CHAPTER LXXI
~~~
Saige cut off her father. “No!” She gripped his collar. “Can’t you understand me and what I’m going through, dad? I – I can’t see a therapist. I – everyone will think I’m out of my mind. It won’t get past Chase’s ears and that would be the end. I can’t live without him. I will kill myself, dad. I can’t see a therapist. I’m not mad. I’m only mentally unstable at the moment. Just a few anti-depressants will help, dad. I’m sure of that,”
“Listen to me, sweetheart,” De Luca blinked back the tears glistening in his eyes , seeing his only child in that condition. “Stop saying things like that. Nothing is wrong with you. You aren’t losing it. You’re probably still in shock after what happened last night to you. You just need a therapist, trust me,”
“I told you I don’t need a therapist!” She shoved her dad away and stood on her feet, running her fingers through her hair. “I don’t need a therapist. Only people who are out of their minds need it,”
“No, my child,” De Luca held her hands. “You’re wrong. Not only people who are out of their mind need therapists. You are a victim of assault. You need a therapist to talk to you about certain things. Without the help of one, you won’t be able to get past through it and you might jump into depression. You’ll end up finally losing your mind then,”
“Let go off me!” She screeched and pushed her dad away. “I don’t want anything. I only want Chase. I don’t want a doctor. I don’t want a therapist. I’m okay. I just need those pills to help me forget, that’s all, and if you won’t help me, I’ll do it myself. If you try to stop me, I swear on mum’s grave that I’ll kill myself. I won’t even allow you find my body,” She walked out of the study.
“Saige!”
She ignored De Luca and went straight upstairs to her art room. Once she got in there, she locked the door and faced all her work.
First, when she discovered her talent in art, she realized she loved drawing only things of nature. Everything had changed the moment she met Chase.
She disposed of her nature drawings. Her art room was only filled with drawings of Chase and every single posture she had imagined him in.
She walked towards the one of him lighting a cigar without an ounce of emotion in his face and expression. She softly caressed his eyelids since his eyes were on the cigar he was holding, then the stubble on his jaw. “Chase,” She whispered, placing her cheeks on the frame. “I love you so much,” She smiled. “I love every single thing about you,”
Her eyes flickered to the other frame where a small boyish smile lay on his lips. She had never seen him smiling, but she had imagined him smiling at her when she drew that one. She walked to the frame and trailed her fingers over his lips. “I can’t wait to see you smiling at me like this. I want to be the one to change you, can’t you see that? I want to be the reason you have a smile on your face. I want to be the only woman you smile at. Is it so hard to understand?”
She then looked at the frame next to that one. In it, he had her pressed against the wall with his face buried in the crook of her neck while her hands lay on his back. That art was another part of her imagination. She walked slowly to the frame. “Remember when you cornered me a month ago like this?” She laughed. “I’ve always wanted you to corner me like this, not the way you did that day, threatening to kill me for a mere teenager,” She chuckled again. “But then, I know. I know that after our wedding, this will be us. All these drawings will be a reality one day. You will have me cornered against the wall like this,”
Next to that frame was another one purely based on her imagination. Again. Chase had her laying on her back on his bed while he was towering above her, their lips locked in a kiss. They were both barely clothed. “Thanks, Chase. Thanks for kissing me last night. Thanks for showing me that you care about me, “A tear cascaded down her cheeks and she slid down, sitting on the ground while her eyes roamed over all the drawings.Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.
There was another one of Chase pulling off his shirt, revealing the snake tattoo on his bare back and she giggled at it, remembering what actually motivated her to draw it. That incident had happened a year before. She had passed by his room once and when she noticed the door was ajar. She peeped in and that was the sight her eyes caught that day. Ever since then, she hadn’t been able to forget it.
Then, there was another one of Chase in a gym, his bare tattooed back on display. Just as she had seen the one of him removing his shirt, that was how she had caught a glimpse of him in the gym. She wondered how his chest would look it. She wondered what the tattoos on his chest would look like also. Too bad, she had never gotten a chance to see it. She would only be able to see it after their wedding. She laughed at the thought.
Again, there was another frame, based on another imagination. Drawing things, she imagined wasn’t hard for Saige. She was imaginative artist and in that frame, was Chase seated behind his desk, left ankle placed on his right knee, cigar between his lips held by his fore and middle finger while staring at her.
Saige smiled at the next frame. That one was simple. Chase was staring at something while his silly, dark hair was wet and falling over his forehead He wasn’t wearing any shirt on, so the water from his hair was trailing down his chest. Saige didn’t know the exact size of his abs or muscles so she drew the one that she imagined on him along with a bare chest without tattoo. She had baldy wanted to draw his front view so she didn’t bother about the tattoos on his chest.
“Fuck,” Saige whispered, burying her face in her palms when she realized she couldn’t even stop staring at the unending number of frames she had of him. “I love you, Chase. I love you so much it hurts,”