Paint Stain <Lashton>

III

The world is but a canvas to our imagination. ~Henry David Thoreau

Luke's POV

I sat at the table in a dark and classy bar. It was a fancy and I was hoping that Ashton would know this, but he showed up in street clothes, covered in paint. I was surprised that he would not consider to dress up. He did not though, instead he sat down across from me and acted like nothing was wrong.

"Ashton, let me just start with when you go to get commissioned," I said with a friendly smile. "You should never show up in street clothes." Ashton nodded his head, as if he had taken my tip into consideration. "Anyways, you're here to talk business with me, so shall we start?"

"Yeah sure." Ashton smiled.

"So, I have paid you with the money for Hemmings Enterprise. Which means that your artwork will belong to my father. I do just wish that you would allow this to turn out well. After all, I do not want father shunning the arts and refusing to seek them to fill some of our internship positions." I said. "So I have a couple of requests that must be filled."

"Alright, go ahead." Ashton smiled. I waited to see if he was going to take out a pencil and notepad, but he never did. So I continued anyways.

"For the dimensions, I would require it to be about six feet long, and three feet wide. I really liked the brightness in your painting, so I want something bright and colorful. Of course whatever you decide to depict must be appropriate. No naked women, or men." I flashed a smile, hoping Ashton would understand that I meant no disrespect. "However, this is a place of business. Some level of sophistication would be greatly appreciated. After all, this is going in our lobby."

"Do you want me to depict something about the business that speaks towards it? Because to be honest Luke, I've never heard of Hemmings Enterprise until today." Ashton said.

I was miffed, after all, every year I made a speech to all of the students about it. "Ashton, what year are you?"

"This is my second year. I only transferred here this year." Ashton explained. I nodded my head, that would explain why.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Twenty-one." Ashton replied. I was still a little shocked by his answer. Last I checked, most sophomores were eighteen, nineteen, or even twenty. "I took a gap year." Ashton explained, I nodded my head. I understood entirely.

"Well I mean, I never went to college. So you're already one step ahead of me. No judgement." I smiled.

"You seem like you went to college. Showing up in a suit, working in a business. Your father never had you go to college?" Ashton asked, he was leaning forward on the table as if I peaked his curiosity. I took a sip of the hard liquor in my cup and shook my head.

"Well, now that I am well aware that you are twenty-one." I smiled. "Would you like a drink?"

"Ah, I don't really.." Ashton thought about it as he looked at the glass in my hand. "I mean.."

"Do you not drink?" I asked.

"No I do, I just.." Ashton trailed off.

"It's on me." I flashed a smile before cockily adding. "Besides my father owns this bar. I get drinks for free." I gestured for one of the workers to bring over some liquor for Ashton and I. "How do you feel about this Ashton? If you want to know more about the space that it would go, I would be delighted to show you."

"That would be very nice, but I understand you're very busy." Ashton smiled as he took the liquor in his hand and took a sip of it, smacking his lips together afterwards.

"Oh I meant right now." I said. "No one would be at the office, so it would be a great time to show you." I stood up from my seat and walked towards the exit. Ashton immediately followed after me. I was a little embarrassed to be seen with someone who was dressed the way Ashton was. But eventually I managed to ignore the glances he got. After all, no one really seemed to mind.

"Hi Ashton." A group of ladies said as they walked by him, flirting all the way through. I crinkled my nose. I always had a bit of hatred towards women. I never trusted or liked them very much. My mother left my father and I when I was very young, and therefore was forced to grow up fast. When my name became engraved in the lights of my father, I always felt disgust by the women that fell left and right on me. Not to mention the girls I dealt with in high school either. Either way, I learned that revenge serves no purpose.

"How do you know those girls?" I asked.

"One of my friends likes partying a lot, some of the girl's I've met." Ashton said. I was somewhat surprised that the daydreamy painter would be any girl's first choice. I never understood some people.

I walked out to my car with Ashton who sat down in the seat and instantly protested. "Are you sure you'll be okay to drive? I mean, you were drinking." I nodded my head as I began down the road to the office. Never stopped once, after all, even I was swerving they would recognize the license plate. My father ran this town, no one would step on my toes.

I unlocked the door to the office and allowed Ashton entrance. This was the only room he could be in without me releasing the entire security system. But this was fine by me. "Right here." I said as I gestured to the space on the white wall. The couch beneath it was black and had white stands with small pots of flowers, for some reason the flowers drew Ashton closest to it.

"I got it." Ashton smiled. "I know what to do."

"Excellent. You can just message me when you finish it." I smiled. "I may have to have you contact with my assistant. After all, I don't have a lot of time for leisure."

Ashton's facial expression shifted upon me saying this. "Do you just work, constantly?" I nodded my head. "That's no fun, it's certainly not rewarding. You never get to have fun with your friends?"

"I gave up friendship when I started working here. My only friend works with me. He's my assistant." I said. "I got him his job, and well, otherwise I never spend time with anyone."

"You should hang out with me an my friends!" Ashton smiled wide. I cringed at the idea of being in a room with a bundle of painters.

"Your friends would never want me around anyways. I'm not very creative." I shook my head furiously. My father never supported artistic endeavors, every creative thing I had built was thrown away when I got shut down in this place.

"I'll make sure you have time for us." Ashton smiled. I was perplexed by this kid, everything was..So spontaneous and bright about him. He clearly had no understanding of the real world.

AUTHOR'S NOTIFICATION; Ariana

Hey update for this yay =3 anyways I would keep writing but I need to work on some of The Mess so if you miss me you can look at that.

Oo damn that slick self promotion.

So what do you think of this book so far? There's going to be a really sad thing learned later on for Ashton so heheheheh.

Hugs, Kisses, Cuddles and Serenades xX