Falling For The Biker - Chapter 59: Chapter 59

Arthur’s POV
“It’s past lunchtime. Why don’t we have some lunch?” I said, gesturing for the curtains which parted to display the table for two.
Sierra did not seem comfortable talking about it and I wasn’t planning on pushing her to. However, I cannot shake off the feeling that it had something to do with that ex-husband of hers.
I’ve only heard a little about him, but they were enough to get me riled up. Whatever he did to Sierra must have grave to get her this scared to talk about something she loved. I certainly would not be able to talk to her about it.
She did not object to my suggestion, as she gave me a smile. I led her up the platform, then pulled out a chair for her. She muttered a ‘thank you’ as she took a seat. The table was quiet as I tried to think of something to lighten the mood.
If I knew bringing that up was going to ruin the mood, I would not have. “Painting,” Sierra said with her head to her food, making me hum in question.
She raised her head, swallowing. “I like painting. I’ve always loved to paint. I love sleeping by the window so I could wake up to the sunrise and have some inspirations. I think I have a lot of those,” she said, then laughed nervously.
I stayed quiet, letting her talk. “My first few sets were always horrible. Mum and Dad told me it was the best painting they’ve ever seen. Jackson claimed it was horrible but hung it over his shelf,” she smiled. “I heard him telling my parents he did it so he could wake up to it every day. He hates the morning sun,”
She paused for a second, twirling her fork on the plate with her gaze afar. “But I grew to be better and ventured into more than drawing the sun. They were all beautiful to me…” she hesitated.
“But,” I said, urging her to continue.
She sighed. “Painting isn’t exactly lucrative. It doesn’t make a lot of money. I’m really not skilled in many other things, so I was a stay-at-home mother. I really hoped I could be some top artist later, but that failed,” she laughed.
I could tell how much pain that laughter held. “There was no point pursuing things that were useless, anyway. I could not be the rich and famous mother to my son, but I could at least give him some love only a mother could.” a few teardrops fell off her eyes as she dropped her gaze.
When she raised her head again, she had a smile on her face as she wiped off the strand of tear rolling down her cheeks. “Being an artist has been my dream, but it’s a useless thing to think about, right?” she said, finally locking gaze with me.
I could see how much she was holding back her emotions, but it was all there in her eyes. She was trying so much to hide it, but her eyes could not. “What if I told you it’s not? I ride a bike for a living,” I said.
“That’s different. You are famous and you ride so well. You rarely ever lose and you are the ladies’ man,” she said, then sighed. “My paintings aren’t so good and I’ve really accepted it. I’ll have to think of something else then.”
“But you just said you think your paintings are good,” I said.
“They no longer look good. They…” she paused, tears filling up her eyes. “they look like something a child would draw. Not many people would want to look at that.”
“Did he usually tell you that?” I asked, inquisitive. That was my best bet.
Sierra smiled, avoiding my gaze once again. I placed my hand over hers, giving it a little squeeze. Her reaction told me what I needed to know. He was the one. “Why don’t you-”
My phone buzzing interrupted me. I grabbed it out of my pocket and found Maria’s name flashing on the screen. I placed it on the table, planning on ignoring it, but then the call ended and a message came in from her.
I know you would ignore my calls. Check my posts.
I did and found a video of her with my mother. She sent another message.
What do you think would happen if I said something I shouldn’t to her? Would she be mad or would she tell your dad? I wonder which would be worse.
Then another. I’ll make you regret embarrassing me in front of the whole world, Arthur. I slept my way to the top and so what? If I go down, you will go down with me. Your little love sorry would not end well on my watch. Meet me in an hour or the videos of you confessing to Sierra would get back online.
I wasn’t sure how Sierra would feel if those videos stayed online. It was only a few minutes, but I was sure most people in the village must have gotten it. I could only bank on luck that my parents would not find out about the video, even though it was taken down.
And now she was threatening me with it. I didn’t mind it staying up, but what if it makes Sierra pull away or my father makes things worse? Could I bet on anything right now? How much was I going to lose if I go ahead with this? I placed my phone down, heaving a sigh. I tried my best to look less upset by Maria’s text messages.
I wasn’t planning on getting Sierra more upset. I raised my head to Sierra. “I want to see them,” I said.
“What? You don’t need to. It’s really-"
Before she could finish, I stood up, holding her hand and guiding her up. “I want to see the master’s artwork,” I said, leading her out of the building.