Soft slippers shuffled across the hardwood floor, an odd sound at such a late time of night. It was just after three o’clock in the morning, and still I was not able to get any form of sleep. I crept around my dining room table to get to the counter-top, hoping a glass of water would at least ease the irritation in my throat. A light lamp was flickered on over my stove-top, brightening up the area enough for me to see more clearly. I looked over my shoulder at the couch, Teddy’s swollen eyes staring back at me. He was outstretched upon my living room couch with a patterned butterfly blanket piled over him. He nearly laughed when I gave him the blanket tonight, but unfortunately I did not have any patterns that suited him. I had no idea the reasoning behind me purchasing that blanket with such a childish pattern, but like everything in life, it seemed right at the time. I raised up a hand in greeting, which only made him bat tired looking eyelids at me. “Hey,” I muttered, since I knew he was still in a sullen mood.
“Hello, Sela,” he uttered in a sad-like voice that nearly broke my heart. I bit down at my lip and then looked upon the floor, feeling at a loss for words to make him feel any better.
“I was- I was going to have water,” I stammered out. “I keep coughing.”
“I heard you.”
“In a couple more hours I’ll take some more medicine for this headache. You will probably want some for the pain.”
“The doctor gave me something,” he softly hushed. Teddy sat up on the couch more to see more clearly. “Have you any tea?”
“I have herbal tea, yeah. Is mint tea fine enough for you?”
“Perfect,” he mouthed out slowly. I went over to the kettle to fill it up with water. The mugs clashed and clanged as I tried to find one that would suit him. Teddy had such elegant things in his home, and I feared my own belongings were a pitiful downgrade. Once I settled on a teal grey mug with thin white lines stretched across it, I set it down next to the kettle with a satisfied air. “I can’t sleep,” sounded behind me. “You mind if you stay with me for a bit?”
“Yes, that’s fine,” I said over my shoulder, though I felt uneasy at the thought of it. The decision to sleep away from him was already hard enough, but then again our relationship status was a little undefined at the moment. I knew that Teddy needed a friend, someone he could talk to, and that I would be the perfect person.
I looked down at my long white nightgown with a deep V-neck at the front. I pulled up the shoulders more, hoping it would not be too revealing once I sat down beside him. I could feel my cheeks blush, a sense of shame at the amount of attraction I still felt towards him. The entire notion of me liking him had come upon me so suddenly, it was hard to determine when I first began to develop such strong feelings for him. The kettle popped, breaking me out of my deep reverie in a nonsensical way. I lifted up my favourite mug with a stencil of a forest around the entire cup; the tiny red fox poking its head out of the tree was the main instigator for me purchasing this item in the first place.
“You don’t add anything in your mint tea, do you?” I inquired with all politeness.
Teddy’s voice was clear as he replied: “No, not at all.”
Tea bags dropped inside of our mugs, and with a quick motion of my hand, hot water poured downwards into our medium-sized cups. The faint scent of mint filled the air, a welcome fragrance after an extremely long night with the firefighters and then the ambulance workers that inspected the cuts across Teddy’s waist and right arm. He even had to go to the hospital to get a certain wound stitched up. It was difficult to explain why we simply didn’t escape the fire using the front door, but who would ever believe our story if we told them the truth? There was no one in the world that would believe that the former mistress of that house still haunted this place, not even myself if I had not seen it with my own two eyes.
Sometime later I took a seat beside Teddy, offering him a hot cup of tea to cheer up his spirits. A tiny smile graced his handsome face for me, but it could not linger there for too long. “Thank you,” he mumbled with a great deal of difficulty.
I laid my mug down on the table so I could give Teddy my full attention. He watched me cross my legs upon the couch before I pulled the patterned butterfly blanket over myself as well. “I’m sorry about your house.”
“Nothing can be done,” he uttered in a sorrowful way.
“I know how much you loved it.”
“The minute I was done with boarding school, I could not wait to return there,” he remarked with his eyes fixated on the plain white ceiling. “I wanted to be home again, but then I didn’t. I knew she was there waiting for me, all those years trapped inside that house.” He tilted his head to the left, taking in my side profile. “You must understand that she was all I had growing up.”
“It’s why she didn’t want to let you go,” I said in a comforting way.
“My father was a monster, or the closest thing to it. He didn’t love her.” He turned his attention to the empty coffee table where only his wallet and my newly done self-portrait rested in the center of it. “Everyone knew he married her for money,” he blurted out harshly. “And security, and with my mother’s good looks, it was a tempting thing to secure for him.”
“And he made your life miserable,” I knowingly said.
He nodded his head sharply. His soft pink lips pressed together firmly while he squinted his eyes a little bit. I could tell he was holding a lot of emotions back, but for once he seemed unable to control them.
“Sela,” he began. “I am not my father.”
“I never thought you were.”
“After he killed her,” he continued. “He walked all the way to the cliffs, a little ways past the area that you and I sat at today. And then he flung himself over.”
“That is why you got so mad,” I realized. “When I had asked you about the steepness of the drop.”
“Memories,” he hushed. “I can never escape them.”
“No one can.” I reached downwards and settled my hand over his upper thigh. “We just find a way to move on from them.” He watched me stroke my hand from side to side, and then glanced upwards to see the warm smile I gave only for him. “I’ll help you.”
His chin lowered to the top of his chest, a subtle gesture that revealed so much about his inner turmoil. “I never meant to put you in harm’s way,” he quietly revealed. “All those times when you were in my house I knew that you were safe as long as it was daylight. My mother only reveals herself fully at night. That is the reason I never see Luna once the sun goes down. There are two sides of my mother, you see, almost two remnants of her spirit. The one upstairs whom I can reason with - the one that closely resembles my mother when she was still alive.” He paused for a moment. “And then there is the other tortured side of her… the one down in the depths of the cellar.” His lips contorted downwards harshly. “She must have sensed you were inside the house, and then…” He shook his head grievously. “I should have never kept you around at so late an hour.”
“It’s alright, Teddy,” I reassured him.
He laid a hand on top of mine, gripping it tenderly with his thumb stroking the back of my hand. “Do you forgive me?”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“But you almost died back there,” he reminded me. “If it wasn’t for me breaking the glass.”
“And so would you,” I pointed out. “The smoke or the fire would have gotten us in the end. But Teddy, why did she react that way?”
“She would never let anything come in between us,” he said with a sharp shake of his head. “My mother has a jealous nature… always has.” He stopped the stroking of his thumb, and loosened his grip so his hand could slip up to my wrist. “I can’t ever have people around there, or even entertain the idea of having a romantic relationship with someone. She fears that one day I will leave this place, which would mean leaving her.”
“But you had every intention to stay.”
“I’ve been thinking about leaving my home for quite some time now,” he revealed with a nervous quirk of his lips downwards. “Because of the memories, and the things that my father had done to our family, but I stayed for her. I wanted to make her happy. To atone for my sins, or at least the things I wasn’t able to do as a child. I kept it a secret, all those times my father beat her and eventually me. A secret because I feared what would happen if my father ever found out that I told anyone.” He removed his hand from my wrist and laid it flatly over his lap. “I should have done something. He killed her in the end, strangled her to death with rope and pretended her hanging was a suicide attempt.” He stopped talking for a moment and simply let out a tiny exhale of air. “I knew it was him all along when I returned that day from school. No police officer or doctor could convince me otherwise.”
“Did you tell anyone about your suspicions?”
He shook his head violently with severely pursed lips. “No,” came out in a haggard breath. “I couldn’t.” His voice significantly lowered as he added: “Two days later he killed himself. It seems he had a conscience after all.”
I laid a hand on the back of his shoulder. “And so you’ve been blaming yourself for keeping silent for all of these years.”
“For not speaking out for my mother,” he admitted. “In life and later on in death.”
“And that is the reason that you returned home,” I finally realized. “And the reason you put so much effort decorating her house - her garden.”
“Yes,” he consented. “She always loved her garden.”
My hand slid down his back as I considered: “Then all of it was for her.”
“Everything,” he wheezed out lifelessly.
“As a way of an apology?”
“Yes, Sela,” he softly concurred. He turned his gaze in my direction, and let his eyes scan my entire face. “But I asked you to have coffee the first day we met because…” He tilted his chin upwards to regain some strength. “Because I liked you,” he bluntly told me with a steady gaze.
I fell into the side of him, smothering the side of my cheek onto his strong upper arm. The scent of smoke still lingered over him, probably coming from his hair since he hadn’t taken a shower yet. I rubbed my hand over the center of his back soothingly, taking my time to feel the tense muscles that stretched along his back. He remained perfectly still, probably enjoying my open show of affection. I slowly inched my head upwards and rested it over the top of his shoulder blade. I could feel his hand cupping the side of my head, stroking his fingertips into my scalp in small circles. I let out an audible sigh, and then tilted my head to lay my cheek over the side of his shoulder. “I hope you know that you are welcome to stay here as long as you want.”
“Thank you, Sela,” he hushed into my ear.
“And if you need anything-”
“-I know.”
A soft meow was heard on the other side of the couch that was closest to him. I gently lifted my head off Teddy’s shoulder and wore a broad smile when I saw little Luna peering at her owner with interest. I watched Teddy flicker the tips of his fingers upwards, urging his cat to jump on top of the couch. We were lucky to find her in the dark, but I suppose all of the mayhem exhibited on the front lawn sparked Luna’s interest. Teddy was quick to stick her in the backseat of his car, in which he expressed his gratitude that at least something had been saved from his house. The portrait of myself had been fortunately stored away in the backseat of his car as well, a secret blessing for him since he apparently treasured the drawing as much as I did.
Luna was now settled over her master’s lap, purring loudly enough to set a fit of giggles from me. I brushed back my wild bedhead, suddenly realizing Teddy had seen me in my most relaxed state possible. I tried to control the blushing of my cheeks when reaching for my cup of tea, hoping he could not see it from my current angle.
“You think there is an apartment room to rent across the hall from you?”
“You’ll have to ask the landowner.”
Teddy turned his attention to the front door, silently contemplating something for a moment. I thought he looked like a wounded bird with his right arm tightly bandaged up. He encountered some scrapes on his upper inner arm, but the ones along the sides of his waist were apparently the worst. It was nice to see him wearing one of my baggy black jumpers, for I thought him wearing casual street clothes was somewhat bewildering to me. He would have to start his life over again, since all of his artwork had been destroyed by the fire. It would be a long, hard journey for him, but I knew things would turn right in the end.
“The tea is good,” he noted after he took a quiet sip.
“Yes, I like the taste of mint.”
“Interesting,” he murmured. “So do I.”
A telling smirk crossed both of our faces at the same time. It was clear we would get along very well if Teddy did decide to stay with me.
“Hello Luna,” he cooed out softly. The small cat’s purring was incredibly loud; her paws outstretched themselves across Teddy’s lap to press against the soft fabric of my blanket that rested over the top of my right knee. “We have to buy you cat food.”
“A dish for her food and water.”
Teddy regrettably added: “A litter box.”
“And cat treats!”
“Possibly a scratch post. I don’t know what she will do locked up in this flat all the time. She is used to being outdoors. Aren’t you, Luna?”
“It will be a hard adjustment,” I conceded.
“But we are thankful all the same.”
“I’m glad.” I laid a hand over Luna and stroked her side softly. Her purring had subsided, and interestingly enough she looked like she was ready to fall asleep. “Teddy? Once things settle down, do you ever think you will rebuild your home?”
“No,” he briskly replied. “I intend to be rid of my memories. I will go away somewhere - somewhere far.”
“Where?”
“I’m not sure,” he pondered aloud. “But I know I can make just about a living anywhere as an artist. Should I go to Rome, do you think?” I laughed at his statement, for his eyes shined at the prospect of it. “I always wanted to go to Spain.”
“Why?”
“Oh, some of my friends from boarding school ended up moving to Madrid. It would be nice to see them again. Although, if I was really clever I would buy a house close to where my guardian used to live. The area is fine there, and…” He suddenly stopped midway, and then turned his gaze to me. “Where would you like to live, Sela?”
“Me?” He nodded his head quickly, with a sneaky little smile gradually crossing over his face. “Well, I am content where I am at the moment,” I replied with utter honesty. “I am not too far from my parents, and my friends live around this area. I think it would be nice for you to meet them. Do you mind that?”
“No, I would love to,” he cheerily replied.
I patted him on the back in a reassuring way. “Okay, we can do that then.” I smiled at him, but for some reason Teddy did not smile back. “What is it?”
“I am sorry about my past. I wish it could have been better.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Because when I meet your parents and your friends,” he tried to explain. “They will start to ask questions and… you know how I am.”
“You will have to be honest.” My hand shifted upwards to rest over the back of his shoulder that was furthest from me. “It will be horrifying I know, but if I am willing to accept your past, then they will too.”
“Yes, but that’s because you are different!” Teddy pointed out with a curious quirk of his right eyebrow.
“And so are my parents,” I reassured him. “And my friends. You did nothing wrong, Teddy. They will not treat you like the people in the village. There won’t be any judgment or fearful looks whenever you are around. And besides, you cannot hide behind the shadow of your father all your life.”
“I always have,” he stammered out. “It’s even in my name… Teddy.”
“Do you want me to call you Theo?” He shook his head in a nervous gesture. “Then we stick with your nickname name then?”
“Yes, please.”
I tapped him on his upper arm playfully. “Then, Teddy it is.”
“I think I deserve a kiss for that.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” He carefully slipped Luna off his lap to place her upon the floor. “You will have to be careful because I am all bandaged up.” I shook my head at him but he blatantly ignored it. “But I think I deserve it, considering I almost risked my life trying to save you.”
“From your mother,” I laughed, since it was rather funny after the fact. “Talk about a terrible mother-in-law.” Teddy responded with a chaste kiss upon my lips, keeping it there for a moment before he withdrew from me. “I think this living situation will become quite difficult.”
“For whom?”
“Me,” I admitted while my cheeks were turning a bright shade of pink before him.
“I’ll keep sleeping on the couch, Sela,” he whispered right in front of my lips. “I am a gentleman after all.”
“We will see how long that will last.” He grunted in front of me while shaking his head. I stopped his movements with a hand cupping the bottom of his chin; my fingers curled over to feel the length of his strong jawline that was ever so tempting to touch. He closed his eyes to the wandering movements of my hand. It felt right to caress his face this way, to be this close to him that our chests were nearly touching. “Teddy,” I whispered out. “I want you to stay.”
“Then I will,” he promised me, before sealing it with a meaningful kiss. “For a little while, at least.”
“Teddy.” His name was hushed lightly after our lips parted. “I…” My hand moved upwards to brace itself against his chest. “Wait.”
“Yes, Sela?” he asked me in a husky voice.
“I know it sounds quite silly, but I want you to stay forever.”
His smile was large before me, allowing his eyes to shine with such brilliant wonder that it nearly took my breath away. “I could do that,” he assured me, before he drew my hand to slide down the last of his chest, cleverly creating enough room for him to lean forward and steal another heartfelt kiss from my lips.
For Teddy, most of his life was something akin to a tragedy; the past had haunted him like a deathly plague, darkening his mind and spirit. He was feared by the people in the town because of the nightmarish events that surrounded him as a child, and by all accounts the suspicious suicide committed by his mother and then his father plummeting into the icy sea would have given rise to a great deal of gossip. Some may think he is an off-spring of the devil, or the child that was the means of driving his parents insane. In reality, Theodore Woven the second, was simply a small self-conscious child that was attached to his mother’s hip. He suffered through horrors that no child should encounter, and in the end he was, as he so wisely phrased it: “A wounded bird.” Cast off from society, he did everything he could to appease his mother by returning home, hoping to make amends for the silence that cost him everything. And so, guilt-stricken and alone, Teddy had no choice but to suffer in silence. In silence he did suffer until one day, a young gardener stepped upon his doorstep, and with her sweetness of temper and youthful innocence that he had once lost and loved, it felt right for him to try and know her better.
The tragedy is over, the curtains have been pulled, and now Teddy Woven has one more chance to live his life again. As he leaned against the couch with the woman he loved in his arms, the woman that saved him from a life of loneliness and despair, it felt perfectly natural to kiss her lips longingly in the tenderest of ways. For he truly loved her, and he knew that deep down inside, Sela felt the exact same way about him.