The Artist's Amour (BWWM) ✓

Chapter 8: Exploring the Home

"Listen man I can explain-"

"Don't. Please, just don't." The delivery guy replied as he basically thrust the pizza into Chris's arms and high tailed it the fuck off my porch.

My body had began to shake violently as I tried to hold in the laughter that was threatening to spill out all over this situation. But as Chris slowly turned toward me, tampon still stuck up his nostril with his face scrunched up in mortification, I lost it.

It had started off as a slight hiccup as my body attempted to ease into the laughter, but very soon after, I was on the ground grasping the couch as it poured out of my body. I could see Chris out of the corner of my teary eye.

His initial response to my laughter was pure anger, but as I started to gasp my sides in paid from how hard I was laughing, the corner of his mouths twitched up into a smile he desperately tried to conceal. Before I knew it, he was on the ground next to me, losing control.

We stayed like this for a bit, our bodies running low on oxygen as we silently laughed before inhaling deep breathes of air. After some time, the laughter died down, and we laid on the floor on our backs, next to each other.

"That wasn't funny." Chris tried to say, his voice coming out in gasps from the strain the laughter had put on him.

"It totally was." I replied, turning my head slightly to look at him. He was already staring at me. We stayed silently like this for a while before Chris finally spoke.

"When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?" Chris asked, as he turned back to look up at the white ceiling that had some tan spots from where the water had leaked through the ceiling.

"I wanted to be a Marine Biologist." I answered honestly, as I turned back to the ceiling.

"Why?"

"Don't laugh, but uh, I'm was- am, a firm believer in the existence of mermaids and I uh, actually, started researching them when I was about 9, after my parents showed me the movie Aquamarine." I said hesitantly as I turned to him, expecting him to laugh. Instead, he had a serious face on as he stared intently at the ceiling. "What about you?" I finally said, breaking the silence after some time.

"I wanted to be an astronaut." He replied. He finally tore his eyes away from the ceiling and turned back to me as I smiled at him.

Chris's POV
My heart beat sporadically as I saw Ari's face light up at that.

It was a simple wish from a 13 year old child, but it meant much more to me than Ari could ever know. There was so much I wanted to say to her in that second for some reason, so much I wanted to open up to her about... A woman I hadn't even known for a full week yet. I debated deepening the conversation, but I think Ari saw the hesitation in my eyes as she touched my arm lightly before pulling herself up. That action alone spoke volumes as I pulled myself up with her.

"How about some food?" She asked, grabbing the pizza box I had somehow managed to toss onto the dining room table before becoming crippled by laughter.

"Food sounds good. I replied, shooting her an honest smile as she nodded, knowingly. She went to the kitchen and grabbed us some plates and beers before returning. "Thanks." I said, as she laid everything on the table and we dug in.

~

"I could never give up cheese." Ari shook her head as we cleaned up the table and tossed the trash.

"I feel that." I replied honestly. My love for cheese was something of insanity.

"Thank you for helping with the house by the way, I know there's so much left to do." She sighed, rubbing her hands through her braids before continuing to wipe up the table. I've seen many emotions sun through Ari, but I don't think I had witnessed what I got a glimpse of just now... Worry. For a woman who looked so put together, it never dawned on me just how much she could really be struggling with. Yet, I knew absolutely nothing about her or why she had chose to move to the outskirts of Portland Maine. No one just moved to Portland Maine.

"How about you show me the grand tour of this place?" I asked as she finished cleaning.

"Yeah, sure." She nodded as we started up the stairs. Call me a dude, but it was hard not to notice just how beautiful Ari's body was, inside and out. She had curves in all the right places, yet acted as if they weren't there. She wasn't insecure per say, just not as confident as most of the woman I had met.

Strangely, I liked it.

She wasn't going through life trying not to be noticed, yet, she also wasn't going through life trying to be noticed. She was just going through.

"This room is mine." She started, as she pushed open the door to a large room. Light was pouring through the window, illuminating a beautiful Victorian style bedroom. It was mostly empty, except for the suitcase that she had propped up on the ottoman.

"And we're moving on." She said as she opened up the next door that was by her bedroom. "Bathroom." She nodded as I peeked over her shoulder. The room was large, and gorgeous. Stone walls and tiled tubs. It looked like something from a penthouse suite.

"Woah." I whispered, taking in the sight.

"Tell me about it." She nodded as she slowly closed the door. "Now, that's all I've really had the time to check out since I've been here so these next couple rooms are as much of a mystery to you as they are to me." She nodded at the 3 doors remaining on the top floor.

We opened the next door down and the door have way to another beautiful bedroom, this one a bit smaller. It looked like the bedroom may have belonged to a child because the walls had been painting this horrible racetrack mural. "Jesus that's terrifying." Ari whispered as we remained at the doorway.

"Can we paint over this next?" I asked.

"Hell yes." She nodded before shutting the door. The next door opened up to an empty room that also had tons of light spilling through to it. The floors were wooden and the walls a bare grey that closely matched what we had painting the downstairs. "I'd love to bring my art in here." She nodded as we took a look around. It would be a perfect location to paint because of the lighting and space.

Ari slowly closed that door before we approached the last door on the right of us. Ari's hand reached the doorknob and turned, but the knob wouldn't budge.

This room was locked.