Drawn To You (GirlxGirl)

Part 4

Allie's P.O.V

Mark went for a shower upstairs while I finished putting the shopping away into our cupboards.

I poured myself a large glass of red wine, not something I often do on Monday evenings, and sat down on the sofa in our living room.

Our living room was far too big, I'd always thought. There was far too much space and nothing much to occupy it. Our large, navy sofa sat in front of a huge TV mounted to the white wall and there was a round, oak coffee table in the centre of the room. Matching side tables sat at either side of the sofa, one of which my glass of wine was now placed on. I'd picked out two standing lamps myself one day which made me like the room slightly more. They created a warm ambiance in the otherwise cold room.

After another couple of sips of wine, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small white card.

'Jessie Madden
British artist specialising in watercolour and acrylic'

The italic black writing was centre of the card and just below it there was an email address and a phone number.

I stared at the card, fiddling it around in my fingers as I had another drink of wine.

'Maybe I should just send an email' I thought to myself. 'But I'm sure she asked me to call her' I debated with myself, thinking back to the embarrassing first encounter.

I put my wine glass back down and picked up my phone, reading the number off of the card and typing it in. I hovered my finger between the 'call' and 'text' buttons, arguing with myself over which route to take.

'Stop being such a coward! She asked you to call so just call' I shouted at myself in my head and quickly pressed the call button.

I had no idea why I was nervous to make the phone call, maybe I was intimidated by the beautiful artist/mechanic/goddess.

"Hello, Jessie Madden speaking" the cheerful English accent said after a couple of rings.

"Hi Jessie, it's Allie Stevens here. You asked me to give you a call regarding the job?" I said, trying my best to sound confident.

"Ahh Allie yes, I've been expecting a call from you" she replied and I felt my heartbeat slightly quicken. "Mark told me that you have availability most days, so how about you come into the studio on Wednesday morning and I can tell you a little more about the job" she finished and I again felt embarrassed. What kind of almost 30 year old has availability most days. She must think I'm just a lazy gold digger, scrounging off of my husband's money.

"Wednesday is great, I'll come in around 9.30" I told her politely.

"Perfect, I'll text you the address. Looking forward to it" Jessie replied and we ended the phone call.

I gulped the remainder of my wine and let my heartbeat come down to its normal pace.

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"You're up early" Mark yawned as he sprawled across the bed.

"Yeah" was all I said in response while sitting at my dresser applying the finishing touches to my make up.

"Oh! You're going to Jessie's studio today.. I totally forgot" Mark said, getting out of bed and making his way over to me. "You'll be the prettiest painting in her gallery" he finished, kissing my head as we made eye contact through my mirror.

"I haven't got the job yet" I smiled small, trying my hardest to be appreciative of his nice comment.

"Any painter would be silly to turn away a beauty like you" he winked before leaving to take a shower.

I had been awake since around 6am this morning and had struggled to get back to sleep. So I decided to make an early start and enjoy the quietness of the morning before everyone else in the street awoke for the day.

I had already had 2 coffees and was feeling like I could do with another. The nerves in my stomach had not settled since I opened my eyes this morning. Was it because this was going to be the first job I'd had since my days in the supermarket? I used to be so confident but I guess that side of me has faded over the years.

Picking my outfit for today was making my brain hurt. Why didn't Jessie give me any guidance on the dress code? After arguing with myself for far too long, I decided to wear something casual. Light blue skinny jeans, a white vest top and a light pink over shirt that I wore open. Complete with white sandals. What does one usually wear to an interview with an artist?

"This will have to do" I sighed as I looked at myself in the long mirror in our bedroom.

I wore my hair in its natural form today, which was a slight wave.

Mark had shouted goodbye some time ago now so all I had to do was lock up the house and find the studio.

I put the address into my car's satnav and was delighted to see the studio was only a 10 minute drive away.