Work of Art

Chapter 5

Carlisle held true to his word, limiting all interactions with the young girl. He still offered a polite smile and wave whenever they would cross in the halls in response to her cheerful 'hello's, but limited all other forms of communication.

As days went by, Nick stopped anxiously peering around corners to ensure she wouldn't fall before the man once more. While she had been thoroughly embarrassed, the incident lessened in her mind as she focused solely on her mural.

After a week, she had finished the background in rolling shades of blue. It was slightly darker around the bottom signifying the icy depths while lighter with accented bubbles and sun rays along the top. The top had been the biggest challenge; standing on a ladder all while holding a brush in one hand and a paint pallet in the other.

The week had allowed her to perfect the technique of bracing herself on the higher steps with her knees pressed against the sides of the ladder and her center of weight forward. While a few drops of paint had dripped and splattered onto the drop cloth before, she had yet to let anything of greater importance fall.

The new week brought her to working on detailed sea life. Wanting a break from the ladder, Nick decided to work from the bottom up. She opted to start with the coral that stretched along the base of the wall. For the more detailed pieces, she brought her own acrylic paints, so she had no need to walk through the halls to gather supplies from the janitor's closet.

Whether from becoming used to it, or from Nick not frequenting her office hallway as often, Carlisle was able to push thoughts of the girl and her smell away. He stayed either in his office or in patient rooms for the most part. He avoided most hospital functions, unless it was specified that only hospital staff would be attending.

Now, he sat in his office chair, reviewing his notes for the final time. He was scheduled to give his presentation on causes and solutions to memory loss at five, and the clock was steadily advancing to that point.

Carlisle quietly practiced his speech to himself, all while watching a stopwatch count up on his phone so he could work on timing. After his some odd 300 years of life, he had grown used to speaking in front of others, but that didn't stop him from wanting to make a good impression. He planned to stay in Forks with his family for as long as possible, likely until the general public of the area began questioning how young they all still looked. While he recognized that it was highly unlikely for him to get fired for a poor presentation, Carlisle wanted to build up his reputation.

After living for so long the family of seven had built up a rather large sum of money, so income wasn't the main motivator, rather life had become something of a game. It was almost as if they were seeing how far they could build themselves up before they had to move again. They were always working towards beating their previous record. It took out some of the mundanity of living similar lives on repeat.

Before he knew it, the clock showed 4:30 and Carlisle made his way over to the large conference room. He took the long way out of habit by this point. There was only one other staff member there when he arrived, one of the receptionists from the front desk that had popped into his office, asking him to sign the birthday card.

Carlisle conversed pleasantly with the woman, but soon she took over the conversation, talking all about Nick's surprised reaction when they had given her her signed birthday card and a small cake back at the beginning of the week.

After offering his condolences that he was unable to attend, as his family already had a hiking trip planned, he tuned out the woman's monologue as he hooked up his laptop to a small screen at the front of the room.

As Carlisle prepared and the woman continued to ramble, other staff members began to filter into the room.

MArk walked up to him at the front of the room and offered him some respite from the rambling receptionist. The two chatted for a few minutes as Carlisle continued to set everything up for his presentation.

Across the hospital, Nick was still working on painting her coral. She watched the staff slowly trickle by. They usually left in pairs or small groups but the occasional solo straggler stopped by to talk with her for a moment or to compliment her work. She always appreciated the praise, but was never quite sure how to respond to it.

Finally, it was just her and a woman at the front desk. Nick watched from the corner of her vision as she made her way over to the wall that Nick was working on.

"I'm heading off the conference meeting," the woman pleasantly stated. "Dr. Carlisle is presenting today." She said his name with an almost dreamy look in her eyes and Nick could barely fight off the urge to scoff, although the other part of her couldn't help but agree. The woman continues, "I trust you to be out here working alone, but if you need anything we'll all be in room 164."

Nick nodded along and thanked the woman, promising to leave a note on the front desk if she left before they all returned.

It was nice to work in the silence for once. Usually there were conversations that dotted the room and Nick often found herself listening in. While it was a great way to keep up on Forks and hospital drama, she relished in the since of the room.

She worked for about an hour in peace before she decided to pack up and head home for dinner for the night.

It was almost eerie as she walked across the waiting room to the bathroom on the other side of the large room. She pushed the door open and walked to the sink to wash her brushes, careful not to let the paint clog the sink.

Usually, she was faced with the odd employee or patron of the hospital as she cleaned and the silence felt unnatural. While she once again told herself that she enjoyed the silence, she couldn't help but miss interacting with others.

She washed up quickly then half ran to collect her bag by her wall. Leaving a quick note, she rushed out the front door and to her car, starting the short drive home.

Nick had just surpassed rush hour by an hour so the roads were pretty quiet. The drive home went fast and in a couple of minutes she was unlocking her front door and pushing it open.

"Mom, I'm home!" she yelled across the house.

Her mom greeted her with a smile. "Dinner's ready when you are, but I wasn't sure when you'd be home, so I ate already."

Nick nodded in thank you then headed off to the shower to scrub off the paint that she had somehow gotten onto her skin.