Ela wanted to get some work done and spend time with her friends before going" I tell her.
"Still, it's your-"
"Mum, you saw us at Christmas, it was like two weeks ago" I remind her.
"You could have stayed" She said. And maybe I could have but it's not what I needed at the moment, and I wanted to start being a little selfish for once.
"I love you, you know that I love spending time with you all and that I don't see you as much as I should. But our life is here right now and we haven't spent more than a week at home for months, we needed the rest"
"Did she enjoy coming here?" She asked, We had spent a week there with my family and even though at first it seemed like she was a little out of her depth, she ended up confessing to me that she had a great time so that was one concern less.
"She did actually, that's not why we haven't gone mom, Elaine loves you guys but I didn't want to go, we'll go next week or the week after" I assured her. It's not like I'm passionate about celebrating my birthday and I haven't celebrated it at home for years, the last few years spending it New York or here in Monaco.
"Okay, I'm sorry, she was lovely by the way, we just miss you" She said.
"I know, I miss you guys too"
"Do you have any special plans for today?" I had already trained, taken a shower and had breakfast, while Ela was still asleep in our room.
"I don't know, she hasn't gotten up yet, yesterday she stayed late at the studio and came in exhausted, I'm letting her sleep in" I explain.
"I saw you different when you came" She pointed out.
"Different good or bad?" I mean, sure, I felt different than in previous visit perhaps but I didn't think they would notice.
"I've never seen you happier" I can't help but smile even though no one is watching me right now.
"I'm happier, she makes me happier" I say.
"I'm glad, you deserved it" She sweetly added.
"I think she's the one mum" I confess almost in a whisper so that if there was a chance that she was already awake she wouldn't hear me.
I heard a chuckle on the other side of the line, as if I had said something obvious.
"I know, I could tell, you look at her like she hangs the moon and the stars in the sky for you" She noted.
"It definitely feels like it"
"What are you waiting for then if you are so sure about it?" Time. To let everything settle down, to check if all this is real or maybe, as always in my life, the surprise is just around the corner.
"I'm afraid that the other shoe is yet to drop, that maybe-" She stops me immediately, not letting me continue with my rant.
"Lewis sweetheart, there is no other shoe" She said calmly.
"I know, but you know how my mind works with this things..."And I try, every day I try to remind myself of the good and stop overthinking but it's exhausting.
"You can't constantly think that something bad is going to happen to you in all aspects of your life, you deserve to be happy, start believing it"
"I'm trying" And I am, I am happy, this year has gone well for me both personally and professionally, but no matter how well things go for me, the anxiety is still there, like a shadow hanging over me, waiting for the right moment.
"Well try harder, I haven't gone to a wedding in ages and would love some more grankids to spoil" She jokes.
"Mum" I groan.
"I'm not getting any younger I don't want to walk you down the aisle with a walker!" She exclaimed.
"You're so dramatic" I laugh.
"Just saying that a grandchild would be a good gift for Christmas this year" She hinted.
"Wouldn't you prefer a car better? Maybe a trip to some exotic place?" I hear the kitchen door open and Ela, still in her pajamas and rubbing her eyes, appears "Hey mum Ela had just woken up, I'll call you soon okay?" She says goodbye on the other side of the line while Ela looks at me somewhat confused "Okay bye"
"Everyone okay?" She asks.
"Yeah, just my mother reminding me that I'm getting old as hell" She finished approaching me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
"Happy birthday babe" She said leaving a kiss on the corner of my lips."Thirty-seven are the new twenty-seven"
"Really funny" She left me a kiss on the cheek and turned on the coffee maker to have a cup of coffee.
"Plans for today?" I ask.
"Whatever you want, I have a couple of things in mind but we can always-" She started while taking the fresh coffee.
"Yes, whatever you have planned, we will do it" I interrupted her, knowing that I will enjoy whatever she had in mind.
"Okay then, we will start with some lunch" She finished her coffee and put the cup in the dishwasher.
"Fancy?" I ask, wrapping my arms around her.
"I heard it's a new chef in town, really really fancy" She answered seriously, but I could see the ghost of a smile on her lips.
"Chef Elaine Lambert by chance?" I try to guess.
"Yes! I bought everything to do your favorite, unless you prefer to go out of course, we can always book a table somewhere else" She said excitedly.
"No way, having you as my personal chef sounds way better"
At first she didn't let me help with any of the food, forcing me to sit in a stool while she cooked, but then I managed to convince her that it would be more entertaining to let me be her helper at least.
Or rather distracting her, I wasn't good at doing something with her in front of me without getting distracted and also distracting her on the way.
"Where are we going?" I ask getting to the garage.
"First of all, I'm driving" She says.
"Yeah sure" I laugh.
"Give me the keys to the Porsche" She ushered me.
"I will drive, you just give me directions" I tell her, the last time she took one of my cars we almost crashed because she wasn't used to driving on the left lane in London.
"Keys please" I gave in and gave her the keys, she doesn't drive very fast so if we crash at least we probably won't die "We're going to Nice to spend the day by the way"
"Nice?" It was not unusual for us to visit some of the French cities near the Principality, but I did not expect to go there today.
"There's a place I want us to visit, come on, get in the car"
I got in and fastened my seatbelt, she takes care of putting some music before also putting her seatbelt on and started driving.
She didn't relent, not wanting to tell me where we were going the entire trip no matter how much I tried to convince her otherwise.
She parks a couple of blocks away from the place she wanted to take me to, stopping suddenly at a local entrance.
"A karaoke? Really?" She didn't waste a second before she was opening the door to the place, fortunately it was not the typical karaoke bar, there were several soundproof private rooms in the place so you could have your own little party.
"It will be fun! You love to sing!" We approached the reception where there was a woman waiting.
"Yeah but I've heard you sing" I say whispering leaning to her side, she looked surprised but had to give the woman the booking information before answering.
"No you have not" She said while they showed us to our own room.
"Baby the bathroom walls are not soundproof" I remind her.
"I have fun, is that a crime?" She exclaims once we are into the room, the woman gives us a quick rundown of how everything works before leaving us alone.
"When the health of my eardrums is at risk-" She hit my chest with the back of her hand "Okay, okay, it's not that bad!" And it wasn't that bad, I mean I don't see her filling stadiums any time soom but like she had said, she was just having fun. And if destroying songs early in the morning is a sign that she's happy, I'm here for it.
"And I was going to dedicate a love song to you today and everything! Now I plan to sing you happy birthday at least fifteen times instead" I gasp.
"You would not dare"
"Maybe twenty" She threatened me.
"It's my birthday you can't blackmail me like that!" She looked at me with a grin.
"Want to take the risk?" No thanks.
I approached one of the microphones and offered it to her.
"Come on sing me a love song" I say.
"Sing it with me?" She tried to negotiate.
"It's my birthday, serenade me Elaine" She rolled her eyes and walked towards the ipad, scrolling down the options until she was happy with her choice.
I heard the first notes and knew immediately what song it was.
"Elton John? Really?" I try to guess, her starting to sing the first verses to Your Song confirming it.
"I'm basic, don't judge me" She defended herself before continuing.
When it was my turn I chose a song by the Back Street boys, earning me a fit of laughter from Ela during the whole song while I tried to keep a straight face to finish it.
We chose a couple more, each one being a worse rendition of the original than the previous one, thank goodness there was no one recording or they would definitely go viral.
We ordered some snacks and a couple of soft drinks since we had to drive back home and I realized that time was flying by, we were almost at the end of the time we had booked.
"Okay, my turn, don't look" I say, going to the ipad connected to the sound system, choosing the track I've been wanting her to hear the whole night.
She looked at me curious about the secrecy, having told her my choice before even choosing it.
The first chords of the melody began to sound, she barely needed a few notes for her eyebrows to rise, surprised by the choice.
"Moi je n'étais rien
Et voilà qu'aujourd'hui
Je suis le gardien
Du sommeil de ses nuits
Je l'aime à mourir"
I sing the first verses, my French had been improving since I've been with her, although I preferred her to be the one speaking it while I simply adored her.
"You did not" She got up from the couch with a smile from ear to ear.
"Vous pouvez détruire
Tout ce qu'il vous plaira
Elle n'a qu'à ouvrir
L'espace de ses bras
Pour tout reconstruire
Pour tout reconstruire
Je l'aime à mourir"
I continue but as soon as she gets to me she takes my cheeks between her hands and kisses me, not letting me continue with the song.
"I learned the whole thing" I say when we pull apart, the melody still playing in the background.
"I never told you it was my favorite song" she admitted surprised.
"You hum the melody when you paint" I remind her, it was not hard from there, a quick search though her vinyl collection and I had it. I don't think I can listen to any song again without thinking about her in some way or another now.
"Elle a dû faire toutes les guerres
Pour être si forte aujourd'hui
Elle a dû faire toutes les guerres
De la vie, et l'amour aussi"
I sing another verse, her eyes now glittering under the light of the room.
"I love that part" she confessed.
"It reminded me so much of you" I tell her, and it was true, the first time I heard this song her being the only thing that came to mind.
"I love you, so much" She said, going in for another kiss "You're literally perfect"
And maybe, if she thought I was enough for her, I might start to believe it too. Because she was absolutely perfect for me, that I am sure.
"Can we stop by the studio before we get home?" She asks me, me now driving the car back home.
"Did you forget something there yesterday?" I wondered.
"Something like that" She said, not giving me any more clues.
I don't insist any more, knowing that if she wanted me to know she would have said it.
We arrived and I parked at the door of the building.
"Come up with me please, I need your help with something" she asked me and I nodded, following her inside the building.
"It's something heavy that you need my help to get home or...?" I trail off.
"I actually finished something yesterday that I wanted to show you" She opened the door and went to the main room "This is not your gift by the way, I got us tickets for Beyoncé next year-" She went to turn the lights on but stopped on her tracks "Shit I didn't want to say that, it was supposed to be a surprise"
"I will act surprised if you prefer, I'm a great actor" She looks at me with a frown, knowing that I couldn't lie to her with a straight face even if my life depended on it "Actually I'm not, but I will love it either way...wait a minute since when is Beyoncé going on tour?"
"You're not the only one with contacts, she's announcing it in a couple of weeks, got us some VIP tickets for New York"
"You're amazing" I say leaving a kiss on her forehead "What did you want to show me?"
"Do you remember the painting that I didn't have time to finish for the collection?" She tried to jog my memory.
"The one that was left halfway and you ended up abandoning?" I ask receiving a nod from her.
"Maybe not completely abandoning, I realized what was the problem with it"
"Enlighten me" She finished turning on all the lights in the room, it was clear that she had been working and had not had time to clean up yet, a sheet under the easel stained with paint, all her paint pots disorganized and the palette soaking in water in the sink waiting to be cleaned.
"I feel a lot, I used to think it was something horrible. Too emotional, too sad, too anxious. But since I met you I realized it's something awesome too" She started, distracted by the painting in front of her, perhaps still weighing whether to show it to me now or not.
"The problem was that trying to express all that in a painting was not working , the emotions overlapped, the idea was not clear" She looked at me again.
"How did you fix it?" I wonder.
"This is probably going to sound so cliche right now..." She took the easel and turned it around to face me "I focused on the good, the idea is still there, a person illuminating you just with their touch and then the butterflies...well that's the new thing, like the butterflies that I feel in my stomach every time you are close, or maybe just as a representation of the feeling getting out once one lets their walls down and let the other in, I don't know, still deciding"
It was beautiful. I had already seen it half finished but she had managed to make it end up being even better than I could ever imagine.
I took a couple of steps towards it to look at it more closely, I knew better than to try to touch it, knowing the paint would still be somewhat wet and delicate and not wanting to mess it up.
It still feels unreal, her doing these kinds of things for me, how she feels in such a way that she gets inspired to create such beautiful things.
I turned around and she was intensely watching my every move, waiting for a reaction.
I take a couple of steps towards her and I pull her into me, hoping that maybe, by some chance, she can understand how this makes me feel without me needing to use words. Because I felt like I couldn't find the words to explain this.
"I've been wanting to kiss you in a gallery full of works of art since the day I met you" I confess once I pull apart. It was true, that first day still haunting my dreams from time to time.
"This is not a gallery" She chuckles.
"How not? It's our little gallery, for our eyes only" We had hung several of her paintings here, ones she didn't want to part ways with, this definitely felt like one.
"The butterflies again, even after all this time I cant shut them out" She sighs, resting her head on my shoulder.
"Don't, they're the best part"
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I can confirm now that there are only three chapters left of this story (plus three extra ones) I know I'm going to cry when it's over, I'm not ready :')