Paper Trails 2 | Draft

22.

"I lost my mind trying to understand yours."

*****

Niccolò got a beautiful penthouse in Soho. When I say beautiful, I mean gorgeous. High ceilings, french doors, and a beautiful balcony that gave the perfect view of the city below. It was hard enough paying for rent in a two bedroom apartment, (this was New York, for God's sake) I didn't want to know how much it was costing Nic to stay here.

He led me to the kitchen which was just as perfect as every other room and walked over to the wine cooler. I sat on a bar stool placed at the island and watched as he grabbed two wine glasses. He moved quickly, but gracefully. It wasn't long before he was in front of me, holding two glasses of red wine so dark, it looked black.

I gratefully took the glass from his fingers. "Can I ask you something?"

He slid onto the seat next to me and nodded.

"Doesn't it bother you how little we know each other?"

"What do you mean? I know you quite well."

I sighed. "I mean, you know what you find out from PIs...but, like, you don't know any of my fears, my likes or dislikes, or even my favorite color—"

"Those a trivial."

"Are they? I mean, shouldn't we know these things about each other?"

He licked his lips. "I know what kind of person you are. That's what's important."

"So who I am doesn't matter because you know what I am like?"

He didn't answer.

"I want to know about you. Your favorite color, your likes and dislikes, your fears. That's not a bad thing, it shows I care. Right? I don't even know your birthday!"

He took a slow sip of my his wine before putting down the glass. "My favorite color is blue. I like to read. I'll read anything once. I dislike losing. I abhor failing. And...I guess I have a slight fear of snakes."

I smiled. "Snakes? You wouldn't have liked Toy Boat then."

"Toy Boat?"

"He was my pet snake."

"You named a snake...Toy Boat?"

"Yeah, and he loved it. Okay, my turn. My favorite color is grey. I like..." I was going to say sex, but that was an obvious answer. "I used to draw. Used to be good at it, too. I hate broccoli. And my biggest fear is waking up to spiders crawling over me. That's probably irrational as hell but..." I shrug.

He snorted. "Now I know what to do when you piss me off."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, come on. I want to know more about you."

"Like what?"

I shrugged. "Anything."

"Come," he said, standing up. His hand found mine and he led me out the kitchen into the living room. We sat down on the couch and I draped my legs over his lap.

He grabbed the remote off the coffee table and switched on the flat screen tv, turning down the volume a little so it's just backgroundb noise.

"I was born on the seventeenth of November," he began. "My mother and my father's marriage had been on the rocks for some time. She disagreed with what he chose to do with his life, and he couldn't understand why she'd want him to stop. Finance was not an issue, they lived in a beautiful home, and regardless of how he spent his days, he loved her dearly."