CHAPTER 12: PHOENIX
1:11pm – Saturday, December 31st/2006
"Where are you taking me?" "Gee Wade, that sounds like you feel threatened by me. Do I intimidate you?" Leah replies, sarcastically giggling afterwards. Wade says, "Well, we've been driving for how many hours now? Seriously, are you actually, a murderer?" Wade's sarcastic tone is matched when Leah says, "You guessed it. Look in the glove box. If you DARE! Muah ha ha ha!" Wade looks back out the window, frustrated. Leah smiles and says, "We're almost there. It's nothing spectacular or anything. But, like, I have to keep you on your toes, Wade. Then at least you're almost the same height as me." Leah laughs, and Wade smacks her on the leg with a smirk on his face. He looks at her and says, "I'll murder you first, witch!" Leah laughs, and instantly her car starts to skid out of control. Wade grabs the handle above the passenger door, and Leah tries straightening the wheel. They end up sliding backwards along the right side of the road, and they gently come to a stop. "Are you okay?" Wade asks, staring at her frozen face. Leah looks up from the dashboard, "Yeah. Are you?" Wade shakes his head yes, and then Leah starts to laugh with her mouth closed. "What's so funny?" Wade asks, confused. Leah can't hold it in, and she bursts into laughter, hugging her steering wheel. "WHY WAS THAT FUNNY?" Wade comically yells. Leah stops laughing and says, "The look on your face, is.. the look on your face when we started.." Leah starts to laugh like a maniac and cannot finish her sentence. Wade gets mad and opens the car door, "You're a fuckin' crazy bitch." He says, stepping outside. He hears Leah continue to laugh and starts driving backwards on the right shoulder of the road, staring at him. She is making funny faces, and it is getting Wade angrier. He eventually breaks a pretend smile and yells, "Okay, okay, ha ha, can we just, go now?" He waves his arms into the air, and Leah stops the car. She makes a sad face, and Wade gets back into the car. She says, "My poor Wadey. You look so pathetic when you're mad." She looks straight at his serious face and turns the car around back on the road.
Arriving at Leah's Chalet, Wade is astounded by the scenery, "Wow, this is amazing!" He looks around the lawn as she pulls up. The snow lays a nice white blanket around the entire property. The chalet is two stories high, and it looks just like a scene from a movie. Through the big windows, you can see inside the property, and Wade asks, "How can you afford this?" She looks at him with a smile and says, "It was given to me when I moved here. My family took care of themselves very well. They left me a bunch of properties across Ontario. This one is special. I come here in the winter to paint." Wade takes another look around and says, "It's amazing."
Leah parks the car, and when she turns off the engine, she looks at Wade and says, "I'm going to paint you. Is that okay?" Wade looks at her with a timid look on his face. She laughs and says, "What? Are you afraid of being naked around me?" Wade laughs and says, "Uh, no. I, just didn't know you, did that. It's cool. I'll be your muse." Leah smiles, "Good. I'm excited to see what's inside you." Wade tilts his head back and sighs, "Okay then. That's weird. But uh, sure."
They get out of the car and bring their bags inside. Walking in the entrance, Wade's mouth is wide open, in awe at the inside of the chalet, "Wow, I can't believe you get to just, do what you want here. This is beautiful." Leah drops her bags and walks over to Wade. She grabs his head and kisses him on the forehead, "You're beautiful.. and strange." She laughs and walks over into the kitchen. Wade drops his bags beside Leah's and follows her in.
Hours later, Wade is lying naked in a chair, staring out the window. Leah is behind her canvas, painting him. Leah asks, "What colours do you feel right now?" Wade is confused and says, "Colours? What do you mean?" Leah says, "Well, the human body is an orb. We have an aura. We emit this aura, and it can be condensed to a certain colour spectrum, like if you are feeling sad, there are a lot of greys, blues, and browns. When you are happy, there are bright yellows, and pinks, and all kinds of different beautiful colours. There are many layers to our spiritual bodies, and they can be expressed in different ways. I see colours when I see people." Leah continues to brush on her canvas. Seeing Wade paying full attention, she says, "When I met you, there was only dark colours surrounding you. You had this, firey red, burning from your gut. Understandable, but most of those are gone. You still emit those here and there, but there are more colours now. So, what colours do you feel?" Wade takes a minute to think about it. He says, "When I'm alone, I think I'm red. I don't know. But, when I'm with you, I feel those other colours. I feel happy when I'm with you." Leah smiles and stops painting. She dips her brush in the red, and goes back to painting. Wade asks, "What colours do you see in me?" Leah says, "You'll just have to wait until I'm done. Just, stay naked, pretty boy." Wade laughs, and continues to stare out the window.
"There, I'm all done. Give me a minute to get us some fruit, and then I'll show you, okay?" Wade sits up and says, "Thank god! My ass hurts so bad right now." Leah walks into the kitchen as Wade stretches about the living room. When Leah comes back in with the bowl of fruit, she sits down on the couch, staring out the window. Wade asks, "Are you going to show me?" Leah nods with food in her mouth and says, "Go have a look." He walks over to the painting and stares at it. Leah says, "Tell me what you see." Wade looks confused. He looks back at her and says, "Is it done? I don't.. see where I am." She laughs and says, "Bring it here. I'll explain." Wade picks up the canvas off the easel and sits it on the table in front of her. He sits down beside her, and Leah says, "So, what do you see?" Wade looks down and says, "Well uh, I see a bunch of lines.. I see a big red fire.. I see what looks like wings? What are those?" Leah hands him a pineapple, "That's your angel. He's behind you. You are the fire, and the lines, those are the pieces of you connected to the fire." Wade studies it another minute and asks, "What is that?" "What is what?" Leah asks as Wade points to a light blue shape sitting on top of the red. She says, "That.. I'm still not sure what that is. I just saw it, and I feel like, it's there for a reason. I'm not sure what reason that is yet, but I'll figure you out soon enough." She smiles and takes a bite of an apple. Wade looks up out the window and can't help but think of his family for a minute. His mind gets lost in time, and Leah eventually says, "Wade? What's wrong?" Wade shakes his head to focus his eyes and looks at her. In this moment, Wade drops all thoughts of fear and says, "I love you." Leah stops chewing and swallows what she has in her mouth. She stares intensely into his eyes and says, "Are you hiding something from me?" Wade moves his eyes back and forth, "No? I'm just.. telling you I love you.." Leah puts the bowl down and gets closer to his eyes. Wade starts to panic that she might have figured out what he was thinking about and says, "I'm sorry, I just.. I'm sorry." Leah smiles and says, "It's okay. You don't have to be sorry. I love you too. You strange, mysterious little weird man." She kisses Wade on the lips, and Wade lays on top of her and says, "Will you marry me?" Leah laughs and says, "Oh ya! Let's get married right here, with you naked on the couch!" She laughs and kisses his neck some more. Wade lifts his upper body up and says, "I'm serious." Her smile fades, and she stares into his eyes as he's perched above her. She says, "I don't think you want that, Wade." Wade backs up off of her, and asks, "Why not? I'm sorry.. I just thought.." "Don't be sorry. Stop being sorry. I'm just.. I just don't fully even know who you are yet, you know?" She grabs the empty bowl and starts to walk to the kitchen. Wade looks back outside. He then looks down at the painting, staring at the red in the middle. He focuses on the light blue spot on the canvas, and his thoughts immediately coil into his family. He sees a shadow move across the painting and quickly looks up to the window. A large crow is flapping its wings and lands on the deck outside. Its caw is faintly heard through the glass pane, and Wade gets a cold shiver up his spine. When Leah walks back into the room, the crow flies away. "I'll marry you, Wade.." Wade turns to look at her, "What? Are you serious?" He stands up as she walks towards him. She smiles and says, "I'll marry you.. if you can honestly, never lie to me. I mean, ever." Wade's heart drops, and he hears the echo of the crow cawing through his mind. Leah stands in front of him, and he looks up at her and says, "I promise." He puts his hands on her hips, "I promise I'll never lie to you."
5:55pm – Saturday, December 31st/2006