She seemed to enjoy looking at all the paintings I had lying around, and then the statue that I’d made for her when I first laid eyes on her. I told her its story, and she looked stunned that I’d seen her before we met at the diner. Yep, I was a creeper turned lover, I guess. She didn’t seem to mind that I’d seen her before and then reached out to touch the metal, feeling its cool body.
“It’s really well made. You’re very talented.”
The compliment from her made me feel like a peacock, very proud of my beautiful feathers, as it were.
“What is that?” She pointed to a large canvas that was peeking out from behind another. The coloring was white, which in here stood out like a shining star. I bit my lip nervously. I hope she liked it instead of thinking it was too much.
I pulled my hand free so I could uncover the painting and show it to her.
“Yeah. I call this oneThe Almost Smile.” After meeting her that first time, I went home and painted up the picture in my head from when she almost smiled at me. Not very many colors—just enough so you could see the strands of her hair, her blue eyes, and pink lips tilted up at the corner.
“You painted me?” She sounded breathless, and I took that as a positive sign.
“An artist can’t help but recreate natural beauty in everyday life; it’s in our soul.”
She was my muse, after all, inspiring me to create, and be better than the man I was before.
“How long have you been creating art?” She couldn’t take her eyes away from the painting. Her hand reached out, as if compelled to touch her face, like she’d never seen herself the way I saw her.
“Not long, believe it or not. I used to be a completely different person than I am now.” I figured it was time to let this particularly sad cat out of the bag. Her hand dropped, and those eyes were on me.
“What do you mean?”
I set the painting down and walked over to my black leather couch to sit. This conversation wasn’t going to be easy, but she’d gotten deep with me with her past, and it was time I did the same.
“Before the Hero Society changed time, I was a different person—the man my father wanted me to be. An asshole, really. Money, power, and everything that went with it. When the battle took over Seahill and everyone left, I couldn’t bring myself to run. So, I stayed and gave into my power, to fight with them. To finally do something bigger than myself.”
I reached over to caress her cheek, needing the feel of her soft skin to give me inspiration and courage to continue on.
“I died that night. I had many regrets, things I wished I had done differently. Then it was like I woke up, after they went back in time. I remembered everything that happened, and I was alive, and it was a year earlier. I was blessed with a second chance, and I wasn’t going to spend it doing things I didn’t want to do. Art was something I’d been good at in high school but was forced to forget about. So now I do what makes me happy. Including being with you.”
There it all was. Now she knew everything. It wasn’t something that would scare her off, but if I ever woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, maybe she wouldn’t feel frightened by me.
“I’m so sorry you died.” She may not understand emotions as well as others, but this she got perfectly. Her head turned into my palm, and she pressed her lips gently against my skin.
“I got another chance, so it all worked out.” I shrugged, but of course that was me just blowing off the emotions I didn’t want to chase right now.
“I’m glad they gave you back to me,” she whispered and leaned in for a kiss.
I guess I owed the Hero Society more than a debt for bringing me back to life, although I know it wasn’t their main priority. Because they did, I got a chance to meet and be with Gwendolyn, something I didn’t have before, because my eyes weren’t open, and I wouldn’t have seen her for the beauty she was. She deserved this me, not the asshole me.
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the fun part.” I stood and held out a hand to help her up. My “date night” plans were fairly simple: we’d eat the enchiladas I’d made then we’d paint. She’d have her canvas, and I’d have mine. The robots in the warehouse were working on their own masterpieces that I’d laid on the floor for them, which was quite comical to watch. Cora would step in paint and then walk all over the house, which drove Teddy mad. But it kept them occupied, so when Gwendolyn and I switched from painting blank canvases to our bodies, they never even noticed what was happening in my bed.
Chapter Thirty
Gwendolyn
My cozy robots were doing great, Arthur was slowly integrating himself into my life, and I had officially gotten another save-the-day badge.
This time it had been a sinkhole that appeared on the outskirts of the city, taking down a building full of people. Of course, they ended up being stuck inside. My job was to keep the building’s metal structure intact while Leon raced around with his lightning-fast speed to save everyone inside.
As soon as the work was done, and everyone was being checked out by paramedics, he gave me a wink and sped off. I got to use my new getaway motorcycle. I tossed the bag toward the ground and used my powers to put it together.
I was off in no time and, not ready to let go of the high from saving those people, I kept riding instead of heading for home. I found myself going over the bridge to get off Seahill Island and heading to the national parks by the big mountain.
The cold wind was nipping at my face, and I made a note to next time make sure I had a helmet. Safety had not been my main priority this time, as it normally was. I just wanted a way to sneak from the crowd quickly, and now I had that.
I wasn’t paying attention to where I was driving, my mind occupied by my thoughts, until I noticed I was nearing the building where Terratrex had been dumping chemicals into the river.
