Just Who are You

Chapter Two

  He looked away and looked at Miss Harith who pointed to an empty desk across to mine.

  "You have to quit!" Tom tells me.

  "I love my job Tom!"

  "I don't want you to die. I have to protect you 24/7 around this guy."

  Miss Harith approached glancing over Tom's watercolor of a guy beging hung.

  "I don't like it. Do it over!" she demanded as she lead the new young man to his seat. "This is  Lia and Tom,  only talk to them on your break or I swear somebody's fired. Tom, go get me some tea."

  He looked at me and I mouthed to him to go. He got up staring at us as he hurriedly went to fetch it.

  "I never seen him move quite fast. I should tell him to always fetch me something," she says more to herself than to us. "Lia show him around," she demands before walking back to her office.

  Before I could resist, she's gone. I look up to the boy and see his  dimpled ivory cheeks and tell him to follow me. 

  I hand him the notebook I was currently sketching in and tell him to look at some pictures and guess the prompt.

  "As you known we are paid by the art piece. Miss Harith auctions art pieces off to her rich friends or people come to her asking what they want. Our lowest price is 120 and we build or paint whatever they want depending on it. When it is sold, we get twenty percent of the what's been paid to Miss Harith."

  "I read the job description."

  "Sorry, I'm not use to showing people around. It's usually my friend Jill who sits where you will be sitting does this."

  "Alright."

  "My name is-"

  "Lia."

  "How do you know?" I say shock. Could he possibly be my soulmate?

  "Miss Harith introduced us just a while back."

  "And just who are you?"

  He chuckles, "my name is Desmond."

  "Desmond," I repeat liking his name. "Desmond my name is-"

  "Lia."

  "Right, sorry about that."

  "You know how to get rid of your nerves."

  "Go back to my seat and pretend the world doesn't exist."

  "Even better," he says catching my eyes. I quickly look away, "go on a date with me." 

  "Lia! Miss Harith wants you to hurry up and put whatever you got down on that canvas. The man who ordered it would be coming a lot sooner. I guess I'll take over from here."

  "Why doesn't any of your drawings have a face?" Desmond says as he walks next to me.

  "That's just how I like to draw."

  He nods.

  "Lia," Tom begs worried.

  "I need to work on my prompt now Desmond."

  "I see you after work."

  I look down to the ground smiling as Tom and Desmond walk beside me. Of course, we all work in the same facility. 

  Tom stood at his desk and pointed, "coffee and snacks. Mainly donuts. Workshop room, bathrooms. Bosses office."

  I smile not bothering to look at the boys. Tom can be so docile.

  Desmond nodded sitting on his seat taking out an envelope with his first prompt.

  "A portrait of a beautiful women," he says looking at me making me blush.

  He walks over to my desk and sits in front of me asking me if he can sketch me.

  I smile asking him if he wanted to move by the green screen which made Tom kick my ankle.

I whimper in pain as Desmond asks Tom why he kicked me. I guess we made it obvious.

  "I did, did I?" he asks me not knowing what to say.

  "You did. It hurt."

  "I'm sorry. "

  "Your're fine Tom."

  "I can do it right here," Desmond says as he stares and studies my countenance.

  Tom didn't know what to do without being so rude to this guy. He stood trying to figure out something.

  "Wait!" I tell Desmond as his pencil touches the paper. I grab my phone and text Tom, I'm fine. He didn't try to be secret about it.

  "Are you texting him when he's sitting right next to you. Do you not want me to hear?" 

  I was texting him but I told him, "it was a coincidence I guess. Anyway, I'm ready."

  He looked at Tom before turning his attention back to me. "Can I get you over by this window?" he says and I follow him over.

  I sigh.

  Is it worth it to be happy for a moment and die in the end. Or be content and live?