Chapter 3: The Strange Painting

After he had left the room, Lexi was left alone in her own thoughts. As the minutes ticked by, she couldn’t help but allow her eyes to wander around the stranger’s room before her eyes eventually stopped at the large painting that hung above the headboard of the bed.

The unusual painting housed a black crow that was perched upon the top of an hourglass that contained beige-colored sand inside. For some reason, it felt like the crow’s pitch-black eyes were starting to stare deep into her soul as if it were in search of her deepest secrets.

The more Lexi continued to stare at the painting, the more life-like the hourglass appeared. The sand looked as if it was slowly flowing, and Lexi thought for sure that if she reached toward the painting, she would be able to touch the sand if she tried hard enough. But the sudden knock on the room’s door dragged her out of her thoughts and back into reality.

“Looks like your dress is all dry now,” the mysterious man said as he walked over to Lexi before handing over the black dress that she had worn to the Stargazer’s Club.

“Thank you very much,” Lexi said as she looked down and took the dress he had handed her.

“You’re welcome, and I’ll be back in fifteen minutes to give you some privacy to change, and I’ll knock on the door before entering,” he said before leaving the room.

She let out a small sigh since she hadn’t gotten the chance to ask him his name, and she had tried to ask him earlier, but he had just straight up ignored her question.

After she removed his shirt from her body, she began to put on the same black dress she had worn to the club. She wouldn’t lie; whatever laundry detergent he used on her dress smelt pleasantly nice, and with just a single sniff of the detergent, it made her feel as if she was taking a walk through the forest.

Once she was done redressing herself, her dark blue eyes wandered over to the same painting again. She couldn’t understand why she felt so drawn to the painting. Could it be that she’s seen it somewhere before? But she shook her head softly after thinking that she knew she had never seen a painting like this one in her entire life.

For some strange reason, she found herself in a trance, and it appeared that the crow that was perched on top of the hourglass was flapping its wings, and the sand in the hourglass seemed to continue flowing at a steady pace.

Then it dawned on her. Wasn’t he wearing a necklace with a charm at the end of it that was a golden hourglass with a crow perched on top of it, just like the painting? At that moment, She slowly started to reach toward the painting, and just before her fingertips could come into contact with the paint, she heard a knock on the door that caused her to snap out of the trance and retract her hand.

“Fifteen minutes have passed. Are you done changing?” the stranger asked from outside the door. The last thing he wanted was to enter the room when she wasn’t done changing and suffer the consequences. Even if it was his room, he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable by just barging in on her. In his mind, she already had a rough night, which included vomiting all over herself, and he'd rather she didn’t deal with anything else bad for the rest of the night.

“Oh, yes, I’m done changing,” Lexi replied as she turned her head away from the painting and towards the door.

After hearing her response, the door soon cracked open to reveal the same handsome blonde who was now wearing a black button-up shirt along with a pair of blue jeans compared to when she first saw him when he was wearing nothing more than a pair of black boy shorts.

After entering the room, he saw Lexi wearing the same outfit she had been wearing at the club. He wouldn’t lie; she looked just as stunning as she did at the Stargazer’s Club, even if she only ended up throwing up all over him.

Lexi tried to be respectful by not looking around his room. Still, she couldn’t help the curiosity that she felt when analyzing a couple of items in the room, especially the giant mysterious painting in the room.

“You look just as beautiful as you did in the club, well before you threw up on me,” he said with a soft chuckle before he looked at her with those beautiful icy blue eyes of his.

Lexi couldn’t help but feel the heat rise to her cheeks, “Look, I’m really sorry about that and also about how I reacted toward you. I really am truly grateful for what you have done for me; even if it hadn’t been for you, I don’t know what would’ve happened,” she said with a smile on her lips as she looked over at him.

“It’s really no big deal, and I can’t blame you for how you acted. But~ if you keep blushing, I’m going to think you like me, and if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t mind that” he said before giving her a playful wink.

“Don’t push your luck,” Lexi said before she crossed her arms. So, he was another smooth talker, just like Jace was. She also was mentally scolding herself for even giving the reaction to his commentary like he wanted.

“You didn’t answer my question earlier. I would like to thank you properly, so can you please tell me your name?” Lexi asked as she looked over at him, while the corner of his lips tugged up into a smile.

“Oh, so you care that much to know my name, huh? Well, if you must know my name it is Caius. Silly Lexi, did you forget it?” Caius said with a grin starting to form on his lips as he looked over at her.

After she heard him say her name, a look of confusion appeared on her face as she looked up at him. “Hold on, I don’t remember telling you my name,” Lexi asked in a suspicious tone. Now that she thought about it, didn’t Jace also say her name too before he disappeared into the crowd of people at the club?

Caius soon raised his right eyebrow at her, “Hmm, you don’t remember? It must have been all that alcohol you consumed at the club, but you definitely told me your name,” he said innocently while he continued to smile at her.

Maybe he was right and that she merely forgot because of the alcohol. If she thought about it hard enough, she knew it wasn’t the brightest idea of hers to inhale those two shooters, which sent her into a drunken haze. After all, he was the one who went out of his way to take care of her, and all she had done so far was accuse him.

“So, your name is Caius? I have to admit it’s an interesting one and one I haven’t heard at all. It almost sounds like some fancy name from an ancient time frame,” she said with a smile.

“Oh, you think so? You’re probably the first person to say that, but I agree with you that Caius isn’t a name you hear very often,” Caius said with a small chuckle.

After a couple of seconds passed, Lexi felt her curiosity eating away at her again, and she couldn’t stop herself from asking him, “So, what’s the story behind that crow and hourglass painting? I’ve never seen anything like it before,” she mentioned softly, while she looked over at it again.

“You’re right. It's one of a kind,” Caius said softly before he walked over toward Lexi, which caused her to turn her head away from the painting and toward him.

“But, now isn’t the time to talk about the story behind that painting; it’s quite a long story. Maybe some other time,” Caius said, while the smile on his lips had never wavered.

After hearing his words, it was then that Lexi’s smile turned into a slight frown. “About that. I’m afraid that there won’t be another time, and to be honest, I shouldn’t even be here. I have a boyfriend,” Lexi said in a serious tone to let him know that she really meant that she wouldn’t be looking for him again to hear about the story of the painting.

“Yeah, about that. I should’ve said it a lot more seriously earlier when I said I would maybe tell you the story some other time, but I really won’t be telling you about that painting anytime soon; right now isn’t the time,” Caius said in a more serious tone as he dropped his playful nature that he had been using this whole time with her.

After hearing him say that, she gave him a confused look since she didn’t understand what he meant by that, “What do you mean by that exactly?” she asked him honestly.

“I really am sorry about this,” Caius said before he raised his right hand and held out his hand flat before blowing sand directly in her face.

After the sand hit her face, it caused her to blink for a moment, and for some strange reason, the sand that hit her face wasn’t burning her eyes like ordinary sand would, but she was so sure that he had blown sand into her face.

At that moment, she felt her eyelids get heavy, and soon, the room around her started to spin before everything blacked out, and just before she hit the floor, Caius caught her swiftly.

Once she was unconscious in his arms, it was then he leaned forward to softly whisper in her ear, “Until we meet again.”