Red String [h.s] (Completed)

Chapter 2

While Amy is sleeping, Derek comes home from work. He has a shower quietly and then slips into bed next to her. He puts his hand on her waist and her skin is soft and warm under his touch. He leans closer, pushing his nose into her hair and breathing in. The scent is so overwhelmingly familiar that it fills him with comfort. He pulls the blanket up to his neck and cozies in next to her. He is happy to have someone to come home to. He is happy that someone is Amy.

Amy wakes around 7am. She goes into the bathroom and there is a wet towel on the ground. Amy is annoyed. She doesn't understand why Derek can't put the towel into the hamper. She doesn't want to be a nag so she just puts it in herself. She grabs a fresh towel and starts the shower, getting in when it's nice and steamy. After, she gets out of the shower and wraps her body in the fresh towel. She brushes her long wet hair, getting out any tangles and then takes an elastic and puts her hair in a bun at the nape of her neck. She has an appointment in fifteen minutes so she dresses quickly and is out the door.

She comes home a few hours later. Derek is still asleep. She changes into her paint clothes, wanting to get her mind off of things.

She goes into the kitchen and makes herself a cup of tea extra hot, taking it with her into the spare bedroom. She uses this room to paint in. It has great light. She takes out one of the photographs she printed yesterday and clips it to the side of her easel below her canvas.

Amy spends the rest of the morning and into the afternoon painting. She never listens to music when she is painting. She likes it silent. After a few hours she eventually stops when she realizes she hasn't eaten anything yet. She makes herself a turkey sandwich and eats it while staring at her painting. She's not sure if she likes it yet. She can never tell until the end. It's like all the brush strokes are there solitary on the canvas, meaningless, until she has painted the last one and then she stands back and it's exactly what she wanted it to be. All the pieces making the whole.

Around two in the afternoon, Derek wakes up and she doesn't let him see the painting. She only shows others when it's completely finished. Feels too raw and open until then.

Amy makes dinner that night for her and Derek. He doesn't work tonight. They eat and then Amy convinces Derek that they should go for a walk after dinner. The sun sets really late this time of year in Vancouver. It's nearly ten at night before you lose the daylight. Amy loves it. Reminds her of a being a teenager and that early June feeling when it was almost summer break. The anticipation of what was to come and not knowing what to expect. She misses that feeling. The unpredictability.

They walk along the sidewalk near the ocean. Amy drags Derek down towards the water onto the sand. She skips along, twirling, singing a song to herself with her hands in the air. She likes how the setting sun feels on her skin. Derek watches her. He admires her carefree spirit and likes how the sun is making her hair look so golden. She tries to convince him to go swimming but he says it's too cold. She pouts and wades in up to her knees. She thinks about taking off her dress and diving in but she knows Derek wouldn't be comfortable if she only wore her bra and underwear in public. She eventually walks out of the water and joins Derek again and they walk home hand in hand. Amy looks longingly back at the water. Maybe another time.

The next three weeks are much of the same. Amy waking early to paint and then if the weather was good she would walk around taking photographs in the early afternoon. Derek worked most evenings. Some nights he would go out with his brother for a beer or two. They celebrated Amy's birthday at her parent's place with cake and her sister and her boyfriend came too. One night Amy and Derek went and watched Amy's sister Sarah in a play. Amy was so proud of how brave her sister was. She was envious of her ability to command a stage. Amy doesn't think she could handle that many eyes on her at one time.