《The Tattoo Artist ✓》Chapter Twenty | 'A blessing in disguise'
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Auntie Coraline has gone a bit crazy about how big I have gotten; she has not stopped talking about how identical we both look. I looked nothing like her. No offence to Auntie Coraline but she was the polar opposite. "So, they still into the Jesus stuff?" She whispers, we both look up to see mum and dad cooking the potatoes.
"Yes Auntie, we are catholic." Auntie Coraline rolls her eyes, I could not stop the laughter leaving my mouth.
"You old sobs are boring, come on, talk to me...any boys?" Auntie Coraline is my favourite aunt, she winks at me. She did not believe in God and believes that if there is a God, why does he punish good people? And I believe that on some grounds, but not on others... I was raised Catholic, and not obeying God seems strange to me.
She yanks my arms from under my chin to grasp my attention, "well...there is this one boy..."
"Ares." I rose a brow, how did she know? "Is it him? I missed that bastard; I knew he wouldn't give up on you."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Auntie Coraline gives me eyes of sadness, she look behind me to see if my parents were busy enough to speak. She takes my hands in hers and pulls me in close.
"You were in love with a boy named Ares, I remember you telling me...babbling about how annoyingly handsome he is and how he likes to watch you paint...I know you know. I'm no stupid fool Alexandra Jones." She gives me the mum stare.
"How?"
"Because...when two souls are meant to be...they will be...and Ares...he loves you more than his own life. I used to see the way he looked at you, the way he made you smile and the way he stood-"
I wanted her to continue but my mother interrupts up as she settles down the food onto the table. Ares told me that no one knew. But clearly Auntie Coraline knew way before the accident. She is a woman filled with more than one secret, everywhere i turn...secrets.
I kept my gaze fixed on my mother throughout the meal. How could she keep something so important from me? She looks up at me every once in a while, but I snap out of it.
Ares was the next thought that came to mind. What if I never remember what he was like to me? What was I to him? What did I think of him? I thought my life was boring and uninteresting, but I was clearly mistaken.
Auntie Coraline continues to talk about her trip to Africa and how she smoked weed near the tigers and all, if looks could kill. Auntie Coraline would be dead by now. My mother put on her judge face, but I really enjoyed her stories. They were thrilling.
When dinner was finished, mum and dad went to bed. Leaving just me downstairs, Auntie Coraline is standing next to me with her arms folded over her chest. She analyses me. "Don't give up, no matter what is thrown in your face. Don't you dare give up Jones." I drop the plate back into the sink, turning my head to face her.
"What if i never remember who he was to me? I could only believe the words..."
"You don't need memories to know you are in love." She whispers, kissing the side of my head.
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"Why didn't you tell me? If you knew..., why did you let this go one for two years?" I questioned.
"Because...when the time is right it will come out. And it was not my place to tell." She retires to the guest bedroom downstairs; I leave the dishes for tomorrow and make my way to my bedroom. I close the door behind me and make sure it is locked, seeming that I cannot trust anyone in this house.
I turn and my eyes are locked with his green ones, oh the colours of the forest. I felt like I was in the Avatar jungle with just a glimpse. Ares sat on the couch near the window, as if he was waiting for me to come up.
"Ares..."
"Princess, put your shoes on." How did I not know by the voice it was Ares? I, however, listen to him and slip my boots on. He hands me a jacket; I take it and slip it on.
We make our way down the balcony, "where are we going?"
"You'll see."
He helps me down the balcony, "Ares, is this a kidnapping attempt?" I whisper, he chuckles shaking his head. We reach the end of the road, where his car is parked. He opens the door for me, and i slide inside the front seat. He starts the car and begins to drive. "I have to be home before sunrise Ares."
"I know the drill, princess, we've done this a hundred times before." I give him a broad smile. What is he doing to me? We've been driving for over twenty minutes when he comes to a complete stop at a red light and turns to face me.
We lock our gazes on each other. We need some alone time. I look down at our interlocked fingers as he slips his hands into mine. His thumb brushes against the top of my palm. He slowly lifts our hands and presses his lips against them.
"Tell me something I would have known," I whisper, he pushes down onto the gear.
"Hmm, okay..." He pauses for a moment, "you know why i got this tattoo?" He shows me he butterfly tattoo on his hand. I shake my head.
"Because you love butterflies?"
"You loved butterflies...you'd go into the fields and chase them while wearing a flower-patterned dress to feel like you were in a movie. It's a symbol of you that I got tattooed on my hand because I promised to hold you forever."
I felt guilty.
I could see the pain in his eyes as he watched the road, and I tightened my grip on his. "Every client I've ever had wanted the butterfly on my hand tattooed, but I said no...and when you said you wanted it, that's when my hope returned." My eyes well up with tears as I turn to face the window.
"I'm sorry if i cannot love you the same Ares, but maybe...if we try hard enough and I promise to try...we'll get there."
"What is this place? I ask him, he opens the door for me, and I step out of the car. I look towards the cabin, snow stocked up on the roof and some drizzles down my face. We were in the middle of the woods. "Is that a Cabin?" I rush towards it, and my heart crackers a little when I see the initials.
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I graze my finger over it, a body lean besides it.
"We named this cabin " the getaway cabin" after we built it. When you were stressed or arguing with your parents, you'd run here...you actually painted the inside." I raised an eyebrow, and he unlocked the door, pushing it open.
When I walk in, I see my artwork all over the place. I graze my finger around the paintings, the outlines, the words, and when I take a step back...I see the butterflies. I could tell we had many memories together, so much...so why do i not remember any of it? I looked at the messy bed, and my eyes touched the floor to see clothes.
"You haven't been in here...since the accident." I point out, he settles down onto the edge of the bed.
"No, I haven't. It's a bit messy."
"So, let's recreate a memory!" I walk towards him, smiling. He towers over me, so I gently grab his hands and pull him to his feet. His lips caress mine, and his nose brushes up against mine. I look into his green orbs that brought us here in the first place. Our lips brushed against each other but did not touch. Our heavy breathing filled the void in the room. I run my hands over his biceps and around the back of his neck.
"You always wanted to ice skate, but we never got around to it." He mumbles, pushing himself away from us and going to the cupboard to grab a pair of skates.
"How come we never got around?" I ask him.
"Because we were too busy fucking." My eyes bulge out of my head, and I have never blushed so much in my life. I couldn't imagine having sex with Ares, how rough or gentle he'd be.
"Is that the memory we're going to recreate...?" I rub the back of my head; he brushes past me but stops when his lips were near my ears.
"I fucking hope so." Then he makes his way out of the cabin, leaving me to drown in my sorrows of butterflies.
I follow after him, he drives through the forest, and I had to quicken my pace to catch up with his long legs. After a two-minute walk, I look up and see a lake. A frozen lake, "sit down." It sounded like a demand, but of course I took a seat. He kneeled down and lifted my foot, settled it into his thigh and slipped of my shoe, his fingers grazing my bare skin of my calf. I look down at him, imagining how he would look between my legs again.
Remembering how he made me feel.
The butterflies.
He picks up the skate and helps me slip my feet into them. One by one. "Diávolos ice skates?" I whisper jokingly. "Like Jack Frost? I can imagine someone who kills ice skating like a fairy." His eyes widen, and he looks up at me. As if I said something-
"Ali, you said the exact same joke..."
"But-I-I didn't have a memory..."
"Leave it, come on." He tightens his and stands up, he takes my hands into his and lifts me slowly onto the ice. I grab onto his biceps and push myself flush against him as my foot slips back.
"No, I can't do this Ares."
"Yes, you can, separate your legs and bend your knees." I shook my head and wrapped my arms around his waist, he chuckles and the vibration of it hits my head. He lifts my jaw up, "come on. Think of the ice as a canvas and you're the paint brush." I rose a brow.
"Okay..." I move myself away from him slowly, still grabbing onto his arms. He begins to go backwards, slowly. I do as he says and skate, it felt nice. My face beams with excitement even though I am holding onto him like he was going to leave me.
"Is Atlas your only brother?" I ask him.
"No, I have four brothers and two sisters." My eyes widen.
"Wow, that's a big family."
"Greeks." He chuckles.
"Do they...know me?" I ask him, he encircle his arms around my waist.
"Yes. They all know who you are, what you meant to me and what happened."
"What did I mean to you?"
"You meant the world to me."
He really did love me.
Oh Ares, what happened to us?
I once said, why does God put evil into the world if he loved us so much?
Why did God put evil between me and Ares?
What did we do? And what happened that night?
He continues to teach me how to skate properly, it took a few falls, but I got there in the end. He releases my hands; I look up and stay so still. Fear. It crawled up my legs. "W-Come back!" I yell.
"You're capable of doing it on your own." I gulp and close my eyes as I skate more toward him. The struggle was real for me. He takes a seat on the snow and watches me.
I was doing it!
"I'm skating! Ares!" I exclaim joyfully. He smiles and pulls out his phone, which he then uses to record me. I try to skate towards him, but instead slip on the ice. I groan as my back collides with the ice.
I heard a rush and opened my eyes to see Ares crouched beside me. I could not stop myself from laughing, so I grabbed his arm and threw him down beside me. He turns his head to face me, the ice on my legs and cheeks burning.
I look down and see our fingers interlocking, the warmness of his touch indulging mine. I smile softly, my heart glows. I did not want this moment to end, I really did not.
You will always remember and thus be better protected if you have felt the difference between a genuine loving bond and a parasitic clasp. True love, true lover, true loving bond will give you knew strength and inner peace.
As he stares at the dark skies, snow falls onto his lips. His features shift to my direction as I slowly sit up. I lean in and press my lips against his, kissing him delicately. His hands slither into my hair as if my lips were paper, deepening this passionate kiss.
Fire and Ice.
Light and Darkness.
Happiness and sadness.
Evil and good.
It is weird how everything has its own opposite.
Diávolos and Angelos.
I smiled. I smiled because I know I will not remember but having this moment of the two of us felt more than enough for me, and I know he wanted more. I know he wanted the old 'us'. But I am okay with this...
but he is not.
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