We drove to Kayde’s home in silence, I could tell he wished I would talk to him, but didn’t want to bother me, or force me to talk before I was ready. His hand never left mine, and every chance he got to glance at me, he would. It was obvious that he was worried about me, and curious about what happened. I knew I’d talk to him about it once we got to his house, but I really wasn’t quite ready to delve into my feelings, both at the time of the incident and after the incident as well.

When we finally got to his house and pulled up to the curb, I was so deep in thought that didn’t even realize that the car had even stopped. I didn’t realize Kayde had gotten out of the car until he was on my side of the car and had opened the door. I looked up at him in a daze and wondered what he was standing there for.

“We’re here, let’s get inside, ok Phee?” He prompted me, gently.

I reached to my left and unbuckled the seat belt and leaned over to grab my purse. Kayde took my hand and helped me out of the car and we walked to the front of his house with his arm around my waist in such a way that I wasn’t sure if he was guiding me, holding me up, or if he just wanted to have his arms around me. Either way, it didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to get inside and warm.

Kayde opened the front door and reached in, flicking a light switch next to the door and then letting me walk in. I walked through the door into a beautifully decorated house. The majority of it seemed to be Native American art, with some Asian accents. He also had some lovely art that I couldn’t quite figure out where in the world it would have originated, but was absolutely breathtaking.

“Kayde, your home is absolutely beautiful.” I said so softly that it was more to myself than to my boyfriend.

“Thank you, love.” He answered, his hearing better than expected. “Are you warm enough? I’m sure I have a sweatshirt or something. I mean, it may be big, but if you’re cold…”

“No, thank you, but I’m fine. It’s plenty warm in here.” I answered. “Where did you get all of this art?” I asked him as I wandered through the hallway looking at some of the paintings.

“Well, most of them came from my mother. My parent’s left everything to me in their will when they passed away.” He told me.

“There is one that I’d like you to see though.” He said as he pulled me towards the back of the hallway. “This one, I painted a few months ago.” He said as he opened the door to a room at the end of the hallway.

Behind the door was a small room that had been converted to an art studio. In the middle of the studio was an easel with a canvas that was covered in reds, oranges and yellows. It took minute for my eyes to get accustomed to the darkness, but when they did, what I saw on the canvas, in its full detail, absolutely amazed me. I saw myself, naked, sitting atop a flaming bird that could only be called a phoenix. My skin was red, with a light hint of orange flames behind it, or maybe a better word was under it. My hair was flowing behind me, bright orange. I looked at Phil shocked that he could paint something so intricately detailed and beautiful.

“I told you, I’ve been dreaming about you for months.” He said, sheepishly “This is how you look when I see you in those dreams. Ever since Flora and Syle mentioned that there was no way to know what your specialty was, I knew that this was it.

“When things happened the way they did tonight at the restaurant, I knew it was you.”

“Can we go sit down?” I asked him softly.

“Yes, let’s go in the living room” He answered, as we left his studio.

Kayde took my hand and closed the door behind us and we began walking back down the hallway. I admired all of the artwork in the hallway and saw that a few pieces seemed to be styled similarly to the painting I had seen in Kayde’s studio. As we got into the living room and sat down on the couch, I realized how talented Kayde truly was.

“Kayde? Did you paint some of the stuff in the hallway?” I asked him quietly.

“Yes, I’ve been painting since I was very young.” He answered “The only thing I wanted for my fifth birthday was water colors. That was when my parents decided to change the office into a studio for me.”

“They’re so beautiful.” I told him. “I mean, you could really make some great money with those, I’m sure.”

“Actually, I already do. That’s why I don’t have much hanging around here.” He told me as a slight flush rose to his cheeks.

“Phee? Earlier, in the restaurant?” Kayde asked me “Did you do that on purpose? I mean, the way the flame of the candles leapt up like that? The way the fire in the kitchen started at the same time? Why did you do that?”

“Of course I didn’t do it on purpose!” I told him “Why on earth would I do something like that on purpose? It was just because of the way my dad was ignoring me. I tried to keep myself from crying and letting him hurt my feelings, but it just made me so mad!”

I could feel myself getting upset again and instead of letting my anger rise, I looked at the detail of Kayde’s fireplace instead.

“Does he do that a lot? Hurt your feelings, I mean?” Asked Kayde, referring to my father.

“Not on purpose, he just gets so… Ugh!” I said, feeling exasperated with my father and his grudge against my grandparents. “He can just get so defensive, or offensive, or… He just acts like a complete jerk anytime my grandparents are involved in anything!”

Shockingly to both Kayde and I, the log in his fireplace burst into flames.