Half [Part 5]

It was a late summer afternoon, scorching hot, and he was alone in the Art Studio working on his canvas with a broken air-conditioner. Emir curled a strand of his wet pale hair behind his left ear as he added radiant strokes onto his landscape painting. His instructor, Mr. Esposito, was nowhere in sight, but then again, he was always late to class, if not caught flirting with the German café owner down the street. His students had got accustomed to arriving at least 15 minutes later than the scheduled time but Emir would always be there early, to perfect his work.