It All Started With A Payback

Dinner with the Painter

              dedicated to lewis1962

Louie watched Tori in fascination as she sat across from him.  The french fry between her thumb and forefinger never quite made it to her mouth.

They were having a late light dinner at a fastfood before he dropped her home. Eating all sorts of food like chicken barbecue and local delicacies at the stop along the river going to Pagsanjan falls left little room for a more filling meal.

She was talking about how much she enjoyed going to Pagsanjan.  Driving for three and a half hours going and driving for another three coming back with boat rides in between was worth it.  It would have been better if they stayed in one of the resorts and visited other interesting places there the next day.  But Tori had a flight the next day going to Butuan  City, the nearest airport to Surigao del Sur.

He found out weeks ago how Tori ended up leasing a condo for one year in Manila. She was commissioned to do at least half a dozen landscape paintings of scenic places in the Philippines for one year.  Then she would have to return to New York, one more hurdle that he would eventually need to overcome.  But he decided to focus on winning her back first, the issue regarding logistics, he would deal with later.

He would really like to go to Surigao del Sur with her because the idea of being away from her again even for one week didn't sit well with him.  But he was positive Tori wouldn't welcome the idea and he didn't want to smother her.

He asked her once how she made her paintings look the way they did and how much time she spent on each one.  

She explained to him that she usually spent a few days immersing herself in the place she wanted to paint to get a feel of it.  She would then take photos and videos.  After she had done those, that's the only time she would make the outline.  The colors would be added in her studio and since she used layers on her oil painting, it would take a considerable amount of time before she could finish a painting.

Bottom line is, he didn't want to be in the way of her work and what she loved to do.  So  he sat there in front of her, memorizing every curve and angle of her face; every facial expression; the way her eyes lighted up when she was talking about something that excited her immensely, to keep him sane while she wasn't there.

He knew he was turning into a clingy, sentimental and melodramatic sissy but he didn't care.  Tori had always been his weakness.

He continued to watch her talk animatedly.  He had been to Pagsanjan before with Jon, going there with Tori was hands down, infinitesimally better.  He got to see her face alight with excitement as her eyes feasted on the lush growth of trees and other vegetation that covered the hundred feet or so gorges on either side of them like a blanket.

The sight of water beetle, birds, butterflies and dragon flies with colorful wings elicited a childlike fascination from her.

They were both filled with awe as they watched the boatmen paddle for an hour upstream.  The men would even sometimes get out to push or pull the canoe through the rapids because countless rocks and boulders were scattered along the river, which sometimes became shallow and narrow.

They rode  a bamboo raft to pass underneath the falls.  As they neared it, her smile and shrill of excitement which was almost completely drowned out by the sound of the water as it cascaded down was infectious.  

She laughingly said that passing underneath the curtain of water was like getting a massage from a wrestler, he completely agreed.  

He gave up eating altogether, he pushed his plate aside and rested both of his elbows on the table. Her radiant smile and the enthusiasm with which she recalled their trip was more satisfying than the food.