| | DIARY ENTRY SIX | |
AT THIS MOMENT of time, I was in an art gallery marvelling at some of the work on display with a few of my colleagues. They had insisted that I go out tonight and thought that an art gallery would be the best option seeing as I happened to have an eye for art.
They claimed that I’ve been in a slump for a while now and it was time to break out of that slump and join the real word. Their words, not mine.
As I was walking through the gallery, admiring the art work as I went along, I came across a particular painting which triggered something inside of me. Whether it was good or bad was still undecided.
| | 13TH MARCH 2013 | |
A little bit more here and… a little bit more there. I stood back and admired the painting.
It was plain and simple, yet effective. It was of a girl –me- who was holding a cuddly, brown teddy bear. The girl was standing there, clutching her teddy to her. The bear was obviously some sort of significant object to her. Some people may look at it and say ‘whatever’. But others will look at it and see what I put into it.
I want people to feel the sorrow that this girl is going through. To feel all the emotions. I wanted them to see more than just a girl holding a bear. I wanted them to see me. To see past the exterior and into my soul.
Sighing, I looked at me watch. 5.07 pm, it read. It was late and I was tired from a day at the studio. I was feeling kind of depressed. A night out was needed and I knew exactly who to call.
I left the building and waved bye to Nigel. Whipping out my cell phone, I dialled her number.
“Hey Ash, grab Lou. We’re going for a girl’s night out.”
“I’ll order the medium fries and veggie burger, please.”
“Sure. Your order will be here soon.” Our waiter smiled and left, having scribbled down everything.
We decided that we would have dinner and then go out to a club or something. We would decide later.
I was expecting Ash and Lou, so I was surprised to see that Taylor had also come along. I didn’t really mind that she came along, I was just surprised. The more the merrier. Well, that was what I was trying to convince myself anyway.
“So Taylor, what do you do?” I asked her out of curiosity. I would like to get to know her ad give a chance. I mean, it’s not like she did anything wrong.
She looked up and gave me a warm smile. It seemed that she was pleased that I had asked her something. I guess she felt all the tension and awkwardness. “Umm… I’m a photographer actually.”
This perked the interest of not just me, but the rest of the table.
“A photographer?”
“What models have you met?”
“Can we see your portfolio?”
We were all asking her so many questions. She just sat back in her seat and laughed. We all gave her weird looks as she did… that.
Se calmed herself down and wiped a tear from her cheek. “That was so funny. I’ve never got a reaction like that before.”
Ash chucked some salad at her and she answered our questions. “Yes, I’m a photographer. I‘ll show you my portfolio some other time since I don’t have it with me right now. Umm… I have met some models and …”
She would have finished but Ash Lou had started to shriek, laugh and jump up and down at the same time. I shook my head and joined in laughing with Taylor. She hadn’t even finished her sentence and they were already excited about models.
“This place is great.”
“Yeah. Thanks for bringing us here Taylor.”
We were dancing to the music playing in the club. We felt like partying and Taylor said that she knew a good place. She brought us to a place called ‘Midnight’. Apparently, her brother, Sam, has a friend who owned this club so we were let in for free.
The place was great. The music was great and the drinks were even better.
Me and Taylor helped Ash and Lou back to our table. They were really wasted now.
“I think that’s enough dancing for one night.” I helped steady Ash so she wouldn’t fall backwards off her chair.
“Noooooo!… Ok.” She leaned against me, placing her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. “I want to go home now.”
I looked at Taylor. She was already on the phone to the cab company.
She put her cell back in her bag and looked at me. “The cab should be here in a few. I’ll go wait outside and come to get you guys when it’s here.”
I lost sight of Taylor as she disappeared into the crowd, walking towards the door.
While Taylor was gone I had to keep Ash from falling backwards off her chair and from Lou ordering another drink. So naturally I was really glad when Taylor came back with news that the cab was outside and waiting.
She grabbed Lou and I grabbed Ash and we weaved ourselves through the crowd and out the door. We waved bye to the bouncer and into the cab.
We all squeezed into the back and shut the door. I gave the cabbie directions and watched a the club faded away into the night.
“So how long have you known Noah?”
I was surprised to hear this and even more surprised to find out that it had come out of Taylor’s mouth.
It took me a moment to collect myself. “A long, long time. We met in kindergarten and… we just looked out for each other.”
She smiled at me and brushed some stray blonde, beautiful locks out of her eyes. “That’s not what I was told.”
“What have you been told?” What could she have heard?
She reached over and gave my shoulder a welcoming squeeze, as if to reassure me. “Noah has a different story. He was the odd one out, the one that nobody wanted to be friends with. You were new and… you were the one who was nice to him. You were the one who always looked out for him in high school. People respected him because you were his best friend. You helped him.”
I stayed silent, I didn’t say anything. I just looked down at my hands. Truthfully, I didn’t know what to say to that.
She pressed on. “A regular person wouldn’t do that.”
I smiled at her. “I befriended Noah because… I knew what it felt like to be the odd one out. To be the one who your classmates laugh and make fun of. I knew how it felt to be like that and I didn’t want the same thing to happen to someone else. I was lucky enough that my dad got a new job here but… not everyone could be that lucky.”
“I can see why you’re Noah’s best friend.”
I smiled and she smiled. “And I can see why you’re Noah’s girlfriend.” I really could.
The rest of the ride was great. Taylor and i talked and really got to know each other. We even had some things in common. We decided that we would go to an Art show together some other time.
We dropped off Ash and Lou to their places.
It was just Taylor and I left in the cab. And it seemed like we were going to the same place.
“Listen. I know me and you haven’t really gotten to know each other in the past or anything. I just hope that you don’t mind me staying at your place or anything. I can go home if you want. I wouldn’t mind – ”
I cut her off. “It’s cool. Just don’t make too much noise tonight.”
I smiled and she laughed. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep it down.”
The cab slowed down in front of our apartment and I paid the driver even though Taylor had argued that she would pay.
I opened the door to the apartment and followed Taylor as she walked in.
Taylor surprised me when she spoke, “You really don’t mind that I’m going out with Noah?”
“No. Of course not. He’s just a friend. It’s good that you two are going out. You make him happy.”
She looked at me. She came over and hugged me, which surprised me as well. “Night.”
I watched as she opened the door to Noah’s room and walked in. I could hear her squeal and tell Noah to put her down.
But do you know what? I didn’t mind. Not that much.
Taylor was a good person. Noah liked her and that’s what mattered the most.
Noah was happy, which made me happy.
I may be a little jealous of Taylor since she’s with Noah and I’m not.
I may have to wait my whole life to get Noah. He may not realise that he likes me until we’re both grandparent and something. But I would be waiting.
Like people say, there’s no age when it comes to love.
| | END OF DIARY ENTRY | |
My colleagues were admiring an image of a fruit bowl when I decided to wander off on my own. And that was when I came across it.
It was a beautiful painting. It was the portrait of a woman in a yellow summer’s dress. She was standing against a set of doors, staring onwards at the luscious green garden before her. There was a large variety of flowers, lightening up the award worthy garden. Everything was in its place with a barbecue kept neatly and nicely in the corner of it all. But that wasn’t the beauty of the painting. It was the woman.
The woman was standing gracefully against the glass doors, lost in her own world. My heart was doing something it hadn’t done in a long time. It was beating at quite a fast rate. It was fluttering. This was something I hadn’t experienced in a long time. Not since I lost the two most important people to me in the world.
But now, I was feeling all these emotions again. All of these pent up emotions were just coming back to me all at once like I a wave. And I was certainly enjoying every moment of it.
And that was basically how I spent the rest of my evening. Sitting on a bench and staring lovingly at a painting which I later that evening, bought. The portrait that was off my wife painted by my daughter with what she could remember from a distant memory.