Loaded

Red

My new apartment is smaller than i had expected which is a happy surprise, it has 2 bedrooms and a small balcony. Its very nice and modern, i mentally make plans on how i will make it my own. The neutral colours are not me but I'm sure i can make it home soon enough, all the furniture is new so i don't plan on replacing it. As the boxes are carried in i browse online for bright accessories to bring the space to life, i know mom will hate it. Butch runs up and down the hallway happily, hes like a child at Christmas. Now i dont have my landlord on hand i have arranged a dog walker to visit butch twice a day, i will feel less guilty about my long days away from him.

"delivery for ms Gilmore" darcy walks in the apartment with a large brown bag. 

"your hand delivering your gifts now, im honoured" 

i look in the bag and wrap my arms around him. Theres a tin of red paint, paintbrushes and overalls.

"why do i need two sets of overalls" i ask.

"i thought i would help decorate your bedroom" 

"oh yeah, why would we decorate the bedroom first" 

He snakes his arm around my waist "its the room where we spend most of our time"

We change into our overalls as the moving company leaves, Darcy looks so out of place. I cant stop the laughter, hes holding his paintbrush likes its a chopstick. I dont think he has done much DIY in the past. 

"do you even know how to paint"

"ofcourse" he paused "im sure im more than capable"

We tape up the edges of the main wall where the headboard usually sits, i play soft rock on my alexa as we start to paint. Darcy is doing better than i expected, i didnt think he would know how to do something as ordinary as paint, he is mega rich after all.

"i use to paint houses in the summer as a kid" he tells me, he must have seen me watching him.

"why"

"i wanted money for baseball cards and my mom couldnt afford to buy them for me"

I look at him like ive just learn his darkest secret "you didnt grow up rich" 

I had assumed he had always had money, he was graceful and carried himself with such dignity, money just didnt seem to carry any importance to him. In my experience only the mega rich didnt care or brag about money.

"My mom was a single parent, she worked in the supermarket. Life was tough, we barely got by"

"wow you built you company from the ground up"

He continues to paint, we paint in silence. I've learnt so much about him , it's hard to get my head around him.

"I was one of Elizabeths boys"

I try not to react but it's hard I want to prompt him for more info but I don't want to rush him.

"I was 19 , she was 41. I dated her because I knew her reputation. I knew with her money and contacts I could achieve what I wanted in life. Within a month I was in designer clothes, two months in I was driving a sports car and at 6 months I was working with one of the most successful companies in America. Elizabeth made me who I am today, for years I was her doll who she dressed up and brought out to impress her stuck up friends."

He goes quiet again, I wonder if I should speak.

"We were together for a year when i proposed with a ring I bought using her credit card, we were married within the month. Six months later she declares that I must be bored with her, that her age is an issue and that we must have an open marriage. Elizabeth tells everyone it's for me so I won't cheat so I will be happy, be satisfied. I had been satisfied, I had been happy. I had never looked at another woman the way I did her, I agreed to her lovers so she would be happy but I never took a lover of my own. I was never interested" he pauses and looks at me, my heart is in my mouth

He dips his finger in the red paint and twos the tip of my nose "Until you"