Strung (Rock & Romance I.)

Chapter 6. - Paint

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to thenamestacha - Thank you for the support! Here we go!

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"Would it be okay?" Arielle asked, snapping me back to reality.

I clutched the phone tighter to my ear. "Would what be okay?"

I heard her sigh on the other end of the line. "Have you been zoning out again?" When I didn't deny it, she continued. "I wanted to make sure that the pieces are coming along nicely, so I was going to drop by your studio this afternoon. Nikki said she wanted to come along, would that be okay with you? I wanted to make sure you got a proper heads up this time."

"Of course." I agreed. I have been keeping both ladies updated on how the art pieces for the event were coming along - I was hand-painting the plates, and making light fixtures and these trees that were going to transform into the renaissance room into a magical fairy forest for Hazmat.

And while I've been sending pictures to the girls about all my ideas, as well as the pieces that have been completed, the effect would undeniably be different in person.

"I just got these new logs in, I think I could make some really neat high cocktail tables out of them." I told her excitedly. "Of course, I need to talk to you about the room itself. I'll need the space rented a few days early, because I can make pieces all day long, but it all needs to be set up and positioned right in the room."

"I thought about that. We'll discuss it with Nikki tonight, then." Arielle agreed. "How does six sound?"

"I will be here all night." And with that, we said our goodbyes, and hung up.

I ran a hand through my knotty hair. I've had no time to run home and freshen up, so the best I could do is spray some water on my face in the little bathroom in the adjacent building, and hope that the decorations would be nice enough to catch their attention.

Not that I really cared what they thought of my looks. Arielle has worked with me multiple times in the past, she was used to the way I worked by now. But Nikki... Well, even if she said her life wasn't that glamorous, I doubted that the girls around them looked like they head-butted a Home Depot.

Arielle pulled up first - as expected - about fifteen minutes before six. She was already going through my sketches for how I wanted the room to look, after inspecting all the separate pieces completed so far, when the door opened for the second time.

And instead of Nikki Flynn, it was Nikki and Brian Flynn who walked in, with Lukas LaBelle following closely behind.

Fucking hell.

"London!" Nikki smiled as her and her husband walked up to me. "Thank you so much for letting us come over! This place is incredible!" She gushed, glancing around the four car garage I rented and generously called my studio. "It's exactly how I pictured an artists' lair to look like!"

I returned her smile, and gave her a quick hug, before her husband pulled me in too.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the boys were coming. It was a last minute thing, I hope that's okay." She explained, looking hopeful as her husband handed me a gift bag, with something that awfully resembles a bottle of wine, sticking out of it.

Good. It looked like I was going to need that.

"It's no problem. I'm actually glad you're here." I replied, which wasn't a lie. I was glad that Brian came along. He seemed the nicest and most approachable out of the group. That statement, of course, didn't apply to the blonde guitarist, lurking behind them. "If there's anything you don't like or want me to change, you can still let me know. Most of it is still in the planning stages."