mind dust - a compilation

lost love

no one had come.
her promo stand at barnes and noble to promote her debut novel was supposed to be her big break, but no one had come.
of course she hadn't even finished the book yet, but she thought at least someone would have been interested.
"lost love, huh?" a deep, familiar voice wrapped around her like a velvety blanket. she jumped slightly, feeling her heart drop to the pit of her stomach as she recognized the voice as her ex, luke, she turned to meet his face to see his once blonde hair now burned to a faint golden tint (that reminded her of the fallen autumn leaves beside the sidewalk) ringed in curls and draped across his forehead. his eyes were still the same piercing 6 PM sky blue, reading the papers still neatly folded on her table. his height the same and his sloped, freckled nose still one of the best things she had ever laid eyes on.
"y-yeah..." she stuttered out, thinking about how ironic it is that luke, the very person she wrote about, the same person she'd share all of the inner workings of her mind with-fictional and her reality- and now she couldn't search for the right thing to say to him. he could make a writer lose her words with his simple presence. it's funny, she had always thought about why he was a painter, painting the beauty in everyone else, but never stopping to realize that he is the true art.
luke cleared his throat to snap her out of her thoughts. he looked at her now and still saw the warmest colors he'd painted her with years ago, every curve and edge of her face he had memorized. he had been sketching and painting for years and yet he could never find someone as ethereal as she was. he looked around at the deserted upper floor and the papers at her table still stacked and neatly folded. "no one came?"
she shook her head and he felt a pang towards his heart. it wasn't that luke pitied her, she was the strongest, most prideful woman he'd ever met, it was just confusing as to how no one could appreciate how beautiful she could string together words and her unique, creative mind like he could. "well you'd have to get hell to freeze over and take all of my brushes away before i would even think about not coming back to support you." his narrowed eyes relaxed as he sent her a warm, small smile that mirrored hers as she packed up her things. she pushed the button on the elevator before thanking him and offering him a ride home. he agreed, and they spent the next ten minutes driving in silence and looking at the sunset.
"the book," luke finally broke the silence, playing with his long, acrylic paint-stained fingers and remembering the pamphlet he read deeply."it's about me isn't it?"
she let out a chuckle. "completely." she remembered how they ended things, both agreeing they should focus on their career yet her mind couldn't seem to know how to rid the space of her only muse. how couldn't he see he's practically made out of stories anyway? all of the heroes and heroines and underdogs in the whole young adult genre had nothing on his enchanting personality. "you know, my body has been able to stay away from you but everything above my eyebrows can't stay away from you." she said honestly, pulling in to the drive way of his house as luke let out a sigh of relief and she swore his eyes could burn holes in to hers, still thinking about what made him so damn special to have the most incredible creator to write a story centered around his time with them. he didn't say a word as he led her in to his bedroom, pulling out stained paintings that dated from two years ago to last week- all of her and her characters. he towered over her still, placing a hand on hers and realizing how beautiful she had gotten over the past year that no amount of blends or brushes could ever capture the absolute real-life fantasy of looking in her eyes.
"we couldn't forget even if we truly tried."