Under the Cornerstone (30 page)

The sound of her door opening wakes me. I rub my eyes and look up at her face caked in makeup to hide the bruises. She’s dressed for work. I jump to my feet as it dawns on me that she’s leaving.

"I've been waiting for you all night,” I tell her.

She turns away without a word and my heart fucking breaks.

"Noe, wait up."

She presses the call button to the elevator and stares straight ahead.

Please look at me.

"Look, I know you're pissed at me, but I told you everything last night. I swear to God it’s the truth.”

She responds with venom in her voice, “I wasn’t concerned with what you had to say. Didn’t hear it. I went to bed.”

“Shit,” I say and run my hands through my hair. “I fucked up. I wanted to be the one to tell you that your name was leaked in the story about our arrests. I'm so fucking sorry.”

The look that crosses her face makes me want to fucking cry like a baby.

“Who leaked my name?” she asks with so much… rage.

I shrug, because I’m going to deal with Leo myself.

“I’m going to poison Leo the next time I see him. You may want to give him a head’s up,” she spits out.

The elevator doors open, and I call out to her, begging her not to walk away. She turns around so quickly I never see her hand coming until she’s slapped it across my face. I pull my own hand to cover the sting and look on at her with shock.

She just slapped me. Fuck.

She rushes out of the elevator and once I recover from my shock I go after her.

Fuck. I’m desperate.

I don’t get far before she quickly turns on me again and shoves her finger in my face, "Do not fucking follow me. Do not show up at my house or my job. Do not call me or text me. Do not send news from a friend. I'm done, Johnny. You did this. It's all on you.  I'm going to work, so please leave me the fuck alone!"

I’m so fucking sorry.

"Noely baby..." I begin and reach for her.

She pushes her hands into my chest, causing me to lose my balance. I take a few steps back until I regain it.

"Are you fucking deaf?!! Leave me alone!" 

Tears spring to my eyes.

We’ve never been here. She’s never punched, slapped, or yelled at me. She’s never told me to leave her alone.

I’ve lost her.

Chapter Thirty-Three

In the wee hours of the morning, I stand on the twin’s fire escape and take a drag off my cigarette. I went home after Noe left me and slept for a few hours. I didn’t sleep well. I dreamt of her, and then they would morph into nightmares of her walking away from me. Once I realized sleep was my enemy, I showered, ate, and headed to Rich and Ryan’s.

I’ve been drinking tequila for hours hoping it will numb the pain. It seems like half of Brooklyn has been through this apartment at some point tonight. Women approach me, wanting to fuck. I don’t have it in me. They’re not her. They were all suitable replacements for Noe before I knew what the real thing felt like. How in the fuck do you go back from that?

I turn each one of the eager women down. I can’t bury Noely inside of them tonight, so I take another shot. The twins check on me here and there, but I wave them off so they can enjoy the impromptu party. There’s no sense in us all drowning in my misery.

Rich steps onto the escape with a worried expression on his face.

“We gotta go to Saul’s,” he says.

“It’s late. Saul’s is closed,” I tell him and lift the tequila bottle.

“Jimmy and Noe got caught tagging at Saul’s. You’ve got to get Saul’s mean ass out of bed and down there to lie and say he paid them to do the job. He likes you best,” he says.

“He likes Noely best,” I argue.

“Everybody likes Noely best, but Noely can’t ask Saul for help because she’s got cops on her.”

“Cops?” I frown.

“You haven’t been listening.”

“No.”

“Noely and Jim are going to jail unless you get Saul’s ass down there to say he hired them for the job,” he repeats and it finally sinks into my brain.

“Got it,” I say and start searching through my contacts for Saul’s number.

His grumpy ass answers the phone and a slew of profanity leaves his mouth.

“Noely needs your help,” I start with that so he’ll calm his ass down.

“What’s wrong with our girl?” he mumbles.

“She and Jimmy were painting something on the side of the bar. Cops busted them. If you show up and tell them you paid them to paint it, you’ll keep her ass out of jail.”

He’s quiet and I know the old man is thinking, “Well, she’s too damn pretty to go to jail.”

“Yeah,” I agree noncommittally.

“I’ll be there in a few,” he says and ends the call.

Rich, Ryan, and I have already started walking towards the bar once they got everyone out of their apartment.

I see her before she sees me. She’s covered in paint and wearing a scowl, but still fucking gorgeous. Rich stops at the cops and speaks to them to stall until Saul arrives. Ryan and I step towards the mural and turn on our cell phone lights to illuminate the work. I look from one end to the other where I find Noely’s face. I know immediately that she drew it. I’d know her work anywhere. I almost reach out and touch this version of her. I blame it on the tequila. It made me forget I can’t touch any version of Noe.

"It's wet," Jimmy warns me from touching the paint.

I look over my shoulder at her and fight the urge to walk up to her against me.

I settle for, "It's beautiful, Noe." 

Pure rage flashes across her face before she soaks her hand in tequila and then steps past me to run her hand over the wet paint. She smears her face down the brick wall.

Then she turns and tells me with a sneer on her face, “That’s what you did.”

"Noely," Jimmy says.

"You promised,” she says. 

"I’m keeping that promise,” he replies.

Mean Saul passes the officers, walks up to the mural, and nods his head in appreciation as he inspects the mural like an art collector. He stares at Noe for a minute and then lies to the cops.

"I hired them to do the mural.”

I knew he’d lie for her. He knew her mom and stepdad. He knows she’s been dealt a shit hand in life, and whether she knows it or not, Noe might be the only sweet spot the recovering alcoholic has left.

"It's a beautiful piece, isn't it?" He continues.

"It was until your artist took her hands to it after we arrived," a cop says.

"That's exactly how it's supposed to be right now, son. It doesn't take a genius to interpret the meaning behind each component of the piece. You just have to respect it for what it is, son." The old man turns to Jimmy and Noe, "Thank you for your hard work. Come by tomorrow around two and I'll pay you. "

The cops release Jimmy and Noe, and we walk away quietly.

"Who the fuck was that guy?" Jimmy asks.

"The cops?" Rich asks.

"No the guy who looked like Saul," Noely’s beautiful laugh fills the night.

"Everybody has a story, bro," Ryan smiles.  

We walk Noely home. I walk beside her as the others carry on about Saul and Jimmy once again escaping arrest. There are few times when my hand touches hers and the spark it causes goes straight to my dick.

God, I want her again.

When we reach her building, she hugs everyone goodbye and they ask her to fix the mural and come see us off on Saturday. As I turn around, Ryan grabs her, spins her around, and pulls her into a hug. He holds her there with his chin resting on the top of Noe’s head. She eventually turns and walks up the steps to her building without touching me. God, I think I’d give anything to have her wrap her arms around me right now. The problem is that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. I can’t let her go to sleep tonight not knowing I’m still here thinking about her, loving her.

"Good Night Noely baby."

She doesn’t turn around, but I do get to hear her voice one more time, "Night, Johnny."

I spend the next day writing songs that piss me off, balling up paper, and throwing it around my apartment. I try to watch television, but can’t find anything interesting on. I chain smoke on my balcony. I shift through tit pics on Snap Chat, but even that doesn’t capture my attention. I finally take my paint and brushes to Saul’s and fix Noely. I paint her face back like it should’ve been in the first place. The paint I use on her eyes is the color of the Caribbean Sea. I add highlights and lowlights to her multi-colored blonde hair. Her hair has these white strands that are mixed in with gold, honey, caramel, and strawberry. She didn’t draw her pouty, baby doll lips right the first time, so I fix that too. I add more curve to her hips, because she’s not lanky as she appears in her original drawing. I look at the heart she drew ripped out of her chest, and move down to the drawing of me. I draw my heart in my hand and make it look like mine is ripped out too, but I tattoo her name across the organ I hold.

When it’s perfect, I go home to clean up and call my dad to ask him to dinner. We sit in a pub and drink beer while he watches a game and talks to me about the tour during commercial breaks. He knows something is up with me, but he lets me come to him when I’m ready to deal with my shit. He knows I just need to sit here with him so I don’t go crazy. Noely’s name never comes up, which is so unlike my dad, so it’s safe to assume he knows shit hasn’t gotten any better with her.

Since dad has to work tomorrow, we give each other a man hug at ten and go our separate ways. I think about her all the way home. I think of all the grand gestures I could orchestrate, but then I realize I’m not sure if I’m stuck in the friend zone or if I have a fucking shot at her being mine. So how in the fuck do I plan some heartfelt shit if I don’t know what I’m fighting for in the first place.

As if she knows I can’t stop thinking about her, I look up to find her headed towards my building.

"Noely?" I say her name to make sure I’m not hallucinating shit.

"Fuck you, Rome."

I stop at her obvious anger. Fuck, I was hoping she was calm today. I don’t know how to deal with pissed off Noely. I run my hand through my hair and sigh as I search for words.

"I know I deserve a lot of those, but you want to enlighten me on what this particular one is for?"

"I saw the mural. Your tag is on it."

"I'm not apologizing for that one," I stand firm.

She came to fight and I can’t fight her. I told her everything through her door the other night, so I don’t have anything else left to fight with. I gave her my all and it wasn’t good enough. So, I avoid the confrontation all together and walk inside my building. She surprises the hell out of me when she jumps into the elevator with me.

She’s really going to force this shit with me.

Fuck, Noe. I don’t want to fight, baby.

She pushes me in the chest, forcing me back a step, "It wasn't yours to fix!"

She continues to yell and push me. Jesus Christ, I’ve never seen her like this. But goddamn if it doesn’t turn me on at the same time it breaks my heart.

"It wasn't your art! It wasn't ready to be fixed! That once again wasn't your decision to make!" 

She tries to push me again, but I’m so fucking turned on and pissed off that I grab her wrists to stop her from pushing me anymore. I spin her around and push her into the corner behind me.

I get in her face and force myself not to scream at her, "It was mine to fix."

"No, it wasn't.”

I touch her face with one of my hands, "Too goddamn beautiful to have a smeared face. You've been one of us a long time. Just as long as anyone else in our crew, you earned your fucking place on that mural. But I'm glad you smeared it, because you didn't do you justice on that wall."

She opens her mouth, no doubt to argue some more, but nothing comes out. I look down at her lips and before I can finish the thought my lips are on hers.

My tongue seeks entry with some force, and she lets me in. Our tongues dance with each other and both of our hands push through hair. I grab a hold of her ass and pull her up my body. She wraps her legs around me and when the elevator door opens, I walk us down to my door without letting her out of the kiss.

I press her against the door and dig for my keys. I push the door open and slam it with my foot before I take her to my bedroom. We touch each other like we’ll never get another chance and pull on each other’s clothes until we’re both naked. I pull my lips from her and press a kiss to the center of her chest before I wrap my arms around her middle. I pick her up and throw her on the bed.

Once I suit up, I crawl between her legs, and pull her towards me. I want to take my time with her again, but she’s clawing at me and I’m fucking desperate for her. I push inside her and close my eyes before I start fucking her like there’s no tomorrow. I grab a handful of hair and pull on it until she’s looking at me.

"I'm not sorry about the mural.”

"It wasn't your fucking place,” she says and bites down hard on my lip which only causes me to speed up my pace.

The anger is trying to take over the desperation.

"You never used to get mad, but you're fucking hot when you're pissed. I like it. I want to fucking spank your bare ass sometimes. You drive me insane," I say between clenched teeth.