Scarlet Rose

Chapter 44

Christian stood at the door of his apartment, looking better than he ever looked all that week. The colour had returned on his face, there was light in his stare. The edges of his lips curled up and gave them a happy smile.

"I thought it was time to go out love." He said to her and closed the door behind him. "The walk did me the world of good."

Mrs. Brown wiped her hands on her apron and approached Christian.

"It is really nice to see you doing so well again Mr. Blake." She said to him with an equally wide smile.

"Thank you very much Mrs. Brown." He said. "I am sorry I left my place in such a mess." He apologised with an embarrassed look in his face.

"Oh, nothing that I hadn't seen before!" She said and dismissed his words with a move of her hand. They all looked around the main room in Christian's flat. It was almost unrecognisable, being clean and tidy. The summer breeze that blew in from the open windows had removed all the stuffiness and the smell of paint and turpentine that had filled the rooms. Mrs. Brown removed her apron. "I think your apartment is ready for you to move back in Mr. Blake."

"I cannot thank you enough Mrs. Brown." He said, and took his wallet out. Five minutes later, having said their goodbyes, he turned to Rose.

"Alone again." He said to her and looked at her as if she was a prey. He made a couple of slow steps towards her. She let a soft yell and laughed as he pounced and chased her towards his bedroom. They fell on his bed and tasted her lips and her mouth in a deep kiss. "I see you took on my bedroom as your "tidying project"." He said to her with a hoarse voice, her green eyes smiling to him as she was still imprisoned between his arms.

"You're in high spirits Christian." She noticed. "Was the walk that good?"

He let her go and fell back with his back on the bed's mattress. He slipped both hands behind his head and fixed his stare on her face as she had pulled herself up, still sitting on the bed.

"It was!" He said with enthusiasm. "I walked and without planning it, I headed for the Haymarket theatre."

"What?!" She pulled her body back, looking surprised. "You didn't walk all the way to Haymarket?!"

"Oh! No, no, no! After a while I took a taxi love!" He explained. "Weather is wonderful!" His eyes travelled inside those green lakes of hers. "I went to see Terry..." He said and kept quiet for a moment.

To the name of Terry, she sprung up from the bed as if she had been stung by a bee. "What...?" She said looking puzzled. "Why...?" She saw Christian pulling himself up, supporting his body on his elbows. Question marks flashed equally in his eyes. She calmed down when she saw the expression on his face. "I meant...I had to push you to apologise to him in the hospital, and you weren't all that happy for him being with us all the time." She said and paced in the room.

She hadn't expected to hear Christian to say that. It wasn't only the announcement from his part that he had gone to see Terry but regarding how she and Terry had parted ways on Monday, what had been Terry's reaction, she wondered. To that particular thought, the skin on her arms broke into goosebumps. She turned and left the bedroom, headed toward the kitchen.

"I'll make some tea...do you want some tea?" She asked Christian who was still half propped up on the bed, feeling like scratching his head, baffled by Candy's reaction. He got up.

"I'm fine Rose, don't feel like having tea." He said back. "I did go to see him because he just fell from the face of the earth." He commented.

"Well, the play has started Christian, he's a busy man." She counter argued.