Dissolving me

Chapter 1 - How we met

"Tilt your chin,"

The day was gloomy. The sky was a compilation of shades of dark grey and the light from the sun was not even poking through, anymore. It was overcast and looked like it might start raining at any minute. There was a slight humidity in the air, which only indicated that when it did start raining, it was going to pour. Eve held tightly onto her umbrella, waiting to open it the moment she felt a drop of rain on her head.

Her heels clacked against the concrete, each step quickly after the last, as if she was trying to lose someone that was following her. She never changed the direction of her stare, straight ahead of her. It was as if she had locked eyes with someone and she needed to keep watching them to ensure that they did not disappear. Instead, it was just the view of the street, at the end of the park she was walking through.

Her hair was tied up into an amalgamation of curls. It was growing looser throughout the day, especially with the ever so persistent wind. She was only a few blocks away from where she needed to be, where she was going to be spending the rest of her afternoon.

She was thankful and excited to receive the message that invited her over, that told her the studio was empty for the afternoon; that she should visit, in order to bring life to the place. Though it was not said, it was known that without Eve, the apartment was bleak, it was heartless and boring. What was used as a studio truly became one, when she was not there. A place of work, a place of constraints and limitations. All of that lifted when Eve was present, and everyone knew that.

She walked with a sense of pride, knowing that she was ever so desired.

"Look to the right,"

There was excitement flowing through her body, as she reached the apartment building. She could not help it, every time she saw the building her stomach would fill with butterflies that were learning to fly, her heart would sputter like the engine of an old car that had not been started for years, and her mind would melt into a puddle of goo that could no longer form rational, if any, thoughts. It was a dirty, old building, and yet it sparked such intricate and new feelings for the brunette-haired woman.

It was twelve stories tall, dark windows lining the walls. It was a mixture of dark greys and light browns, like something out of a nineteenth century movie. The building existed in the shadows of the city, in an area that used to scare Eve. The people made her uneasy, she did not appreciate the stares, and the sudden shouts startled her.

The first time she had walked this way on her own, she considered turning around and going back to her family home. To go back to the safety of a nice neighbourhood, clean streets, and fancy cars. Gated homes with large bushes and nicely manicured lawns, neighbours who were incredibly intrusive and knew everything that was going on with everyone else. She knew that, despite the annoyance of that lifestyle, she felt safer in it than she ever felt in neighbourhoods like this.

It was almost like a guilty pleasure, to her, to leave that life, even for a few hours, and to go to this end of the city. She stood out, still incapable of finding something she could wear that would not spark questions when leaving the house, but that also did not draw in even more stares. She looked like she did not belong, as if she took a wrong turn and somehow ended up in the gloomy park with the scent of urine wafting through the air and the sound of cars honking endlessly, when she was meant to be at some brunch event, drinking champagne and politely laughing at something someone said. Her mother would be less than impressed, if not horrified, that Eve was in that end of town. Or to know that she was in that end of town quite often. Her mother would hate the thought of Eve walking up the stairs of the dusty, old apartment building, squeezing past strangers who wore old clothes and appeared to not be sober, strangers that just grunted when they bumped into her and did not even consider apologizing, and strangers who looked at Eve and treated her as if she was nothing.