Chapter 53
53
SOPHIE
S ophie woke Gavin early on Christmas morning, anxious for him to unwrap the gift she had sent ahead of time.
But it was Gavin who convinced Sophie to open hers first. She sat in bed, a light blue silk robe loose around her otherwise naked body, and excitedly ripped through the Santa-themed paper on the large, heavy present. It was an exquisitely framed color aquatint by Fauve-era artist Georges Rouault, depicting Sainte-Femme kneeling before Christ during The Passion. Sophie was speechless for a moment.
“Do you like it?” Gavin asked. “I know you wrote a paper on this guy, so I thought you’d like it.”
Tears rushed to her eyes. He had been paying more attention to her studies than she thought. This wasn’t something he could have easily purchased. He must have spent time and money tracking it down. And the fact that he put aside his own aversion to religion to gift her with this was not lost on her.
“Gavin, this is so perfect. I love it, and I love that you even thought of this for me,” she said, and kissed him.
“Seemed appropriate for the holiday, as well,” he said with another laugh.
She smiled and turned her eyes back to the artwork.
“Do you know what his intent was in this? In all of his work?” she asked.
“Tell me, darlin’.”
“He said he wanted to show passion mirrored upon the human face. He painted in the early 1900s, at a time when the world seemed corrupt. But he always believed in spiritual renewal through Catholic faith. So you’re right. It is a perfect Christmas present.”
“Glad you like it.”
“Now you have to open your present.”
She smiled as she handed the gift to him. It was in a large and meticulously wrapped box.
After a brief struggle to get through the red silk ribbons, he tore the wrapping off and pulled apart the box to reveal a framed piece of sheet music with the original lyrics to “Heroes.”
“Are you fucking with me?” he asked, nearly breathless upon seeing the hand-addressed note in red marker at the top.
It read, “Gavin McManus: make it happen.” And was signed by David Bowie.
He hastily set the frame against the pillows and got out of bed, pacing a small circle with hands on hips.
“Don’t you like it, baby?” Sophie asked, playing innocent to his incredulous joy.
“How did you do this?”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t actually get to meet him—in person, that is. James helped me. I tried to contact his so-called ‘people’ to do this but didn’t get very far. Then James got me the number of the recording studio where he was, though he figured that wouldn’t do much good. I called anyway and got lucky.”
“What do you mean?”
“After a couple tries, he came on the line. It was weird because I thought he’d be so removed and hard to convince. But as soon as I mentioned Rogue and you, he said he knew the band. That’s when I turned on the charm,” she said with a self-satisfied smile. “I told him how much his music meant to you, that it still inspires you. But you know what really got him?”
“What?” he asked, still flabbergasted. He ran his hands through his hair as he shifted his eyes from her to the scrawled personalized note and back again.
“I told him about you listening to ‘Heroes’ over and over again and how it made you think of trying to still time.”
“Sophie, you didn’t.”
“It really interested him though. And he finally agreed to send me this and said to have you give him a call for an invite to the next show.”
“I can’t believe it. Jesus, this is amazing.” He looked at her and really focused on her for the first time since he saw the signature. “You’re the best, darlin’. The absolute best.”
“You like it?” she asked coyly.
He went to her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her hard.
“Marry me, darlin’,” he whispered in between kisses.
“Okay,” she replied, pressing her body to his.
He pulled away and held her face in his hands as he looked into her eyes. “Before the tour. Marry me before we go out again.”
“That’s … soon.”
He laughed. “Yeah, it would be. But, Sophie, I don’t want to wait. I love you more than anything in the world. I want you to be my wife.”
“Wow. I guess we’ll have to invite Bowie to the wedding, then,” she said with a smile, and Gavin laughed.
The fact that the idea wasn’t that far-fetched given Gavin’s fame reminded her once more that she was living her own version of a fairytale.