God! She wanted to kiss him!
"Maybe." The singer tried to smile to appear more convincing.
He could not weaken, he had to conquer her by degrees. He would never again join his lips to hers on impulse, every time it would have to be consensual. It had to be like that if he wanted to have her entirely. Melissa didn’t work with passionate raptures. To be with her, Gabriel needed to have her full confidence first.
To Melissa, the Rockstar never make her want him as much as now. Again, she knew what he was doing. Sacrificing himself had already become routine in the life of the singer. That was wrong... Too wrong. It was past the time to cut off evil at the root and free Gabriel from the burden of wanting her, but the hell of it was that she was too selfish to let what little they had just run out of. Proof of this had been the panic attack she'd had so she'd felt rejected by him. Also, how could she get away from the most powerful exhaust valve? How to throw away the lifeboat? The person who had the power to free her from pain like none of her blades had ever been able to do? She couldn’t. Not when she had found a less harmful and destructive escape route. Maybe everything would end another day or less, but in that moment, she couldn’t end. She needed Gabriel, as much as she needed the air to breathe, and it was this realization that moved her, causing Lissa to stop thinking so much about the possible consequences of her actions and doing what she wanted to do: moved her lips those of the singer.
The kiss began strange, awkward, with both surprised by the unexpected and thirsty attack of the girl, but it evolved like all the others and that made Melissa smile slightly, still with the lips attached to Gabriel's. She finally felt the peace that only he was capable of causing to start infiltrating her body, soothing her racing heartbeats, taking away the tremors and anguish that was her constant companion, leaving only the unknown and yet so exciting sensation of being safe, being cared for and cherished. When Gabriel's fingers infiltrated her hair, Melissa allowed her body to relax completely and allowed herself to be guided by the kiss that every second became more tender and needy.
It was up to Gabriel to put an end to the startling kiss as his arousal threatened to become evident, and the desire to allow his hand to wander around the female body was unbearable to the point of ruining everything. He could hardly believe that Melissa had taken the initiative to kiss him, and he did not want to scare the girl for acting like a hormonal teenager could not control herself. It was his turn to laugh softly as he walked away and stared at the girl in front of him, still with closed eyes. She was beautiful and the red lips of the recent kiss made her even more charming.
"Right..." The girl opened her eyes slowly and forced herself to act as if nothing had happened, poking her nose and moving past him. "I'll let you join me."
She could hear Gabriel's laughter behind her, echoing through the empty space of the stairs. She ended up smiling too, aware that he couldn’t see. It seemed like things were back to the way they were, with Melissa being selfish and Gabriel accepting her anyway. Sooner or later they would be wounded to the point where they could no longer heal, but at the moment, as they went down the stairs, plotting to fling out the bodyguards, like two irresponsible teens, the wrong one never seemed so right.
♬
“Honestly? I am disappointed!” Melissa commented when landed on Wall Street Station “I thought it would be harder to escape yours nannies. It wasn’t so fun as I imagined.”
“Come on!” Gabriel smiled “And the adrenaline we spent trying not to be recognized on the subway?”
“Yeah... That part was cool. You're a lousy actor. Lucky for you to be with me.”
"I have no experience of leaks.”
“Oh! Are you going to say you've always been a straight teen? Never played hooky?”
The awkward shrug of the singer made the answer clear. Melissa nudged him into play.
"That really isn’t a typical Rockstar behavior.”
"Rockstars don’t need to be problematic. This is a stereotype.”
"You mean you never got drunk or drugged yourself?"
"The drunks were few, but drugs I've never used.”
“Never? Even weed?”
“No, Melissa. I never wanted to know these things. I like to sing, that's all. Life is precious, I don’t want to waste it doing nonsenses with my body”.
The words came out harder than he would have liked. The irritation at being compared to bohemian artists with the memory of Melissa's self-flagellating scars, shook him.
"Easy, boy." Lissa said, patting him on the shoulder. "You don’t need to be nervous.”
"I'm sorry," he said, embarrassed.
"You're always so straight shoote. This can harm you, huh? You should let go of yourself, get stressed out, talk dirty words.”
“Like in my room in Texas, when I grabbed you?”
Melissa felt her face catch fire. Gabriel also knew how to play. Fortunately, she would not need to reply to him, since they had left the station and now walked down the street, with the intense cold forcing them to pull the scarf up to their mouths. At least that helped Gabriel's disguise.
The streets of New York were as crowded as it was cold. The tourists didn’t seem to care about the freezing weather. As they passed the Federal Hall, Melissa decided to shove through the crowd to get close to the George Washington statue. The place looked like an anthill.
“Can you take a picture?” The girl asked the singer as he look from side to side, looking for evidence that he had been recognized. Luckily, no one seemed to notice.
Gabriel pulled out the cell phone, surprised and at the same time amused by Melissa's inability to find a pose. So, to save it from embarrassment, the singer embraced her and took a selfie, trying hard to frame the statue behind them.
"Where are we going now?" Melissa asked as they walked, sneaking out of the crowd. Gabriel kept his head down.
“A quick stop in the Wall Street Bull” He said, his voice muffled by the scarf issue “It’s the duty of every tourist to know it.”
This wasn’t exactly the ride Melissa had planned. She had an itinerary inside the purse she wanted to follow, but judging by the flow of people walking the streets of New York, she was almost certain wouldn’t be able to do as plan. Probably all the attractions would be crowded and the girl didn’t like crowds. So, as Gabriel seemed to know the city well and the places where they could go without much trouble, she decided that it had been a good idea to let him accompany her, even though he was acting like a fugitive from justice about to be found by the police.
Then they went to the Bowling Green Park at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street, to see the Wall Street Bull, which is so popular with tourists. The queue to take the picture with the bug was big, but not as big as Gabriel had said it would be. The cold seemed to drive away most of the visitors, only the truly interested remained standing on the walk through those icy streets.
“People says the legend that rub the horns, muzzle or bull testicles take luck and prosperity” Gabriel said as they waited their turn to approach the famous sculpture of Arthuro Di Modica.
"Really?" Melissa laughed. "How crazy! Angela would love to be here”.
"Let's take lots of pictures for her, and someday she'll be able to come with us."
"Yeah," Lissa nodded. "Maybe”
They had to wait for ten minutes until the group of Asian tourists finished to take their endless photos. Melissa and Gabriel took turns with the camera phone and then took another selfie. They couldn’t take long time in the places to don’t take the risk of the singer being recognized by someone. Before going, they stopped to try their luck. Melissa rubbed the horns and Gabriel rubbed the testicles of the bull.
In the tour, they crossed the Bowling Green to Battery Park. Despite the freezing cold there were many people in the park. Mothers pushing baby carriages, pedestrians with heavy clothes walking, elderly playing chess. The place was quiet, though busy. Every time she encountered a landscape that would probably please
her friend, Melissa would take photos. She was enraptured by the beauty of that place.
To Gabriel Voss, the ride was nothing short of perfect. Her chest swelled with emotion every time Melissa stopped to watch something that she thought was beautiful and smiled bare. It was as if the singer was discovering another side of the girl and that made him even more in love.
Halfway through the tour, they stopped to eat a hot dog, sitting on a bench under a century old tree, overlooking the Hudson River. It was the first time in a long time that Gabriel had enjoyed doing something so simple. Melissa had that power over him, and she was doing every second of his risky tour be worth it.
After the snack, they made their way to take a good look at the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take the ferry and go visit the island, because it would be dangerous for Gabriel. In a place so small and so crowded, being recognized was a matter of time. So, they decided to photograph the beautiful gift of the French from a distance. It was not so bad.
"One day I'll bring you back here and we can go there." Gabriel promised, admiring the monument on the other side of the river.
"It's okay" Melissa smiled. "The view from here is great too.”
"How about we continue? There's still a lot to see.”
“Excellent idea!”
The next step was to take the subway to 34th Street, towards the Empire State. As the metro was very crowded, Melissa suggested they pretend to be a couple and they would hug each other in a corner, so that people would see only Gabriel's back. Although they were embarrassed by the public display of affection, it was impossible to deny how delightful they were to be snuggling to each other, afraid of being caught in the act and bursting into the gossip channels.
At the exit of the station, they could see the skyscraper of 102 floors. It was beautiful. However, if the Statue of Liberty was already an impossible place to visit, the Empire State would be even worse. Once again, Melissa would have to content herself with posting photos of the facade and admiring the building from the outside.
"The view from above must be incredible!" The girl exclaimed, with her eyes in the sky.
“I can’t go up... It would be chaos. But if you want, I'll wait for you here.”
"No," she denied suddenly. "I'm not going there alone. It would only be fun if you went with me.”
“I'm so sorry.”
“Hey, it's okay. No dramas. I'm having a lot of fun.”
“The city is in chaos... If it were different we would go to any place you wanted.”
“I know… Let's continue.”
After venturing and enter into a souvenir shop and buy some souvenirs for Angela, they returned to take the subway - repeating the farce of lovers, even if this time the car was not so full so - and went to Central Park, one of the places Melissa wanted to meet.
As the Battery Park, the place was crowded with people and, contrary to what imagined, Melissa had no disposition to look for attractions to visit. Tired, they decided to look for a seat to sit and rest, while admiring the view. They needed to save energy for the ride in Times Square.
“Are you enjoying the ride?” Gabriel put an arm around Melissa's shoulders, watching her as she reached out to catch a few snowflakes falling on them.
“It's beautiful!” She exclaimed in amazement at the beauty of the place, and without really thinking about what she was doing, she let her head lie back against the body of the singer. "It's not the snow, it's all... It sounds magical. It’s so different from home...”
“I guess that answers my question... But I think you will like even more when we get to Times Square.”
Melissa looked away from the snow-covered park and smiled at Gabriel.
"Then let's go... I want to see everything."
Voss laughed at the girl's unprecedented enthusiasm.
"We need to take some pictures first..." Before he finished, he already had his cellphone pointed at each other's face, the flash almost blinded them both, making them laugh.
"You have something with pictures, don’t you? I thought you wouldn’t like it too much since it takes a lot, every day, with yours fans.”
“Those are different”. He replied, standing up to continue photographing the landscape and the girl staring at him from her seat on the bench. "Besides, I like to record the good times, to keep as a souvenir.”
“Is this a good time?” She asked sheepishly.
Gabriel stared at her for a moment without saying anything, admiring her clear eyes focused on himself, her black hair framing her rosy face in the cold. It was a wonderful moment and he wanted it not to end.
"Yes... It's an incredible time." He blinked at her, before reaching out for the hand she took. “Are you ready to continue?”
"Wait ..." The girl picked up her own cell phone and half-awkwardly hugged the rockstar. “I want a photo too.”
She thought Gabriel was going to smile at the camera, but all he did was pull her closer and put a kiss on Lissa's forehead at the time the picture was taken.
This careless made Melissa's heart leap, and unconsciously the girl inclined her face very willingly to kiss Voss's thick lips.
She would have kissed Gabriel if she hadn’t heard a dreamy sigh from a lady sitting on a nearby bench, watching the young couple.
"We'd better go..." She busied herself with arranging Gabriel's scarf, covering part of the singer's face. "Before anyone recognizes you."
He nodded, but before they left the park, he hugged Lissa again.
"I'm loving the ride, Mel. Thank you for letting me come with you.”
♬
Times Square is the intersection of two major avenues and one of the most famous sights of New York. At least that was what Melissa had read on Google while she was planning the tour in that afternoon. However, no information collected on the search site could prepare her for what she would feel upon arriving there.
The night had already fallen and as Melissa looked around, and she felt as if she had made a trip back in time, transported somewhere in the future. Standing there, in front of those countless buildings, adorned with huge bright signs of various colors and lights, with street artists costumed like famous people, made the plug finally fall and Melissa realized that she was really in New York, the place which Angela and she have always dreamed of visiting.
"This is incredible!" The girl exclaimed in amazement.
"True." Gabriel agreed. "Do you see that building there? This is where I will do the pocket show tomorrow.”
"Up there?"
“Yup”
"Wow! Amazing. It looks like a dream! All those lights and colors... It's magic! Ang would love it!”
“Let's go for a ride. We are hindering people...”
"Of course, of course. I'm very dazzle about it here.”
Walking without bumping into anyone was almost impossible. It seemed that all the tourists they encountered throughout the day in various places decided to meet there. Melissa realized that Gabriel was already beginning to worry. It was a miracle that he had not yet been recognized.
"Wait here just for a moment, okay?" The singer asked suddenly “Don’t move.”
So, without waiting for a reply, Gabriel slipped through the crowd and disappeared. Intrigued, Melissa leaned against the cool wall of an electronics store and looked up at the luminous signs, she would never tire of admiring them. Gabriel returned a few minutes later and showed her two tickets.
“Do you want to watch a musical?” He asked.
“Oh my gosh! I don’t believe it! How did you get tickets at this time and so fast?”
"Well ... That's a secret. Let's go now? The show will start.”
Never in her wildest dreams did Melissa Bittencourt imagine that one day she would stroll through New York alongside a rockstar whose identity was protected by a ridiculous disguise and intimate hugs within underground subways of the city. And she wouldn’t think in end the ride watching Wicked on Broadway. On the first row.
&
nbsp; "Do you think she's going to get away?" Gabriel whispered the question. On stage, the actors staged the end of the first act, when Glinda and Elphaba are hiding in the attic.
“I think so. Let's hope.” Melissa replied delighted. Her eyes glazed on the scene.
The volume of the music was going up as the first Defying Gravity chords arose. Melissa seemed about to jump in the chair with such emotion. Gabriel thought that would be the right time to do what he wanted so badly. Subtly, he took the girl's hand and interlaced them fingers. To prevent she repelled, the singer continued with his eyes fixed on the stage, as if totally focused in West Wicked Witch who rose to the top in a cloud of special effects.
Fortunately, Melissa didn’t separate them hands. She let them intertwine until the end of the show and beyond, when they left the theater, still walked the busy Times Square and boarded the car that was waiting for them a few meters. On the way back to the hotel, neither of them said anything. The silence seemed to be what kept the invisible bubble that kept them intact. During the trip, Melissa allowed herself to lay her head on the singer's shoulder and enjoy the affectionate way he kissed or stroked her hand.
Already in the door of Melissa's room, the silence finally had to be broken. The girl was the first to speak.
“Thanks for today... It was the best day of my life.”
"I hope this is just the first of many.”
“I had so much fun. Especially with your bodyguards trying to not be discovered.”
"Did you know about them?"
"Of course, I do." She smiled. "I'm not an idiot.”
"Sorry about that." Gabriel scratched his head. "I really wanted it to be just the two of us, but it was risky to go out alone.”
"I understand, Gabe. Really. Don’t worry about it.”
The singer nodded.
“Did you like the musical?”
“I loved!” The girl replied with eyes shining with happiness “Thank you! It has always been a dream for me and Angela watch Wicked.”
“I'm glad you liked it. I also found it incredible. It was quite surprising to know that the Wicked Witch was the best friend of the Good Witch.”
Broken Angel (English Edition) Page 17