When the Paint goes Dry

Chapter Five

I hopped of the bench filling up a glass with water and shoving it in his face and then realized I already gave him a glass as he grabbed the glass from the table and gulped it down.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He looked down at the burger and then back at me, “Did you put pickles in this?”

“Maybe?” I said trying to remember. Wait of course I put pickles in it, they were amazing.

“Maybe?” he asked.

“I did, pickles are amazing,” I said as he took of the top bun and there was a giant cucumber pickle sitting on top of a tomato. He picked it up and placed it on the side of this plate.

“I hate pickles,”

I stared at him my jaw dropping ad I realised I was still holding the glass and let go.

“Thank god I’m not marrying you,” I muttered picking up my plate. How could he hate pickles?

I looked at the beautiful green circle on his plate, would it seem too weird if I ate that, I do hate pickles going to waste.

“What?” He asked

“Nothing,” I muttered. His phone rang again and I raised an eyebrow. Popular much? The only time my phone would ring was if it was either my family, so once a week or if it was my best friend, Jenna, but she was night shift at the hospital this week and would call me on the weekend.

“What?” he snapped and I tried not to eavesdrop and focused on my burger but hey he could always go to the back room to talk.

“Look you’re meant to be doing this not me, you told me to figure out where it was and I did,”

There was a long pause and I could hear myself munching on the cucumber. Could he hear it too? God did I eat like a pig?

“No she-R-fine, but when you come you explain this shit, a week, fine, once and that’s it,”

He shoved the phone into his pocket and turned around, “Thank you but I have to go now,”

“Work?”

“Something like that,”

“Well the musical is on Sunday, eight thirty and town hall, but of course you can just tell Robert that we had a ‘lunch date,’ and it was terrible and I gave you food poisoning.” I said as he walked towards the door. He gave me a weird look before opening the door.

“Goodbye Avilia,”

I looked at the burger on the counter and frowned, what a perfect waste of a pickle. Of course I could pick it up and eat it, but what if the guy had AID or some sexual disease, I didn’t want that. I threw the food into the bin and placed the plate in the sink, nope I wasn’t going to risk it. I finished off my burger and washed my hands wiping it on my shirt when I realised, did I just spend an hour talking to him in this hideous art smock?

 *

Why was I doing this again? Oh right money.

I felt my hair being pulled and I looked at the kid on the table staring at me.

“Miss A, it doesn’t look right,” said Ethan, the ten year old who was trying to colour in the apple.

“I told you to use mild red, not scarlet red,” I said taking the right shade of red and giving it to him, “try colouring over it,” I said. He was trying to give the apple tone and was failing, but he was ten, as long as he could colour in between the lines it would be fine.

But I wasn’t complaining, his parents over paid me to teach him the basics of art, and he was a good boy. I just hated working so late. I looked at the clock, ten more minutes till I was done and I had to walk home.

I picked up a maroon pencil and helped him create a 3D effect to his drawing.

“That looks good,” I said as he finished the leaf. He smiled his face beaming with the compliment.

“Can we draw a car next week?” he asked. I frowned, he had been asking me the same thing every since we started.

“Your parents want me to teach you to draw a face next week, apparently your grandmothers birthday is coming up and you can paint her a portrait,”

He nodded putting the pencil back in the set.

“I guess,” he said.

“How about I draw a car and bring it in and you can colour it in after the lesson?” He nodded smiling again and I patted his head, I liked it when he smiled.

“Alright, see you next week Ethan,”

“Bye Miss A,” he said throwing his lanky arms round me. I smiled patting his back before standing up. I was about to go out the door when I realised he was still sitting there.

“Where are your parents?” I asked. The money usually got wired to my bank account, I got paid at the start of the month so I never saw them around the house, but I would always hear them.
“They went out,”

“Where is your nanny?” I said and he shrugged. Minnie was always here telling him off and trying now to give him too many sweets. I frowned.

“Is there anyone home?”

He shook his head and I let go of the handle and sighed looking at the time. I really should be getting home, but I couldn’t leave a ten year old alone at home. Surely that was illegal.

I sighed walking up to him, “Do you want to watch a movie?”

It was nearly midnight before Mrs Harrison came home and boy was she surprised to find me still in the house and then angry when she realised Mr Harrison had forgotten to book a nanny for tonight.

“Thank you so much for staying Ava, I know this isn’t part of your job description, I will definitely pay you for this,” she said nearly in tears.

I shook my head grabbing my bag, “No you don’t need to, I wanted to stay,” I said, they paid me enough for ‘art classes’

“He always forgets to book stuff, what would happen if some deranged person came and took him?”

I stood there awkwardly as she grabbed a tissue from her bag and blew into it loudly.

“He never listens properly,”

I shuffled on my feet, should I be saying something.

“Is everything okay?” I said against my conscious telling me to say goodnight and leave immediately. She looked up at me, her blue eyes staring into mine before she broke into sobs.

 Why am I doing this again?