The Boy Who Paints Me (10 page)

"Why are you crying?" He whispered against the top of my head after a few minutes of silence.

It took me a while to answer because the truth was, I didn't know how to explain. I wasn't crying because I was sad, I was crying because I was...happy. I took a final breath as the right words finally filled my mind.

"Because...words aren't enough," I said as I felt the vibration of his chest as he chuckled to himself.

"You have no idea, how much sense that makes to me," he answered as his hand stroked my hair.

* * *

The journey to the diner was comfortably silent as I let my head rest on the window of his Chevy.

"We're here," he announced as I heard the sound of the engine die.

"Thank you," I whispered as I turned my head towards him.

"What time do you finish?" He asked as I stepped out of the car.

"Four."

"I'll see you at four then," he said as he winked at me and drove away, leaving me standing there with a huge smile on my face. I didn't understand Leighton completely but I knew that he made me feel something that no one else ever had and as much as I didn't want to, I liked it.

"Hey, beautiful, you ready to put that pretty face to work?" Megan asked, snapping me out of my daydream.

"Sure," I said before following her inside.

"Ok, in here is where you can leave your things and get changed," she explained as we stepped inside of a small, square shaped room. The room was grey and had a bunch of lockers pushed up against the left wall. There was also a line of hooks on the opposite wall and a dark brown bench. "You nervous?" She asked.

"A little," I mumbled.

"Look, Rainie, I haven't spoken about why you're here, and I won't, until you're ready to. However, you've now made me like you, which means that I've gone ahead and started to do that silly thing called caring. All I'm trying to say is that whatever happened to you, wherever it happened to you, you've left it behind. You're a great person, just enjoy being
that
person. Make mistakes, fall down but please be damn sure to get back up again. Today probably won't go perfectly but who gives a damn, tomorrow you just get back up again besides I'll be here to help you," she said as a huge smile filled her face. Before I had a chance to react to what she had said, she threw her arms around my waist. The hug didn't surprise me but the fact that I felt my shoulders relax as I wrapped my hands around hers, did.

"Something’s wrong, I think we need to call emergency services," she said.

"Huh?" I asked as I took a step back.

"You just became a hugger!" She laughed as I joined her. I didn't say a word, I just laughed, and it felt good.

* * * 

The day had gone by so quickly that it felt like a dream. I had twenty minutes left of my trial shift, and things were just starting to calm down. Summer meant that people were on vacation, and people on vacation were
always
hungry. After Megan and I had our talk earlier, it wasn’t mentioned again. We got straight down to my training. At first things seemed complicated but as the day went by, I felt like I had been working there for months. I was nervous when I had to take my first order but when I realised how nice, and patient the people were, it felt better. Knowing that Megan was always next to me every time that I took an order helped as well.

"Rainie, may I speak to you for a minute, please?" Megan's dad asked.

"Yes, Sir."

"Please, call me Jimmy," he replied with a smile on his face. I nodded before walking towards him. "I don't like to waste time, so, I want to offer you the summer job."

"Really?" I asked in shock.

"Of course, you're a natural."

"Thank you Si-Jimmy," I corrected myself.

"Great, take a day off tomorrow, and I'll see you on Wednesday at nine."

I nodded my head. I couldn't believe that he was actually offering me a job. It felt good. I know that it was probably down to Megan putting in a good word but it still felt good. "Right, off you go. Enjoy your evening."

"Thank you," I said before rushing off to the changing room. 

It didn't take long for me to change into a pair of denim shorts and a red off the shoulder top.

"So, I hear someone got the job," Megan beamed as I walked back into the diner.

"Yeah, thank you for this, for everything."

"Don't thank me. That’s what friends are for. Now, I think someone's waiting for you," she said as she winked at me and gestured towards the window with her head.

"See you Wednesday."

"Wait," she said, causing me to stop, "here's my number," she said after scribbling it onto a napkin. "Friends should call each other, you know," she said as she smiled at me.

"I'll keep that in mind," I chuckled before walking out to meet Leighton. I had to try and ignore the excitement that travelled through me as I watched him leaning against his car. He was wearing a slightly loose fitting pair of dark blue jeans, a tight white tee and a pair of dark brown shades. He looked...good. I lifted my hand up to block the sun from my face as I approached him. 

"Hey," he said as he pushed his body off the car. "These will probably look better on you," he said as he slipped the glasses off his face and placed them on mine. He slid a strand of hair behind my ear and winked before walking back towards the car.

"You're punctual," I chuckled as he sat down in the driver's seat, next to me. 

"Only for you," he said as he smiled at me before starting up the engine.

I slowly released the breath I was holding and then slipped the seatbelt over me. I was glad that I had on his shades, since my eyes had doubled in size from shock.

"So, how did it go?"

"Erm, it was good. I got the job," I replied. I couldn't help the smile that had taken over my face.

"Did you ever doubt it?" He asked seriously.

"Yeah," I chuckled.

"Well, you shouldn't. Never doubt yourself, Rai. You're capable of much more than you realise."

"How do you know?" I whispered.

"I don't know, I believe."

"Oh. So, how was your day?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“My day was ok. I helped Gran at the shop and then came to get you.”

“The shop?”

“Yeah, she owns the cake shop. It’s not far from the diner, I can take you there some time,” he said as he glanced at me.

“I would like that. What do you do there?” I asked.

“I’m just helping out over the summer, since its wedding season. I help make deliveries.”

“So, you don’t decorate the cakes then?” I teased as I turned to face him.

“No way, that would be a disaster,” he chuckled.

“But you can paint,” I replied.

“That’s different, I’m dealing with a flat surface, cakes are 3d and awkward.”

“I would still pay to see you decorate one,” I chuckled as I slipped the glasses off my face and rested them on the dash.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

“So, what do you want to do then?”

“Well, my majors are in business and art. I still have a year left of college. I would like to open my own chain of art galleries,” he replied with a smile on his face. He looked so happy when he spoke about the future, like it brought him peace.

“That sounds great, I hope that that happens. How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“So, you could be like a twenty year old millionaire then?” I chuckled as he glanced at me.

“Maybe, never know until you try, right?”

“True.”

“What about you? What do you want to do?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” I answered as I turned towards the window again. The truth was that my life had been controlled for so long that I had no idea what I actually liked anymore.

“You have plenty of time to figure it out, don’t worry,” he said, causing me to turn and smile at him.

“Yeah,” I replied, sounding unconvinced. He had way too much faith in me.

“If you could see yourself from my eyes, you’d understand,” he said quietly as I felt the heat rise to my cheeks.

I watched him smile as he glanced at me.

"You should do that more often," he chuckled.

"Do what?" I asked in confusion.

"Blush, it's kind of cute," he replied, causing my cheeks to heat up even more. I tried to force the smile off of my face but it was impossible.

"I'm not," I lied.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked mischievously.

"Yes."

"Ok," he said before pulling over the car, right by the lake.

"You see," he said as he walked around to my car door and opened it, "they say that the lake is pretty warm at this time of year," he continued as he unbuckled my seat belt, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "I wondered if you maybe wanted to help me to test the theory."

Even though I couldn't see his face, I could hear the smirk. What brought the smile on my face was that I didn't feel scared in his arms, I felt secure. A part of me knew that even if he did throw me in the lake, he would jump right in and get me back out.

"You wouldn't," I chuckled as he walked closer to the lake.

"Wouldn't I? Is that a dare?" He asked as he began laughing.

“Maybe,” I chuckled as I felt him move me so that my legs were wrapped around his waist. As my eyes locked with his, I realised that he had a serious expression on his face. The feel of his body connected with mine was driving me crazy but I tried to keep my cool as I kept my eyes focused on his.

“Sure?” He whispered as I felt his chest rise and fall in time with my own. I slowly nodded my head without taking my eyes off his. “Rai,” he whispered as his grip on me got just that bit tighter. I gasped from the electric feel that his touch gave me.

“Yes?” I whispered breathlessly as his brown eyes turned a shade darker. I felt the heat of his breath as his face drew nearer to mine, very slowly. I felt the soft edge of his lips graze my cheek, until his breath fanned over my ear. I felt my eyes close as I become momentarily lost in a world where it was just me and him.

“Hold your breath,” he whispered into my ear.

Before I was given the chance to respond, I felt my body make contact with the warm water of the lake. As I rose to the top, I realised that I was still tangled in Leighton’s arms, only we were both soaking wet and in the lake.

“You really did it!” I squealed as I burst out laughing.

“Just living in the moment,” he chuckled as a smirk filled his face.

“But you never let me go?” I said more as a question than a statement.

“No, I never,” he replied in a husky voice as I felt one of his hands leave my waist and rise above the water. I watched silently as he slid the hair out of my face, staring at me the whole time. I didn’t move away from him because I needed to feel him. I needed to be close to him right now.