Ginger Snaps

Everything is Blue

There is paint everywhere and I don't even care that I made a huge mess! I feel so... free.  I finished my shift at six last night and sure enough, by six-o-two, my phone started ringing. I was worried about what we could even talk about, we met by running into each other at a Starbucks! It didn't matter though, we talked while I walked home and we talked more as I took out my paints and moved canvases around for better lighting.

He asked what all the scraping and thudding in the background was and that sparked another whole area of conversation. I sent him a text of my website address and offered to show him what I was painting now since he was my inspiration to paint again. I could hear the embarrassed pride in his voice as he accepted my offer and I didn't care if I sounded like some love-struck teeny-bopper for telling him that.

A yawn breaks free and I'm certain it has to be tomorrow by now. I work at nine and even with half-priced coffee, I'll be a zombie if I don't get some sleep. I don't want to though, my fingers itch with the need to create and my mind will not stop running with idea after idea of all the blue I can put to canvas.

I head for my bed, the soft white sheets and fluffy comforter call to me in more ways than one. I've never worked with fabric before and I find my mind wondering over how to mix the dye and what I need to do to prepare it for dye.

I fall asleep somewhere between making a list of what I need to research about fabric and dyes and techniques I want to try to recreate Ari's eyes. I'm not even a little grumpy when my alarm wakes me up four hours later.

I roll from my bed with a smile on my face and rush to the shower. It's been so long since I've had this drive to go and DO something, anything. I dress with little thought to what I'm wearing and throw my riot of Auburn curls into a high ponytail. I practically skip out of my loft and down to the stairs.

I can't keep the smile off my face and when I skip into work - and I do mean literally skip, Nick gives me a sly smile and a wink. I give him the three-finger salute and continue to skip through the store and into the backroom. My day is made better when Nick tells me of the permanent absence of Monroe.

By four in the afternoon, my spirits are still high and my energy levels have yet to drop. Nick has been giving me bright smiles and commenting on how he missed this side of me. I've missed it too, it's been so long since I've been this light in spirit and mind and body and...

"Oh, wow! Everything is blue." My head snaps up so quick I'm surprised I didn't give myself whiplash. It's been a little more than twenty-four hours and already I'd know that voice anywhere.

My eyebrows rise in confusion, "What's a Halsey song have to do with anything?" When he smiles at me, I feel like I'm melting into a little pile of goo.

"You." I look at Nick in confusion and back at Ari with. I shrug at him and feel my face warming up at the look he's giving me. "You're wearing all blue and you even have some blue in your hair."

I feel my face going from a light ember to full-on flames. My hands go to some of the strands falling around my face and sure enough, there are at least three different shades of blue speckled across my red hair. "Pardon me while I go throw myself in the dumpster with the rest of the trash."

I make a quick exit from behind the counter, I can't believe Nick let me work four hours straight without telling me I had paint in my hair. My goodness! How out of it I am, I've never forgotten to cover my hair while painting in my adult life. So stupid!

"You know, it's cute. And hey, at least the blue doesn't clash with the colour of your hair." Oh, man, does he know how to sweet talk a girl. Well, at least this girl.

"You know, this is the employee break room, authorized personnel only." Woo! I'm so glad that came out sassy and not sarcastic.

He chuckles at my remark and leans against the door jamb. "Good thing I got permission from the manager."

I pull out a chair and plop down, my grin sliding into a big smile. "That's cause Nick likes to meddle in peoples love lives. I once saw him trip this girl right into the boy she had a crush on just so she could talk to him."

"Does he do that to you often?" Oh god, even I could see that a mile away but it doesn't stop my smile from getting bigger.

"Nope. I've never had a love life for him to mess with."

"Well, just so you know, he didn't trip me." I laugh at his smug declaration. "I've gotta go but I'll be here when you're finished. You have some art to show me."