infatuation // m.h

7

We got back to town within an hour. Matty unlocked the apartment and I followed him inside. His eyes were glued to his phone, he seemed really uninterested in everything except his Twitter feed.
"Okay, so if I've got the day off, what are we doing?" I asked with a smile, coming up behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist.
Matty shrugged, not looking away from his screen. "I think the boys are coming over."
I nodded. "Okay. What are you guys doing?" I asked, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
"I don't know, probably just smoke and jam. We're going out tonight. Boys night, you know?" He said. I let go of him and walked around so we were face to face.

"So you're making me have a day off just for you to have a day with the boys?" I asked, incredulous. I could feel my blood boiling.
"I'm not making you do anything!" Matty yelled.
"You were the one that rang up and said I was sick. Now I've lost a day's pay. Thanks a lot." I seethed.
"Well, then I'll cancel on the boys. " Matty said.
"No! Leave it! It's fine. I'll go, you have your time, I'll have mine. Bye."  I said, storming out the front door.
"Fine!" Matty yelled, watching me leave. I flipped him off as the elevator doors shut. I heard the apartment door slam.

"Fucking asshole," I muttered, fixing my hair in the reflection of the elevator's mirrored wall.
I hadn't noticed the lady in the lift standing next to me. "Oh my god, I'm sorry." I rushed, feeling my cheeks going red. She had a giant mess of curly brown hair, and she was in baggy paint-splattered overalls rolled up to her ankles, with bright red flats on. She looked like she was in her mid thirties, maybe early forties.
She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the edges. "It's fine. Boy troubles?"
"Yeah." I sighed with a shaky smile, still embarrassed.
"I'm Jo. Nice to meet you." She said, sticking hand hand out. I shook it, grateful that she wasn't offended at my swearing.
"Nikki. Do you live here?" I asked.
"Top floor, yeah. You?" Jo replied.
"Fourth." I said with a smile.
"Well, looks like we're neighbours!" Jo said with a grin. "Hey - do you want to go get coffee somewhere?" She asked.
What did I have to lose? I nodded. "Sure." I said with a grin. Jo had this vibe I really liked, I didn't know why.

"So you paint?" I asked, pointing to her overalls.
Jo nodded with a wide smile. "Yeah. I'm an artist. Haven't taken off properly yet though."
"That's awesome. What do you paint?" I asked.
"People, mostly. I go out a take mental pictures of places, and I try to remember everything about where I am. The smells, sounds, textures, faces, snippets of conversations I overhear. Then I go home and paint it. Sometimes it turns out exactly how it is in real life, and sometimes it turns out really abstract." She explained.
"Wow. That's a really cool concept." I said. Jo smiled. We walked together to a tiny coffee shop downtown, with fresh flowers in boxes out the front. We ordered our coffees and then sat down by the big open window at the front of the cafe.
"So, who's the guy?" Jo asked.
I bit my lip. "His name's Matty. And he's being a total dick right now." I said with a small laugh despite my lingering anger at him.
"Tell me about yourself, Nikki. Other than Matty." Jo said, sipping her drink.
I thought about this. Sometimes I forgot I was a person. All that mattered to me was being with Matty. "Well, I'm 25. I have a boring office job to pay the bills." I said.
"No - tell me about you. What do you like to do in your spare time?"
"Write. Smoke. Sleep. Cook. Walk." I said. Jo smiled.
"Okay, so you said your office job is boring. What do you want to do?" Jo asked. I frowned for a second. I hadn't really given it much thought. This was supposed to be a temporary job, but I'd grown used to it. "Something creative. Something that I'm good at. Something that doesn't feel like work, something I enjoy." I said.

We talked for a solid hour and a half, about life and family and Matty and poetry and art. We talked about Jo's studio, paint splattered and dilapidated, but her own space nonetheless. We talked about how I used to drive around at night when I was seventeen just to stay away from my home town, and how I felt like I was suffocating in it. We talked about Matty and how much I adored him. Jo told me stories of her travels - Greece, Amsterdam, Brazil, Denmark... She'd done so much in her life, and she got to do what she loved for a job.
"Your life sounds like a dream." I said. It had slipped from my mouth without thinking.
"You're young. You still have so much living to do. You've got plenty of time." Jo said, patting my hand. I got a bit of a maternal vibe from her, it was nice. My Mum left my Dad and I when I was fifteen.

After we finished out coffees, we exchanged numbers.
"You should come up and see the studio one day." Jo had said.
I smiled so wide. "I will, I promise." I said.
We walked back to our apartment block, chatting. We rode the elevator up together. When it stopped at my floor, I took a deep breath before starting to walk.
"You going to be okay? You can come up to the studio if you want." Jo asked.
"I'll be fi- actually, yeah. That sounds nice." I said. I got back into the elevator with Jo and we stood together in comfortable silence until we reached the top floor.
I walked with Jo to her apartment, at the end of the hall. She unlocked the door and I followed her inside. When I looked around, I couldn't help but gasp.
"Wow," I sighed.
Jo laughed. "It's not much, but it's home."
"Not much? This is incredible!" I exclaimed in awe.

There was an industrial kitchen to the right, and an artsy-looking living room to the left. The entire space was very open plan, breathable, simple. There were plants in every corner and cranny of the space. But the best part was right in front of me - the entire back wall of the department was giant floor to ceiling windows. You could see the entire city.
"This is amazing, Jo." I said. She laughed at my reaction. I followed her to her art space. There were giant canvases set up on rickety easels and tables filled with half empty paint tubes. There were cups with dirty paint water and coffee rings on newspapers. Half finished sketches hung on the walls, and strings of fairy lights were suspended overhead.
"No wonder you paint, look at the view!" I said, running over to the windows. I felt like a child, and I probably looked like one, too.
"I'm glad you like it." Jo said with a warm smile.
"Glass of wine?" She offered.
It was barely noon.
"Please." I said.