Leap of faith, rebuilding our worlds

Chapter 2: Those We Love

TW!!!!/// there is mencion of rape but is only minor but still, be careful.
September 16, 2021 (2:00 pm)
Callum was still lying on his bed, he was in his pajamas. He had an artistic inspiration out of nowhere after his date with Rayla. He started painting like crazy, ideas filling his mind that overflowed his time and paint. Not only that, but he remembered the sensation, how each brush made him feel alive, powerful. How the color mixed together with his emotions, drawing landscapes of his emotions, castles in winter, great markets and dancing canvas.
The paintings have been special as always but if you look carefully enough, you would see part of his life, each brush showed his own emotions. His grief when he painted the Greek amphitheater playing one of his tragedies, his serenity when he painted the great jungles and rivers, his passion on the Venice carnival. His family when he painted a city near the beach. He painted all, one by one for four days.
He only stopped to eat and send a text to Rayla, they had been texting for a while, and they had arranged their next date. Callum had not stopped thinking about her. The color of her eyes was the most interesting of her to him since they changed depending on the light and her mood. When she laughed, they turned more light and when she got angry, they turned deep purple. He noticed that her eyes resemble his paintings, a shaft to her souls, but he could not read it, it had its own language and own experience.
Callum was intrigued by her in many aspects, she was different from the rough exterior she had. Callum thought it was like the Guernica, you need to understand the whole picture and its history before you could judge the art behind it. He wondered what shadows she had and from where the light came. He was truly interested in her.
Callum finally got out of his bed and went to take a shower, he wanted to talk with his mother. They had finally ended the series of conferences they were doing about world hunger, it was part of their job as UN ambassadors and Callum loved them for that, but sometimes it was lonely. He knew that there was a difference between him and Ezra, but it was with Ezran's father and not with their mother. Callum understood that it was normal and that Harrow tried his best.
Callum knew that Harrow considered him as his own son, but there was a reason he spent most of high school and college with his aunt and their mother understood that it was not anyone's fault. He remembered the good old days, but they were in the past now. He finished showering and started dressing, he decided to wear a plain white t-shirt and my painting shorts. Callum cleaned his bedroom, so it was presentable enough for the call and his computer started ringing and a photograph of her mother and Harrow together appeared. Callum sighted and sat down and ready himself for an awkward family conversation. He answered the call, giving his biggest smile
-"Mom! Harrow, how are you? How was your conference tour?" Callum asked with excitement, he loved his mom and Harrow. He noticed that the hotel they booked in Berlin was beautiful, the walls were light pink and there was a black couch. His mom was wearing a green sweater and was smiling lovingly at his son. Harrow was wearing a red and gold sweater, and he was smiling too.
-"Tire, difficult and agonizing, but it was more about the debate about how to eliminate poverty that it was the worst. My little areas we are not called to talk about, how are you?" Sarai told Callum with a smile. She wanted to know what happened in his life. They had not seen each other for quite some time. She blamed their works.
-"Nothing much mom, I had a date, I gave the class I told you in Katolis Elementary School. But my schedule has a new exposition on September twenty-three" Callum told her mother with a smile. But Sarai and Harrow were not fooled by his intent to hide information from them, they knew him too well.
-"Really? With whom you had a date with, son?" Harrow asked in his fatherly tone. He truly cared for Callum as if he was his blood son, but he knew that he made mistakes along the way, but he was doing his best.
Callum blushed when Harrow asked him that. He knew that they were still protective about him, even if he was a grown up. He shook his head and smiled at them, he loved his parents and how they cared for Ezra and him.
-"It's a girl I met in a bar a few days ago. She is beautiful, astonishing, a good driver and a fan of my art! She invited me to dinner after my new exposition at Katolis museum." Callum was radiating happiness, each word was dripping with joy, but his eyes showed he was scared of what could happen. He was remembering that day.
-"So she invited you on another day?" Saria told her son with a smirk, she was glad that Callum was improving his social interactions. Sarai saw how his son was blushing, and she stifled a laugh. -"See, Harrow. We are going to see many girls in Callum's art." Sarai teased Callum, and he desired to disappear from this planet or get back to his bed. Callum saw how Harrow was moving strangely, he tried to laugh, but when he did, he held his right side and groaned a little. A pained expression appeared in Harrow's face and a chosen one in Sarai's.
-"What happened?" Callum asked, a worried expression in his face that made Sarai's heart break. Her son had never called Harrow 'dad' but she knew that he loved him like one.
-"We run into trouble. We are fine, the security of the location and our bodyguards protected us, but Harrow took a punch for me, and he almost broke some ribs. We are coming back tomorrow, so that we can avoid other incidents" Sarai was helping Harrow to the bed, he was tired and overexerting himself. Harrow was being difficult. -"I will go, my life, but I wanted to talk with Callum with you" Harrow defended himself, he wanted to see his son and nothing was going to stop him until Callum spoke.
-"Dad, you need to rest. I will see you when you arrive home, and then we can talk more okay?" Callum was worried, he knew that Harrow was in tough but needed to rest. Harrow was sweating and he looked pale. Harrow nodded and smiled brightly at Callum but did not say anything about Callum calling him 'dad' since it could scare him. Sarai beamed at Callum and proceeded to help her husband to the bed.
Callum knew that he called Harrow 'dad' and he meant it, he took care of his mom and for him, that was the only thing that mattered now. He still had mixed feelings about that, but he had postponed calling him dad even when he wanted to. That incident made things more difficult for Callum to acknowledge that he actually saw Harrow as his dad, but it was difficult for him.
His world burned down that day and his therapy had told him, again and again, that he needed to construct another one, better than the previous one, but she also told him that it was difficult, and it would hurt sometimes. Callum sighted, he knew that it would take time to feel 'normal' calling Harrow dad, but it felt right, it felt like his world started to make sense to him again.
-"Thank you for being patient, he is almost as bad as you were when you were little" His mother laughed while Callum chuckled. It was true, he was the worst patient when he was sick.
-"It's okay, mom. I guess I learned from him!" Callum told her with a wide smile. Sarai rolled her eyes but grinned.
-"So tell me about the girl, It's rare to see you interested in someone nowadays." Sarai was curious about the girl that catches his son's eyes, it was indeed estrange for Callum to be interested in anyone. She remembered how difficult it was for Callum to make friends and talk to other people outside the family. Callum was blushing hard and his mouth was opening and closing but not a sound escaped his lips. He was trying to explain to his mom, but he suddenly had a bright idea.
-"Give a moment!" He shouted and ran outside his room. Sarai was amused, her son was doing something since she could hear that he was moving things and cursing when a crashing sound was heard. A few moments later Callum came back to his room and Sarai noticed that he was holding a canvas with a blush.
-"This is a personal project, and it's supposed to be a gift." Sarai noticed that he was looking nervous, but she understood what he meant, it was something personal for him, and he wanted her opinion. Saria smiled at him -"Sweetie, I will never judge. I trust your judgment and I will tell you the truth." Sarai said lovingly at his son, in her heart he still was his little artist, admiring everything around him with a childish smile, trying to recreate his world in every painting he did. Sarai was so proud of his son.
Callum showed the painting to his mother, and she was astonished, impressed. The painting was a girl with silver hair, she was wearing a black blazer and a plaid skirt. She was illuminated by the moonlight, and she was holding an intricate butterfly knife in her hand. The girl in the painting was grinning and staring at the moon and the stars while leaned against a pine. Her purple eyes were shining while staring at the moon. It was a beautiful masterpiece.
-"Her name is Rayla, we met at the bar near my apartment. The bar was empty, and she was the bar woman, we talked, and we watched Soren's first big game. I was nervous when I asked out and after clearing some misunderstanding we went out on a date. It was fantastic, mom" Callum told her, avoiding certain topics. He started blushing when she noticed how her mother was looking at him, her eyes showed all the love she had for him.
-"It's gorgeous Callum. I know that it's too soon for us to meet her but when you become serious, could we meet her?" Sarai knew that his son was more reserved about his private life, and she did not want to intrude it. Callum smiled at her and nodded at her. -"Of course but I do not make any promises." Callum told her. He liked her, but it was difficult to know what the future will be. Sarai smiled lovingly at his son before telling him that it was already sleeping time in Berlin. The bid farewell and promised to stay in touch with each other more often.
Callum ended the call and set the painting in its respective place. His studio was almost full of his paintings, but this one was in the special place he had, near the balcony of his flat, where he spent most of his time. That was where his heart was, where all the good and bad memories were, where he found a home.
------
September 16, 2021 (2:00pm)
Rayla was cleaning her apartment. She had texted Callum the day before if he was sure he let her choose where they would have dinner, and he accepted. Rayla had planned their evening, completely. She had decided to make a reservation in one of her favorite restaurants, for all the day they would have that table until they needed it. She had the money and she knew the owner. He owed her a favor and with this, they were even.
She started cleaning after her workout session, her place usually was tidy and clean but not for the last four days, she was out of balance. She was happy, truly excited, but the long nights in the bar were awful. Man trying to hit on her, a waitress didn't show, and she caught trying to steal some cash, women trying to hit on her too, was very taxing not killing someone. The worst was that yesterday a pair of asshats got drunk and started a fist fight between them to see who was more manly, Rayla had to kick both of their asses out of the bar.
She wanted to see Callum, but he had told her that he was going to be busy and that he could not come out of the house until he had enough painting for the exposition, and she respected that. After all, she felt reasonable that he was doing this, so respecting his space was essential. They texted, like, a lot, and she was almost waiting for him to text her back.
Her phone did not receive a new message, and she remembered that he told her that today he would not be able to text for a while since he was going to talk with his family, and she sighted when her phone started to ring. Rayla was surprised someone was calling her since not many had her number, she had never been a people person. Rayla saw who was calling and her eyes softened and smiled, it was her dad. She hung up and sent him a text "Video Call" and he responded with a thumb up emoji. She rolled her eyes but smiled at his antics.
Her laptop was ready, the room was clean, and she was wearing a sports bra underneath a big sweater, black leggings and her hair was in a messy bun. She started to call her dad and waited for him to answer, which was instant.