Emmanuelle

I slightly groaned as I made my way to the stairs. I took two steps up when my attention was caught by the sound of someone mumbling. I stopped to listen to it, but it quickly disappeared. After a few seconds of continuing to stand in the same place the mumbling was once again to be heard.

I gulped as I walked back down and quietly tried to look in the direction that the sound was coming from. It was quite dark, but the sound was coming from the library which was just around the corner from the stairs. I slowly made my way to the library and hid behind the wall, next to the door.

Poking my head into the room, I tried to see who it was but it was simply too dark. I took a deep breath and walked in, heading straight for the light switch. The lights came on and the person groaned, mumbling a curse word under his breath.

I breathed out as I looked at him. There Marco sat in one of the comfy reading chairs. His fingers in his hair, his head bowed down, elbows rested on his knees. Next to him there was a half empty bottle of whiskey that he had started drinking before we had dinner.

"Marco?" I softly called out, receiving no response.

I was about to walk towards him when Tia's words crossed my mind. "Sometimes to help— is to let things play out on their own.''

I closed my eyes for a millisecond and turned on my heel, ready to walk out and mind my own business.

"This is his own fucking fault, you know."

I stopped and carefully turned to face him with my lips pressed together and my eyebrows raised up.

"This—" he hiccuped as he pointed to the wall. "This wouldn't have happened if he trusted me." The tone of his voice traveled between high and low.

He took another gulp of his drink before he put the bottle back down. His eyes squeezed shut as he swallowed.

"Okay." I softly said, holding my hands up to him. "Maybe you should put the bottle away."

Marco let out a hysterical laugh as if he was watching a comedy show.

He shook his head as his eyes slowly fluttered open and closed. "You— nobody. Nobody trusts me. Why?"

I kept quiet, my lips still pressed together.

"I make one—" He held up his right index finger. "One mistake and now I'm the bad guy." He rambled on as he let out a loud sigh. His shoulders slouched down.

"Okay, stop— you need to stop drinking." I snatched the bottle out of his hand and put it on the table, out of his reach. He extended his arm to grab it but I swatted his arm away. He growled and whined like a child.

I looked at him, deciding that taking him to his room would be a good idea. The guy smelled like alcohol and looked like he was about to pass out. I wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him to stand up.

"I need you to move your legs, can you do that?"

"Hhm." he nodded with a smile.

I wrapped his right arm around my neck whilst my left arm was wrapped around him to keep him from falling down. The difference in our height as well as our built made it challenging for me to help this man up the stairs, yet I did it.

We stumbled quite a few times along the way, bumping into the walls which made him laugh whilst I panicked, hoping that no one would wake up. When we finally reached his room I pushed him against the wall with my body to keep him from crashing into the ground as I opened the door.

I helped him inside and only let go of him when we reached his bed. He fell back into the bed. His legs dangled off the sides whilst his arms were opened, like a starfish. In this moment I could not help but laugh. He looked absolutely ridiculous.

I let out a sigh of relief, this is when I took in my surroundings. My mouth fell agape at the sight of his artistic bedroom. A mix of paintings and photos hung on his walls. The photo's were mostly in black and white. The paintings, these took me by surprise. I walked past each piece as though I was at an exhibition, carefully studying every detail I could possibly see.

Between each art piece I would glimpse over my shoulder to see him still laying on the bed with his eyes closed. By the time I reached the second photo, I could hear him softly snoring. I giggled to myself but my smile faded away when I was standing still in front of one of the paintings.

The canvas was all black, the painting was of oil in the colors brown with a hint of white and yellow. I took a step forwards to view it up close. Alongside a swirl of the brown that ran in between two lines were dots of white and yellow that looked like it was pressed down with a small brush rather than flattened out.

This caused that part of the painting to look bumpy whilst the rest of the painting looked smooth. Right under the bumpy part was a darker painted spot that narrowed down into a V form, the color brown surrounding the dark spot.

Moving my eyes up I saw many things overlapping one another. I tilted my head to the side, that is when I noticed the dark cloud like form. It almost matched the background.

I doubt that I would have noticed this detail if I was not standing so close to the painting. Dark brown with a few thin white lines were swirled into the middle of it all. It looked like nothing more than a mess. I wondered if the painter made a mistake or if perhaps I missed something.

"Do you know what it is?"

I almost jumped, my hand covered my heart. I turned halfway around to see him sitting on the edge of the bed.

"No." I whispered.

"Take a step back."

I gulped as I took a few steps back and took the whole painting in, starting from the bottom. The shadows, the lining, the swirls, dark spots— it was a silhouette, a woman's silhouette.

The bumps were just under her navel which was the swirl where the colors came together. The V lines— well, we know what that is. But her face, her face was covered in storms and held thunder. I could only guess what that meant.

"Who—" I gasped as I crashed into him. Marco looked down on me. His eyes were half open, his breathing was slow.

His alcohol filled breath hit my face when he opened his mouth as he bent down. I panicked and I immediately took a step back until my back hit the painting.

He smiled as he brought his lips together, swallowing whatever he wanted to say. Instead he walked towards me. His hands were placed on the sides of my head, trapping me in between them. He lowered his face to meet mine.

"I'm just studying your features." He whispered as he began caressing my cheeks, making his way down.

The back of his right hand moved down my neck to my collarbones.

"Stop." 

He moved his hand back up my neck and very gently added pressure to it. For a quick moment I could not breathe.

As my eyes automatically closed and I gasped for air, I could feel his lips brushing against my right ear.

"You'd make a pretty one."

"What?" I asked with a confused look.

"Painting." His lips were now brushing against my cheek, moving towards my lips.

I swallowed hard and when I felt his lips reach the corner of my mouth I pushed him away.

"Don't." I breathed out.

"Don't what?"

He placed his hand around my neck again and moved his lips to my neck, leaving a trail of gently placed kisses. I do not know what overcame me, but this time I did not push him away. I allowed him to continue with what he was doing. I knew it was wrong, yet I did not say anything.

"No stop!" I pushed him off me when his lips travelled lower. Marco backed away, but he did not say anything. Instead we stood in silence as I needed time to process what just happened.

"Are you going to your room or are you planning on staying here?" He asked, acting as though he had not just pinned me against the wall.

When I looked at him he had taken off his shirt and was unbuckling his pants.

"I—"

"You can stay—" He said, slowly moving towards me again. I did not back away, perhaps I was too stunned by all that happened.

"But if you do—" He shook his head as he took his underlip between his teeth.

"You should go." He said, though he clearly did not mean it.

"I should." I said against his lips.

He gulped, placing a kiss on my right collar bone before I could finally move my legs.

With one last glance at him I turned on my heel and exited the room. My mind full of questions, my body slowly being overtaken by excitement.

I closed the door behind me as I tried to stay calm when I suddenly heard someone call my name.

Shit...

"Why were you in Marco's room?" Anthony asked with his hands crossed in front of him.