“Have you met them? Are you part of the Society too?” She wanted to know more about me, and that made me focus on answering her rather than my little pity party.
“Yeah. I, uh, fought with them a year ago.” Her frankness inspired mine, I guess. There was no way I was going to lie to her about anything; I’d spent too much of my life hiding behind lies.
“You fought in the big battle of Seahill, before they went back into time?” Her gaze was completely focused on mine, needing to know my story, and all I could do was nod. The words were not as easy to slide out between my lips.
“I remembered everything before. The hatred, and the fleeing the island. I didn’t think I’d be of any help. You weren’t a part of their group before. It was just the originals, so you just decided to stay on your own and fight with them.” Something that sounded a bit like awe came through her voice. I hoped I’d heard it right. The way she said it made me seem like I did something honorable. I’d like to have hoped so, but I paid for that honor, with my life.
“Yeah. It wasn’t a fun time. I’m glad it all worked out in the end. Evil turned good and all, and I got a second chance to live life as me. I used to be a hot shot in the business world, but I wasn’t being true. Now I’m an artist. All mediums you can think of, but my favorite is upcycling, taking what people would throw away and turning it into something beautiful again.”
I wanted to ask her if she wanted to come check out my art, but knew it was probably too soon for that.
“You do art? Can I see your work?”
Or maybe it was the right time to invite her over. So, I did, and that half smile appeared as I told her my warehouse was nearby, and we could go there now if she was free.
She was, and together we walked to my home.
Chapter Twelve
Gwendolyn
Sometimes I was a little naive when it came to people in life. Like this moment—Arthur seemed like a perfectly good guy. He’d talked to me like I was a normal girl and made me feel like he was interested in who I was, as I was. I’d never had a man put in effort like he had so far. Sure, I’d have men who wanted sex from me, but none of them made it an hour talking with me. I was a challenge, one they quickly quit once they realized I was too much trouble for the body.
So maybe walking with Arthur to his house wasn’t a smart move, since in reality I still didn’t know him as well as I should before making this decision. But I wanted to be near him. It was as simple as that.
As we walked quietly to his “warehouse,” as he called it, I thought about his story of staying behind in the big battle. The anniversary of that day was coming up shortly.
Guilt ran through me. I should have stayed and fought with them. But many others with powers fled, too. People were turning on each other, and death was probable. I truly believed I would have just gotten in the way. But I still should have tried; even now, the only reason I decided to join the heroes was so Phillip would give my cozy robots to people for free. He was patient and never made me feel like I made the wrong choice. He just accepted me; they all did.
“Thank you for being nice to me. I know it seems like something easy and simple. But most people aren’t nice, or patient, with me.” I spoke up to make sure I didn’t mumble anything into the breeze. His head turned to look at me just as we reached a door right next to a bay door that you could fit a golf cart through when opened.
His hand rose slowly up toward the side of my head. I froze at the movement, thinking he was going to touch me, and bit down the urge to move away from him. His fingers were gentle as he lightly pushed some of my hair back behind my ear, the pad of his thumb caressing my cheek, leaving warmth in its path.
“They never saw you like I see you now: perfect just the way you are and deserving of the world at your feet.”
Those words. Those hazel eyes that were trying to convey something I wasn’t able to read.
I didn’t know what to make of them. My brain was going nuts, and my heart was running around like a teenager at a Taylor Swift concert.
The sound of dripping made my heart and brain stop their flustering and search for the source of the sound.
“Well, that’s interesting.” Arthur was fighting back a huge grin, and I wanted to cover my face with my hands in embarrassment. Apparently, it wasn’t just my heart that melted at his words—I’d melted his bay door, too.
“I’m so sorry. I can fix it.”
Cora hopped over the puddle then back again in amusement.
“Cora.” She looked at me and immediately came to my side, looking slightly pouty.
Instantly I lifted my hands and pulled at the metal to bond the elements together and form the door just as it had been. It was a minute or so before I was done, and I took a step closer to his other door, ready to go inside.
“We need to make sure it works properly.”
He unlocked the door and held it open for me to enter.
I took in his open home as he went about testing the door, which seemed to be in perfectly good condition.
“Hey, you got rid of the squeak that happened when I opened it. Great job!” He was enthusiastic as he walked back over to me.
