Candyfloss

12 | a distraction

The living room of my apartment was cluttered with various art supplies and the occasional unfinished painting.

Just as I was preparing to apologise for the mess, I was cut off by the sound of him quietly drawing in his breath.

His eyes panned around the room slowly, absorbing every detail with clear interest.

"Woah." He murmured. "When you told me you were an artist, this isn't what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?" I asked with a laugh.

"Not this." He said seriously, meeting my eyes.

I could feel my face heating up at the compliment. "Thanks."

"Could you make one for me?" He asked, eyebrows pulling together slightly.

I stared at him, convinced that I had misunderstood.

"A painting." He elaborated. "Would you be able to make one for me?"

My eyebrows rose slightly in surprise at the fact that I hadn't misunderstood after all. "Sure." I replied. "You just have to tell me what you want in it."

"Anything. I trust your judgement." He said.

"And I don't mind waiting. That's how I know it's worth it." He finished, eyes boring into mine in a way that suggested he wasn't just talking about the painting anymore.

A silence formed, hazy with unspoken words, until a knock on the door broke through it.

"I should probably go get that." I said, thumbing in the direction of the noise.

He nodded, still wearing the same intense look.

"Sorry we're late." Lucy and Danny said at the same time with matching guilty expressions.

It didn't take a genius to figure out the reason for their delayed arrival since they both looked disheveled and breathless, Lucy's blonde locks more resembling a lion's mane and Danny's hair spiked up and tousled.

I glanced at Gabriel who appeared to be holding in laughter, so I knew that he had come to the same conclusion.

"Don't worry about it." I reassured them, doing my best to hide my amusement.

"So... what did you need help with?" Danny asked, reminding me why I had called them here in the first place.

"Oh, yeah. My sister Ivy arrived in London yesterday." I began. "She's a doctor so she barely gets any time off, and I need to make this visit as good as possible for her. I know how much she loves a party so I want to throw one for her, with your help."

Gabriel and Danny shared a look that I couldn't decipher.

That is, until Gabriel explained. "Danny has a tendency to go a little overboard with any party he throws."

"He's overreacting." Danny defended.

"I doubt that." I said with humour in my voice. "Well, can we keep it small? I don't want it to be overwhelming."

"Small..." Danny trailed off. "Got it."

The smirk on his face said otherwise, but I was choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"We can invite our friend Jake and a couple of other guys." Gabriel said.

"And I'll get Alicia, Zoe and Gina to come." Lucy added, naming other girls who worked at the cafe.

"I'll get the alcohol." Danny added, grinning mischievously.

My face stretched to accommodate a beaming smile. "That's perfect. Thank you all so much."