11. Willow
Eleven
Willow
W illow woke up disoriented, with cotton mouth and a pounding headache. She looked at the clock next to her bed that read 5:00 pm. She tried to recall her night, but was distracted by the black-and-gold comforter she was tucked under. Her comforter was covered in blue paisley.
The room was decorated in a dark color scheme with a Victorian era flair. There was an ornate bookcase across the room full of dusty, leather-bound books, and a matching loveseat at the base of the bed. The flooring was dark oak with a red-and-gold oriental rug taking up half of the room and black drapes hung from the large bay window to her left, concealing the darkening sky behind it.
This was not her cheap, little bedroom.
“What the hell?” She whispered to herself as she looked around the large room.
She slipped out of the bed quietly and padded over to the door. She heard rustling behind her and spun around to see a man curled up in a ball on the loveseat. He had a thin blanket thrown over him with no pillow, and looked extremely uncomfortable.
“Gage?” She spoke in a loud voice, hoping to wake him from his restless sleep, but he did not move.
She coughed, trying to clear her throat, but all it did was worsen her dry mouth. “Gage?”
He uncurled himself and slowly sat up, looking as disheveled as she felt.
“What time is it?” He croaked.
“It’s five at night, how long have I been sleeping? And where am I?” She croaked back. She swallowed, trying to rid herself of the disgusting taste in her mouth. “Is there water somewhere?”
He yawned and ran his hand through his messy hair before stretching. His black t-shirt rose up as he lifted his arms above his head to reveal a sliver of skin. Willow looked away, feeling even more uncomfortable with the situation.
“In the kitchen. Follow me.” He sighed and stood up slowly, sounding like an elderly man struggling to get out of bed. “Why did you have to wake me up so early?’
Willow didn’t want to argue with him that five p.m. was the opposite of waking up early, so she followed behind him without saying anything. She stuck close to him as he led her through a hallway that felt more like a museum than anything else. Oil paintings of bloody war scenes hung from the walls, and a sapphire-blue floor runner trailed down the oak hallway, leading them to a flight of stairs.
Gage seemed to glide down them and she struggled to keep up with him. She was weak and shaky, and desperately craved something to drink. It wasn’t until her feet touched the cold marble flooring that she realized her heels were missing.
“Where are my shoes?”
“I threw them on the floor by the bed.”
“You took off my shoes? ”
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you wanted to sleep in those stilts. I thought it was a safety hazard. I couldn’t have my guest stabbing herself in her sleep.”
She was taken aback by the simple, thoughtful gesture. Not once would her ex-boyfriend have ever thought to do something like that. Her comfort had been the least of his worries.
They turned a corner and entered a kitchen flooded in the setting sunlight.
“Oh shit!” He quickly retreated around the corner. “I forgot to close the blinds last night. Be a doll and shut them for me, will you? It’s giving me a headache.”
Willow found his extreme reaction odd, but the light was also increasing the pounding in her head. Once she followed his command, he came back in and grabbed a crystal glass from a cabinet to fill with water. It only took her a few seconds to down the whole glass after he handed it to her.
“What the hell happened last night? The last thing I remember was seeing Marla with Matteo and…” She trailed off, remembering the guy who had bought her a drink. “I must have been way too drunk. I’ve never been blackout drunk before. Please tell me I did not embarrass myself.”
Gage leaned against the granite island that was in the middle of the room and watched as Willow covered her face with her hand. She was silently pleading that she did not swing from the ceiling screaming Wonder Wall lyrics.
“Oh, you definitely embarrassed yourself,” he grinned. “You came to me for help. That’s pretty embarrassing.”
Willow peeked at him from around her fingers. “Why would I go to you for help?”
“You really don’t remember anything?”
“No, I really don’t. ”
“I’m pretty sure you were drugged and almost raped, but thankfully your knight in shining armor was there.” He pointed to himself, widening his grin.
“What?” She slid her hand down her face and stared at him in horror. “That’s really not funny and inappropriate to joke about. What the hell do you mean I was drugged and almost raped?”
“Chill, I’m not joking. Some guy said your name was Kim and he was trying to take you home while you were unconscious on the floor. Don’t worry, I made sure nothing happened, and he’s been taken care of.”
“Did you call the police?”
“I said he was taken care of.” Gage stood up and retrieved her glass to refill it with water. He dug around in a drawer and handed her a bottle of aspirin along with the refilled glass.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, yet again thrown off by a thoughtful gesture. “Is this your house? How did you get me here?”
“You sure are full of questions today.”
“Well excuse me for trying to fill in the blanks. It’s not like my memory was impaired or anything,” she snapped.
“I let you use my bed for the night and get a kink in my back from squeezing myself onto that tiny couch, and this is the attitude I have to deal with? Yeah, this is my house and I brought you here in Robby’s car. Which reminds me, he has my bike.” Gage pulled out his phone from his back pocket and swiftly started texting.
She felt her face redden, so she kept her head down and stared at the bottle of pills she rolled around in her hands as she pushed herself to apologize. “I’m sorry. I don’t feel good. Something like this has never happened to me before and I’m not the nicest person when I’m confused. Nothing bad happened to me, right? I mean, besides the drug part?”
“You don’t believe me?” His tone wasn’t unkind, but more hurt .
Willow bit her lip as she thought over his question. She had heard it before in a nastier tone when her ex-boyfriend would gaslight her. This time, coming from Gage’s voice, a part of her wanted to believe him. Clay had proven himself to be a kind individual, so wouldn’t his son have some of those traits? Her delayed answer caused him to look up from his phone.
“I guess I don’t really know you well enough to answer that, but for the sake of my sanity I’m going to believe you. Can you take me home now, please? I really appreciate everything, but I want to take a shower and curl up in my own bed for a while before work.”
“Let me take a shower really quick and we can go. I need to get the smell of cigarettes and beer off me before I puke. Clubs are not my scene.”
“Then why did you go?”
He shrugged. “I was bored.”
He started to walk out of the kitchen and she followed behind. Halfway to the stairway he turned and looked at her. “Are you going to take a shower with me?”
“Oh! No, I’m sorry. I guess I can wait for you here.” She quickly returned to her spot back in the kitchen.
It was not long before she grew bored and began to explore her surroundings. She felt odd being here. A few weeks ago he was only her customer, a rude one at that, and now she was wandering around his extravagant home. Being in someone’s home was like being in their mind—it revealed a lot about who they were. And from what she could see, he had a very interesting mind.
Everywhere she looked there were oil paintings depicting dark and gloomy scenes, or portraits of people long since deceased. One of the portraits was of Marie Antoinette—after her beheading. Willow frowned at the detached head of the Queen. Blood had been painted dripping from the stem of her neck, her eyes were cloudy with a glazed expression, and her tongue was bloated and sticking out of her mouth. The attention to detail was so good, it made her feel nauseous. She stepped closer to see that the bottom corner of the painting was signed with the single letter G.
She continued her exploration and came across a door that was partially opened. She knew it was wrong, but her curiosity would not let her ignore it, so she pushed it open and stepped inside to find a room full of drawings. Most were half-done sketches of wilderness scenes, but in the corner of the room was a painting of a beach scene painted in hues of black and purple. As she approached it, she noticed the silhouette of a woman standing in the ocean.
“Holy hell!” Something brushed up against her leg, but she stopped herself from kicking it when she looked down and saw a fluffy white cat wrapped around her feet.
“Hi there! You scared me.” She bent down to pet the fluffy creature. “You must be Buffy.”
The cat purred in response and rolled over onto her back, allowing Willow to pet her soft belly.
The smell of mahogany and black teakwood filled the room as Gage walked in on the two. “What a fucking slut.”
Willow looked up at him, reveling in the pride of having his cat like her, but was thrown off by the fact that he was shirtless. He was wearing low-cut black jeans with the black-and-gray waistband of his underwear peeking over the edge. She let her eyes linger on the trail of dark blond hair that led from his belly button to the top of his pants before snapping her attention back to Buffy.
“She usually hates people. You must have bribed her with a treat or something,” he said as he grabbed a t-shirt with Clay’s rental company logo off the back of a chair.
“Or maybe she just likes me.” Willow gave Buffy a few more pats on her tummy before standing up. “Is this all your artwork? It’s amazing. ”
He looked down and picked some cat fur off his shirt, avoiding all eye contact with her as he ignored her question. “Listen, I have to pick up my bike before I drop you off. I don’t trust Robby with it for much longer and I have to get to work soon. Have you ever ridden on a bike before?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, well there’s a first time for everything. Just know that if you fall off I’m not coming back for you.” He headed out of the room not waiting for her to catch up.
“Hold on! Can I at least get my shoes?”
“Make it quick.”
She was positive he would leave her here if she took too long, so she quickly ran up the stairs, gritting her teeth against the pounding in her head. She was breathing heavily by the time she slipped into the Mustang idling outside.
She did a double take when she looked behind her and noticed that his house was more of a mansion. While inside, it did not seem as massive, but she realized she had barely seen a third of it.
She couldn’t believe someone so young could own a place so extravagant. “Is that your place, or Clay’s?”
“Technically Clay’s, but he lets us live here.”
“Us? Who else lives with you?”
“Matteo, Horatio, and Nikolas.”
She nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence. She wanted to know more about him, but between the headache and leftover fogginess from the drug, she decided to listen to the music and not talk. She had to admit, his playlist was not bad. Most of it was 80’s metal songs with a few current ones thrown in.
They approached a neighborhood made up of brick townhomes. The streets were made of matching brick with streetlights that looked like antique gaslights. They pulled up next to one that had a motorcycle parked in front, and both climbed out of the car.
“Wait here, I’m going to swap keys really quick.”
She watched him stalk up the set of stairs and open the red-painted door. She noticed the curtains in the front window stir and Robby’s head popped up between them as he waved to her vigorously. She waved back, but his head jerked out of the window, almost like someone had pulled him backward.
She chuckled and eyed the motorcycle next to her. It was a matte black Yamaha Bolt with intricate glossy black flames decorating the tank. It was a subtle detail you had to be close enough to notice. The back seat was small, with no backrest and she was certain her blood pressure would rise as soon as she sat on the back.
She also wondered how she was going to manage sitting on the bike with the tight dress she had on.
“Do you trust me not to kill you?” Gage whispered in her ear.
He had snuck up behind her quietly, his body mere centimeters from hers. A chill ran down her spine and she involuntarily took a step forward to distance herself.
“Can you promise me not to drive like an asshole?”
“I guess I can be on my best behavior. Get on.” He swung his leg over the bike and held out his hand to help her on the back.
She followed his cue and took his hand, using her other one to keep her dress down as she straddled the leather seat. Luckily, her dress was tight enough that she wouldn’t have to worry about it flying up, and she fit against him snugly so that she wasn’t flashing anyone.
She told him her address and he started the bike and jerked forward, causing her to grab him around the waist. She noticed his cocky grin in the mirror.
“I thought you were going to be on your best behavior?” She mumbled.
“I am. ”
Contrary to what she had been expecting, Gage ended up being a decent driver. After a few minutes, she was able to loosen the death grip she had around his chest and enjoyed the ride. There was something exhilarating about the wind blowing through her already-tangled hair.
She was a little bit disappointed as he pulled into her parking lot and propped his bike up on the kickstand. He turned to look at her and she could feel butterflies causing havoc in her stomach.
“Are you getting off?”
She felt her face flush. “Oh, yeah.”
She slid off the back and stood next to him, looking down at her heels as she toyed with the belly button ring she could feel under her dress. He didn’t make any movement like he was about to leave, so she looked up to find him looking at the opening in her dress underneath her breasts. When he looked up, his eyes were lustful.
A shiver went down her spine.
“Thanks for everything. Next time you stop in at the Coffee House Bunny, your drink is on me.”
She started to walk away, but his quiet, rough voice caused her to pause. “Hey, Willow?”
“Yeah?”
“What are you doing next Sunday?”
“Nothing, why?”
“Do you maybe want to grab dinner?”
She thought about it for a second. His eyes grew hard at her silence, so she smiled to reassure him.
“Sure.”