Page 115 of Black
Daniel accepted the offer and Violet and I left to find her car. This was my third time driving with Viola and every time I’m floored at the unlikelihood of this car still being on the streets. I’m no expert on cars so I can’t tell you the model or year of Violet’s, but it’s a station wagon with wood paneling that must be way older than my twenty-one years.
“Can you open the glove compartment?” she said when we got in. “Good, there’s a box… do you see it?”
“Uh-huh,” I said and pulled out a box from Tiffany’s and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she said and opened the box, revealing five different stones, in different sizes and shapes, that she picked up and rubbed in her hands, bowing her head in what looked like a silent prayer. Thirty seconds later she returned the stones to the box and handed it back to me with a soft smile. “Energetic hygiene is very important when you deal with entities. I always make sure I don’t bring work home, so to speak.”
“All right,” was the only thing I could think of to say.
“So where are we picking up your paintings?”
“At my… ehh… boyfriend’s place. He lives by Union Lake.”
Violet whistled and started the engine. “So that explains your new looks.”
“Yeah. He wasn’t a big fan of the Goth look.”
Violet didn’t comment on that but kept up a casual conversation until we got to the apartment.
“What’s wrong?” she asked when she parked. “You just had a major energy shift.”
“Oh… it’s just that we had a fight before I left.”
She looked up at the building. “Do you want me to stay here or go with you?”
“Well, there are five paintings, so I could use your help carrying them.”
“Then let’s go.”
My heart was hammering like a sledgehammer when I stood outside the door, and for a moment I was unsure whether to walk in or ring the bell. I chose the latter, suddenly not sure I was welcome.
When Gabriel opened the door he pinned me with a pissed-off expression. “Glad to see you’re back,” he said but his body language said otherwise.
“This is Violet,” I said and pointed to her. Violet reached out her hand and stepped closer to him. I wish I was that brave, but I could see he was mad at me and I didn’t know what to do about it.
“I’m just giving Black a ride to the gallery with her paintings,” Violet said in her soft melodic voice and didn’t break eye contact with Gabriel.
I didn’t like it. Yeah, my friend was a weirdo and part witch of a sort, but she was more feminine than I could ever be, and the way her beautiful brown eyes looked up at him gave me the chills. What if he preferred her to me?
Gabriel finally broke the intense stare between them and took a step back to let us in.
“You know where the paintings are, Cia,” he said. “Melody is here… she wanted to see you.”
That made me stop in my tracks. His sister Melody had been here before and I had seen her at the brunch too. It seemed that every time she came around she got the worst version of me – and today was not a good day either, with the tension between Gabriel and me.
“Hey, Melody,” I said when I stepped into the living room and saw her.
“Hey, Cia.” Her eyes trailed to Violet. “Oh, that’s nice, are you an actor?”
Violet tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
Melody smiled and waved her hand at Violet’s clothes. “Because of the costume… are you doing some sort of historical play?”
Violet looked down at herself and then to Melody again. “No, this is how I dress.”
Melody’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “Oh, really? Well, it’s… ehh… lovely.”
“Violet is my friend and we’re just here to pick up my paintings for my art exhibition tomorrow,” I interjected, hoping to move away from the awkwardness.
