Picture Us

Chapter 2: Keefe

As Keefe awoke the next morning, he had a barrage of missed calls and texts from his father, and a singular, daunting voicemail. He scrambled to grab his phone, his face ID being useless because of his dishevelled hair and face, opening his messages with shaking hands dreading what this sudden contact was from. Keefe concluded: If he was going to die at the hands of his father, it may as well be when he looked hot in a casket, as well as his father would be punished accordingly. He listened to the voicemail, hoping it wasn't about him.

"Keefe why didn't you answer any of my texts? As your father I deserve more respect than that. My friend who is your college professor's friend called me last night and told me you didn't hand in an assignment at the due date, I expected better of you."

There was a long pause, his father took a moment to gather his thoughts before he kept berating him.

"There was a reason I discouraged you from doing art, I allowed you to do it because you insisted, if you can't even try your hardest at the major you have chosen, you may as well have not gone to university at all. Although you're an adult now, I am still paying for this out of faith you would take life seriously for once, what about your future? Stop chasing pointless dreams without looking ahead."

Keefe paused the audio, trying to make sense of what he was just told, he massaged the bridge of his nose, clearing the frustration he was feeling. He decided to continue listening and heard a long, deep sigh away from the microphone, like an attempt at blending in with the air.

"If this continues, I will stop funding your tuition and make you work for once."

This very kind message on how he was extremely disappointed with his only child left a mild amount of hurt behind, but Keefe paid no mind to it as he had learned over the countless years.

"Wow he made it clear he wouldn't let me continue my what he calls 'bull crap', what a great father"

Keefe gracefully clicked the 'block' button on his dad's profile, and calmly set his phone down after checking the time. 11:19am, Keefe walked to the bathroom for his morning routine, feeling grateful that the lord had allowed his father's authority had given him no roommate.

After completing his 12-step skin and hair routine his normal 'Keefe Aura' was restored. He made a coffee for himself (which he normally skipped) and decided to relax for the day. He deserved it after all, his project was completed, and his father was pushed to the back of his mind.

After around an hour of scrolling through social media and an occasional sketch of his surroundings, it dawned on him that he had a date planned with his girlfriend at 1pm, and he had less than 10 minutes to get ready and be at her dorm to pick her up. He got up, sprinting to his closet and pulling the first two pieces of clothing he saw out, throwing them on and doing his iconic hair as best he could in 5 minutes. Despite these efforts in being fast enough to be ready, Keefe was already later than the arranged meeting time. Making peace with his appearance, he ran out the door for the second time in two days to be late in a forgivable time space.

Keefe was greeted by a Sophie who was none but pleased with his lack of time management, earning him a look of 'you left me here for another 10 minutes and no call?' He apologised for being late as a gentleman would, and they walked together to a park of Keefe's choosing. After a long 40 minutes of saying sweet nothings to Sophie, which were half-heartedly reciprocated, and finding a bench to sit on. Keefe finally asked a question that had been on his mind.

"Hey Soph... what's wrong? Anything bothering you today?" she shook her head but was clearly something was in fact bothering her. Keefe decided not to push it, he knew how moody she got when she was pressured to admit something, and figured she would tell him when she was ready. As a (mildly successful) attempt to lift her mood, he bought them both ice cream from a nearby food truck, and made small talk about recent events, with the occasional flirt on his end, which was understandably barely reciprocated (his pickup lines were bad today). Keefe walked her back to her dorm like a gentleman, parting ways with a quick kiss.

Keefe got back to his dorm room, once again being more grateful than ever that he used daddy's money for his solitude. Don't get it wrong, he wasn't grateful for his dad's crappy attitude, just for his privacy money.

He unblocked his father and replying to his message with a simple "Sorry dad, it won't happen again, I had a problem before I handed it in". Dreading the reply, he would face later in the day.

"That is a future-Keefe problem, right now is present-Keefe time." as he whipped out his trusty sketchbook, deciding to sketch his beautiful girlfriend as a massive romantic gesture, he did his best to capture all her details perfectly, including her multitude of missing eyelashes, (which he did his best to not draw attention to, Keefe does not lie when it comes to his eyelash accuracy).

He worked hard, each stroke and line of his pencil contributing to the display of all Sophie's beauty, hoping she would appreciate it as much as he did. As Keefe got further through his drawing, his mind trailed off elsewhere, something that rarely happened while doing something he cared so deeply about. This being rare he had no idea what to do about it, eventually snapping the book shut, seeking refuge on his phone once again.