Iridescent

Chapter 24: Mahogany

Jason

I watched her as she looked around my little workspace. I've never brought anyone here before and I wondered why I felt comfortable enough to bring her here. Perhaps it's because of the trust she showed me when she told me about the root of her fear.

"What exactly do you do here?" She glanced at me while she inspected my space

"A little escape. I work here at times." I motioned to the brushes and palettes scattered on a mahogany work table.

"I like it, feels comfy but the glass makes you feel you're still outside." She grinned at me and at that moment, the sun shone around her making her look ethereal.

I was stunned.

"Exactly." I quickly answered. "Please, make yourself comfortable." I waved towards the couch.

"Okay." I watched her saunter over to the worn out couch and plop down. "What are you going to do then?"

"I'm going to do a little work." I answered while I grabbed my pencils and sketch pad.

I wobbled over to her on the couch and sat on the other end. "I hope you don't mind that I do a little sketching."

"Oh, please do. You should definitely do that. I brought a book with me to read anyway." She started to lean over and reach for my bum leg.

"What are you doing?!"

She glanced at me and smiled. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm putting your leg up, so that you'll be comfortable while you work." She shrugged.

"You don't need to do that." I protested but she shook her head at me.

"You're the one who's injured. I'm just going to grab that ottoman. "

I relented and raised my other leg to stretch out on the couch, checking that she still had enough space to sit on, and used a throw pillow as a table and started scribbling. "What are you reading?" I asked.

"Gone Girl." She answered as she pulled an ottoman next to the couch and placed her legs up and grabbed her book.

I looked up from my pad and raised an eyebrow at her. "I wouldn't have pegged you for the psychological thriller kind of girl."

"You probably thought I was the classics kind of girl, didn't you," she narrowed her eyes at me and smirked.

She definitely got me there. "Yes." I chuckled. "Definitely Austen and Bronte type"

She  threw her head back and laughed, filling my workspace with life.

"How cliché can you get Jason. Librarian and the classics." She gave me a lopsided grin and shook her head before burying her head back in her book.

"I've seen the movie though." I said, wanting to keep the conversation up.

"You've seen the movie." She slowly repeated, peering down at me.

"Yes."

She snickered. "Like on a date or something?"

"or something..." I answered.

"Well, I haven't. I want to finish reading the book first." She replied. "I hope I don't get disappointed though." She frowned. "You know that movie adaptations always fall short, right?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not much of a reader." I staged whispered at her and scrunched my face in disgust.

She rolled her eyes at me and went back to reading. "Well, you should read."