Steelheart

06. | dreamy

The weather on the way was questionable. Windy, but warm. Sounds pretty great. Hot weather, nice breeze—great combination right? Wrong. Usually, here, that means rain. Almost always. I was a few minutes away now, but regretting my choice of transportation, immensely.
Approaching the studio, I could see a few of the little students, coming out of the door with Vera. She was so cute. Her hair parted and slicked back into a near bun—plus she had this pretty pink ribbon holding it all together. Her face was bare, and as I got closer to her, I could see all her little beauty marks, clear as day.
The young girls looked up at me, snickering and whispering amongst each other. I couldn't make it out, but it was kind of cute. Each of them looked to be maybe six or seven. They also had their hair in tiny buns. One of them had two buns, even.

Vera's head raises as she adjusts the bags on their backs. She looks at me and smiles, waving.
"Girls, this is Mr. Elsher. He makes buildings in the city." she looks down at them, smiling.
One of them, with brunette hair and almond skin, waves. The other, grins. She had ginger hair and bright green eyes. They were beyond adorable. It had to be so fulfilling to be able to teach little ones. They're so innocent.
"Hi, I'm Kayla," the brunette says, "Miss Vee talks about you every day." she giggles.
Glancing at Vera, my lips purse into a smile, "Does she, now?" I ask in a gentle tone.
The ginger-haired one, nods, "Yeah, she says you're just friends, but I think she likes you. My name is Alexis." she continues to grin.
Vera's face becomes red.

Suddenly a car pulls up in front, rolling a window down.
"Let's go girls!" a woman calls out from inside.
Both of the girls begin to run to the car, opening the door and crawling into it. They swiftly shut it behind them and all waves before driving off.
Vera rubs her brow softly, laughing softly, "I'm sorry. They have... big personalities."
I smile fully, "They're adorable—" I try to talk but my sentence is cut off by thunder. We both look up.
"Let's get inside." Vera grabs my hand, pulling me inside, snapping my attention back to her.
The studio was mostly pink. Soft pink. Furry stuffed animals and pillows everywhere. Clouds too. There were those little glow-in-the-dark space stickies on the ceiling that made it look like the sky in the dark. It was really something.
"I have to clean up. Some of the girls were playing some games," she says, kneeling to pick up a bunch of cards and dolls.
She wore a unitard jumpsuit, in gray, with long sleeves. She paired it with a wrap skirt and leg warmers going down her shins to meet her pointe shoes.
"Here, let me help you." I kneel with her, beginning to father things.
"I'm glad you came. I wish it was better, but it's been my little place for a few years now, she says, looking at me.
"It's amazing in here, what do you mean?" I furrow my brows slightly, smiling.

She smiles back, putting things in a bin beside us. I put my collected items in as well. I place a hand on the floor, reaching for something else and tossing it in. She sits on her knees now, putting her hand on mine.
"Silas," she says vocally.
"Hm?"
Looking at her, she presses her lips against mine, closing her eyes. Her other hand reaches for my cheek, her thumb against my jaw. Closing my eyes, I don't fight it. I just kiss back, taking in what I'd secretly been waiting for this whole time. I just couldn't be man enough to make the first move this time.
Pulling away, ever so slowly, she hums softly.
"It's been a little too long without that," she murmurs.
"So you missed me?" I whisper, chuckling.
She bites her lip softly, looking down, holding back her amusement.
"It's okay, you can say it," I shrug, "I'm pretty missable," I add, teasing the idea.
She huffs out a breath of air, smiling.

She slowly lifts her body from the floor, standing up, and I follow after her. Her smile falls, slowly.
"After we talked, I considered everything you said. About having my studio? So, I applied for this business loan—it was on a whim, it's stupid, I know." she rambles.
"No—what? No, it's not stupid, Vera, c'mon." I rush my words, hoping to reassure her.
She sighs, "I haven't opened the letter. I mean, what if it says no? Then what?" she shakes her head.
"Then you just wait and you try again. And you keep trying until you get it." I say, placing a hand on her bicep, softly.