Toxic Innocence

TWENTY TWO

It was a lazy morning for Althea who stood by the window of her Living room, a sleek canvas mounted to a stand and oval palette of oil paints hooked by her thumb. Her mind swirled of millions of scenarios and concepts that she could bring the titanium white board alive with.

She grew up watching Boss Ross tutorials and digesting in his social and therapeutic teachings, so that was one of the reasons she projected into a woman who was so laid back and peaceful even when her insides tingled disastrously as certain dark haired man from the couch behind had his laser like eyes etched at the back of her head.

Dusting off the chilled obvious stare of his on her, she dipped the bristles of the thick paint brush on Thalo Green paste thus initiating her work. That did helped her mount her thoughts into them rather than of how different the air felt around her and U.

More specifically how U had been treating her after last night.

It was a battle within himself to rebel against what he had been taught so far. But when he lets his emotions carry him, he found himself thinking about the girl who he trusted.

But he couldn't trust himself with her around.

Suddenly she turned to look at him, her thin fingers curled around the stem of the brush, then she pointed it at his direction, fibers coated in gel yellow.

"Can you-" flushed she blinked rapidly, a few strands of her dry hair fell on sides from her messy top knot bun. "Can you like look somewhere else. It kind of troubles my focus when someone is watching me"

He looks away with a dense thoughtful aura clouding his features, but much to Atheas dismay he revited his attention on her. This wise it being bold and intense.

Althea sighed inwardly at his denial of her request.

"I know yesterday was fun and all" she says out feeling the need of explaining U as Glitters rubs her bushy tail on her ankle "I don't have money left on me to take you out today, If that's why you are dressed up and watching me with that look"

Swinging her hands with rigorous gestures she squints her eyes with pressed up lips.

U, with the calm of a polar bear on hibernation, which is very calm kind of calmness folds his arms by his chest, leaning subtly. A spark of something glintful in his hazel brown orbs that had never been there before. For Althea today he looked like an entire different person than the one she had been living since two months. This was equivalent to sorcery, it was an impossibility but here he was, mischeviously staring at Althea as he raised a perfect brow.

"I decline. My intention was not of that sort" Althea wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Why do you do that?" she injects U with her long awaited question that has been there since the day he spoke to her, but as of present U seem to be officially cozying up to his atmosphere and the way he had hugged her like a lost pet who finally found his owner. Althea felt the connection with him stronger than ever.

She was ready if he wanted to be friends with her.

But only was she not so naïve to the fact that he looked at her in lot more ways that one won't exactly call a friendship.

And as he tilted his head to side Althea took that as a cue to elaborate.

"You speak like those country men in old victorian Novels. Though I love Mr. Darcy I find it quite difficult to keep up with your kind of sophisticated vocabularies. My mind can't take so much in a regular day" she tapped the top her head with her knuckles. Her small head bobbed as she nodded satisfied at the delivery of her struggle.