art shivers

chapter 6

Someone interrupted my thoughts with a simple "ehm, hi." I initially thought it was Ayoub, the guy who contacted me the day before. However, when I looked around, I found Adam standing there with a wide smile, looking at me. I walked towards him, smiling, and he opened his arms for a hug. I needed that hug; I hugged him tightly and looked into his eyes, saying, "I miss you."

"I miss you more, baby girl," he replied.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"Great, and you?"

"I'm good."

"Are you sure? Because you looked sad looking at your paintings."

"Yes, I was just trying to see it from the people's perspective."

"Okay, I'll try to believe you."

"Yeah, believe me and look at it... What do you see?"

"I see a man holding his girl, and she looks sad and afraid. Maybe he's holding her fears and making her feel safe."

"What if he was the one who made her afraid?"

"Possible, but look at the way he holds her, tightly, like he's afraid to let her go somehow. I don't know. What was your idea?"

"I won't tell. Well, I like yours, but it's better to let everyone see it in their own way. That's the goal!"

"I still want to know your idea."

"My idea is violence, like he is the one who hurt her and made her fear this way."

"Yeah, possibly! I think every person sees it the way they feel. Did I hurt you somehow?"

"No, babe, you never did."

"Sure?"

"Yeah, double sure, baby!"

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, saying, "ehm ehm! Hi!"

"Rimass, you must be Ayoub, right?" I asked.

"Yes, and you're the artist Rimass?" Ayoub replied.

Adam intervened, "You guys know each other?"

"Yes, I've been looking for an artist to draw me a painting and found Rimass by coincidence, but I didn't know that you know her too."

"Wait...?" I started to say.

Adam clarified, "I'm her fiancé. Ayoub was my friend in high school, but after that, each one chose his own way, and we rarely meet. Bruh, I miss ya."

"Me too, my bro," Ayoub echoed.

They hugged tightly, and Ayoub shook hands with me. I discussed the painting details with Ayoub, noticing Adam staring at us the whole time. He seemed kind of jealous every time we laughed or agreed on something. Ayoub was a fun guy, telling jokes and bringing out my funny side.

We were laughing so loud until Adam said, "Hey, you guys, it's too late! Let's go home!"

"Wait! It's still early," I protested.

Adam, looking disturbed, replied, "No, Rimass, we have something to do tomorrow morning. Don't you remember?"

(I really didn't know what he was talking about, but I pretended that I did.)

"Yes, surely, we have to wake up early in the morning. Okay, we'll go home now!"

"So, you guys got things to do, so fine. I will leave now. See you later, friends. Goodbye."

"It was nice to meet you, Ayoub. See you!" I said.

"It was good to see you, old friend. We will meet in the coming days, Insha'Allah," Adam added.