A Young Artist
Emily didn’t expect Delsie to go without a fight. After all, they both shared the leasing agreement to the apartment, and Delsie could argue that she had as much of a right to stay there as Emily did.
They didn’t talk to each other anymore, each staying in their room when they were at home.
Strangely, a few days after their argument, Delsie started packing her stuff and announced that she was leaving at the end of the month.
Although she still had no idea how she would afford the rent all by herself, Emily felt relieved. It was too much pressure, living with someone who couldn’t stand her and gossiped behind her back.
After their last day of work together, Pam came over to help Emily launch her new website. Since she was out of work and no other companies wanted to hire her, Emily decided to plan her own brand of hair ornaments and start by selling them online.
“So Delsie’s moving out?” Pam asked as they entered the apartment.
There were half-packed bags and suitcases everywhere, and the place looked a mess.
“Yep, I kicked her out,” Emily confirmed.
A big grin lit up Pam’s face. “Who are you and what have you done with my shy, sensitive friend?”
Emily shrugged, feeling satisfied she stuck to her resolve to stay strong in the face of all enemies or frenemies. “I got tired of all the bull sh*t.”
“I like this new you!” Pam said, high-fiving her. “Are you still scattering socialites out of your way to get that billionaire stud?”
“Yep, looks like it,” Emily shrugged. “He wants to be more than friends now.”
Pam smiled and pushed her playfully. “I could have told you that. He’s a grown man, what did you expect?”
“He’s a crazy man,” Emily replied as she cleared away the clutter on her desk to set up her laptop.
“Better crazy than boring,” Pam said, sitting down on the swiveling chair and spinning around. “I wish Mike wouldn’t be so ‘Steady Eddie’. He’s so sweet and I love him, but we’ve got the same routine for every day of the week. I feel like we’re an old married couple.”
“You should tell him,” Emily advised.
“But it can’t come from me,” Pam said, “I want him to do something romantic to surprise me. Bring me flowers, anything. If I tell him to do it, it doesn’t count.”
“You’re right, it’s not the same if you talk to him,” Emily agreed, “Well, looks like we need a plan for you too, missy. Maybe I can talk to Mike... I’ll think of something.”
After they published the website and Pam helped Emily set up some online ads to get things rolling, Emily tried not to watch her laptop obsessively for sales of her products. It had been a whole 24 hours, and no sales had taken place.
She decided to go out and enjoy the natural scenery to take her mind off it. It was a rare clear day, so she packed a sandwich lunch, grabbed her paint, canvass, brushes and easel and headed to the beach to paint a panorama of the ocean and mountains.
Emily had the most relaxing and wonderful afternoon. Her clothes smelled like paint and fresh ocean air as she returned to her apartment. In the hallway, she ran into a couple of new neighbors who moved in across the hall on the same day Delsie left.
It was a young mother with a six or seven-year-old daughter.
The girl said hello brightly, then pointed at Emily’s big carrying case which held all the supplies and a row of brushes lined up in individual pockets, “Are you doing art? I do art in school.”
“Yes,” Emily said, completely enchanted by the girl. “Would you like to see the painting?”
“Yeah!”
“You don’t have to do that,” the mother said. “Riley, what did I tell you about bothering people?”
“No, it’s fine,” Emily insisted, “it won’t take long.”
She unzipped the case, and the girl opened her mouth wide admiring the landscape painting.
“You’re good,” the girl said with adult-like confidence, “Do you want to do art together?”
This was unexpected, but Emily liked this girl’s spirit, so she said, “Okay.”
“You really don’t have to,” the mother said, looking embarrassed, “I’m sure you’re busy with other things.”
“Actually, I’m not,” Emily said. Since she was unemployed, she had plenty of time, and she was enjoying getting back into art lately. “Come by after dinner.”
Riley was a smart and imaginative little girl. Although she was too young and excitable to have a lot of patience for learning, Emily showed her a few painting techniques, and Riley seemed to enjoy doing her own thing with them.
A whole hour quickly went by while Riley talked non-stop about magical creatures and painted them on the canvass until the whole square was filled up.
When Riley’s mother came to get her, Emily was sad to see her go.
“Thank you so much,” the mother said, “how much do I owe you?”
“Nothing,” said Emily, “it was fun. Don’t worry about it.”
“But she used up so many supplies... Let me pay you back for the paint.”
“It’s fine, really.”
“Thank you for taking her off my hands for a while,” the mother whispered, “she’s a good kid, but sometimes she drives me up the wall. Seriously, though, if you’d like to give her art lessons every week, I can pay you.”