Perfume

Chapter Fifteen - Overheard

~     bella     ~

Snow was falling on Christmas' Eve. Little white puffs dancing down, covering the sidewalks, the top of cars, the streets. It was beautiful. All the white mingled with the red of the Christmas decorations. It would definitely be a white Christmas. 

     I stood by the window of my apartment, glancing down at the sidewalk as the city's people strolled through the snow, stomping through it in their snow boots, bundled up in large sweaters and scarfs, carrying large shopping bags as they scurried home. I held the medium-sized gift box to my chest, stroking the red bow I had put on the front, and glanced up at the orange-colored sky, smiling. It was my second Christmas in the city. And back in Germany, with Andres, Christmases hadn't been very special. To him, it was just another day of the week. 

     But this year, I was invited to the Linden's yearly Christmas get-together. Clara would be going out with her friends. 

     Clara stepped out of her room, wearing a red dress with a high hemline, way above her knee. Her red hair was curled and she was applying lipstick to her lips. 

     "Looking hot," I said.

     "Thanks," she said, grabbing her jacket from the couch and heading for the door. "I'll see you later. Have fun."

     "You too," I said. "Be safe!"

     And she went out, leaving me in the apartment by myself. I went to my room to retreive my jacket and then went out too. Outside on the lobby, I glanced around the lobby. It was empty except for a couple who were fighting my the elevators and a teenage girl who was listening to her iPod next to them. I went out, holding Linden's gift to my chest, and hailed a cab. On the cab ride I thought back to last year...Christmas had been so different last year. Stuck in my room by myself while Clara went out. She had begged me to go with her, but I had refused. 

      And now there I was, a year later, and everything had changed so radically. In one year only. The change, the metamorphosis I had gone through during the last year felt more like the change that should happen in a couple of years. There was just so much things that had occurred. But it all revolved around one thing; one person: Linden.

     Never had someone influenced me so much. I didn't like it at times. I felt weak, controlled, and I didn't like feeling like that. But I knew....I had learned that I wasn't weak; that just because I was letting Linden in didn't mean I was weak. 

     The cab stopped by Linden's building. I paid the driver and went out, glancing around during the short walk from the cab to the door of the lobby. My eye caught a dark shadow to my right, but when I looked it was gone. I knew better than to believe it had just been an optical illusion. 

     I went in and up the elevator, trying to relax. It was Christmas' Eve. I was going to spend it with Linden and his family and I should be happy; God, I should be ephoric to be spending the night with the boy I like, the boy I love. But still, I couldn't stop thinking about Venenoso. He didn't know who I was, what I was doing. No, he wasn't that smart to figure it out. My mind went back to the day his daughter died, me hiding behind a couple of Belladonnas, and then when the paramedics were taking me, I peeked out and he saw me. Could he remember the young, fair-haired Bella he saw that day?

       I shook my head. No, of course he could't. He didn't know who I was. He couldn't. If he did know, he would have striked by now. He wouldn't have people following me. He would just kill me. So he was suspicious, yes. But he didn't know. He didn't know yet. I had to hang on to that. I had to hope that my theory was true. 

      The doors before me opened and there, behind them, dressed in a white sweater and blue jeans was Linden. He was glancing down at his phone, and then he looked up. His eyes met mine and we both smiled.