Work of Art

Chapter 9

By the time Nick reached the hospital, it was already nearing four. She sighed and checked her phone, looking to see if Alice had sent her the address yet. Nick was hoping their house wasn't too far away because she wasn't to make a good impression and be on time for once.

Still unaware of the location of Alice's house, Nick decided to get to work. She chose a small fish in the corner, something that wouldn't take extended amounts of time and could easily be continued at a later time.

Nick was about twenty minutes into painting when her phone buzzed. She almost dropped her brush in surprise, but was able to successfully fumble it before it left a streak of color anywhere that it was not supposed to.

Putting the handle brush between her lips, she pulled out her phone, happy to see that Alice had finally messaged. She copied the address into her maps then checked the time, deciding that as long as she left in the next fifteen minutes, she'd make it over on time. So, she resumed her painting.

After finishing the next section of the fish she was working on, she checked her phone again, alarmed to see she needed to leave within the next two minutes. Mumbling curses under her breath, she closed up all her paints and tossed them in her bag, rushing across the waiting room to wash her handful of brushes in the sink. As she worked, she muttered an apology to her brushes, despite their inanimate nature she couldn't help but feel as if she were abusing them in her haste.

Barely stopping to wave a frantic goodbye to the front desk, Nick rushed out the front door and towards her car. She whipped out her keys and tossed her bag into her trunk as soon as it was unlocked. In record time, she was on the road, following the blue arrow of her navigation system. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was five minutes until five. Exasperated, she stopped at a red light. Nick thought about texting Alice that she may be a few minutes late, but the light changed before she had the opportunity and she was off once more.

Nick was so concerned with the time, she barely looked at the house as she pulled into the long drive. As she put her car in park and turned it off, she spotted Alice walking out from the front door.

Nick tossed open her door with a huff. "Sorry I'm late!"

Alice dismissed her apology with a wave, grabbing her hand to lead her inside.

As she was pulled along, Nick paused, marveling at the house. It looked like it was out of a fairytale, pristine windows glistening and encompassed with trees. If there was a large enough clearing for sunlight to filter through the greenery, Nick could imagine how the deep wooden hues would glisten.

Alice laughed as she took in Nick's entranced state. "Come on, wait until you see the inside."

After getting a brief tour around the main rooms of the house, the pair settled beside each other at the dining room table. Alice retrieved some notebook paper and a pencil from her bag. Nick went to do the same, but groaned as she realized she left her bag in her car. She turned to Alice to tell her her dilemma.

"Do you need me to go with you? The layout can be a bit confusing," Alice asked.

Nick smiled in return, "I should be fine but thanks for offering."

Alice nodded to Nick as she stepped out of the dining room. As she left, Jasper popped his head in from the other entrance.

"How long is she going to be here?" he inquired quietly in his southern drawl.

"Just long enough for us to finish our project," Alice reassured with a loving squeeze of his shoulder.

As Jasper turned and walked out of the room, Nick popped her head back in. "On second thought, could you come with me?" She was almost embarrassed to ask as Alice snickered and stood up to accompany her new friend.

The two made small talk all the way back to Nick's small car. Alice leaned against the trunk as Nick leaned into the backseat, picking up some items that had spilled out of a side pocket she had accidentally left unzipped.

Distracted and head buried, unable to hear sound, she didn't notice the other car that was approaching down the lane. She didn't even realize a third party had joined her and Alice until she lifted her head slightly, suddenly able to hear out the open car door.

"Carlisle!" she heard Alice's warm greeting.

Carlisle? Nick thought to herself, trying to pinpoint why the name felt so familiar. Pushing off the confusion she stood, pulling her backpack out of the car with her. Now fully able to hear, she froze at the sound of the man's voice- a voice she hadn't heard in weeks.

She plastered on a nervous smile as she turned around and shut the car door with a thud that reverberated throughout the foliage, drawing the other two's attention to her.

"Miss Lexers?" Carlisle startled.

"Hi," Nick forced out with a nervous smile.

Alice looked between the pair in confusion. After a moment of tense silence, she finally spoke. "How do you know Nick?"

Carlisle cleared his throat. "We ran into each other at work."

"Literally," Nick mumbled. She forced herself to look up at Carlisle. "Sorry about that by the way."

He smiled and their eyes connected for a moment, Alice once again looking between the pair with bewilderment.

Carlisle cleared his throat again. "Well I best be off, if you need me I'll be in my office." He spun and quickly walked away towards the front door, the girls watching him intently as his form retreated.

After he was out of sight Alice spoke up, "That was odd." She turned to give Nick a calculating look. "Usually he's a lot more sociable."

Nick shrugged. "I've seen him at the hospital a couple of times but we've never really talked much. I'm not sure if he likes me much."

Alice hummed in response, neither affirmative or contradicting.

Nick broke her out of her thoughts. "I actually hadn't put it together that you two related yet," Nick laughed at her naivety.

"Yeah, Carlisle took us in a few years back. Him and Esme."

"Esme?" Nick asked, slightly on edge, though she had no idea why.

"They've been good friends for a while, met in college but dating was never really their thing," Alice continued on explaining how their unusual family came to be. Nick always found it endearing when Alice babbled on. She always enjoyed listening to others speak, and Alice always enjoyed having someone to listen to, so the unlikely two became an admirable duo. "We don't really call him dad though," Alice finished. He's more like a really good friend who helped us all out when we needed it most. Besides, he's only a couple years older than us."

By the time Alice finished her monologue, the two were once again settled at the dining room table, although this time they both had a pencil and paper out.

Without wasting any more time the pair began to work, determined to win the class competition.

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I finally finished the actual cover!! (although I'm still not certain about the placing and font of the title)