Page 54 of Redemption
Henry's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he took a step forward. "That old thing? But it's been there for years," he said, chuckling uncomfortably. His eyes darted from the painting, to me, then back to the painting.
"I know, but I want to see how this one would look in its place." I shifted my weight and gestured towards the portrait of Gabriel. Henry followed my gaze, his eyebrows knitting together as he studied the artwork. A shrug was his only response before he turned back towards the stubborn painting on the wall.
"Alright," Henry grunted, rolling up his sleeves as he moved closer to the painting. "Let's see what I can do." He began his weak assault on the piece of art. Gripping each side, he yanked, tugged, and gave up no sooner than he began, but beads of sweat began to glisten on his head.
“Well, that thing really wants to stay up there,” he chuckled. “Why don't you put your new one just over here above your desk?”
“I’ll just leave it where it is for now. I'm going to get that painting down one way or another.”
"Sure, sure," he muttered, wiping sweat away from his forehead.
“Are you alright?” I asked. The effort he expended was nowhere near enough for him to work up a sweat. He swallowed hard and licked his lips.
"Yeah, yeah. Just not feeling too well, I guess. Do you think tomorrow morning you could run to the store and get me something?" he replied, his voice shaky as he wiped his forehead again.
“Oh, I don’t know henry, I shouldn't go out.”
His eye twitched as he licked his lips.
“I don’t know exactly why you cant, but hey that’s not my business, it’s just I think I would have a panic attack if I go out tomorrow. Please Sophia, would you just take my car and run to the store for me? It will be fine.”
“Ok, Yeah sure.” I said under the pressure of his intensity.
“Good, good.” He nodded, seeming to calm down.
“Once I feel better tomorrow evening we can get this thing off the wall ok?”
"Alright, well..." I hesitated, glancing at him warily before shifting my gaze back to the painting resting on my easel. "Thanks for trying to help out with that."
Henry only nodded in response, and then, without another word, he turned and hurried out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. I was left alone once more beneath the stubborn painting still nailed to the wall. I sighed and decided to take a shower.
I hesitated for a moment, staring at that unmovable canvas, then lifted off my shirt. I dropped it to the floor before I moved onto my jeans. I could feel the rough denim under my fingers as I worked them down over my hips and let them fall in a crumpled heap around my ankles. My bra followed suit, the underwire digging into my skin a final time. In nothing but my panties, I gave the damn painting a final few wild tugs but was met withthe same firm resistance. "Fine," I said aloud, "stay there then. It's not like I'm going anywhere either."
Sophia
The sound of Henry singing downstairs woke me earlier than I wanted. He thought his singing voice was a yet another talent, but it was worse than a familiar alarm clock. At least those were predictable in their ear-piercing torment. I buried my head under the pillow and groaned. Another day of service in exchange for a safe place to sleep, only to do it all again the next day. It wasn't much different from any other job in that regard, but it felt worse.
An off-key high note signaled I wouldn't be getting back to sleep. Was he trying to wake me up? I moved to get out of the comfortable nest of blankets in my bed, and his singing stopped, turning into muffled words. “Ah, hello, Emma.” I couldn't make out the rest, but it felt good knowing she was here. I had only spoken to her once since everything happened, All she knew was that I was out of work and serving henry in exchange for food and a room. She still didn't know anything about what happened at the club or that I was hiding here, and I wouldn't be telling her, despite every part of me demanding to confess everything.
I followed the sound of her soft footsteps up the stairs, and she let herself into my room. Finding me sitting up in bed,she smiled sympathetically and made her way over to me, her expression a mix of joy and sadness.
"Good morning, sleepyhead, You look almost as terrible as Henry's singing." She teased
I laughed, but the sound was laced with exhaustion. "I'm sure I look worse."
"Oh, Sophia," she said, her voice thick with empathy. "You need to take better care of yourself. You can't keep running yourself into the ground like this."
"I know." I sighed, rubbing at the tiredness etched under my eyes. "But what choice do I have?"
"Just don't settle for living like this." She took my hand.
"I have good news and bad news."
I perked up at that. "What is it?"
Emma hesitated, her grip tightening a bit. "Well, the good news is I got hired at a great company."
"That's amazing!" I said, but Emma's face still held the bad news. I waited for her to continue.
