Life's Canvas

Inevitable

Chapter 3: Inevitable

THANKS FOR THE WONDEROUS COMMENTS FROM LAST CHAPTER !

Life's Canvas

Chapter 3: Inevitable

Kori came down stairs fifteen minutes later, her hair dried and pulled up into a messy bun. Two paintbrushes were thrust through each side of the bun in lieu of chopsticks. The young woman had a pair of dark, low-cut flares on and a tasseled, suede belt. The belt had curious little adornments of silver that tipped each leather tassel and made a soft tinkling sound as she moved. A black camisole and a pair of large silver hoop ear-rings and matching silver bangles completed her ensemble.

Richard found himself still a little thrown off by the casual wardrobe, seeing as he and Bruce were still clothed in suits (Dry ones at this point). Bruce made a soft tutting noise under his breath, indicating he was not as fascinated by Kori as Dick was. "Well, Miss Anders, It's lovely to see you made it here well, a tad wet, but well none the less. I am sorry to say I am not much aware of your employment... as that would be Richard's forte. I shall be leaving on a business endeavor early tomorrow morning and I have some engagements to which I must attend today. Put simply, I doubt I will be seeing you again for the next two weeks... Perhaps I shall take you to a luncheon upon my return, but until then I trust you will keep Richard in check?"

Bruce's eyes sparkled merrily, their blue only a few shades darker than Richard's. Kori smiled and nodded, a soft giggle escaping her. "I promise I'll do my very best to make this gallery spectacular!" she beamed. Bruce nodded and turned on heel, heading out the door. As he did so, he briefly paused and brought his face near Richard's ear.

"She's very... interesting. Have a lovely time, Dick," Bruce chuckled and exited, Alfred bustling after him with n umbrella. Richard coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. It was quiet for a moment, Kori feeling rather unsettled by Bruce's curt manner. He was polite, but didn't seem too pleased by her show earlier...

"I'm sorry?" she offered finally, Richard turning to her with a start.

"No, no, it's alright. A little rain won't kill us," he gave her a fascinating little grin. "Well, the weather's pretty nasty right now... but you know that. Maybe we should wait until it clears before we head to the gallery. What do you think?" he inquired cordially.

"That sounds lovely," Kori smiled softly. She bit her lower lip and scrunched up her brows in thought. After the brief hesitation, she stuck out her hand. "Perhaps we should start this over. I'm Kori," she giggled. Richard chuckled, but obliged and grasped her hand firmly.

"Well, if you're going by Kori, than I'm Richard," he shook her hand, doing his best to ignore the incredible softness of her skin. Kori nodded.

"Ok then. It's nice to meet you, Richard," she murmured. Richard decided he liked the way she said his name very much. He tilted his head to the side curiously, a bit disturbed by his own thoughts.

"Do you want me to show you around a little? You might get lost in here if I don't..." he winked. Kori blushed a lovely rose and nodded. Richard was very charming. The girl obediently followed him up the stairs again, and Richard noted she was still bare-footed. He quirked a brow.

"May I ask what it was that spurred you to open up an Art Gallery? Mr. Wayne already has several, does he not?" she peeped as he led her down a corridor.

"It wasn't really my idea. Bruce has a fetish for them, if you will. They're sort of his little pet projects... the only problem is, he wasn't counting on having this business trip so now I'm stuck doing his thing," Richard rolled his brilliant, azure eyes. Kori was silent and he noticed her face looked a tad disappointed. He immediately found himself regretting his answer.

"Oh... well I hope you will find it an enjoyable experience. I have never worked with a gallery before, so this is quite exciting to me... perhaps we can have a nice time doing it together?" she bit her lower lip (it appeared to be a habit) and gave him a hopeful glance. Richard looked down at the floor a moment. It seemed like Kori would make this hard not to enjoy.

"Yeah, why not? Uh, this is the bathroom you'll be using..." he jerked his thumb at a door to his left. Kori seemed to accept the abrupt change in subject, seeing as there wasn't much more to say. The girl suddenly found herself very captivated by Richard's hand. Without a word, she grabbed his hand in her own, eliciting a startled grunt from the surprised man. "Ah... Kori?" Richard found himself baffled by her seemingly eccentric activity. Kori paid no heed, much to wrapped up in her examination of his fingers to notice. "K-Kori? What are you doing, exactly?" he asked tentatively.

Kori jerked her head up in surprise. "Oh! Goodness, I'm terribly sorry... But you're hand is perfect," she exclaimed, her enthusiasm a tad unnerving.

"Er... thanks?" he gave her a queer look. Kori blushed.

"No, no... I mean it would work lovely for my newest piece! I can use your hand print. It's the perfect size!" she smiled, as if that made it all better. Richard couldn't help but laugh.

"Why not use your own hand?" he asked skeptically. Kori grimaced.

"It's not the right size. I can't cover enough space even if I spread my fingers out. See?" she demonstrated. Richard just shook his head. "Now you on the other hand... no pun intended... would be perfect!" she placed the palms of their hands together and grinned.

"See? Your hand is bigger, it will work perfectly." She decided. Richard snorted.

"I've barely known you for an hour and you're telling me my hand is bigger than yours so you want me to finger paint?" he asked. She placed her hands on her hips and rocked to the side, one eyebrow shot up.

"If you want to put it that way," she quipped. Richard smacked his forehead.

"You have no shame, woman!" he laughed. Richard realized he'd been doing that a lot with her... was her optimism going to be this infectious?

"And what is there to be ashamed of?" she asked incredulously. Richard paused.

"In all technicality, you're asking your boss to finger paint with you," he snickered. Kori rolled her gorgeous, bottle green eyes.

"When you put it that way it sounds bad. I was simply thinking more on the lines of you aiding me in making this piece for your gallery by just giving me your hand print." She scowled. Richard threw up his hands in defeat. She was much too firm in her current state of annoyance to deny.

"Fine... I'll give you your hand print." He shook his head again. Kori beamed.

"Thank you very much!" she replied smartly. Richard grinned. Kori took his arm and tucked it under hers. At his inquisitive glance, she shrugged. "Can't let anything happen to this hand until I've used it in my painting. After that you can cut it off for all I care... well... actually, I would hope you'd refrain from cutting it off because I think I would care. I can't stand seeing people hurting themselves..." she clucked softly, earning a sigh from Richard.

"You're not shy, are you?" he prodded. She shook her head.

"No... I'm not very shy. Most people say I'm a tad too friendly at times," she tilted her head to the side and seemed to ponder the idea for a moment. "But that doesn't make much sense, does it? I mean, everyone could use another friend!" she giggled. Richard led her further down the hall, his arm still her captive.

"Sure. I don't know about that, but if it works for you..." he muttered. Kori looked at him strangely.

"Mr. Grayson?" she asked. He looked back at her, brow raised.

"Yes? I told you, you could call me Richard..." he replied quizzically. Kori held her head high.

"Fine then. Richard. Either way, I swear from this day forward I am your new friend, even if you're my boss. Because, despite what you may believe, I think you might need a friend more than most," she stated matter-of-factly. Richard's face became solemn, if only for a brief moment, and then he nodded.

"Ok. But that doesn't get you out of doing this gallery," he answered. Kori shrugged.

"I want to do the gallery. But as for getting out of things, this doesn't get you out of letting me use your hand print," she retorted. And thus, Richard Grayson made a new friend.

TT