"Do you want to tell me something?"
"Yes ... No ... Good." He smiled. "I really want to know if you're okay... At that time out there, you looked so bad..."
"I'm good, Gabriel. Don’t worry.”
“Sure? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” She smiled to emphasize the statement.
"Okay, then good night.”
“Good night!”
He nodded, smiled affectionately, and left the room closing the door. Lissa took a deep breath, let out the air hard and lay back on the bed, exhausted. But she still had to take a shower, then got up, put the terribly heavy suitcase on the bed, and rummaged around for a suit. While searching, she found her portfolio of drawings, Angela was crazy about putting there to knead. She took the sketchbook out of her suitcase with a sigh and set it down on the bedside table. She chose a pair of sweatpants and a sleeved blouse. She stretched out on the bed and went to the bathroom.
“Rich people are so full of frills” She said smiling as she looked around. The bathroom looked like a room.
Inside was a stone bathtub, dark rugs, plants, and huge mirrors all over. Lissa hated mirrors, especially those that showed her whole body. Then she quickly took off her clothes and went to the washroom. She bathed his back so as not to have the misfortune to find his reflection. It felt so good to feel the hot water hitting the cold skin... The sensation almost made her doze off. She spent hours in the shower, so much so that when she left the entire bathroom was covered by the smoke from the shower, at least the mirrors were covered. She rolled up in a towel and left the room.
When she reached the room, she noticed that beside her clothing was a tray of hot chocolate, cookies, and some fruit. She smiled and shook her head... What a stubborn man!
She dressed quickly and her stomach rumbled with the delicious smell of hot chocolate. She sat down on the bed and ate everything quickly, not even she knew she was so hungry... It was a good thing that Gabriel had not listened to her, otherwise she would have to attack the kitchen in the middle of the night. Satisfied, relaxed and exhausted, the girl slipped into the blankets and slept peacefully in the sound of the flames crackling in the fireplace.
The next morning, she woke up on instinct. She always woke up early without needing an alarm. She opened her eyes slowly, stretched and yawned at length. She sat on the bed and looked around. It was already day. How long had it not been so good? The cold climate of Alaska was really quite a sleep. She was about to rise when her eyes saw a note beside her on the nightstand.
"Hello!
I hope you slept well.
The view here is a wonder, is not it?
I want you to do something,
open the curtain and peek through the window.
I'm sure you'll like what you see.
Then read the note in the next chair.
Gabe."
Curiously, the girl got up quickly and ran to the only curtain in the room, which she had not noticed in the night before, opened it, and came upon the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. Through the window, she could see in the distance a group of mountains, large and small, side by side, all painted white. The sun reflected on them, causing a magnificent visual effect ... It was so beautiful that Lissa lost her breath. She watched for long minutes until he remembered the other request, as expected there was another note in the armchair beside the window. She picked it up and began to read.
"You said last night that the mountains convey peace and tranquility.
I hope you felt both it when you looked at it.
Now, I can say... Good morning, Mel!"
Damn it! Why did your heart start beating fast? Surely it was the thrill of seeing the mountains for the first time. She repeated this to herself the whole time she was about to go downstairs and find the singer for coffee. If Arthur hadn’t appeared and knocked on her door to let her know that they were expecting her, she would have stood there hours and hours, staring at that wonderful landscape.
“Good Morning!” Gabriel greeted her as soon as she reached the kitchen.
“Good Morning!” She almost whispered. She still very moved.
The girl and the singer stared at each other for a while, neither of them knew why.
Arthur cleared his throat.
“Good morning too, Miss Bittencourt!”
She blinked a few times and looked away from the blondie guy.
“Good Morning!”
"Now we're all together, let's eat."
"Sit down." Gabriel pointed to one of the chairs. “We had to improvise the coffee, because of the privacy we prefer not to call a maid.”
"Did you like Gabriel's room, Melissa?" Arthur asked as he cut a slice of cake.
“What?”
"Oh, you did not tell her." He laughed, if that could be called a laugh. "That room you slept in is the main room in the house it's Gabriel's room.”
“Oh really?” She frowned and looked at the singer who drank his coffee, serene and relaxed.
"Yep" Arthur said.
"Why did you let me stay in your room?" He asked the singer.
"When you talked about the mountains, I had the idea." He shrugged. "I only bought this house because of the view that the room provides in the mornings and evenings”.
"Oh," she sighed. "Thank you ... The view is spectacular.”
"I knew you'd like it." He winked.
And again, Lissa felt uneasy, especially when the singer stared at her in a weird way and she did not like it. By the way, she did not like the sensation it caused, it was a kind of tingling in the nape of the neck and a cold in the belly. Immediately she began to focus on the food.
After the coffee, the girl offered to remove the table and wash the dishes, but Arthur would not allow it and sent her go find something to distract. If he had not been so serious and stoned, she would have understood it as a kindness, but with that professional expression and dry voice, her dismissal seemed more like an order. Since Lissa didn’t really want to wash the dishes, she willingly complied and returned to the room. There was not much to do in that house and she began to feel bored, when she remembered a small detail that almost made her heart stop: Angela. How could she have forgotten to call her best friend to give news? Ang, it would be freaking out at that hour.
Immediately the girl picked up the phone and dialed the numbers.
"How do you just call me now?" Angela complained as soon as she answered.
“Good morning to you too... And I'm fine, thank you for ask.”
"Do not even sneak up on me, Melissa! I was dying of concern!”
“Don't do drama, Ang... How are you?”
“Angrily and worried. I heard you didn’t go to Texas, what do you mean?”
"It's a long story ... But how did you know?"
“Internet. Never mind… Now tell me everything.
Several times, Lissa had had to pull the device away from her ear because of Angela's screams, especially when the girl had told her that she had broken her idol's nose.
The two spent hours on the phone. Angela wanted to know the smallest details and updated Lissa of the news that rolled in her city. It seems the media had managed to get on the feet of everyone who had some involvement with the "fan"... But what did they want to know, anyway? She was just an ordinary girl who had the misfortune of having a treacherous and blackmailing friend.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lissa and Angela reviewed the notes about the singer, and Lissa almost freaked out when she discovered that Arthur had a crush on Gabriel's younger sister. She couldn’t imagine Mr. Right in love.
At lunchtime, Lissa ate in the room. Arthur and Gabriel were taking care of the business and did not want to have lunch. The food was very good, the assistant was good in the kitchen... Like a real nanny.
When the girl went down to the living room and eventually found Gabriel, he was sitting on the couch reading a book. When he saw her, he placed it on the side table and smiled.
&
nbsp; “Hello!” He said nice.
“Hi!”
"Sit there." He pointed to the sofa in front of him. "Let's have a little chat.”
Lissa didn’t want to sit down, didn’t want to chat some ... But her negligence quota with the singer who should pretend to be a fan was already exhausted. Very bad mood, but disguising, sat as he had asked and smiled.
“You...” She started it “Did you manage to resolve outstanding problems?”
“Not at all…” Gabriel nodded “The thing is ugly, but Arthur will find a way. He always gives.”
It was impossible to talk about Arthur and not remember the gossip that rolled over him by internet sites. Lissa giggled.
“What's it?” Gabriel asked.
“Nothing” She bit her lip trying to contain another laugh.
“No one laughs like this for nothing… Come on, I want to laugh too. Share with me.”
Would he be very angry if she laughs of his beloved assistant?
“It's that ... It's rolling a gossip about Arthur.”
“Oh yes? “Gabriel raised an eyebrow “What? He tries to be invisibly.”
“People says… They say he likes your sister.”
“Oh” He snorted “That’s I don’t knew yet…”
“He also has some fan clubs.”
“What?” He laughed “Really?”
“Yep. Some call themselves of Artlovers".
Gabriel laughed out loud.
“He will freak out when he finds out.”
“You don’t follow sites, blogs and social medias, not?
“Rarely. At least not what fans post. I never have much time, we are always running from one place to another.”
“Humm...” An awkward silence hung in the room. Lissa hated it because it was at that time that the tingling in her neck began to appear.
“I can call you Mel.. can I? “Gabriel asked suddenly.
“No! “Melissa responded immediately. “I just hate that nickname.”
He smiled.
“You know, Mel...” Lissa could not help but roll her eyes. “Things will get a little complicated when the tour started really. Everything is so natural now, so spontaneous in a totally different way than I thought it would be.”
“I know...”
“You will need a lot of energy to keep pace... These things tend to be well drawn.”
“Do not worry, I'll do the job.”
“Right.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” The question came out of nowhere and Lissa regretted doing it so fallen silent mouth.
“No” He answered without bothering “Flirt in the field in which I act is not easy. My girlfriend would have to endure a lot that women usually can’t stand.”
“The fans will not let you have peace. Probably they would overwhelm it” She smiled slightly.
“Sure”
Then both were silent, and the silence returned to reign. Gabriel kept his eyes on Lissa, nervously wringing her hands in her lap. The girl wanted to run away... Run far away, for this new mix of sensations that pulsed within him left her upset. She was about to get up and leave when suddenly a door being opened noise and shrill voices distracted and to the amazement of hitherto occupants of the house, a group of four had just arrived.
“Gabriel?” A woman, the oldest of them asked “What are you doing here, dear? And what happened to your nose?”
“Mother…” The singer seriously looked at his parents and his sisters “I ask you, what are you doing here?”
“Bah” She said smiling “We always spend Christmas here, remember?”
“Oh” He scratched his head “Its truth.”
“I'm so happy to see you” She came over and kissed his cheek “Will spend Christmas with us? Incidentally, you should not be on tour?”
“It's a long story” He sighed and looked at Lissa.
“And this young woman who is? It she the winner of the contest?”
“Yes” Gabriel said “Mom, this is Melissa... and Melissa, that's my family.”
The girl could not answer anything... She was petrified to have all the curious eyes turned to her.
CHAPTER FIVE - THE MONSTER
“I'm friends with a monster that's under my bed
Get a long with the voices inside of my head”[7]
M elissa Bittencourt was locked in the room that had been given her, sitting on the bed, and she try to convince herself that she wasn’t a wildcat and could handle all those people down there.
Gabriel's family was pretty cool, she had to admit. So maybe it was not as bad as she imagined. The singer had two sisters, Mariana, who was the eldest; and Karen, the youngest. His mother's name was Esther and his father was Richard. Lissa had to pretend she already knew all of them by name, since any fan (especially the groupies) knew the life of the idol, so, until it hadn’t been so bad when she introduced herself to them two days ago. Everything was fine, and she could handle those people, since everyone spent more time outside skiing and doing other things than indoors.
It was so easy to not socialize. Arthur and Gabriel set about working on the singer's recovery, and Melissa could simply lock herself in the room in peace and gaze at the beautiful view of the mountains through the window. But as nothing in the girl's life was easy, on the second day since the musician's family arrived, the five members of Gabriel's band decided to appear as well. And then there were twelve people occupying the house without counting Gabriel's bodyguards... Suddenly, the peace of Alaska had turned into a real mess.
"Melissa," someone called and knocked on the door.
“Yes?” She replied in a bad mood.
“Let's go down?” It was the voice of Esther Voss “It’s almost time for us to begin the supper, it’s close to midnight.”
Her heart throbbed... She did not want to come down. She didn’t want to eat or celebrate. But she had to do it, otherwise, the plan would go down.
"I'm coming downstairs, Esther”. She shouted back. "Just one more minute.”
“OK. I'll wait for you at the table.”
The girl got up from the bed, took a deep breath, and decided it was time to face Gabriel and company.
♬
Melissa Bittencourt was deeply sorry for broke the Gabriel’s nose while she was sleeping, resulting in a passage through Alaska. So, if she wasn’t prepared to spend a year with him on tour, how would she be prepared to actively participate in the personal life of someone she didn’t know intimately and didn’t even want to meet? And to make matters worse, it was Christmas, the family’s holiday where everyone in the world felt compelled to smile at anyone, hug everyone and act as life were perfect. She hated the Christmas as much as she hated any holiday that meant bringing the family together and pretending to be happy.
She'd been running away from such meetings since she was young, and now she was bound to a celebration where she definitely did not fit. And the great proof of the time Melissa disregarded everyone around her was the way they all laughed at the jokes that Karen - Gabriel's younger sister - never tired of telling about her.
Although she had a forced smile, she was really annoyed by the witty comments about her clothes and makeup. She knew that her style was a little bit different and it caught the attention of some people. Beside she had become accustomed to being a joke among other people, but in that moment, far from everything and everyone she knew and loved, Lissa felt, achieved.
The brunette had imagined before she did not like Gabriel, but she had discovered that she liked his sister even less. The youngest of the family appeared to be someone who doesn’t knew any limit. And the way the girl behaved could make the usual oppression on Melissa's chest triple in size, until make her breathless.
"Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom ..." Melissa whispered to herself when a new wave of laughter filled the room after a hilarious comment about how she wouldn’t be unnoticed by the Voss family during the next family gathering, since it was tradition for the family to wear white
during the New Year celebration, as a request for peace and harmony in the coming year.
Without giving importance to the way of Gabriel and Esther look to her, the brunette left the room quickly. Her real wish was to leave the residence, to hide in any place that she’ll not be found and get over of a little of pain and pressure that felt to grow in her chest.
She locked herself in the luxurious toilet and look to her image in the wide mirror. With trembling hands, she realized that she couldn’t use her usual escape route. She was in a strange place, surrounded by people she didn’t know, in the middle of the Christmas dinner. How could she explain the lethargy that always abated her after she had been mutilated? How could she explain the tears of regret?
Suddenly, the huge bathroom seemed to shrink and Lissa feel pressed against the walls, being choked by invisible claws that clung to her neck. Fighting with the crisis that had raged over her and acting with remnant of sanity she still had, Melissa decided she should run to the bedroom, lock herself up and hope she didn’t have a blip in front of everyone.
Without see perfectly and feeling the air leave her chest, she opened the bathroom door, ducked her head, and tried to run up the stairs to the second floor. But it wasn’t even halfway when her small body collided with Gabriel Voss's with too much force. She would have gone to the floor if the singer hadn’t involved her in a hug.
“What’s happened?” He wondered as he realized that the bump he had suffered was not just a distraction. He could feel Lissa's body trembling and the way she struggled for air.
Melissa didn’t answer, she just tried to pull away from the protective embrace that held her too close to Gabriel. The contact, at the same time, made her even more apprehensive and comforting. She wanted to push her arms out of the way, as she did to everyone who dared to touch her, but at the same time she wanted to pull him closer. There was something very strange about how that strange and unnecessary touch could destabilize her even more and still make her feel as if her broken little pieces were coming together.
It was official, Gabriel Voss had the gift of confusing her. After all, she hated with all the force any contact with the opposite sex, but why couldn’t she just repudiate the touch of the man she would most want to detest?
Broken Angel (English Edition) Page 7