CADENCE'S POV
As I wait at the cafe playing with the spoon in my coffee cup, waiting for Stephan and Mara, I start thinking about Luke and where I see us going. Part of me still sees that dream. I can see us getting married but not ever adopting kids. I see us traveling every where, not really settling down with roots. I wrote kids off along time ago. But lately the idea of having kids seems more and more appealing. The fact that we've never talked about the future is odd to me.
"Hi mon amour." Hearing his voice snaps me out of my thoughts. There he is, standing at his tall 6'1", wearing a black beanie, a long sleeve white shirt with blue flecks that fits snug showing the outline of his muscles, faded blue jeans, a pair of black chucks, and his face is scruffy. Damn he is a beautiful man. I can do this friendship thing easy. (Yeah right Cadence. You may need to wipe the drool from your mouth.)
"Hi Stephan. Where's Mara?"I asked while looking around. He sits in front of me and takes my coffee from me and starts drinking it. "What the fuck are you doing?" I say annoyed that he seriously just took my caffeine away from me.
"I was watching you play with it for the last couple minutes so I figure it was going to waste. Plus it's getting cold out there and needed to warm up." He holds the coffee cup to his lips while talking to me and my scowl never leaves my face. But he's right. I don't know when the weather switched to being so chilly. It was already the middle of November. I don't know where the time went. Shit Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks. That means Luke will be gone. Well that's just fan-fucking-tastic! "Ok here mon amour. You can have your coffee back if it will get that pout off your face."
"No it's ok. I was just thinking that Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away and I'll be spending it alone. Sarah Beth always goes home to her family, Luke is gone, and you.."
"I'm leaving in a week."
"Yeah. But it's ok. I'll spend the time painting. I haven't done any painting since I got back. It will be nice to be able to do that with no distractions. Anyways, where's Mara?" I ask as a server brings over another coffee cup and a french press ready to go. Stephan pours me a cup and hands it to me, putting his hands up after "There now you can stop with the evil glares." He does a little chuckle after saying it, causing me to laugh too.
"As for Mara she wasn't feeling well. So it's just us. Is that ok?"
"I guess I can suffer with just you." I say rolling my eyes with a smile on my face.
We sit there and talk about Luke, his tour, why Stephan is going back to France, and just life in general. It was nice to just sit and talk. There's no sexual innuendos, no pawing at each other under the table, we are just sitting talking, getting to know each other as friends, maybe even on a deeper level. Maybe this friendship thing won't be so hard?
"So mon amour are you happy?" Well that's the million dollar question isn't it?
"I'm not sure how to answer that Stephan. Are you happy?" I ask trying to flip the tables on him.
"Have you thought anymore of showing your art?" He says clearly evading the question. I guess I did the same thing so I'll let it slide.
"I have. I just don't know how I feel about people judging my work so much. So right now I can't"
"Can we go for a walk? I want to show you something." He says standing up reaching his hand out to help me out of my seat.
"Ok....." I take his hand and stand up. He throws some money down on the table and we walk out of the cafe.
"Where are we going?" I ask as I am basically jogging to keep up with him. Soon we come the the steps of The Met. "Stephan what's going on?" He just smiles at me and walks up the steps. I wait a moment before following.
When I walk in I see him standing in front of some Monet's and I walk over to look at the same painting he was. "Do you see all these works that fill this museum mon amour?" he asks as he turns to face me.
"Of course I do. It's breathtaking."
"Well what if all these artists didn't get past their fear of sharing their beautiful work with the world? You wouldn't be able to enjoy the colors and wonder that allows you an escape." He reaches up and cups my face with his hand and looks into my eyes. "Mon amour your are an amazing artist. You have so many stories you can share with the world. Don't let fear hold you back. I believe in you." He drops his hand and walks to the next painting.
We walk around The Met for hours not saying anything. We just enjoyed taking in the worlds that each painting takes us too. That's the great thing about Stephan. We have something that is such a big part of who we are that we can share together. When I was here with Luke he fell asleep while I was painting. Stephan would have been next to me or behind me drawing and watching me bring the way I see the world come to life. But with that said Luke and I have the music. He gets how my body comes alive just by a simple beat coming through the speakers.
"Mon amour I have to make a call. I'll be right back." I nod without turing away from The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David.
STEPHAN'S POV
When I step outside there is one person I need to call. So I quickly dial her number. I need her help to make a couple things happen before I leave in a week. Cadence needs a friend and I'm going to be the friend she needs.
"Hello?"
"Hi it's Stephan. I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from after all the trouble I caused but I need your help."
"Ok?"
"I want to do an art show as a surprise for Cadence with her own work."
"Are you out of your mind? She will kill us both both! I wouldn't make it home for Thanksgiving cause I will be six feet under!"
"That brings me to my next favor. I know she is going to be alone for Thanksgiving, so I want to do something before you and I leave. We can have a dinner to celebrate with her. I know it won't be on the holiday but it's better then nothing right? So can you help me pull this off with only a couple days to do it?"
"Stephan you are out of your mind. There's no way we can do all this is a couple days!"
"Sarah Beth we can. I have a friend who has a gallery that will let me use it. I just need you to pick some pieces to send to the gallery. As for the dinner I can reserve a room at a restaurant, or do it at her place and I can do all the cooking at setting up while you keep her busy for the day. This is completely doable Sarah Beth but only with your help."
"Ok I'll help you. Text me the address of the gallery and I'll get the paintings there. As for dinner we can do it here and I'll keep her busy. But Stephan I will totally throw you in the line of fire at the gallery!"
"Ok. That's fair. Thank you Sarah Beth. I will text you the address now. Talk soon."
I hang up and text her the address of the gallery. I want mon amour to have something that is hers. Something that no one can take from her. Showing her work will be a feeling no one will ever be able to take from her. I just hope she doesn't kill me before she gets to that feeling.
"Hey Stephan. You've been gone for a bit. Is everything ok?" I heard mon amours sweet voice from behind me. Her voice just does something to me. It makes chills run through my whole body. It makes my heart skip a beat.
"Yeah of course. I just had to make a phone call to take care of a couple things. You want to get some hot coco and walk through Central Park?" I have to try to keep her busy long enough for Sarah Beth to pick out the pieces and get them out of the house.
"Sure but only if there are little marshmallows on top" She nudges my side and smile when she says that. Her playful side is such a beautiful site to behold. The way her nose wrinkles, the way her eyes squint, and her mouth goes into the cutest smile, it's enough to make anyone melt.
We get our drinks with an inch thick layer of marshmallows on top and walk through the park.
"So Stephan what do you want? I mean what do you want your future to look like?" She sits on a bench under a bare tree. I sit next to her and think on that for a moment. I have to be careful with my answer. I don't want her to know about Mara but I don't want to lie either.
"Well I see my kids running through the grape vines in the spring when they are starting to turn green again, like I did when I was a kid, sitting on the porch with my wife, sipping on a glass of wine, just taking in all the beauty around us, and never forgetting how blessed I am to have her and my kids." I look over at her and a sad look falls over her face for a spilt second before it turns into a smile.
"That sounds beautiful Stephan. You'll have that someday. I know you will."
"What about you mon amour?" She takes the longest sip of her hot coco, either trying to avoid answering or thinking like it's the first time someone has asked her that question. But that's not possible. Her and Lucas are together, so surly they have talked about their future right?
"Well I'm not sure. I let go of the idea of having kids a long time ago. But lately I've been thinking that settling down and adopting some kids doesn't seem so bad. But I don't know if that's what Luke even wants. We haven't talked about the future ever. With his career just taking off....I don't think it's in the cards." She stands up and nods her head in a way that says lets go. We start walking again. I notice she is cold so I put my arm around her bringing her close to me to get some warmth. I hope this isn't crossing any lines. She doesn't pull away. I like that she doesn't. I've missed having her close to me.
"Why haven't you guys talked about this kind of stuff?" When I ask her phone starts to ring. She looks at it and I see it says Luke.
"Hello?"
"Nothing much just walking through the park drinking hot coco...."
I heard him yell something cutting her off. I don't know what he said but I can tell that it pisses mon amour off.
"Luke if you would shut up long enough or even just let me finish talking you'd know I was about to say with Stephan." She moves away from me walking over to a tree about 20 or 30 feet away. I can only make out pieces of what she's saying but not enough to know what they are talking about. I do see her face get sad and I see some tears coming out. It kills me to see her crying. He did just leave today so maybe that's why she's crying. I need to stop thinking the worst about it. When she hangs up, she stands there just crying leaning against the tree. I can't take this. I don't care if this is crossing the line or not. I run over to her and throw my arms around her and she throws her arms around my neck and just cry's into my chest.
"What happened mon amour? I'm here for you. So talk to me." I say while stroking her hair and holding her close to me.
"I don't know why he doesn't trust me. I've always been upfront and honest with him. I've never given him any reason to mistrust me. But he does." Her sobs get harder and her body is trembling.
"Mon amour it will be ok. Just breathe. I'm sure he's insecure right now. Just breathe for me ok. You can make it through this. You are so strong. " I stand there cooing in her ear, stroking her hair, holding her tight until she starts to calm down.
"I'm sorry Stephan." She says pushing herself back.
"No need to apologize mon amour. I just want you to be ok." I take a deep breath cause I know she's about to retreat inside herself. I have to keep her from doing that. "I don't know about you but I'm freezing and starving. Why don't we go get something to eat and warm up." I grab her arm and start to pull her out of the park to the first place I see. I can hear her laughing as I pull her behind me. That sound was music to my ears.
CADENCE'S POV
Luke getting mad at me pissed me off. I don't understand why he acts like this. I don't know if we are going to make it if he doesn't stop this not listening to me and not trusting me crap. He keeps pushing me away. I honestly don't even know if I want us to make it at this point. When the tears start pouring down my face there is no way I can stop them. I feel like there is nothing I can do right with him. Unless of course it's in bed. When I feel warm arms wrap around me I feel safe enough to just let it all out. His sweet whispers in my ear trying to calm me down echoes in my heart. After the tears stopped I just wanted to enjoy being in his embrace but I can't. I can't get myself confused again. Plus he has a Mara, so I push away from him.
"I'm sorry Stephan."
"No need to apologize mon amour. I just want you to be ok."
Ok? How can I be ok when my boyfriend doesn't trust me or even want to listen to me for that matter. Maybe I shouldn't be here with Stephan. We aren't doing anything wrong but maybe just being around him is causing too many issues inside Luke. I don't know what to do anymore. I thought everything was so clear when I left the hospital. I knew who I wanted. I knew who I saw a future with. But everything got so jumbled. Everything became so.....complicated. Maybe going back to my studio and painting till I have clarity again is what I need to do.
"I don't know about you but I'm freezing and starving. Why don't we go get something to eat and warm up." He grabs my arm and starts to pull me out of the park . I can't help but laugh as he pulls me behind him, like I'm a rag doll. It snapped me out of my thoughts and brought me back to my friend, my Stephan, mon frenchie.
We bust through the doors laughing like a couple kids. The host just looked at us like we were crazy.
"Table for two as close to the fireplace as possible S'il vous plaît" (Please) Stephan says to the host who lead us to the table right in front of the fireplace. Feeling the heat of the fireplace hitting my chilled skin was heavenly. When we sat down Stephan ordered us a bottle of wine and some appetizers.
"I'd like to make a toast" he said when the wine came and glasses were poured. "Regarder en avant et jamais revenir en arrière et à une amitié qui a commencé à fleurir. " (To looking ahead and never back and to a friendship that has started to bloom.)
"À votre santé" (Cheers) I say as we click our glasses together. "You know sitting here drinking wine with you in front of the fire like this reminds me of being at your Villa." As soon as that leaves my mouth I regret it. I didn't want to make this uncomfortable. But judging by the look on Stephan's face he was thankful I said it and not him.
"I thought the same thing. Things were nice when we were in our own bubble." When he said that I felt a pain because he is right. It was perfect just us there. But he has a Mara.
"Hey Stephan I have to tell you something about why I was crying."
"I have to tell you something too mon amour. I didn't want to tell you. But I need to be honest with you. I broke up with Mara when I left your house. I couldn't be with her when my heart belongs to someone else still." His eyes left mine and looked down at his wine glass as he was swirling the wine around.
"I'm sorry Stephan. But that may make what I'm going to say either easier or harder." I reach over and grab his hand. "Luke told me that I'm able to join his tour next week but before I do he wants me to spend the night with you. Too get you out of my system. Part of me was upset that he would even suggest that and the other part was upset because you had Mara. So I leave the ball in your court, so to speak." I bite my bottom lip, pull my hand back, and am so nervous not knowing how he is going to take it.
A/N OMG!!! Lucas gave her permission to sleep with Stephan??? What do you think his answer is going to be? Do you think they will go through with it? Comment your thoughts on it!! Don't forget to press that little star! Until next time XOXO