Masterpiece // Mavin

Chapter One

Gavin Free practically jumped up from his light slumber after hearing the familiar sound of the bell on the door of his shop chiming, indicating it was his favourite time of the week. At least, one of the two favourite times. Michael Jones traipsed through the door, coffee in his hand and bags under his eyes. Yet immediately, his eyes lit up once Gavin turned the corner.

"Gavin! Hey buddy. Feels like it's been forever!" Michael smiled.

"It does, my boy! But nothing new has come in since last week, I'm afraid. You're out of luck," Gav shrugged and took his seat behind the counter.

"That's okay. I don't mind coming in to check things out again."

Michael always walked over to the same group of paintings first. Gavin's paintings. Although Michael didn't know it, Gav's paintings were always the first ones he gravitated towards.

"I love this one. I can't believe they're all anonymous," Michael smiled to himself, running his fingers over a painting of a winter scene. Gavin kept as straight of a face as he could and shrugged.

The two roamed through to the back of the shop, where Gavin made himself a cup of coffee and Michael sat down with his own - he only drank Starbucks. They chatted until another customer came in and Gav had to jog to the front again. Michael left not too long after, but not without taking one more look at the paintings he was so in love with.

This was a twice-weekly occurrence with Gav and Michael. Michael would come in, look around, the two would talk, and he would leave for home. Every single Wednesday and Sunday. Yet, Gavin had his own routine. His shop was never too busy, so he spent the majority of his time in the back with his canvases and paints, drawing inspiration from the talent-filled works that were present in his own store. He left his paintings near the door to the back room, strewn at the wall, while the paintings from other artists were gracefully hanging on walls throughout the entire store, both downstairs and upstairs. Since the first time he came in, Michael was drawn towards the only untidy paintings available. After rifling through them for quite a long time on his first visit, he decided on a very brightly-coloured painting, with a single flower as the focus of it all. From then on, he came in twice a week to look around more and talk to Gavin, since they became fast friends.

Gavin had never wanted to tell his friend that the paintings that he was so curious about were painted by him. He had never thought they would get this kind of attention, even if from one person. So he left the paintings nameless, producing them quicker, thus getting better rapidly.

Now Gavin had hit a block. An art block. Every day that he was at work, he stood with a paintbrush in his hand and a canvas in front of him, but no motivation or inspiration to do anything. This only got worse since he felt a constant need to impress Michael, who grew more and more fond of the paintings every time a new one turned up.

Back at home, tossing and turning as he tried his best to get some sleep, Gav thought about what he could do to get out of his rut. His thoughts traveled to Michael. His soft and attractive medium brown hair, his wonderful eyes and how they sparkled in the shop's lighting, the way he laughed when Gavin told a joke they both knew was terrible...

After hesitating for a moment, Gav grabbed a spare canvas he had in his room for moments like these, as well as a handful of paintbrushes and a few paints. After scrambling to find his easel, he rushed to the window in his kitchen - it gave him the most inspiration - and took a deep breath before mapping out the prettiest face he knew.