make you stay (g.d.)

thirty-four

elizabeth:

i watch him leave angrily, tears stinging my eyes. but i push them back.

"yikes," max pipes up. "how're you going to fix that one?"

i shrug sadly, not even mad at him. this isn't even his fault, because i could've showed grayson the canvas, and it could've all been over.

but i didn't.

i can't.

the thought of sleeping with my paint instructor makes me gag, especially since max is such a good friend of mine. that guy wouldn't hurt a fly.

"i'm sorry," his eyes soften, looking at me apologetically. "i would've cleared it up, but that would've outed the project for you."

"thank you," i sigh. "i mean, if i got him in the first place, i think i can apologize fix this."

he nods. "what progress have you made since i made my coffee."

a smile spreads on my face, and i can't help it.

"i decided that i should do a textured painting with palette knives, you know with the gobs of paint, and then let them dry."

"that'll add a few days of drying onto your schedule," he grimaces. "do you have time for that?"

i shrug. "there's no deadline for this."

"but the longer you go without showing your boyfriend... the longer he doesn't believe you."

the thought strikes me a little bit. "i've never thought of it like that. okay, well then i guess i have to work a bit quicker than i thought."

he nods. "let me know if you need anything. don't fling paint onto my scones again, please?"

i laugh. "got it. the scones are still good, just scrape off the blue specks."

he shakes his head as i stalk back into the back room and admire the canvas. i fix a couple outlines with the pencil tucked behind my ear, and scribble some reminders on the edges in very faint writing.

it's perfect. and he's going to love it.

grayson told me to create from the heart, and sometimes i have a lot of trouble opening it up. i know once he sees this painting, everything will
be okay between us again.

all couples fight, it was bound to happen at some point.

"okay," i exhale to calm my excitement. "i think the outline is done." after nine hours.

i begin to mix paint colors, finding the perfect shades of everything. blues, red, yellows, browns, and white cover my hands when i'm done, and i seal the paint mixtures with a special thing that max uses. i'm horrible at remixing paint to the exact shade, so i need to make sure i have enough and it won't dry out for the whole process— and that means i need to work even faster.

with a deep breath, i dip my brush into the primer and coat it lightly on the soft, white canvas. i smile as i begin to dive into my work, forgetting the time and everything else outside of the studio.

i begin on the foreground first, painting carefully and making sure my paint doesn't dry out. it takes two hours to complete a small section, but i took a lot of care in it.

i rest and eat with max while i wait for it to dry so i can continue on with the painting.

"elizabeth," he says, biting into his slice of pizza. "as much as i enjoy your company, you have to sleep. your under eye bags are getting depressing to look at."

i giggle a little, sipping my soda. "i'm just so excited about this. but yeah, i'll go home in a bit and sleep. i'll be back tomorrow though, okay? leave the back door unlocked so i don't disturb your early bird class."

he nods. "will do. i'm excited to see how it turns out."

i take yet another deep breath (about the hundredth of the day) and say, "yeah. me too."