Moonlight Bay ━━ 𝘑𝘈𝘊𝘒 𝘋𝘈𝘞𝘚𝘖𝘕.

three

three;

THE NEXT DAY, JANIYAH MET UP WITH JACK AT THE SAME BENCH AGAIN. She had no idea he'd be there, but she was glad to have found him because he promised to teach her to draw a little. When she sat next to him, he'd already been working on the finishing details of a drawing. This time, it was an elderly couple, looking out into the ocean, holding each other's hands. Once again, Janiyah was amazed by how well he captured the scene.

"So what do you want to draw?" Jack asked just as he finished his work. He flipped to another page on his sketch pad and turned his attention to J.

Looking around the deck, she thought of what she could do, something simple... "How about that man walking them dogs?" she pointed at the man who had two dogs on a leash, Poodles both of them, one black and one white. Their lives are probably three times fancier than mine... That's when one of them started to take a crap.

"Ah, yes, that's our reminder so we know where we rank in the scheme of things," Jack said, then handed Janiyah his sketch book and the crayon. "Well, we better get started before they leave."

They spent about half an hour on the drawing. The man and the dogs left after about five minutes, but luckily they had the sketch already so the rest of the drawing had to be from memory. Janiyah did struggle through most of it, she'd never had any experience in drawing. But that's what Jack was there for.

Sometimes she just couldn't seem to get a certain detail right, only for Jack to come in, taking her hand and guiding it so she could get it perfectly. "Jack, you make it look so easy," she said as they finally completed the drawing. With the help of Jack, it turned out pretty nicely, but Janiyah knew it wouldn't have turned out very great without him.

"Just practice and you'll get better," he told her, taking back his sketch book and crayon. Taking another look at the drawing, he added, "I like it. I'm keeping it."

"Why? I mean, I know we had a deal but it's not nearly as good as any of your drawings."

Jack looked back into her eyes, "So I'll have a memory of you when the ship docks and we never see each other again."

She smiled, her cheeks beginning to tiny a light pink. Wait, am I blushing? Janiyah never blushed with men, this was just... different. "Then what will I have as a memory of you?"

Thinking about it for a second, he said, "I don't know. I'll think of something." For a moment, Janiyah got caught up with his blue eyes, only for Jack to break the silence. "So I'm having dinner with the first-class tonight. Wanna be my date?"

Janiyah laughed, "You expect me to believe that?"

Jack shrugged, "Like I said, you're just gonna have to trust me."

Everyone's attention turned to a woman who'd just walked upon the poop deck, obviously from first-class. She wore an expensive dress, red, curly hair under her flamboyant hat. She seemed to be looking around for someone... who was she looking for?