Between Us

13 | Work

Nova

He seems really invested in this show, but I'm super tired. It's not 10 yet, but it's getting close. I will say that I am actually a little excited to work tomorrow.

The first day always sucks, but it feels like I haven't done a mural in so long when it's only been three weeks.

"Oh sorry." I felt him move. I rolled over to see he was standing up. 

"What?" I asked, confused. 

"You're trying to go to bed." "Oh, it's okay. You're not bothering me, you can keep watching your show." I smiled.

"Are you sure?" He seemed a little nervous. "Yes, just turn off the light." I rolled back the other way. The light turned off and I felt him sit back on the bed.

I made sure my alarms were set then put my phone on the charger. I closed my eyes and then went to sleep.

     I didn't wake up to my alarm, but rather to the sun right in my eyes. I wasn't able to move my right arm, so I looked down to see Grayson asleep on my chest. 

I wanted to freak out, but I remained calm and was almost about to fall back asleep until my alarm went off. 

Grayson sat up halfway, his left arm holding him up. I turned my alarm off and sat up, rubbing my eyes and fixing my hair. 

"Why in the hell does your alarm sound like that?" He mumbled, laying back. "So I can wake up?" I said, confused. I stood up and stretched.

I'm excited for today.

"Why so early?" He mumbled again. "So I can get ready for work, dumbass. Sorry not all of us can work from wherever the hell we want to." I told him then went to the bathroom. 

I got ready in 15 minutes. It's going to be pretty hot today so I laid off of the makeup and put my hair in a bun.

Grayson was now laying in the dead center of the bed with the covers up to his chin. He must be extremely tired. Those days I was at his house, he was always out of bed in no time.

"Are you awake?" I asked, grabbing my phone and work bag. "Mhm." "When did you go to sleep?"

"What?" He opened his eyes and looked at me, rolling onto his side. "Nothing," I laughed. "Go back to sleep. I'll be back after work if you're staying." 

"You're leaving already?" He sat up, not seeming as tired  anymore. "Yeah, why?" I grabbed my purse. 

"I thought you start at 8." "I do, but I'm walking there." "Why are you walking?" He looked down at his watch then back at me. 

"I want to walk there and look around on the way." "I can take you." "No, it's okay. You just go back to sleep." I headed towards the door. 

"Can I at least walk with you?" He offered, getting out of bed. I looked at him and wanted to say no, but I don't think I could. 

"Come on." I mumbled then opened the door. He slid his shoes on then walked out. I locked the door and followed him outside. 

"Where are we going?" He asked. "Oh yeah." I grabbed my phone then put the address in. It's a 30 minute walk, so it's not that bad and I'll still have an extra 20 minutes to spare. 

"Are you painting outside?" "Nah, not this time."  I looked over at him. He seemed really tired and it almost made me feel bad for him. 

"Do you know what you're doing?" He looked at me. "Yeah, there's three different rooms of a daycare. Mostly beach themed." I turned my head the other direction to look at the buildings.

"Oh, nice." He said, but not very loud. We walked in silence for 5 minutes until I brought up the beautiful flower art on one of the walls. He didn't say much about it, so I didn't say anything else.

I liked our silent walk, it was comforting. We're here now though and I feel sorry for him because he has to walk the whole way back. 

"Well, thanks for walking with me I guess." I stopped and faced him. "You're welcome. You get off at 3, right?" "Yeah." I crossed my arms. 

"Okay, I'll see you later." "Alright, bye." I smiled then walked into the building. "Hello, you must be Nova." A woman my age came from a hallway. 

"I am." "Nice to meet you, I'm Lily." We shook hands. 

"So, I know I told you 3 rooms, but depending on how much time you have left, I have another room." She looked back at me as we walked somewhere. "I can talk about it with my boss."

"Okay thank you, I'm thinking a simple cartoony beach. Like this." She showed me a picture on her phone. I looked at the wall and it seemed perfect.

"Yeah, that's perfect. Is there an order I need to go in?" "I would prefer this hall to be done first. How long do you think that would take?" 

"I can do it in 2 days, but we have to go over the colors you want it to be and if you'd like, you can also help with placement. I know that can bother people."

"Oh that's awesome. The other rooms are this way." I followed her and she opened a door. The door said this room is for toddlers. 

"This is my room for my younger kids, so a little less cartoon but not crazy realistic." She got her phone out and showed me another photo. I nodded my head in agreement. 

This one might take me the most time because there's a lot of detail, but it will definitely be good. We walked out and into a different room. 

"This is just the little babies room so obviously nothing crazy. Just a half sun with thick rays and a few different colored blues." She pointed at the back wall where cribs were. 

"Yeah, I see what you're saying. What about that extra room?" I asked her. "Follow me." She walked out and I followed her to the very last room where boxes were.

"This is just a storage room for right now, but I want to upgrade it for a little bit older kids. A lighthouse, that's what I'm missing." She looked at me. 

"Yeah I definitely feel like I have time for it. The one that would take the longest is the toddlers and it shouldn't be more than a week." We walked back out to the lobby. "How long are you staying?"

"The rest of the month." "Oh okay, awesome," She smiled. "I forgot to tell you but I already have the paints your boss told me to get." 

"Oh really?" That made me happy. Most people do listen to him, but it's terrible when they don't. "Yeah. We're closed for the next few days so you won't have anyone bothering you. If you need anything then I'll be in here."

"Okay, thank you." I smiled then went back to the hallway. I set my bag down and got out my thick pencil. I need the picture, I forgot what it looks like. 

"Hey, Lily?" I went back to where she is. "Yes?" "Can you send me your inspo pictures?" I got my phone from my back pocket. "Yeah of course." 

We traded phone numbers and she sent me the pictures. "Are you wanting it to look exactly like this or do you have something you want to add or take away?" 

"I like it the way it is." "Okay." I went back to the hall and started with the palm tree.

I'm so excited.