Chapter Eleven: "Behind Blue Eyes"

Mathis takes Dani out to get her mind off of things.

Black Oval

Chapter Eleven

The sun streamed through the uncovered window.  Rolling over in the bed, I heard my soft feminine voice let out a harsh groan.  I was not sure how early it was, but at the moment I found it very hard to care.  I stretched my arms out and could not touch either end of the bed as my fingertips tried to curl around the end of the mattress that was not there.  I cracked open one green eye as I realized I was not in my queen sized bed, but instead was in a large king bed.  The bed was softer than my own, and the sheets felt soft as satin, but not a slick.  I glanced around the room and noticed I was in a canopy bed made out of dark wood, covered in a blue and silver comforter.  The nightstand beside me matched the wood of the bed, and had a very modern looking glass lamp and a digital clock that let me know it was ten thirty-two AM.
I slept in way longer than I normally would, yet I was still exhausted.  Where was I, and why did I not remember how I got here?  After studying the room for a moment and letting my head clear, I deduced that I was in one of Mathis’s three guest bedrooms; the only feminine looking one.  Why was I here?  I found myself wondering.  I sat up and noticed I was dressed in a man’s t-shirt.  I blushed as I wondered how I ended up in it, if someone else had dressed me.
I just sat there for a moment as memories from the previous night slowly came to me.  I recalled Vergil yelling at me, but I could not remember why.  He had called me a tease, a liar, and a cheat.  I recalled Davis as he ran up ready to hurt Vergil after he grabbed me.  I could remember strong arms holding me.  Reid kissing me came flashing back like a slap in the face.  His hands over my body, his mouth pressed against mine.  I pulled the covers up to my chest in horror.
I had never felt any attraction for Reid, nor did I remember him every showing he felt any attraction for me.  Never in my right mind would I kiss him.  What had happened?  I could not recall anything after that, and a lot of the in between was a blur as well. I felt hot tears fall down my face, and I crawled back under the covers.  Vergil would not forgive me for that, and I did not know how I would face Reid.  What was wrong with me?  I felt so violated, so invaded, so guilty.  
I cried to myself softly into the pillow until I started to get a headache, and the pillow was moist from my tears.  I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die.  I was not sure how long I laid there in self-pity before I felt a gentle hand touch my shoulder.
“Dani,” Mathis’s voice was soft and gentle when he spoke to me, rubbing small soothing circles on my back.
“I-I’m fine, Mathis.  I’ll be up in a bit.”  My voice was small and cracked every couple of words.  I felt completely pathetic and was embarrassed to be seen like that.
“Come on, Dani, it is time to get up.  Laying here is not going to help anything.”  His voice was not demanding, it was simply soft-spoken and gentle.  Not a tone-of-voice he ever used on my brother, instead his words caressed me like a mother would caress her babe.

I turned and looked up into his face, a light brown dusting of stubble on his face.  “What happened last night?” I asked in a voice that could be described no other way than pathetic.  “I-I don’t remember much, and what I do remember,” I let my voice trail off and buried my face into the pillow, ashamed.  I felt his hand gently caress my hair.

“None of this was your fault, Dani.  Someone slipped something into your drink, and it made you a bit loopy and almost drunk.  Nothing bad happened,” he brushed my silver blonde hair away from my face.  I must look an absolute mess.

“Vergil hates me now, that’s bad,” I told him as I looked back into his face.

A strange look was on his face then, he looked furious.  “If he is mad at you over something you could not control then he is an absolute idiot and does not deserve you.”  He visibly relaxed and took a deep breath.  “Why don’t you get up and I’ll cook some breakfast.”

“Where is Davis?” I asked, “Why am I here instead of home?”

“We brought you both back here, Davis was still drunk after we took you to the hospital so I drove everyone back here.  I told him to sleep off his hangover.”

I felt my eyes widen, “I went to the hospital last night?”  I had absolutely no memory of that.  “By ‘you both’ do you mean Reid as well?”  He nodded.  I buried my head back into the pillow.  “I can’t face him, I do not want to get out of bed.”

He kissed my forehead before speaking again, “He is not awake yet Dani, and if you do not want to see him right now, I will take you out to eat.  It’s past ten, so we won’t really find any breakfast food unless you want doughnuts.”

I looked up at him again.  He was being so nice, and getting out of the house where I did not have to face Reid or my brother right away did sound nice.  I nodded my head at him.

“Let me get dressed.”  I frowned, “Wait I do not have anything to wear here.”

“I went and grabbed some clothes this morning for you and Davis.”

“You woke up this morning and went to get me clothes?” I asked, my mind still a bit foggy from the night before, not to mention my headache.

He laughed, a full hearty sound.  “It is not like it was that far of a drive.  Come on, get up, there is a suitcase at the end of your bed.”

I watched as he left the room, then begrudgingly left the comfort of the huge bed.  At the end of the bed was an old antique chest, and sitting right on top was my pink and brown plaid print suitcase.  I unzipped the bag, and saw clothes tossed carelessly into the bag.  I could help but smile as I pulled out a pair of skinny jeans, a v-neck long sleeved peacock blue top, and four inch platform blue heels to match my shirt.  I couldn’t blame him for trying, at least he picked coordinating stuff.  Blushing a bit as I pulled out a bra and some panties, embarrassed at the thought of Mathis going through my underwear.  I noticed they didn’t match, and it looked like the stuff I had just washed.  Hopefully he just grabbed whatever was on the top of the clean laundry pile as I suspected.  I tiptoed silently down the hall with a overnight bag that I always keep in my suitcase for quick packing.

Watching myself in the mirror, I heard myself sigh.  I looked like a train wreck that happened during a hurricane.  My hands picked up my brush and combed it through my waist length locks.  I pulled it back in a ponytail after a while, giving up any hope of making my hair look decent.  I brushed my teeth, slapped on a bit of light make up, then made myself walk quickly downstairs to Mathis’s main floor.

He was standing at the breakfast bar with a cup of coffee in one hand, leaning over the bar looking at a newspaper.  Mathis was dressed in a snug fitting dark blue pair of jeans, and one of those sweater material long sleeve t-shirts with two buttons at the neck which he left open to form a tiny v-neck.  His longish tawny brown hair was fixed; if his hair were shorter the top would be spiked, but since it was longer it made this stylish mat on the top of his head.

He took a sip of his black coffee, then looked up at me with his blue eyes when he noticed me.  A small warm smile played on his lips.

“Ready?” he asked me.

I blushed and looked down.  I had been staring and he caught me at it.  I noticed my white pea coat draped over his leather couch, and pulled it on before nodding at him that I was ready.

He put on his coat, walked me to the elevator, then inserted his key card into the elevator slot.  He then punched the button for the designated floor.  

“Good evening, Nancy,” Mathis said cheerfully to the stylish brunette behind the receptionist desk, as he leaned against it.  “I have two people up in the condo, and I am not sure if they have a keycard.  If you would kindly page them in roughly an hour to check for me, I would great appreciate it.”

She smiled at him and spoke in a bubbly voice, “Of course Mr. Blackwood.  Just call if you need anything more.”

Mathis gave her a charming smile before taking my hand and leading me to the parking garage.  I noticed Davis’s mustang parked next to Mathis’s car.  He must have driven it here then took a taxi to the club last night, because I have a fleeting memory of him holding me in the back of Mathis’s limo.  I was crying, throwing up in a bag.  My face turned red with heat at the memory.  Mathis had seen that, they all had.

He opened the door to his Aston Martin for me, and I tried to forget the memory that just flashed through my head.  I slid onto the leather seats and relaxed into the comfort of his luxury car.  I sometimes wished I had a car, but it was just too stressful to drive in New York City, especially on a daily basis.  Mathis got into the car beside me, and pulled out of the garage.  He turned right onto 69th Street.

“Where are we going?” I asked him, realizing I didn’t know.

“You like Italian food, right?” He asked glancing at be briefly.

“Yeah.”

“Ever been to Il Vagabondo?”

I shook my head, “No, never been.  Is it good?”

He nodded at me.  “I’ve only had take out, but it was delicious, and it is just right around the corner.  They also have an indoor bocce court,” he informed me.

“What is that?” I asked him incredulously, “and how do you play?”  It sounded familiar, but I really could not recall what it was.

“Hm, let’s see,” Mathis started out, thinking it through.  “You can play with just two people or in two teams of two.  Each team gets four balls, and you alternate which end of the  court your throw from.  Pretty much the goal of the game is to get your balls as close to the marker, which is a large metal washer.  Only the team with the closest ball earns points that round, and if the second closest ball to the marker is also of that team, they are awarded another point, and so on and so forth.  I believe the game is played to eleven.”

I smiled enthusiastically, “Wow, that sounds really simple, yet fun.”

“Yeah, my sisters and I use to play with our cousins when we were younger,” he told me.  “My grandfather taught us and it is kind of a family tradition now.  I was really excited when I had heard of this place, but never really got a chance to go eat there.”

I smiled at him, he was such a pleasant person to be around.  I always felt comfortable around Mathis, it was almost therapeutic.  We drove a few blocked then turned right onto 1st Avenue, then turned right onto East 62nd Street.  I noticed this street had many more trees than a lot of the streets in New York.  They were still young saplings, but the foliage made me smile and felt more homey.

Mathis pulled his car over to the right hand side and parked in a parallel parking space.   I looked around and saw a green cleaners sign, but did not see the restaurant.

“Where is it?” I asked him, curiously.

He pointed, “Across the street over there, it is kind of hard to tell.”  Sure enough I saw a man standing outside in a chefs coat, apparently on break.

I would not have thought it was a restaurant from the outside; the building was so skinny.  Any restaurant that had been open as long as this one had in Upper East Side had to be good.  We walked down the small set of stairs, and I used Mathis’s arm to help steady myself in my blue heels.  He opened the black door for me and I walked into the building.

When we walked in, directly in front of us on the far side of the narrow building was two rows of tables pushed on either side of the wall to the right and left, with an aisle down the middle.  Each table was covered in a white and red plaid tablecloth that reminded me of an old fashioned picnic.  There was another area where the Bocce court was.  Then another area where I assumed must be the Bocce court.  There was yet another room sectioned off with round tables that had classy looking white table clothes that must be the dinner area or private party space.

I glanced at the bar area, which had a wooden bar top, and three bookshelves full of top shelf liquor.  The hostess took us to one of the tables with the picnic style tablecloth.  On each side of the room there were two rows of pictures lining the walls.  Each frame is filled by various people play Bocce or dining in; many of them were faces of famous people.  On the far back wall was a collage of sepia colored faces.  I really enjoyed the feel of the small Italian joint.

“This is really amazing.”  I said to Mathis, enthusiasm showing in my voice.   “Thank you so much for taking me here, Mathis.  I really needed something like this after last night.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said, a peaceful smile on his lips.  “It was a good excuse for me to finally try this place.”  He picked up his menu and started scanning the selection.

“Hello!  Welcome to Il Vagabondo.  My name is Margie, and I will be taking care of you this evening,” our cheerful middle-aged waitress informed us.  Her uniform consisted of a plain white button down, black pants, and a cropped white apron; her graying black hair pulled back in a neat bun on the top of her head.  “What can I get the two of you to drink?”

“I would like a glass of water with lemon please, and perhaps we could try the Bresola?” he asked in my direction, making sure I approved his appetizer choice.  

I glanced down at my menu to read his choice.  Cured beef with olive oil, some lemon juice, honey, and greens.  Sounded good to me, so I nodded my approval.

“And for you, hun?” the sweet lady asked me.

“A glass of tea, please,” I said with a smile.  She wrote on her notepad then sauntered away quickly to retrieve our drinks.

“The Bresola sounds alright?” he asked me curiously.  

“Yeah!” I exclaimed.  “Sounds delicious.  I’m always up for trying new things too.”

“Good,” he said with a smile.

“How are you feeling?” he asked with a little more somber tone.

I nodded at him.  “Much better, thanks.  Just a bit, hungover I guess?” I asked wondering if that was right. “An I suppose little embarrassed is all.”

“No need to be embarrassed,” he assured me.  “None of that was your fault, and trust me, both your brother and I have been in worse shape than that, and that was our fault.”  That made me feel a bit better.  “We just need to teach you how to be careful if you are planning on attending anymore parties.”

I smiled sheepishly.  “I don’t think I will be attending anymore parties like that anytime soon.  It really was not my thing, even before all that happened.”

I watched as he clenched a fist.  “I should have never left you alone.”

I reached out and touched his hand with mine.  “It wasn’t  your fault either.  You were keeping an eye out for my brother.  You can’t be in two places at once.  Besides, it’s not your job to take care of me.  If it is anyone’s besides my own, it would be Davis who should have been watching and protecting me.”

“I know,” he said, then sighed.  “But I’ve known you as long as I have known Davis, and I care about you.  I feel like you are both family.” I smiled at that.  Aw, how sweet.  “Davis can take care of himself, I should have been more concerned about you.”

“Mathis, I am okay.  You both saved me.”  I squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. I looked into his deep pools and wondered what was behind those blue eyes. Why did he feel so protective of me? I brought my hand back to my lap.  “I am worried about Vergil.”  I thought for a moment then frowned.  I watched as our waitress dropped our drinks off before saying, “Perhaps I should call him.”

I heard Mathis let out a sigh.  “I’m surprised you even want anything to do with him after how he treated you last night.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice fluctuating a bit.

“Dani, he grabbed you off of Reid, nearly threw you to the ground, then proceeded to yell at you and call you awful names.”

My frown deepened.  I sort of recalled a bit of that, but it was all so fuzzy.  “Well,” I started defensively, “I mean, I was kissing someone else.”  My voice was small and fragile to my ears.  “He just overreacted a bit, and was kind of justified anyway.”

I could hear the tension and maybe even anger in his voice when he spoke.  “Dani, no one--ever--has a justified reason for grabbing you and throwing you like that.”

I guess I just never thought of it that way.  “Oh.”  I could feel my good mood dissipate.

“I’m sorry Dani,” he told me, “I didn’t mean to upset you.  I just hate to see you treated that way when you deserve so much better.  Just please think things over before you talk to him again.”

I nodded sadly.  “I will.”

“Are you ready to order?” our waitress asked us.

“I am,” Mathis informed her.  “Are you?” he asked glancing my way.

“Um, I can be,” I told him, “You order first then I will.”  I glanced down at my menu.  I did not catch what Mathis ordered, but I ordered the Eggplant Parmigiana when it was my turn.  It seemed like everyone in my brother’s band were big Italian food eaters.  That suited me just fine, it was my favorite type of food.

I looked up at Mathis, and he had a big grin on his face.  “The Bocce court is open, want to go play a round?”

“Sure!” I said.  Hopefully this would pick my mood back up, it looked fun.  I pushed thoughts of Vergil to the back of my mind.  I planned to have fun today, and have no worries.  I didn’t want to go back to that dark place where my depression lived.  

“Okay, how does this work again?” I asked as we stepped up to the narrow clay court.

“Typically the target is a smaller ball, but since we are close to other tables they have a large washer so that no stray balls fly off and land in anyone’s spaghetti.”  He smiled at me.  “Also normally you throw the ball but here you will roll it,” he informed me.  “Basically you try to get your balls as close to the target washer as possible.”  

He picked up the giant metal washer and handed it to me.  “Would you like to do the honors and throw the washer before we start playing with balls?” he asked with a playful wink.

I felt an uncontrollable giggle escape my lips.  It wasn’t that funny of a joke, but Mathis could be charming when he felt like it.  I took it from his tanned hands and tossed the washer to the middle of the court.

“Fair toss,” he said to me.  He picked up his red ball and carefully rolled it towards the washer.

“Well dang, I don’t stand a chance if you keep tossing them that well.”  I let out another giggle.

He shrugged.  “Well, when you’re good, you’re good.”

I shook my head and picked up my first white weighted ball.  I aimed carefully, and rolled my ball just right to make it stick, yet hit his ball clear across the court.

He started at me.  “Well that wasn’t very nice,” he said, his face breaking out in a grin.

I stuck my tongue out at him and responded, “Well, when you’re good, you’re good.”

Despite my good first shot, Mathis still beat me, elven points to my nine.  It was a very fun, simple game, and I hoped we got to come back one day to play.

“That was fun!” I exclaimed to him as we made our way back to our seats.  “We will have to take a group here someday, and play in teams.”

“That we will,” he said with a gentle smile.  “Perfect timing,” he said.  Sure enough, when I looked up our waitress was bringing out our food.

Author's Note

I'd love if you leave comments! Always looking for some feedback :D

Reviews

[Bella Luna]

I love Mathis so much it hurts my heart haha He is seriously the perfect man! Poor Dani, she feels so embarrassed! I hate Vergil for treating her so bad! I want to know what he was even doing there! I still think he's being shady and cheating on her! I wonder what Davis will do to him :) I hope Dani comes to her senses and that something happens between her and Mathis XD Another amazing chapter! Absolutely loving this story!

[ashesonfire]

Well she mentioned earlier in that Chapter to Mathis that Vergil was suppose to pick her up from the party, but no worries :D Like you said he's out of the picture.

XD No worries, more Mathis and Dani fluff is sure to come. You have no idea how happy it makes me that you are liking this! :D

[Stefanie Holmes]

This is killing me!! I just want Mathis and Dani to finally get together and leave stupid Virgil in the dust!
Another good chapter.

~Stefanie

[ashesonfire]

Thank so much for your review! :D Yeah, Virgil is slime, and Mathis is such a sweetie.