The Mechanic

THIRTEEN

I stared at the huge painting in front of me. The canvas was splattered with red and black paint. It was like the artist just decided to throw those colors to the canvas.

I checked the tiny card below for the artwork's title. It said, Lust.

I frowned and looked at the painting again. Where the hell was lust?

"What do you think?"

I almost had a heart attack after hearing the voice beside me. I placed my palm on my thumping chest. "God, Zayn. You scared me."

Guilt crossed Zayn's face. "Sorry. You okay?" he asked, fixing his wide-framed eyeglasses.

"Yeah," I assured him as I breathed slowly to relax myself. "Did you paint this?"

Zayn looked at the painting. "No, Liam did." He glanced around like he was searching for something. "There, that's Liam. He's my friend," he told me, pointing at the corner of the gallery. I turned my gaze to where he was pointing and I saw a guy in white long sleeves and black pants, his face covered with facial hair just like Zayn.

Liam saw us looking at him and he gave us a wave. The woman who was talking to him turned around and waved at us, too.

Leslie?

I giggled in my head. Leslie was wandering around the gallery with Marty and Alex awhile ago, I'm sure she got bored in third wheeling. The four of us arrived altogether using Alex's car but we split ways as we explored the place more.

Leslie smiled at me, then winked. She was clearly enjoying Liam's company.

"I introduced Liam to her just minutes ago," Zayn said. "Seems like they're getting along really well."

I nodded. "I bet."

"Thanks for checking out my gallery by the way."

"No problem. You have a very cool gallery. And people seem to like the artworks," I said. There were lots of people around and most of them looked pleased with what they were seeing.

"Thanks," he replied, slightly blushing. "I'm surprised with people's reaction as well. I didn't know that this town loves art."

"Maybe because there aren't art galleries around."

"Yeah, I figured. That's why I picked this place. Good for business."

"Glad your business is booming," I grinned.
He laughed. "Yeah, me too. So, what do you think about this painting? I saw you closely observing it."

I looked at the canvas in front of me. I shrugged. "I don't get it to be honest. The title says lust. Where's lust? All I see is red and black paint."

Zayn chortled softly. I gazed at him, wondering if why he was laughing. "Sorry. You're just so cute."

Er, what?

I felt the warmth in my face. I didn't know if he was trying to say that my face was cute or it was my stupidity that's cute.

He walked closer to the painting and traced his fingers on it. "Follow my fingers."

I did. I gasped quietly after following his fingers with my eyes. There was a figure of a man and a woman making out in the painting. It was kinda hidden behind the splatters of paint.

"Whoa," I mumbled, tracing the figure with my own fingers. "I didn't see it before," I added, chuckling because of amusement. "God I feel so stupid."

"Don't be," Zayn said. "Not everyone can see the hidden image."

"I wouldn't see it if you didn't show me."

"But you were trying to see what's underneath the painting. Most people just glance at them, but you didn't. You tried to understand. It's good."