Chapter 3

A week later STELLA Constantine blindfolds me with a black tape, so I can't see anything. "Why are you blindfolding me?" "I already told you, Stella. It's a surprise. I frown. It's uncomfortable having a blindfold that doesn't let me see anything, being practically at his mercy, because I'm sure he traveled more than an hour to bring me to this place and I still don't know where I am. I can't help but feel suspicious. -I do not like surprises. I refute. I hear Constantine let out a loud snort. "You'll have to get used to them then." My brow furrows even more. "Are you ready?" he asks me and I just nod, "give me your hand." I will guide you, walk very carefully Stella, do not rush. I roll my eyes when he says the last thing. I'm desperate, distraught and a little anxious to find out what it is. It's been a week and honestly getting to know a demon hasn't been easy at all, it hasn't stopped appearing just like that, and I just think I'd have to get used to it. Damn. I have found that Constantine is a very interesting, intelligent, perceptive and very annoying demon. Being with him and getting to know him as he is tickles my whole body and stomach. —Some small stairs come, go down carefully, that... His grip is firm, careful and restless. I don't know why, but it seems to me that Constantine is a little nervous about keeping one of his hands on my hip and the other firmly gripping my left hand. Constantine stops and I follow. -We arrived. "Where are we, Constantine?" I sound desperate and annoyed. Constantine laughs at it and I just roll my eyes. Definitely behind these bandages I can't see anything at all. "You'll see, precious." Hearing him say "precious" makes me blush without being able to avoid it. Constantine moves and perches behind my back, to untie the blindfold, and it's only right now that I'm most desperate to know where the hell I am. I feel the knot coming undone but Constantine still hasn't pulled the blindfold all the way off my face and he's keeping just enough force to avoid hurting me. "Are you ready?" he asks me. -Yes, damn, yes! "You're very restless, Stella," he whispers in my ear before letting go of the blindfold. What is displayed before my eyes is impossible to believe. It seemed like a dream, a hallucination, a delirium, but he didn't believe it was true. On the other hand, I wanted to dismember a demon that would surely cut my throat in 0.1 seconds. Right in front of me, there was a gigantic three-story house, sky blue, white and beige, with windows on the second floor, where you could see a nice living room, maybe a library... "Fuck," I mutter. I was shocked. And annoying. Constantine was next to me and I turned immediately, to look into those enigmatic blue eyes with my enraged hazel eyes. "I will not leave my house. My home, for this, Constantine, is very nice of you, but... Constantine cups my face in his big hands, cradling my cheeks for a closer look. My pulse races and I turn red as a tomato. With this closeness to his eyes... damn, it was impossible not to get nervous. "They live in a pigsty, excuse me for saying it in such a crude way, but it's more expensive to renovate than to buy, so I did it for you," he snaps with his soft, thick voice. It makes my heart clench but the harsh truth is, it's a precious gift, for you and your family. I strongly inhale air, so as not to drop the tears that want to fall. I feel... Grateful? Happy? Outraged? Outraged why, are you stupid? Damn problem with the voice in my head. I kept breathing heavily to control my emotions. Constantine is still waiting for an answer from me, something, but I really don't know what to say to a demon that's being nice to me so I'll give it back. "It's a very big house for four people," I mumble, letting out a nervous and forced laugh. "It's perfect for you," he says to convince me. Perfect for Mary and Owen, I designed their rooms, it has a pool, a large patio for... —You designed what? —Their rooms, what they like. I open my lips in shock. "Why are you doing all this?" Constantine shrugs his shoulders and looks away. "I don't know, Stella," he whispers. "May I see... the house?" "It's yours." He takes my hand and places the house keys in my palm. I swallow. "Constantine...fuck." I give up, accepting the key in my hand. My heart is beating fast, with excitement and some rejection. "How many hours are you from town, Constantine?" "Ten minutes, Stella," he mutters, walking toward the house, and he expects her to follow. -That?! I swore I counted more than an hour! Damn. I hear Constantine laugh and follow along. Well, apparently I exaggerated, but that's what it felt like to be in that car next to Constantine, not knowing where the hell I was going. "I'm sure you were asleep, Stella," he mutters, and he may be right. —Maybe. You woke me up very early. Maybe it's still ten or nine in the morning, maybe my mother wonders where I got myself into without warning—I say the last thing with some annoyance. A fight awaits me at home. —Oh Stella, calm down, and look at your new home—she smiles at me. Constantine smiles at me and it's impossible not to melt at that sweet smile he gives me. "Me alone?" Why don't you come with me?—I invite, tipping a shy smile. "Do you want me to come with you?" -Why not? "Because ever since I saw this house and the main room I imagined inappropriate things, to be honest, Stella, I'd better stay outside." His sudden confession has made my cheeks and my whole face explode with embarrassment. This time my heart seems to want to get out of my chest. Damn. That was an insinuation, a confession, which to tell the truth, caused me shame and intrigue. Maybe, he left me wanting to find out what impure thoughts went through his head, and maybe... Damn. Constantine turned me on at all costs, I had to accept it, he's hot, handsome, and with bloody heart-stopping eyes that didn't stop intimidating me and trying to cajole me. Constantine was a fucking danger. I bite my inner cheek. He wanted to say something inappropriate, morbid. But she didn't know what. He didn't want to ruin a moment when he felt like there was strong sexual tension in the air. "Why don't you explain to me in the room what improper things those were?" *** "Thank you for bringing me back," I say, placing a kiss on his beard. -I had to. She couldn't leave you alone there—Constantine rolls his eyes—, in two days the moving truck will come, pack the most important things, Stella, we'll see you soon. He turns around but I stop him, grabbing his arm. "Don't you want to come by and get something to eat?" I offer, shy. Although you shouldn't feel shy after what happened. "I'm not hungry right now, Stella, but thanks." He slips out of my grasp and I frown. See you, call me anything, okay? Say hello to your mother and the children. And so, he ends up turning around, getting in his car and leaving. I don't know, but Constantine suddenly got weird. Had something happened? Had he done something wrong or something that made him uncomfortable? Well I don't think so. Constantine was sincere and direct. I don't think he was for me. Without further ado, I turn around and enter my home since I was five years old. The home he would leave in two days. A change would not be a bad thing, leaving the bad vibes here, envy, the bad times we spent here... it would be very good to move and really start again. Two naughty little ones come up to me hugging me tight, and asking me how it went with Constantine. These two children are very intelligent, mischievous and gossipy. "He gave me a surprise and for you, where is mom?" I ask. "She's baking chicken pot pie!" Mary squeals happily and runs to her room. Owen may be playing with the Nintendo Switch Constantine gave him in his room. Since he has it, he leaves his room to eat, bathe, eat again and almost to see how his twin sister is, Nintendo has become a vice for him or perhaps his love in videogame. Anyway, I'm glad he's happy. "Mommy, I'm here!" Uhmmm, it smells delicious—she exclaimed entering the kitchen. I watch her hum a song and chop vegetables. "Where were you, Stella?" His way of being sometimes scares me, for example, asking questions and going straight to the point. "I was with Constantine, Mom," I said, sitting on a stool across from the table. She turns around and arches an eyebrow mischievously. I can't help but turn red. He... I clear my throat when I see Mary listening. "Mary, could you go up to your room?" Your sister and I will talk about something private—asks my mother and Mary politely nods and leaves the kitchen. It's too quiet. She hadn't even heard when she came down from her room, nor her footsteps heading here. Anyway. I was about to tell my mom about the new house. "He what, honey?" My mother turns around and continues chopping vegetables. I pull the house keys out of my coat and hit them, so they ring, just like that, I put them on the table, getting my mother's attention. Immediately her sight flies to those keys. "What is that, Stella?" And he approaches, to take them and examine them with his eyes. "A house, Mom," I blurt out, just as she does. From the impression, he drops the keys on the table and his face is a total poem. "What do you mean a house?" We can't accept a house, Stella! I frown. "I can't, you mean," I correct. And yes I can. It's... it's a gift mom, we'll leave here Wednesday at noon.

"I'm not leaving our home, Stella," he refuses and I bite my lip. —We live among cockroaches and insects, mother! The house has been dirty for years, without maintenance, the pipes are bad, everything is bad here!—I yell loudly, so that he comes to reason—. The house needs a remodel, but right now I can't afford it and Constantine bought it for us," I finish by saying. His eyes are watering. He turns his back on me, to watch the chicken pot pie in the oven, and pulls it out, my gut roaring with hunger. "You're right, I... I'm sorry." "You don't have to apologize mom. "That man is being kind to you, and kind to us, but it's too much and... it's impossible for me to accept it too," he murmurs and I wrinkle my face a little. He's being nice about what we'll have. Not because it is born to him. Or that's what I think. "Yes, I understand you, mom." I approach her and start helping her with the food. You have to pack the most important things, okay? And tomorrow we'll go shopping, you and me, just like old times. I make her smile and her beautiful smile full of happiness infects me. I do not hesitate to give you a hug full of peace and happiness.

STELLA Today was Wednesday. And I was watching Constantine along with another boy, they loaded the boxes that we had packed with clothes, souvenirs, dishes, sheets, utensils, food, and a little more. I was also looking at my mother who seemed to cry to the small garden in front of her, but if she knew that we had a new house with a big piece of land, those tears would not even be remembered. I'm sure the little front yard doesn't either. I liked seeing her dressed like that. My mother was young, she had me at 20 along with my father who was also the same age and then she had my brothers at 32. Today she is 45 and her face still looks young. Just careless. But I would take care of that later, I would make my mother shine and focus on her now. Anyway, she was wearing a red panty made of soft fabric, with a white jacket and red heels. I combined it perfect. I bought her some pearl earrings and a pearl necklace too, she looks gorgeous. "I don't want to leave my home, Stella." She rests her head on my shoulder. I listen as she sniffs at hers and I bite my cheek. —Oh mommy, we'll come when the house is ready—lies, I still won't have anything done, maybe in two years I will. "How much would it be?" "I don't know mommy. They will completely knock it down. I play sad. But the truth is that I felt excited and that reason was because of Constantine, who was making my life happy by seeing my little brothers happy. Also my mother, of course, but she still didn't show that she was, but deep down, she knew that she was. I sighed when the door was closed for me and put the keys away. It was the end, we were moving. I turned around and looked at Constantine who was right in front of me. -That? In between I closed my eyes suspiciously. Constantine tipped a smile that I found both creepy and cute. "No, nothing." He shrugged. Let's go? -I think so. He turned around and started walking. I followed him later, and as I was about to get in the car, I took one last look at the neighborhood that was disappearing, I took one last look at the house where I had grown up. And I realized that to start over you have to leave things in the past. But the memories, the memory, would keep him present. I got in the passenger seat, and my brothers bombarded me with questions. "Stella!" Tell us please! -Yeah! We want to know where it is and what it is like! "Kids, leave your sister alone and stay still," my mother snapped, and they immediately fell silent. "I want the biggest room!" Owen exclaimed. I laughed and rolled my eyes. The way to the new house was extremely short. We passed through the city until we reached the urbanization where we would live now. Owen and Mary gaped at seeing beautiful, luxurious and big houses, while my mom was without saying a single word. She watched silently. I don't know why, but I felt very nervous. Constantine pulled up in front of my new house, and he got out before us to help the boy from the moving truck with the boxes. -This is beautiful! I love it! Can we go down now?!—Mary yelled, looking excited at the house in front of us. I laugh internally. -Mother? She was in some state of shock. She was staring at the house with her mouth half open from the sure shock. On her face there was a trace of recent tears and her eyes were still full of water. My heart clenched seeing her like this. "I...can't...believe it," he blurts out word for word. Is... "Lovely," I finish for her. He didn't know if it was what he was going to finish saying or what, but it was. I got out of the car, and soon my brothers did too, running straight to the house without a care. I opened the door on the side where she was and invited her to come down, she accepted my hand and went down carefully, her hand was sweating and trembling very gently. He perched next to me, still watching the house. I kept taking her hand from her, and I began to walk directly with her, so that she would know her from the inside of her. My brothers had turned around and were surely looking at the pool. I take the keys out of my jeans, and open the front door. My mother enters before me, she walks slowly watching the whole place in silence, she doesn't say a single word and it terrifies me. Seeing the place again makes me shudder, I saw the living room with its matching furniture, the glass table in the middle, the fireplace turned off, the television that covered the size of the fireplace above, the windows that let view of the pool, the children sitting on the edge of it with their feet in and splashing water, that scene made my heart feel very happy and comfortable. When I walked in here with Constantine, I couldn't believe my eyes. He looked so unreal and magical that it was hard for me to understand that my life had already been restored, that I was no longer upside down, but well focused thanks to him, the demon that listened to me that night. My mom lay down on the black sofa, crossed her knees, and ran both her hands over her face. -Everything is alright? -Everything is fine? perfectly? Everything looks good, Stella. He beckons around us. And I get it. -Do you like it? He seems to doubt it. "I don't know," she yells, "I'm not used to this luxurious life, Stella. I wince. "Me neither, Mom." We snort at the same time. "Constantine is very... good to you." I see her half smile. That makes me feel a little bad. Because he's being nice to me for his benefit and mine. -Yeah... We hear quick footsteps and from one moment to the next my brothers are inside the house looking everywhere, watching her. -Is beautiful! I love it! "The pool is so cool, Stella!" Mary exclaims happily. Owen walks over to me and I stroke his hair. I touch his nose with my finger, pooping and making him smile. "Can we go see the rooms?" he asks me. "Sure, come on. Constantine designed them for you. "For us?" Owen frowns. "How did you get all this?" Mary pouts. Smart. We stop in front of the stairs. "Well, I'm your... "Partner," his voice sounds behind me. —Partner, yes, that. Owen and Mary shrug their shoulders and point up the stairs. "Come up with no problem, okay?" It is already our house. I wink at them and they run happily, but halfway up the stairs they stop and turn around. —Thanks Constantine!—they exclaim at the same time and next up. I let out a very long breath. -Thank you. Constantine tips an amused smile. "What were you going to tell them?" "Honestly, I don't know. Ah, I was going to tell them that he was your assistant, but on second thought... "Sounds really bad, Stella," he finishes for me. Seat. Is right. Sigh. I put my hands in my back pockets and take a close look at Constantine Agatone. I think he does the same with me too. -And good? What does your mother think of the house? I start to walk into the living room at a slow pace and he follows me. Upon arrival, she was not there. "Actually, she doesn't even know." We are not used to Constantine luxuries, and for my mother this is a lot. "They'll get used to it, honey." Darling. "He says you're very good to me," I laugh, making my body vibrate. I stop laughing when Constantine has cupped my cheeks and brought his face very close to his. I can almost feel his breathing. My heart begins to beat like crazy and the nerves invade me. -What are you doing? "I'm good to you, Stella. It sounds sincere, it really does. But it is impossible to believe it. He wouldn't believe her. Not yet. "You haven't given me facts." He raises his eyebrows for the first time since I've known him. "You want facts, Stella?" "I want... I want you to not be doing this just for sex.