The Artist's Wife (BWWM)

Chapter 17~ Got

It turned out the good looking blind man and The Jade-Eyed Bastard were closer than I even imagined. Here I was, thinking that The Jade-Eyed Bastard was probably friendless because of his odd attitude but turns out these two were closer than sardines in a can.

Funny, the blind man and mute were best friends.

They both grew up in England and were artists, JT was a sculptor, a fact that still surprised me because he's completely blind. He was apparently very famous in the art world and I could tell by the amount of attention he was receiving at the art show.

Then there was the fact that the blind man was the talkative one, I didn't mind at all because thanks to him, I found out more about Gerard in a few hours than what I had gotten from Bastard himself in almost close to two months of marriage now.

The three of us had ditched the event near the end and I had brought them over to my parent's diner, The Hammond Palace for the best cheeseburgers in town. I've been listening to JT talk for hours now without getting bored and sometimes I asked a few questions which he explained ever so patiently.

"So you speak Italian?" I asked, all the more fascinated by him. He had taken off the shades now and he had the warmest chocolate-brown eyes I had ever seen, they seemed to stare off at nothing in particular and I found myself wondering if he was born blind.

"Yeah, my mum was Italian," he replied, running his hand through his hair and showing off that tattoo he and Gerard got when they were teenagers. The spirals tattoos on their forearms were symbols of creativity, the blind man had explained earlier when I asked.

"Great, everyone seems to be multilingual now," I murmured, sipping my strawberry shake. "Quiet, over there--" I jerked my thumb towards Gerard who was staring down at his fries with a frown, he looked deep in thought. He had been like that all evening, ignoring JT and me. "--speaks three."

"Was that what he told you?!" JT threw his head back and roared in laughter, reaching up to wipe fake tears from his eyes. "G, what have you been telling or should I say not been telling Karina?"

Gerard barely looked up but I could practically hear him roll his eyes at his witty friend. He had now slipped out his phone, typing quietly and ignoring us and the fries.

"Firstly, Rina, Gerard is most definitely not quiet, he's only quiet whenever he has a lot to say and doesn't know how to say it. It's a hard to explain situation," he told me, rubbing his stubble thoughtfully. "And he doesn't speak three languages, he speaks sixteen fluently including mermaid."

"Are you kidding me?" I was staring at Gerard in open wonder now. I was impressed, really impressed. "How did that even happen?"

"Aunt Evie," they replied simultaneously and I raised my eyebrows in confusion, partly surprised that The Jade-Eyed Bastard contributed in our discussion for the first time.

"Remember when I told you that we both grew up in Bath," JT began, twiddling his thumbs. "Well, Gerard was living with his mum's younger sister, aunt Evie. That woman is as strange as they come, and when you're living with a person that switches languages almost as often as she blinks, you pick a few things up."

"It was so annoying at the beginning," Gerard stated, actually talking for the first time in what seemed like hours. He leaned back into his seat and I thought I could see a slight glimmer of that old chain he always wore. "She'd speak Portuguese for hours on end."

"It was annoying to you and amusing to me. Good times," JT sighed good-naturedly. "And would you stop glaring at me? I can feel it."

"I wonder if you'll also feel the slap I'm about to give you," Gerard murmured, his attention back to his phone.

"Wouldn't be the first time we fought in public," JT shrugged, grinning in Gerard's direction. "Karina, I wanna ask you a question." His voice was suddenly serious and I frowned slightly before replying.

"Sure."

"Can I feel your face?" I glanced over at Gerard who was paying as much attention to me as a rich man would pay a dirty nickel.

"Umm...okay, I guess."

He nodded before reaching across to place his hand on my face, his fingers tracing and seemingly memorizing every inch of it, his fingers traced from my eyes down to the dip of my lips. I wasn't at all disgusted by his touch but was fascinated as he murmured to himself.

When he placed his hands off me, he turned to Gerard's direction with eyes soft and sad. "It's her, it's really her."

Gerard looked up with a similar expression and shot me a glance. "I know."

It was like they were discussing something private and I felt like my mere presence was intruding. I slurped my shake quietly and JT turned back to me. "Rina, how would you like to be my muse?"

"What?"

"The face of the works I'm supposed to showcase around the middle of this year. When you're blind, you rely more on your sense of touch and let's just say I just found my inspiration."

I nodded limply. "But doesn't that mean you'll need to touch me and..." I trailed off, hoping he would catch my drift without me indicating it.

He did. "Trust me, I'm hardly going to take advantage of my friend's wife."

"Is it okay with you if I accept?" I asked Gerard who was now staring at his fries like he had uncovered a secret in them. I didn't know why I was asking for his permission but it seemed like the right thing to do.

He looked up, his jade-green eyes flickering coolly to mine. "Why wouldn't I be okay with it?" It sounded like he was questioning both himself and me.

"O...kay?" I toyed with my straw and faced JT again. He had put on his shades and his warm, chocolate eyes were hidden. "I accept."

"Great," he grinned. "I'll have my assistant send you the contract and payment details."

I nodded and stared out at the dark clouds hinting at heavy rain and felt my gut twist in despair. "Hey, JT," I said after a while, interrupting the story he was telling Gerard, who I wasn't sure was listening. He had been on his phone for a long time now. "How does it all work, you know, being a blind artist?"

He gave a sad smile. "Rina, sometimes being blind doesn't always mean you can't see." He returned to his story.

That made absolutely no sense.

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Love,

Lola.