Aurora steps into the massive condo, windows from ceiling to floor overlooking the beauty of the city of San Francisco. Glittering lights sparkle like stars, for the light pollution doesn't allow them to see the real stars. She longs for her home town, a small town a long ways away, but cuts off the reverie before it starts. There is no point in dwelling on the past when she has a perfectly good future here.
"Hey, I'm home," she calls gently through the massive home. Every day maids come and tidy up, even when it doesn't need to be tidied or cleaned. Rory doesn't mind doing some cleaning, but he would never allow her to do such.
"Yeah, just a moment," his voice comes from the vast living room. He steps into sight, but there are shadows that obscure his face. "Good evening, Aurora, I'll be with you in a moment."
She nods, feeling as though this place isn't her home at all. It's too big, it's too glamorous for her. She was raised humble, and yet here she is, in a high rise condo on the top of the world. Her small apartment recently was vacated as he insisted she move in; they were together for a year, why on earth was she still living in that shabby apartment when she could have everything she ever dreamed of here?
Well, she never dreamed of high rises and maids cleaning up after her.
Still, the tempting offer of a room of her own to paint in, it was what sold her.
That, and he moved her stuff out of her apartment two months back. She came home to find her key didn't fit the lock anymore, then a chauffer came to bring her to her new home. Now, she lives here, though it does not sit right with her.
Finally, he is off the phone, and he walks briskly over to her and touches her arms, kissing her gently.
"Aurora, you look ill. Have you been sleeping?" he asks.
She nods.
She hasn't, for two months it hasn't sat right with her that she is living here, that she is sleeping next to him every night. Something creeps inside of her telling her in sardonic whispers that she is worthless, that she could never afford a place like this, that she needs him to make it big in the world of an artist. He has connections, he'll sell her paintings.
"I'm going to paint for a while, then shower?" She asks, and it disgusts her that she asks him.
"Oh, no, get dressed, we're going out."
"I'm exhausted," she pleads.
"I insist, Aurora. You don't even work – how could you possibly be tired?"
She opens her mouth to speak, then clamps her jaw tight and grinds her teeth together. Nodding, knowing that she cannot get out of this, she heads to the bedroom where she knows a dress of his choice will be waiting. Along with jewelry that is gaudy and not her style at all; he's changed her, changed the foundation of which she once was.
Her teeth are still grinding as she slips into the red dress, adds the diamond tear-drop earrings and a matching necklace that lies in the crevice of her breasts. He enters the room moments after she slips into the little red heels that match -at least he knows she is incapable of walking in heels higher than an inch.
"Beautiful," he says to her, studying the reflection of her face in the mirror.
She hold his gaze only for a few seconds, a courtesy but one she must not maintain for too long -looking into the eyes of a predator brings out the feral animal inside of it. She so offers her sweetest smile, though it's so rich it makes her feel sick to her stomach, and turns to face him.
"Where are you taking me tonight?" she asks kindly.
"Only the finest place for the finest girl in the city."
She wants to correct him and say she is a woman, but she is too afraid, and so she must not be a true woman if she remains silent.
Rory jerked awake, startled by her dream, eyes frantically scanning to figure out exactly where she is. For a moment she recognized nothing, and then it seeps back into her, the familiarity. With a breath of relief, she told herself that she's not back there, with him. She's in Eddie's apartment, she deduced that she fell asleep on the couch when she was over. Glancing at her hands, she saw the wraps he put on them the night before.
"He tended to my wounds," she said with half a laugh. Then, she stretches her arms over her head and lets a yawn consume her, wake her.
Getting to tired feet, she walked over the Eddie's coffee maker and fixed a pot. She glanced at the half-open bedroom door and wondered if he was still asleep, then poured two cups of coffee. Recalling what Eddie took in his coffee last time, she did his cup up the way he liked. Walking over to the bedroom, she knocked on the door frame.
Eddie rustled in his bed, blanketless and fully clothed.
"Good morning, Sunshine," she said to him.
He craned his neck around and spotted her, a look of disappointment in his eyes.
She wasn't his ex-girlfriend, she knew that was what caused the disappointment. It didn't bother her, she wasn't here for a relationship, she was here to give him a cup of coffee and hope that he remained sane enough to stick around in the apartment building.
It was sad but true that she liked having him around, she liked knowing he would stick up for her whenever Mike came around.
Or if he came around.
"You're amazing," he said as he got up, taking the cup of coffee from her. He shifted just slightly as though he was about to kiss her on the cheek; it was obvious he did this with his ex-girlfriend, and it made Rory sad that he was still stuck in his old habits.
"Want to move in?" he asked playfully as he stepped into the light of the living room. The sun peered through the dusty windows.
She laughed loudly. "Oh no, I don't live with boys."
"Oh, I'm just a boy am I?"
She grinned. "Well the tater-tots in your freezer suggest that you might be in your teens."
He laughed, then pointed accusingly at her. "Raiding my house, huh?"
"Curiousity got the best of me, how else can I psycho-analyze you? Make sure you're not trying to pull a fast one, trick me into your home and life all while plotting my murder."
His eyebrows rose. "He really did a number on you."
"Yeah." She looked down, her hair falling into her face -her sweatband fell off sometime overnight and was laying on the floor by the couch. "But let's not dwell on the past."
"Perhaps we should, as it's still affecting your future. Hate to see a woman afraid of her own shadow because of people like him. People like Mike."
She realized he called her a woman, not a girl.
"I should go," she said as she placed her mug back on the counter.
"But you don't have to," he told her, offering her so much with those words.
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Don't forget to show your support with a comment and a vote! I woke up and this story was almost at 1K already! I can't believe it, you guys are truly amazing!
And to show my dedication to this story, I went out and bought a brand new journal just for ideas for this story.