Chapter 3: A New Home Part 1
1083 Words
Madeleine stopped walking and Christian phased through her. She looked at him and crossed her arms. "Would you quit walking so close to me?" She whispered at him, and he softly chuckled at her.
"I find you interesting." He smiled at her and watched her fumble her keys and drop them. Christian began to full blown laugh, and he covered his mouth with his hand. Madeleine rolled her eyes and bent down to pick them up, but Christian beat her to it. "Gotta be quicker than that."
She sighed and held her hand out. He stepped in front of her and slid the key into the lock and stepped away from her, gesturing to the door. "Ladies first." He gave her a welcoming smile and she blushed.
"Well now you're just showing off." She turned the key, keeping her eyes on him and pushed the door open with her shoulder. "So, this is my-" He brushed past her and into the open concept apartment.
"Wow... it's perfect." He smiled and took in the homey feel of the place. The walls were a soft warm brown, and the furniture was made from a natural wood. The couch was made from dark brown leather. He took in the little trinkets along a shelf, and she walked over and unhooked the necklace from her neck.
She held the ring in between her fingers and smiled warmly at it. She cleared her throat and with a bounce in her step, she turned around to face him. "So, where would you like to live?"
Christian looked at her with parted lips. He had never been asked such a question. He had never been offered to choose anything in his lifetime. Everything had been chosen for him. For once he truly felt free. "Live?"
"Like where would you like your ring to be?" Madeleine smiled at him and waited for him to respond. She wanted to respect him and asking him where he wanted his belongings seemed like a good place to start.
"Oh, right. Um... where would you like for it to go? You did purchase it." Christian smiled and offered to let her decide.
He watched her search around the room with a thoughtful expression. He worried his bottom lip and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well... hm. When you were alive.... Where was your favorite place to be?" Madeleine sat down on her couch and took her shoes off. She patted the couch for him to sit down with her. He played with an invisible ring around his finger like he would have in the past when he was wearing it
"I- I wasn't really allowed to go out of the house. Everything I needed was brought to me in house. I didn't go outside much." Christian sighed and didn't meet her eyes. "So, when you ask me where my favorite place to be was... I wouldn't really know." He shrugged his shoulders with a saddened expression. "Too dangerous, my father said."
"How old are you?" Madeleine watched him sit up straight and pretend like he was okay, but she knew better.
"Let's see I died in 1918 and I was... twenty-four?" Christian tried to remember his age. He knew how he died in the most vivid way, but his age was a different story. It was fuzzy, while everything else was so clear.
Madeleine played with his ring between her fingers again. "I'd say you look about twenty-four, but I'm not the best at guessing ages." She smiled over at him, and he smirked at her. "Have you decided where you would like to live for the time being?"
Christian sat back and thought about it for a moment. He looked around the warm apartment. At how everything was decorated in such a welcoming manner. It was a complete contrast from what he remembered his house to look like. "May I look around some more, please?"
"Of course." Madeleine stood up and walked into her kitchen to make tea. "Feel free. I'm just going to make some tea."
Christian smiled and got up from the couch. He put his hands in his pockets and started to take in her place. Christian slowly walked along the wooden shelves that held books and old items from years ago. She really did collect the most random things. He smiled, as he stopped by a photo of her family. They looked so happy to be together and she appeared delighted to be with them. He wished that he had had a family portrait as graceful and full of love. All of his portraits had been serious and posed to appear like they were a family. Posed by a photographer that his father had hired to make them look like the picture-perfect versions of themselves. Madeleine heard his footsteps as he walked into the kitchen, taking in her white cabinets and how they popped against the pastel pink back wall. Her counters were a dark grey granite and a small island sat in the middle. He looked around and she hummed a song while she set a tea kettle on a burner.
Her voice was a beautiful melody, and he closed his eyes and focused on each key and note. It was beautiful and he wished she was around when he would play piano. He slowly opened his eyes and phased away; before, he appeared back in her bedroom. It had a lavender accent wall, while the rest of them were white. The furniture was French country chic and painted white. Her armoire, nightstand, and vanity had vintage hardware on each drawer. He looked around at all of her sewing stuff and her stacks of fabric on the desk beside an old sewing machine. Christian took in her storage containers of random little trinkets to craft different projects and he smiled. It reminded him of his mother. She would always be making something for herself, him, or others. His father would admire each piece that she would make. Would admire her.
Christian sighed and kept exploring her room. He turned around and his eye caught sight of a keyboard. It was like a piano, but more compact and had a million switches to change the tempo and the sound of the keys. His eyes lit up and he phased over to it with ease. He pushed energy into his fingertips and slid the bar, turning it on. He breathed out slowly and began to play with his slender fingers.
- Writer
