Haziel pulled the phone out of his pocket and lifted it to his ear.
"Hello." He said first, his tone would sound cheerful to the person on the other end but, the expression he had on his face was neutral.
I leaned back on the chair casually. I was at the brink of spurring out curse words to the person on the other end of the call for the unwarranted suspense they put me through.
Haziel let out a few 'mmhhmm's and 'eh's in agreement to the caller. The conversation must not have been serious or private as he had the call in front of me.
"Tomorrow is fine, you can come over for me to complete it." He said finally, dropping a few bread crumbs of their conversation. As he uttered those words our eyes locked.
I broke gaze immediately, looking instead at the door. After a few more seconds the call was over. He took the phone away from his ear and dropped it on the centre table.
Silence between us between in those seconds.
I really should get going, I thought to myself. Before I could open my mouth to speak a sentence of farewell, Haziel continued.
"I was saying, she's my sponsor." He stated nonchalantly.
"Oh," an exclamation escaped my mouth. "Do you usually go to bars with your sponsors?" the question was out of curiosity and blatant disregard of courtesy. Regret consumed me the moment those words escaped my lips.
Haziel on the other hand didn't look fazed at the question. Was he used to being asked?
"I mean if they pay well enough." He shrugged.
I wanted to continue to pry but social construct demanded I do no such thing... Unless...
Haziel bent down to drop his wine glass on the table. In that instance I also grabbed a glass and pour wine out for myself.
"Maybe I'll have a glass." I said before taking the wine glass to my lips and pouring the liquid down my throat.
The taste was bitter and refined.
With a preface for an excuse of being intoxicated, I stood up, browsing the art of the floor. Haziel stayed silent, his gaze followed me but I didn't mind.
After some time I picked up a question again. "How does one become your sponsor?" I inquired in a business like tone, coming to stand next to him by the easel.
The easel was next to the wall before the opening to the dining area and kitchen of his apartment.
"Of course it's by spending a lot of money on my works." He answered matter-of-factly, sliding into a chuckle as he approached his final words.
I nodded in response.
"Of course..." I said in agreement, "and for spending a lot of money they get to date with you?... and what?" I pryed again. This time I got no response.
Had I reached the dead end to his answers?
Haziel turned and fixed a strong gaze on me. As I was already standing beside him, this action of his felt very intense. I unconsciously took a step back.
He spent a good second staring at me before looking at the easel we were in front of. With a swift motion of his hand he pulled the cloth off reveal the art piece behind it.
My eyes widened as they roamed the painting in front of me. I...? What...?
"Don't go around in circles. A single dagger to the heart is better than multiple cuts lead to the same ending." He said, this time his voice came from behind me and i felt his warm breath on my nape.
Even with the tingling sensation on the base of my neck, my eyes were fixed on the nude painting in front of me. Yes! A nude painting.
As a fan of his that had previewed his works of art that were exhibited, I knew none of them were sexually provocative. This was a rare one.
"This... This is for your sponsor isn't it?" I took a guess, angling my head to face him. He nodded.
I moved away from the painting and poured another glass of wine for myself. Before I could take a sip a fit of laughter erupted from me.
Haziel looked at me in confusion, but, I couldn't help it. The alcohol had began to take effect, and as the lightweight that I was, I really had no idea what was so funny.
The expression of artist in front of me turned sober. I noticed but refused to pay attention to it, instead I took another sip of the wine. Bursting into another fit, I dropped onto the purple couch. It was soft.
"Your sponsor's have you go to these lengths?" I asked between giggles, "I wonder... do you sleep with them to?" as I reached the last sentence my tone became more serious. I took another gulp from the glass twirling in my hand.
"You're drunk over a single glass?" his tone sounded honestly perplexed. "Maybe you shouldn't have anymore," bending down to where I sat he motioned his hand to collected the glass for mine.
I moved my arm back instinctively, and the wine in the glass almost splashed out. Haziel retreated.
"I'm not drunk... I'm just curious." I slurred before pushing my lips into a pout. I swallowed another sip of wine as I waited for the answer.
"And if I did. Why would you care? To judge me?" He scoffed and and moved towards the dining area, "Let me get you some water," he added as he was about to stroll out of my sight.
My mind was a blur, a lot of hazing thoughts were already going through it, each one bounced off the sides of my brain and collided with each other, similar to the motion of the electrons in an atom.
"No!" I stood up straight, or at least tried to after some effort. Haziel rotated his gaze back to me. Dropping the wine glass on the table, I reached for the zip of my dress.
"No judge." I zipped down the dress I was wearing while cherishing words like gold. With a swift motion, I guided the sleeves orf and stripped myself.
Haziel looked as though he was at a circus, were he had no idea what strange creature of wonder they had brought out of their hats. He was speechless and didn't make a move to stop me.
I pushed forth my bare chest, beginning to feel dizzy. "In fact. Paint me!" I pronounced proudly before losing balance. Everywhere went dark.
◇ ◇ ◇
When I came to, the scenery had changed. I was no longer in an apartment but rather a hospital room.
What happened?
I lifted my upper body up and rubbed the back of my head with my hand. There was a slight constant throb pulsating in my head, just then a figure from beside me came up to me.
It took a few seconds before I recognized the person. It was my nanny, Maria.
The woman looked so worried that all the blood had drained out of her face. I almost thought I had seen a ghost.
"You're up? let me call the doctor." She said downcasted before leaving the room and coming back in with a tall woman in a lab coat.
The woman who I presumed to be the doctor had pleasant features, all of them looking soft, her eyes were big and expressive.
She walked up to me with a smile, "Are you feeling better now miss?" she inquired, even her voice was soft.
I nodded but found out it was a mistake as my head responded with a not so light throb. I winced as the pain took over my senses.
"Is your head hurting?" The doctor inquired.
"Yes," I replied and she began to check my vitals. After doing so, she pulled back and glipped through the files she had brought with her that was being held together by a paper clip.
"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you and looking at the tests we took you also don't have a concussio... Ah." She cried in realisation, "Your alcohol levels were high, you probably just have a hangover. I'll prescribe some painkillers and you'll be free to go." The doctor said decisively before leaving the room.
I could remember drinking at Haziel's place but not the events leading up to me being at the hospital.
This is why lightweights shouldn't drink! My head ached once more. Scratch that, this is why people shouldn't drink!
I stood up out of the bed and walked out of the hospital room. Maria took steps in front of me as we went over to the reception of the hospital. I tried recollecting the events of earlier but everything was fussy.
Maria hadn't said anything to me about drinking and ending up in a hospital. She didn't even bother to fill me in on the details of my being here.
My head was still hurting, so, I decided to sweep her lack of voicing out her grievances with my actions under ther rug.
After taking a few steps, I stopped dead on my tracks and looked down at my clothes. Something was off; what was I forgetting?
Failing to gather my memories, I continued walking.
"Maria? how did you find out I was here? Also, where is the person who brought me here?" I asked while still walking.
Maria stopped and turned to look at me, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion.
"Do you mean that man who called me to inform me of your being here? I did not get a chance to meet him. Wasn't here."