Cheated [NaNoWriMo]

Noon Day 2

Just as her brush is about to hit the canvas, a girlish squeal breaks out. She lets out a sigh and turns around just as Roger races into her studio at the workshop.

"What is it Roger?" she hisses at him. He ignores her hostility as he points out the window.

"See that building? No, not that one. The one with the colored glass windows. It's going to become a gallery!" Roger exclaims. Angel shoves her fingers in her ears as Roger calms down. "The only problem is that his company is going to own it."

"What's wrong with that Roger?" she sighs. She didn't see anything wrong with it. They were over and she had to except that. Sure, she could change that fact, but someone deleted the email from Alfred.

An rakes a hand through her hair and glances between her painting and Roger. She longs to start the painting. The pencil lines are slowly burning into her mind. It's the worst feeling to her. She hated whenever she didn't finish a painting.

"Isn't it, like what, midnight in Hong Kong? How did he get the deal at this time of night?" Angelina asks finally. Roger's outburst was wasting her time. He could have brought it up in an hour during their lunch together.

"Yeah, but it's noon here, so we're awake. This end of the deal can be made, while his end probably doesn't even know yet. I bet he's going to ask you to do something for the opening of the branch." To say Roger gambles often is an understatement. If he wasn't in the casinos, he was making stupid little bets like this one with me.

"Can you just leave? I'll see you in an hour. I need to get painting," she groans as she motions to the pencil drawing behind her. Roger notices and grimaces.

"Sorry dear. I was too excited and had to tell you. I'll be off now. Bye," he responds as he stalks out of the room.

She returns to the drawing. Her brush approaches the canvas again. She begins with the building outlines, and then starts on the water and the reflection.

Times passes quickly, and before she knows it, her lunch meeting with Roger has arrived. Normally they have them on Skype, but since he's actually here, they decided to switch it up a little.

They could always sit with our backs to each other, but that'd be kind of weird. They have done it before though because they couldn't find a nice place to eat. That's the only reason they know it's weird. A lot of people stared at them when they were at that internet café.

An frowns at the memory. While it is rather funny to think about, she remembers the terrible hot chocolate there. She shakes her head quickly as she slips off her slippers. After pulling her sneakers on, she's off down the stairs. She never really liked elevators, she was always afraid the cables would break and she never liked how roughly they stopped.

Roger waits out front on the side walk. Angel rushes over to him, dodging other people in the process. He laughs loudly at her as she stops by his side. She sends him a playful glare. Roger takes her hand and loops it through his arm and together they walk.

"You know, you were only 14 when we first met. You were a student in New Brunswick and I was on the search for talented students for an art show. You seemed pretty dreary back then, I'm happy to see you've cheered up," Roger whispers to her with a small smile.

She laughs at the memory. The thought about Roger being middle aged was almost lost to her. He looked pretty good at the age of 38, but so does every good business man. She glances up him.

"You didn't shave for our meeting?" she teases him. He gives her a toothy grin as they walk together. "You didn't shave back then either if I remember correctly. At the age of 28, you should have been shaving to find someone to love," Angel continues.