Trickster

"I hate this place," said Lisa to herself. "It gives me the chills."




It was around three AM. The hospital was barely inhabited by a handful of

nurses and interns. She had no one to talk to except for an old man, probably

in his sixties. He held a picture with his wrinkly spotted hands and kept

saying in a very low voice, "Please be alright, Helen, and please be alright."



She had only thrown on a large burgundy flannel coat and was still dressed in

her pajamas. She compulsively went through her pocket and had some change, her

car keys and her smartphone.




The reek of disinfectant made her feel uneasy, "Don´t die on me, Adrian!"




And how could the world such a beautiful and talented little thing like him?




Unsure of the outcome she felt the need to call her mother who lived back in

Elyria.




"I´m really scared," she began. Nervously she passed her fingers through her

raven silky hair. "I don´t wanna lose him."




"Oh, dear," said Mom in a rather upbeat tone, "What can I say? From what you´ve

been telling me I think he truly wants to die."




"Please don´t say that!" she cried, "You´re supposed to make me feel better."




"I never wished anybody any harm, so help me Jesus but if he makes it out alive

he will need some kind of professional help. You can´t carry this cross all by

yourself."




"You´re probably right; I´m just trying to find out why he would do something

like this. I know how he can be under a lot of stress sometimes but this is

bullshit."




"It´s late but think about what I said for the moment. That boy has always been

a bad seed but who are we to judge?"




"Please don´t tell anyone about this yet, okay? We´ll deal with this."




"Who´s "we"?"




"Me and him. Thanks anyway; I love you, bye."




Lisa, Lis for short revisited the events of the previous night in her head.




Most of the time she took for granted that Adrian worked late inside his studio

in private. But this time she noticed something wasn´t going quite right; he

had a sad look in his eye all day and skipped dinner.




"Is there something troubling you?" she remembered asking.




"No," he said in a low raspy voice, "I´m just exhausted, that´s all."




"Well then go to bed."




"I´ll be upstairs soon."




Though he never said when.




She received a disturbing text message on her phone that said,




"Help me, I´m in Hell!"




And by the time she went back downstairs Lis found Adrian passed out on the

floor and had traces of blood on his mouth and his hand.




She was beginning to get bored and decided to check the weather on an app,




38 degrees and cloudy.




"Great," she said in a lethargic manner, "at least it´s not raining."




It was the beginning of November and it looked like the winter would come in

late for New York. Though these last months of the year seemed pleasant a

snowstorm would hit by January.




December would be a busy if not chaotic year. Besides the usual hustle and

bustle for the holiday season Lis was only interesting in delivering a new set

of paintings with Adrian for a yet untitled solo exhibition. They had been

working together all year.




It could have been the enormous amount of stress that drove him down a path of

abusive behavior but Lis knew him best.




"Why is he doing this again, why?" she thought. Then she pictured that moment

when doctor would come out with the diagnosis and started asking all kinds of

uncomfortable questions.




She had become his partner in crime through the years and sooner or later no

matter where or how he would get caught like a helpless little rabbit.




Except that this one was naughtier.




Suddenly Lis received a call from Daniel; the other roommate.




"Hi, what´s up?" she said timidly.




"The house is empty. Is Adrian with you?" he said desperately.




"Yes. We´re at the hospital, Saint Vincent...he wasn´t feeling well. I´ll

explain later."




"Oh gosh, is it something really serious?"




"I don´t know; it´s too soon for a diagnosis. Don´t worry; he´s strong, he´s

gonna make it."




"I think you already know what it is, you just won´t admit it."




"We´ll deal with that as soon as I get home, alright?"




"Fine! Don´t take it too personal. Take care."




The senior couldn´t help overhearing and asked very politely to the girl, "Is

everything alright?"




It was very evident that she was sounding desperate and she was to blame now.




"Um, yeah," said Lis wiping the tears from her brown eyes, "I´m just having a

hard time coping with this problem."




"First time here?" he said.




"Yes," she said as she sat closer to the man. The moonlight that went through

the tall windows made it easier to see each other. He wore a beige coat and had

a thin green scarf around his neck. He smiled with ease.




"The name´s Joe," he said as he shook her hands, "and yours?"




"Lisa but my friends call me Lis. It´s pretty catchy."




"Well, this is the tenth time I´ve been here in the last three months. My wife

has lung cancer."




"I´m very sorry to hear that," she said.




"That´s alright. She´s been in chemo for a while and apparently she has

improved but she had a relapse."




"Oh."




"She´s taking it rather well. She´s a fighter, I can tell. Helen is stronger

than me," he coughed.




"I hope everything turns alright in the end unlike my friend..."




"If you don´t mind me asking what did he do?"




Lis took a deep breath, "He vomits frequently and not because he´s sick. He

does it on purpose."




"You mean to say he´s one of them kids with eating disorders?"




"Perhaps. I just don´t want to come to that conclusion. I thought he was

smarter than that, you know. Now they´re making me feel responsible for his

reckless behavior."




"You can play the blame game for as long as you want but the problem will still

be there."




"And that means it won´t solve anything, right?"




"He has to recognize he has a big problem and just solve it. That´s what life

is all about."




"Thank you so much."




It was way past four in the morning. Joe was gone and Lis wished him well. She

went to the vending machine using the few pocket change but it only had black

coffee and she hated it all the way.




"Serves you right," she said in a low voice.




Finally a slender Indian man came out of the ward and found Lis.




"Sorry to keep you waiting so long," he began, "are you a friend, relative,

girlfriend of Mr. Black?"




"Yes, no, I´m his girlfriend," she said hoping they wouldn´t ask her more

intimidating questions.




"Listen. We had to make some tests if you don´t mind. Were you aware that he

was already ill?"




"No, he never told me that but I did notice some changes in his behavior.

Nothing really big."




"It doesn´t matter. He´s come down with a condition known as esophagitis. It´s

an inflammation that can cause pain of difficulty swallowing. He hasn´t been

taking any medications, known allergies?"




"No; he´s always been very healthy except that he gets very nervous every now

and then."




"He´s stable now," he continued, "He was dehydrated and he´s being treated with

antibiotics to avoid any infection. We´ll see how he responds to that and if

everything goes well he should be out in a few days."




"Can I see him now?" she asked patiently.




"Sure, I just need you to sign some papers."




Adrian was in a separate and small room with a view of the street. It was a

little drafty but she didn´t mind.




He was turning twenty nine the following January; he was a quite androgynous

goth boy with long jet black hair that went down to his shoulders, big

expressive hazel green eyes, pale skin and fleshy rose lips. He was skinny

alright but this time he took it way too seriously.




She took a seat and squeezed his hand.




“Hey, big guy,” she said nervously, “it´s me, Lis. You´re gonna be fine, I

promise. I just don´t want you get hurt. It´s just that there´s something truly

horrible that´s getting the best of you and I can´t compete with that. You´re

so beautiful not only on the outside but on the inside as well. You don´t

really need to change for anyone. Please wake up!”




“Lis…” he said in a lower voice.




Her eyes peeled and she smiled with ease, “Yes, yes it´s me! Oh my god, I was

so worried.”




“What´s going on? Why am I here?”




“Um,” she said in a slow pace, “they had to bring you here because you were

really sick.”




“Oh that,” said Adrian rolling his eyes, “I didn´t mean to scare you with that

message. I was in a lot of pain.”




“I know, I know!” she cried.




“I had this dream and it seemed quite familiar and real."




“Don´t try to move too much.”




“How long am I gonna be here?”




“No more than a week.”




“Fuck,” he said.




Listen, I´ve been discussing this with several people and you need help. This

thing of yours has a spiraled out of control. Sometimes I wonder if I´m who´s

putting you under a lot of pressure.”




“It´s not you, it´s…” he gasped.




“Hey, it´s okay; just breathe in and out, slowly,” she said as she pressed his

hands. “Whatever it is we need to fight it. As soon as we finish this show you

promise you´ll find professional help, deal?”




“Deal.”




“The doctor will be here in a few moments to talk to you in private. Just be

honest; it´s much easier. Don´t be scared, you´re not the first one who´s had

this problem. In the meantime I´ll pick up a few things from home. Is there

anything else you need?”




“Thanks but no; you´ve done enough.”




“I´ll think of something.”




It was almost eight in the morning and the streets were somewhat crowded. Lisa

took a quick cab to the building down Mercer Street. She lived with Adrian and

Daniel on the last floor which several studio lofts; an area reserved usually

reserved for artists.




A part of her felt relieved but another had some unfinished business.




The caretaker welcomed her as she reached the lobby, “Good morning, Miss

Summers. Up so early?” he asked politely.




“Yeah, I had a little emergency, that´s all,” she said as she shook her coat.




“I just arrived but apparently there was a report to 911 in the middle of the

night.”




“That would be me!” she raised her hand.




“Is Mr. Black alright?”




“Yes,” said Lisa nodding. “He´ll be fine; he´s just needs to take it easy from

now. Sometimes he works too hard and he has no schedule so you can imagine

that.”




The middle-aged man laughed, “Yep, he is a bit, how do you say, eccentric?”




“But he´s human after all.”




“Have a good day, Miss!”




“You too, Leo!”




She wasn´t expecting Daniel to be awake at this time since he was a vampire

himself. The guy was a notorious model and frequently took Adrian to his wild

parties.




She wanted to avoid him but it seemed that one mishap lead to another and the

day was just beginning.




A tall, buffed, slightly tanned twenty-year old with a Mohawk walked in as she

entered the foyer.




“Girl, what happened? What´s going on with Adrian?” he said as he hugged her.




She went speechless because she was practically fed up and didn´t know where to

start. “Take a seat because things are not gonna get pretty.”




“I told you so,” he said. “You didn´t want to see the truth but I did. It was

so evident!”




“And why didn´t you do anything about it, huh?”




“I told him a million times he was going down a road straight to Hell but he

wouldn´t listen.”




“Why is he doing this? I don´t know him anymore; he´s like a lost soul

floating around and the only proof that he exists are his erie paintings."




“Let him explain to you all the nasty details. I swear this has nothing to do

with you.”




“Oh gee, thanks! You just gave me something to chew on besides my usual

responsibilities. Is there any other nasty secret you´re keeping from me?”




“Lis, come on; it´s not like you own him!”




“But he´s my best friend, remember? This is something very delicate; it´s not

like having the flu. He could have died.”




“Maybe he didn´t tell you because he didn´t want to hurt you.”




“Ok, I´m starting to sound bitchy now. I need a break. Please lock up if you go

out. I´ll be at the hospital for a while.”




She felt the need to go back to the studio which looked at that moment like the

scene of the crime. Adrian´s phone laid by the couch and it was partially

stained with blood. When she went for something to clean it up she found a red

faux leather sketchbook wide open in his desk.




“He could have been working on some new sketches,” she thought, “but he didn´t

tell me that either.” So she decided to take it along.




“I need some real food,” she said. The kitchen area was close to the studio so

she went straight in to turn on the coffee maker; dark roasts were her usual

poison. In the meantime she showered, put on some leggings and simple grey

blouse.




As she cleverly managed to unlock Adrian´s phone she noticed that he didn´t

finish an update for the last six hours and felt the need to send it. There was

something odd; the text message he had sent to her phone went some minutes

before and by the time she came downstairs he was lying on the floor. So

apparently he was about to post this,




“I´m a rabbit in your headlights, scared of the spotlight, you don´t come to

visit, I´m stuck in this bed.”




Sometimes Adrian used them as references for his paintings which had the

element of the rabbit in them. She preferred to ask him for permission to post

that later since it could be misleading.




“I hardly remember why I put this but it´s quite harmless,” said Adrian, so he

posted it anyway.




He was in a much better mood and smiling. The sun was already up and it was

almost ten AM.




“It´s part of a song; it doesn´t mean anything in particular. I just like the

way it sounds; imaginative and mind-blowing. What do you think it means?”




“Considering today´s events it could be something to get really concerned

about,” said Lis.




“It´s art, it´s an open question mark. Who wants to know the truth? You should

already be familiarized with interpretation.”




“Yeah,” she said gloomily, “I suppose they already explained to you about your

illness.”




“That is correct. When we started talking more about it he said part of the

problem comes from my mother´s side."



“How?”




“It´s all psychosomatic. It´s weird what fear can do to your body. I was

tearing myself apart."




“But what´s so stressful about what you do? You weren´t like that.”




He sighed and rolled his eyes, “You seem like a nice girl but you´re a bit

naïve.”




“Well I´m only twenty-five!” she cried."Why so much build up with this? Even

Daniel made it sound mysterious."




“It´s the fear of being exposed. When I was younger I tasted freedom. Things

were clearer because no one was judging my stuff. I did it for me and to escape

from the pain thus art became my biggest weapon.”




“And now?”




“Now it´s being tested against greater weapons. I´m not afraid to lose because

my work is filled with sincerity but somehow the word “pretentious” keeps

popping up.”




“Hey, I love your work!” said Lis in a more cheerful mood, “it´s still

awesome.”




“I was expecting more educated terms from you by now, Lis,” he said with a hint

of sarcasm, “awesome is something you hear from your high school friends and

uncultured people.”




“Oh, I see. Critics can be tough but it depends who you really want to impress.

I realize some of them are uber conservative but I think anything that has

enough heart deserves a chance. Who told you were pretentious?”




“I doesn´t matter,” he said. “I take those comments and sublimate them into

better work.”




“Which is a good thing, isn´t it?”




“Not if I already crippled myself while doing it.”




“Sweetie, you´re not crippled,” said Lis as she tucked him in. “What

exactly are you trying to achieve with this new collection?”




“At first I wanted respect so I got it but I´m pushing myself to do something

unique.”




“And that requires purging yourself every night, huh?”




“It gives me a sense of control.”




“It sounds like those messed up girls says when they want to look thinner.”




“What? No, that´s definitely not what I was trying to say.”




“Whatever! It sounds fucking disturbing and I cannot afford to lose you. Now

let´s see if you´re willing to eat something.”




“I can do it just fine," he said as he placed the tray, "You haven´t told

anyone else about this, right?”




“If by that you mean your folks back home? No. Probably my mom.”




“And she´ll tell my mom eventually,” he said apathetically. “She still thinks

you´re my girlfriend.”




“What a terrible lie and beautiful at the same time," she said. "How long is

that sick game of yours going to last?"



"I never thought of that."



“Don´t you wish sometimes things would have been easier for both of us?”




“No, I´d hate to be like the rest. I would feel suffocated and would have

committed suicide by the time I was thirty.”





“Why that age?"






"Oh come on, a lot of people have a life plan, do you?"



Lis paused and turned away. She didn´t appreciate that last comment and knew he

was sort of cruel sometimes so she just smiled, "Yes. I wanted to make people

happy and I´ve been doing that for quite a while."



"That´s astounding, I guess."



"Hey, I was picking up some stuff around you workplace and I noticed that this

was open."



Adrian examined the red sketchbook and turned to the last page to a drawing

that made no sense.



"We agreed to deliver twenty-two pieces but there´s an additional one right

here. "A Rabbit in Your Headlights," it says. What kind of joke is this? I

didn´t make this."



"And I suppose you didn´t write that post either? You were probably

hallucinating. Look, if you want to make another one it´s fine."



"Twenty-two is a good number. As in two times eleven."



"You´re superstitious again, right?"



"It´s called Occultism and works most of the time. This sketch is hard to make

out anyway although it could have been automatic drawing. When the spirits are

trying to use you as a medium you end up drawing this shit."



"The house is haunted?" said Lis crossing her arms.



"I´m just trying to explain the nature of things! Do you think I´m nuts?"



"No, Honey; you have a huge imagination and I absolutely adore that. Anyway, if

the twenty-two samples are ready I´ll continue with our schedule and send them

to Fiver´s assistant, okay?"


"Yeah. You know where the files are but don´t go fooling around my private

folders. You´re a curious one."


"Oh, am I really."


"Well, you already unlocked my phone; what else are you gonna do?"


"Your passwords are so easy to guess after being around you for more than ten

years." She said goodbye to Adrian and kissed him on the forehead, "Sweet

dreams."



The year was 1998 when he lived in Elyria, Ohio which is close to Lorain.


Adrian was about eleven years old. That number would follow him throughout his

life. He claimed he saw it everywhere; on his watch, on his computer. It was

just a coinicidence, nothing to get worried about until one night he had a

revealing dream.


In it he was walking down a snow covered road which surrounded the emblematic

Black River. In January it turned into a fascinating wonderland filled with

frozen cascades but it was certainly not a safe place for a kid to explore.


Some creature brought him down there; a large black rabbit with fiery eyes who

jumped and moved with ease from side to side. It finally jumped down to a hole

in the ice and disappeared. Adrian peeked into the hole carelessly and made a

horrible discovery; the body of his grandfather on his mother´s side.


It was just a nightmare and he was too scared to tell anyone however a few days

later his bad dream came true. It was less gruesome but Grandpa Joe still

passed away of a fatal heart attack. He was only sixty-five.


A part of him felt responsible because somehow he anticipated it. Ever since

then he became obsessed with Death and try to find answers on websites and

books but it only made things worse. The only reasonable cure was found in art;

to channel all those feelings into something creative. And when he wasn´t

satisfied with his creations he took them to a higher level; a reinvention, the

flower that bloomed amidst the snow, a dark mystic creature.


He had made that picture of the ugly dream he had but threw it away years ago.

Something was trying to remind him that it was still important and therefore

forced him to put in the sketchbook.


Adrian cried in silence for he hadn´t gone back home in ages, "Now I´m the one

stuck in this bed."


-------------



Those enigmatic lyrics resonated on the social networks. Soon a lot of

followers began to draw their own conclusions about Adrian´s mysterious post.


Lisa was fooling around in the afternoon around five thirty on her tablet when

she suddenly started reading all sorts of disturbing comments while other

recognized the song in a matter of seconds.


"Great song and amazing video by UNKLE!" said one of them.


"Why, what happened, bro?" said another.


"If you´re feeling blu I know how we can get cozy." said another


"Where are you?"


"There he goes again driving everyone crazy with his riddles," said Lis. She

was at small coffee shop in Tribeca where she was to meet with Edith Paige; a

graphic designer recently graduated from NYU. Lis was in desperate need for

someone to help her with overall design of the exhibition and advertising was

done several months ahead. Since Lis was very organized they were pretty much

on the final stages.


Edie was two years younger than Lisa. She had long dark hair, milky freckled

skin, bright blue eyes and a quite Southern accent. She dropped out of

Psychology and jumped into the applied arts for unknown reasons. She was

introduced to Adrian Black at a collective in Chelsea and said she was simply

charming.


She entered the shop wearing a large floral dress, long beige boots and a kind

of baby blue shawl.


"Hey!" she said giving Lis a great hug. "How have you been?"


"Oh boy..." she said as she threw her hands over her face. "I´d like to say

that this wasn´t my week but that expression is so overrated so I guess I´ll

add it to my to-do list."


"And being pessimistic is outdated," said Edie.


"Believe me it´s not."


"By the way, I read Adrian´s post and I couldn´t help following it for the last

hour; what happened?"


"Oh, nothing; he´s being doing that lately to fuck with people´s minds. Only a few know the actual meaning. I heard the plain white coffee is great here so I already ordered."


"Great. So that means that you two have a little game all worked up so this

show thing will go viral?"


"God no! That publicity is so cheap. The work speaks for itself. Okay, I may

got to Hell for this because I swore I wouldn´t tell more people but..."


"You can trust me."


"He had a little household incident and he´s in he´s been in the hospital for

the last three days."


Edie froze, "Lis, you gave a mini heart attack. What was it?"


"He´s just been under a lot of stress lately."


"Oh, I´m so sorry. Do you think we should postpone?"


Lis made a sharp look, "No, why would we?"


"That sounds kind of harsh. You don´t mind if I pay him a visit one of these

days?"


"Don´t worry; you´ll get to see him real soon. So you´ve brought a mock up of

the poster?"


"Yes, the one he chose." said Edie sipping on her coffee. "He said to keep it

simple yet raw and emotional because like you said, the work speaks for

itself."


"He also told me to stick with the Helvetica. I don´t what it is, you have a

huge catalog of beautiful fonts..."


"Actually it´s because it´s so much easier to read and less trendy," said Edie,

"he gave an entire speech about it."


"He did? When?"


"A while back."




Edie recalled the first time she went to the studio on Mercer Street. There was

music playing in the background, "Would?" by Alice In Chains. He kept his

favorite albums from the nineties of vinyl.

Know me broken by my master
Teach thee on child of love hereafter


"Come inside; I know you´re in there," said Adrian. Black was his signature

color hence the name. Besides his usual morbid attire he wore a thin black

choker; he said it focused all the attention on his neck.

He sat on his desk looking serene and tired.

"Sorry but what´s with all the darkness?" asked Edie.


Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way


"I have a slight headache," said Adrian as he rubbed his right temple. "Mortals

call it hangover."


"You´re very funny."


"And you´re very pretty, hipster pretty to be exact," he said smiling openly,

So you´re the new intern."


"That´s right!" she said as they shook hands. She noticed the worn out onyx

black nail polish on his scrawny fingers.


"Did you know that we have much in common, Edie?"


"Do we?"


"Hell yeah we do!" He breathed heavily , "We came out of the same college,"


"Oh!" she laughed, "That´s great. But you came out several years ago."


He smiled openly.


"What?"


"Nothing. You came by yourself?"


"Well, yeah, that was kind of the point, wasn´t it?"


"True. I´m only going to explain this once." He started walking towards the

room and showed her other posters that were done for previous shows and the all

had the same font; Helvetica."

"Do you know why I chose it from the start?" he said.

"It´s your trademark," said Edie. "It´s recognizable and easy to read."

"Not to mention universal," he added. "It´s everywhere and it works. Period.

But did you know Americans designers found it controversial because it stripped

the ornamentation?"

"I guess. You don´t like calligraphy fonts?"

"No. This is timeless. The chaotic part is me. The lettering is representative

of this city as well. Say you´re going down to the subway during rush hour and

you find this huge multi-colored strip of people; an effect which can be

achieved with photography. The contrast between the order and the chaos is

what´s evident in my work."

"That is so deep."

"Don´t you forget that."

"How could I?" she smirked, "especially coming from such a cute guy like you?"

"Yeah, don´t worship me; worship the art. I´m flattered anyway."




"So his presence had a huge impact on me his words were impossible to ignore,"

said Edie, back in the coffee shop.

"Helvetica for the titles it is, " said Lis,
"And for the invitations. I would have gone the calligraphic ones."

"Orders are orders."




The raven boy came back home from St. Vincent on a Friday. He felt his ego had

been slightly crushed for getting caught with this type of self-destructive

behavior. The shadow of shame pursued him for being compared to a gorgeous yet

decadent model attempting to achieve the perfect body.

He had become another statistic, another victim but he had achieved something

in the end. It was only a matter of time for others to experience it.



Through the long path of pain he finally found pleasure. That afternoon Daniel

was around and welcomed him with open arms.

"Hey, you sweet thing!" he cried, "I missed you so damn much," he said as he

continued giving a steamy open mouth kiss.

Adrian stood still.

"What´s the matter?" said Daniel in a weary voice.

"It´s just that I feel so weirded out after being away so long. I had several

fucked up dreams where I was being cut open and force-fed and shit."

"Are you sure it wasn´t real?"

"I don´t know what´s real anymore," he said as he sat down on the leather

couch. Perhaps it´s the sleep deprivation, the meds, the lousy food."

"I told you that was bad shit. I had several friends who did exactly the same

thing and then you know what happened?" said Dani. "They died. I can´t let you

go like that."

"Strange; if you don´t run away easily from things like these then I guess you

really love me."

"Of course I do." He kissed him again more passionately then he found his neck

and that was thrilling.

"Relax, you´re very tense. Let me help you with that."

Adrian stared into his lover´s eyes and whispered, "Go down on me, slowly."

"That´s it?"

He just nodded.

Daniel hastily removed Adrian´s black top and ran his tongue across his pale

chest then concentrated on his rosy nipples. This made him writhe like a snake.


"That one´s new. You never did that for me. That tongue of yours is wonderful."


"You´re getting hard, I can tell. It´s was so easy."



"Do me, suck me, suck me hard."



"You´re so delicious. Every last part of you is desirable."



"Really?"



"No but isn´t that what you wanna hear?"



"Maybe."



"Then let´s continue. Man, that is a major hard on."



"What are you waiting for?"



"I wouldn´t know where to begin, perhaps right there..."


Adrian shut his eyes firmly and gave into the moment. He always thought that no

one could really have him and they were after the idea of who he was. He said

he was like the White Rabbit; the object of Alice´s obsession. In that very

exact moment he was caught and Daniel stripped away a bit of his magic.


"Fuck. I´m coming..." he panted.


The chronic pain was gone for a few seconds like exorcising

demons. Then he opened his eyes slowly.


Adrian looked from side to side, "What did you do with it?"


"I swallowed it like a good little boy," said Daniel wiping his round lips.


"Oh man, that was really intense." Adrian pulled his pants up and laid on his

side. He began to sob.

"I´m sorry, baby, was it too much?" asked Dani concerned.

"No, actually you did so well I felt relieved. You´re much better than any

drug. I have to take them anyway. What time is it?"

"I have no idea. You hardly keep any phones or watches around here."

"They distract me." Daniel got up and went the computer to check the time but

it was locked.

"Um, password please?"

"Ah, dammit! Let me do it."

"Say, when are you gonna give me password privileges like Lis?"

"Until Hell freezes over. Are you kidding me? There are things more valuable

than you in there."

"So much for the love."

"Seven thirty. It´s time for drugs."

"I gotta go," said Daniel, "I have this event, are you sure you don´t want to

come?"

"No man, I´m drained but thanks anyway."

"I´ll see you real soon in bed."

"Lis will be home in just a few minutes so I´m good for the night."

"Take care." Daniel grabbed Adrian by his tiny waist and kissed him goodbye.

-----------


Lisa came home feeling a little uneasy for it was just the right time to help

his friend take his meds. It wasn´t that hard except when he forgot and went

directly to sleep. He also had to start eating properly for his illness

required to have something easy to swallow.

She also needed to discuss more details about the art show. She felt that they

were running out of time but it was okay. It was still an excuse to talk with

Adrian for hours. Lis loved those moments where she had control even though she

was just an assistant and a good one.

There was a staircase in the kitchen area that was connected to all of the

bedrooms, which were four but only three were occupied. They were thinking of

renting the last room but they set that for a later date in the future.

Adrian came down the stairs

"Hey, you!" she cried as she hugged him tightly.