Chapter 22
"Cheeky, cheeky, cheeky! Kuromi is so cheeky! Pink skull, black hood, mischief is her livelihood! La la la!"
The radio was blasting the absolute banger that is the Hello Kitty & Friends remix.
I was vibing. I was grooving. I was performing a very intricate hand choreography that involved a lot of pointing and heart signs.
Point! Heart! Wiggle!
I looked to my left.
Gabriel was driving the Aston Martin. He was wearing his sunglasses. His jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle feathering under his skin. His hands were gripping the steering wheel like he was trying to strangle it.
He looked like a secret agent who had been captured and was currently being tortured by bubblegum pop music.
"Sing with me, Gabby!" I chirped, holding a red gummy bear like a microphone. "Cheeky, cheeky!"
"No," he said.
"Come on! It releases serotonin!" I insisted. I popped the red gummy bear into my mouth. Chew, chew, chew. Strawberry flavor. The superior flavor.
I reached into the bag and pulled out a green one. I offered it to him.
"Bear?"
"No," he said.
"You are so difficult to feed," I sighed, eating the green one myself.
We had been driving for an hour. We had left the city far behind. The tall buildings were gone. The noise was gone. The cell signal was... glance at phone... also gone.
I looked at Gabriel's profile. He really is ridiculously handsome. Even when he looks like he wants to drive off a cliff to escape the Sanrio music.
"Gabby?" I asked, swallowing the gummy bear.
"What."
"I have a query. Based on empirical data from movies and books."
He sighed. A long, suffering sigh. "Ask."
I wiggled in my seat, turning my body towards him.
"So," I started, counting on my fingers. "We are married. Check. We live together. Check. You bought me ice cream. Check. You killed a cockroach for me once. Check."
I looked at him expectantly.
"When do we kiss?"
SCREEEEEECH.
The car swerved slightly. Just a little wobble! But I felt it!
Gabriel coughed. It was a violent, hacking cough, like he had swallowed a bug.
"What?" he choked out, keeping his eyes glued to the road.
"Kissing!" I repeated loudly. "You know? Lips on lips? Smooch? It is a standard marital activity! Like paying taxes or arguing about the thermostat!"
I leaned closer to him.
"I have been practicing," I whispered conspiratorially. "On my hand. And on Primrose's forehead. I am ready for the big leagues!"
Gabriel cleared his throat. He adjusted his sunglasses. His ears were turning that cute shade of pink again.
"Eat your gummy bears, Aleesha," he commanded, his voice sounding a little strangled.
"But—"
"Eat. The. Bears."
I pouted. "Fine. Reject my affection. See if I care."
I aggressively bit the head off a yellow gummy bear. Chomp. Take that, society.
★
I continued eating my bears in silence for about ten minutes. But then, I noticed something.
The scenery.
It had changed.
We weren't on the highway anymore. We were on a winding, paved road that cut through... nothing.
Just trees.
Big trees. Massive trees. Scary trees.
They were tall pines, so thick they blocked out the sun. The shadows were long and creepy. It looked like the setting of a movie where the campers go missing and the only thing found is a single shoe.
I looked at the GPS on the dashboard. It was just a blank screen. No roads. No civilization.
Gulp.
My imagination, which is usually filled with rainbows, suddenly took a dark turn.
What if...
I looked at Gabriel.
What if he is not taking me to a new house? What if he is tired of my questions? What if the Sanrio music finally broke him?
Is he going to bury me in the woods?!
Oh no! I am too young to be fertilizer! I haven't even finished my degree! I haven't seen the end of One Piece!
I stared at him with wide, terrified eyes.
"Gabby," I whispered. "Are we... are we going to a murder spot?"
Gabriel glanced at me. He lifted an eyebrow behind his sunglasses.
"A murder spot?" he repeated.
"Yes! Look!" I pointed at the creepy trees. "This is where the witch lives! Or the axe murderer! Why are we here? Did I annoy you too much? I can stop singing! I can stop breathing! Don't bury me!"
Gabriel let out a short breath. It sounded like a laugh. A dark, villainous laugh? No, just a tired laugh.
"I am not going to kill you, Aleesha," he said dryly. "You are an investment. Destroying you would be a poor financial decision."
I blinked. "Oh," I relaxed. "Right. Capitalism."
I sat back. He is a businessman. He wouldn't waste money on a wife just to bury her. That is inefficient.
I trusted him. He is stubborn, and grumpy, and he hates love, but he is good. He buys me ice cream. Killers don't buy ice cream. It is a known fact.
Suddenly, the trees cleared.
"We are here," Gabriel announced.
I looked forward. And my jaw literally unhinged. It hit the floor of the Aston Martin.
CLANG.
"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH?!"
In front of us was a gate.
Not just a gate. A GATE.
It was massive. Wrought iron, black, twisted into intricate spikes and swirls that looked like thorns. It was at least twenty feet high. It looked like it belonged to Dracula.
As the car approached, the gates groaned.
Errrrr-CLANK.
They opened automatically. Slowly. Dramatically.
We drove through.
The driveway was long. Like, miles long. It was lined with more scary trees.
And at the end of the driveway...
The Palace.
I gasped so hard I choked on my own spit. Cough! Cough!
It wasn't a house. It wasn't a mansion. It was a citadel. A behemoth of gray stone and dark slate.
It was bigger than the Pinterest mansions I save on my "Dream Home" board. It was bigger than the University library.
It was made of gray stone blocks that looked older than time itself. And crawling up the walls, from the ground all the way to the jagged roof, were vines. Thick, green, unruly vines that looked like they were trying to swallow the house whole.
It had towers. It had turrets. It had massive, dark windows that looked like unblinking eyes staring at me.
"H-Holy macaroni," I whispered.
It was beautiful. In a "haunted gothic romance" kind of way.
It was also terrifying.
We pulled up to a circular driveway. In the center of the circle was a fountain.
But there was no water.
It was dry. Cracked stone.
And in the middle of the fountain stood a statue. A Greek God. He had massive stone wings spread out, but his head was bowed, looking sad. He held a sword in one hand and a laurel wreath in the other.
He looked lonely.
"The garden," I whispered, looking around.
There was no grass. Just dry earth, some gravel, and a few spindly bushes that looked like they had given up on life years ago.
"It's... dead," I said.
Gabriel stopped the car. He turned off the engine. The silence of the forest rushed in.
"We are here," he said again.
He opened his door and got out.
I sat there for a second, clutching my bag of gummy bears.
This is our new home? It looks like the Addams Family summer house!
But then, the back door opened.
"WOOF!"
Primrose leaped out of the car.
She landed on the dry, dusty soil. She sniffed the dead bushes. She sniffed the gravel. She sneezed.
Then, she started zooming.
Zoom! Zoom!
She ran in circles around the sad fountain, her tail wagging furiously. She rolled in the dirt, getting dust all over her golden fur.
"Bark! Bark!" (Translation: I love this dirt! It smells like ghosts and squirrels!)
I giggled. Okay. If Primrose likes it, it can't be that bad.
Gabriel opened my door. He held out a hand.
"Aleesha."
I took his hand. I hopped out.
I stood before the massive wooden doors of the mansion. They were dark oak, reinforced with iron bands. They looked heavy enough to stop a siege.
"It is... big," I said, stating the obvious.
"It is secure," Gabriel corrected.
He walked to the trunk. He effortlessly lifted my two giant pink suitcases and his one small black duffel bag.
"Go inside," he nodded at the door. "It is unlocked."
I walked up the stone steps. Tip, tap, tip, tap.
I placed my hand on the cold wood of the door. I pushed.
Creak...
The door swung open with a heavy, cinematic groan.
I stepped inside.
If the outside was Dracula's Castle, the inside was... actually kind of slay?
My eyes widened for the nth time today.
"Wooooooow."
The foyer was cavernous. The floor was black and white marble, polished to a mirror shine (I could see my underwear if I wasn't careful!).
The walls were paneled in dark wood, intricately carved with designs of leaves and serpents.
To my left and right, a grand double-staircase swept upward, meeting in the middle like a heart shape, leading to a balcony on the second floor. The banisters were polished mahogany.
And above me?
A chandelier.
A massive, crystal chandelier that looked like a frozen explosion of diamonds. It wasn't lit, but it caught the sliver of sunlight coming from the door and scattered rainbows across the dusty floor.
It was lavish. It was expensive. It smelled like... cedar, old paper, and silence.
It felt empty. Not just "nobody is home" empty. But "nobody has laughed here in a century" empty.
Gabriel walked in behind me, the wheels of my pink suitcases clicking loudly on the marble. Click-clack-click.
He stopped beside me. He looked up at the chandelier.
He didn't look impressed. He looked... tired.
He cleared his throat. The sound echoed in the vast space.
"It needs work," he said abruptly.
I turned to him. "Work? Gabby, this place is a palace! It is bigger than my entire village!"
"It is a mausoleum," he muttered.
He gestured to the grand staircase.
"I plan to... renovate," he said, the words feeling heavy in his mouth. "To... put some life into it. Paint. Furniture. Lighting. Since there hasn't been a person living here in... years."
"Years?" I tilted my head. "Why? Did you lose the keys?"
Gabriel looked away. He looked at a dark corner of the room.
"This was the Muratori estate," he said quietly. "My... family's home."
Family.
The way he said the word made a shiver go down my spine. It wasn't a warm word for him. It sounded like a bruise.
"Oh," I whispered. "Where are they? On vacation?"
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"They are gone," he said.
He looked at me. His eyes were unguarded for a second. I saw a flash of something deep and dark. Pain? Grief?
"I never brought anyone here," he confessed. "Not since... then. I only come here when I need silence. When the noise of the city becomes too much."
He looked at the pink suitcase in his hand.
"I never brought a girl here," he added softly. "Only family."
My heart did a little squeeze.
He brought me here. To his sanctuary. To his sad, quiet, dusty palace where he hides from the world.
He considers me... family.
Or maybe he just considers me loud enough to chase away the ghosts?
I decided not to ask. The vibe was too heavy. We needed sparkle!
"Well!" I clapped my hands, the sound echoing like a gunshot. CLAP!
"It is perfect!" I declared. "It just needs... love! And color! It is too gray! We need flowers! And rugs! Fluffy rugs! And maybe a disco ball for the foyer!"
Gabriel blinked. The darkness in his eyes receded a little bit.
"No disco ball," he said.
"We'll see," I winked.
★
"Come," Gabriel said. "The master suite is upstairs."
He carried the bags up the grand staircase. I followed, trailing my hand along the smooth banister. I felt like a princess in a Disney movie. Princess Aleesha and the Beast (who is actually a handsome CEO).
We walked down a long corridor lined with portraits of stern-looking people. (I stuck my tongue out at one of them. He looked judge-y).
Gabriel stopped at the double doors at the end of the hall.
He pushed them open.
"Welcome home," he said.
I walked in.
"OH. MY. GOSH."
If the foyer was grand, this room was majestic.
The walls were covered in vintage wallpaper—dark emerald green with gold patterns. There was a fireplace made of black marble. There were velvet armchairs. There were floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the scary forest (which looked less scary from up here).
And the bed.
It was a four-poster bed. A massive, wooden structure with carved posts and heavy curtains tied back with gold tassels. The mattress looked thick and soft. The sheets were dark red.
"It is huge!" I squealed. "I can do gymnastics in here! I can practice cartwheels!"
I ran to the bed. I poked the mattress.
Squish.
"So soft!"
Gabriel placed the suitcases on a velvet bench at the foot of the bed.
"Unpack," he said. "I will... check the perimeter."
"Wait!" I grabbed his sleeve. "Help me!"
He looked down at my hand on his arm. "Help you?"
"Yes! Teamwork makes the dream work!" I dragged him towards the pink suitcase. "I need to arrange the plushies! It is a vital ritual! The Feng Shui depends on it!"
Gabriel sighed, but he didn't pull away.
He opened the suitcase.
It exploded with pink.
Clothes, ribbons, socks, and... the plushie army.
Gabriel picked up 'Saiah' (my teddy bear with a bow tie). He held it by one ear. He looked at it with confusion.
"Where does the... creature go?" he asked.
"On the pillows!" I directed. "He guards the dreams!"
Gabriel walked to the massive, manly, dark four-poster bed. He placed the teddy bear gently against the pristine red pillows.
It looked hilarious. A tiny, fluffy bear in a gothic vampire bed.
"Perfect!" I beamed.
I grabbed the Hello Kitty plushie. I grabbed the Squishmallows. I grabbed the crochet bunny. I threw them onto the bed. Poof! Poof! Poof! Then, unable to resist, I threw myself onto the bed.
FLUMP.
I landed in the middle of the mattress, surrounded by my stuffed animals. I sank into the softness. It smelled like lavender and fresh linen.
I rolled over onto my back and looked up at Gabriel.
He was standing at the edge of the bed. His hands were in his pockets. He was staring at me. The afternoon light was filtering through the heavy curtains, hitting his face.
His expression was... soft.
There was a flicker in his eyes. It wasn't the cold, calculating look of the CEO. It was a look of... wonder? Like he couldn't believe I was actually there. Like I was a hallucination in his empty, gray world.
He looked at my pink dress spread out on his red sheets.
He didn't look annoyed. He looked... relieved.
My breath hitched.
I sat up slowly. I grabbed my Hello Kitty plushie and hugged it to my chest. I scooted back until I was leaning against the headboard. I smiled at him. A genuine, soft smile. Not a chaotic grin.
"I like it here, Gabby," I whispered. "It's vintage. It's lifeless right now... but it's beautiful."
Gabriel looked at me for a long moment. He swallowed hard.
"It will not be lifeless for long," he murmured.
He turned away abruptly, as if the moment was too much for him. He walked to the window and looked out at the dead garden.
I watched his back. I looked around the room. My brain started whirring. Whirrrr-click!
This house is sad. It is lonely. It misses people.
It needs a makeover! An Extreme Aleesha Makeover!
I narrowed my eyes in determination. I need a crew. I need muscle. I need people who can carry heavy paint cans and tolerate my singing.
Luca. Sean. Marcus.
Yes! The Sad Squad!
I will recruit them! We will turn this Haunted Mansion into a Barbie x Hello Kitty Dream House! (Okay, maybe a Goth-Barbie Dream House to compromise with Gabby).
I grinned, hugging Hello Kitty tighter. "Prepare yourself, House," I whispered to the wallpaper. "The sparkle is coming."
Outside, I heard Primrose bark at a statue.
This is going to be fun.