Gus's Possession

Chapter 6: Un Cambiamento di Opinione

"Oh, I've heard about this one!" she excitedly said, rushing towards the beautiful painting full of cascading blues.

Gustavo watched her closely, his eyes trailing after her as she traced her hand over the golden frame. The gentle touch of her fingers on the detailed material made him observe her more keenly.

"It was painted by a local fisherman in the 1920s" she gently stated, her voice as soft and quiet as ever, "It's said that he would only paint when it was storming," she continued, her voice tinged with awe.

She turned, looking up at him, her eyes bright with curiosity. "I love the ocean."

Gustavo peered down at her with an unreadable expression but she could almost feel his thoughts. The way he observed her so closely made her feel special.

His eyes carefully listening and watching her like a hawk. He hadn't returned back to his cold demeanor. Instead, he seemed vaguely intrigued by her. She almost felt foolish for thinking that was true.

"But...I've never really seen it much" she confessed, turning back towards the dark painting.

Her favorite thing in the entire world was the ocean. She loved the mixture of rich colors and various sea creatures. It had always been a dream of hers to take a boat out on the ocean.

"How come?" he asked, his voice low and gruff.

He slightly cocked his head to the side as he sighed, looking at the back of her black hair.

She thought about her busy and chaotic childhood. She had seen a bus stop over a thousand times but only stepped on a sandy beach a handful.

"Never really had the time I guess" she shrugged, her voice solemn.

She glanced down at her flats, gently tapping them together. An awkward vulnerability washing over her as she turned her head, realizing who was receiving this peak into her life.

"But I've seen tons of pictures and paintings of it so. I also took a lot of my elective courses in studying the ocean" she quickly shrugged, attempting to lighten the mood.

She moved towards an artifact tucked into a small glass case. Another small piece of wreckage off the coast.

The light shined down on her, creating a beautiful dewy glow against her makeup.

"That's not the same, piccolina" he said.

They stopped in front of the glass. Standing almost side by side but he remained behind her. She could feel his warmth and cologne radiating off of him.

"You're young, you should experience as much as possible while you can" he told her.

She frowned, furrowing her brows as she ignored him. For some reason she didn't like his tone. He spoke down to her as if she was an unaware child.

"You keep calling me that" she stated, whipping around.

Her chest nearly bumped into him. Only a few inches forward and she would be touching him. Though her feet were planted in place, only looking up into his black eyes.

"Hmm?" he grunted.

"Little one...you keep calling me little one" she firmly stated, lightly frowning "But you're not that much older than me" she softly said.

He paused, a small smirk creeping onto his face.

"How old are you?" he asked.

His deep tone and raspy voice was all too alluring for her. Every time he spoke, it almost sent shivers down her body. She insides desperately wanted to lean forward, forcing him to touch her.