She's one of those women you can't label. No matter how hard you try t read her, you can't see anything past her facial expression. It never changes. You'll live your life in the belief she's thirty'ish and be ok with it, but then as you are sitting next to her by the pool and as she shows off her legs the idea of her being 42 seems more relevant. And then when she dies (or if you die before her; I don't know I am not God) you'll never learn the simplest of all facts about her, the one she kept to herself which in that moment while the sun's setting and the lights will not yet be illuminated to scatter the view of the city adored by millions for its beauty, strikes you like nothing has ever had.
"Belle, how old are you?"
She'll laugh, shake her head, and look you dead in the eye, so intensely you'll eventually have to look away.
"Fifty seven darling. Not a day more, not a day less."
Cindy gathered the nerve to look up at Belle, amazed and terrified and all of a sudden; betrayed?
"I guess it's your birthday today."
Cindy stuttered, placing her sunglasses next to her on the sunbed so she could take a better look at Belle. Her eyes seemed distant, her gaze not focused on anything particular, and she looked just present, not involved but present. Like a hologram, Cindy thought, glancing at Belle's lips which were pressed tightly against each other.
"Innit." The lady next to her, the lady so mysterious as The number Pi, smiled a crooked smile shaking her head at someone. That someone was not here and Cindy did not know who that someone was.
"Why didn't you tell me that?" Cindy grew angrier by a second, raising her voice accidentally as she got carried away.
"It never came up." Belle pronounced each word separately, slowly trying to let Cindy know the conversation was over.
Belle closed her eyes sighing. Cindy was still focused on her, watching over her as if another secret will magically pour out of her mouth.
"You know what, there's a lot of things that 'never came up' in this house! Which reminds me; HOW IN THE WORLD DID WE END UP IN HERE?!" The revelation shook Cindy and continued to stir her inner being, ripping her limb by limb.
"Keep quiet, I do not want to deal with you right now." Belle whispered, gritting her teeth.
Never in her entire life had Cindy ever taken a risk, she would always lose boardgames to people much dumber than her and frankly she didn't care much if she was being called a wimp or not. Because she invented her own way of how to deal with life, and for a solid amount of years she felt happy and safe, just sitting in her giant room looking out the window being unapologetically a wimp. But a wimp cannot stay a wimp if it wishes to continue with its happines, so Cindy took the leap to the edge of the cliff and looked down. She expected to see nothing but swirling, endless darkness. She saw a hint of light, she saw a tiny little candle burning for a few moments until she heard some hurling, wind blowing at an amazing speed pushing her down towards the light.
POOF the light disappeared, Cindy flying towards nothing, or something? There's no way she could tell of what was yet to come her way.
"I wish to no longer be in your presence, leave immediately." Belle ordered waving her hand at Cindy pointing towards the doors of their mansion. That was your wind and that was when the light had died. Cindy never got to get to it as she made her way inside the palace she no longer considers home.
