𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥

glitter

Elias looked between the both of us, I smiled at his last remark. River looked nervous, but I knew he'd do well.

"Follow me children," Elias motioned for us to follow as he walked down the foyer into a huge living room. The ceilings were high up and the walls held two large portraits of his family and what looked to be of a cast. Although those were up on the wall the room looked pretty empty, only holding two couches and a TV. There were a few boxes left around also.

A cart of supplies seated by the couch was filled with paint and brushes.

"Slater left this here for you," he pointed to the cart before turning to a door, "This is the first room I'd like to be decorated."

He opened the door, revealing a medium sized room holding nothing in it but its dark brown flooring, tan walls, and a tin silver box on the floor.

"This was the house my parents bought for us when we came to America for the summers while I was a child. I used to spend a lot of time in this room with my best friend. Her name was Lia actually," he turned to me and smiled which I returned before continuing.

"My parents absolutely adored her, but I think it was mainly because they thought we would end up together," he laughed. "Oh boy were they shocked when I came out."

I smiled as he laughed, looking around as if he were reminiscing on old memories, "Y'know, I said to do your own thing but I'd like this room to represent her."

He picked up the tin box and handed it to River, who looked through the many pictures, movies stubs and other items it held.

"She ended up passing during child birth, but her son and husband still visit me," he smiled, "I'd like him to be able to use this as a play room such as we did. Get a look at what his mom used to like."

"That's so sweet," I looked down at the pictures River had handed me. Elias and his best friend in their prime looked like models, every photo looking like it belonged in a magazine.

"I'm sorry for your loss," River looked up at Elias before he took out a journal.
"Thank you, she was definitely a great person. That's her old sketch book. Open it."

I took the box from River as he opened the book, looking through the pages filled with pencil sketches. They all had different styles, but mainly were of windows and animals. Some were distorted, others looks like drawings in old children's books.

And many pages held pictures of Winnie the Pooh and Paddington.

"I thought you could use that box as inspiration," he noted, "Well, we'll let you get to it. Ophelia here and I will be out back in the garden."

I handed the box back to River before leaving, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Elias and I walked through the rooms and large hallways until we reached double doors leading out into the backyard.

As soon as you walked out there was tiled floors and a large pool along with a section for the hot tub. Further down was a pathway, aligned by the grass and various flowers blossoming in the area. He also had trees filled with fruits, one with a tire hanging from it as a swing.

He led the way down the path further into the garden, "My mother loves gardening, especially tulips. Hence why she has them in every color here. Further down this path is a fire pit, there's a nice view."

"It looks beautiful," I admitted, "It must take a lot to keep all these flowers alive and well."
"Thank you, it does. With a mother like mine though, I have no choice but to keep them lively."

Once we arrived I took in the scenery. It looked really peaceful, around the fire pit were woven chairs with beige cushions and a couch with the same design. Indicating the end of his backyard was a short stone wall and the view of the sky and down was breathtaking.

On the edge of the fire pit there was a bottle of apple cider, three glasses and a deck of cards with a Monopoly board game.

"I usually bring a bottle of Rosé for guests, but we wouldn't want to hurt the minor minds of the youth. I also asked Slater to ask River what you like to do, apparently you're good at spoons?"

I smiled, remembering the time I played the game with River at Oliver's party. "Very good actually." I thanked him as he handed me a glass of apple cider and we sat down.

"Well I'll have you know I am also very good," he started shuffling the cards, "So let's find out who the best is, shall we?"

***

"That's 12-10," Elias smiled as he took the cards up to reshuffle.
I leaned back and took a sip of my drink before shaking my head, "You just got lucky. I'll get back up, watch."

"Whatever makes you happy, dear," he continued to laugh.

It had been three hours since we first got to Elias's house. We ended up playing Monopoly and went back to cards. I was starting to forget the real reason why I was there, being lost in the game. And I would've checked on River but I knew he needed space, he didn't usually do his work with others around.

I noticed someone walking towards us and turned in the direction of the path to see River. He had a couple black paint marks on his hands, probably because it was hard getting it out.

He sat across from me next to Elias, "Well that's one room done."
Elias handed him a glass of apple cider and laughed, "Don't worry I decided on only doing five places in the house in total. Let's go judge how he did, shall we?"

I nodded with a smile getting up from my seat, wondering what the room's walls would hold compared to what I saw three hours ago.

When we arrived, the door was closed. "The paint is still drying so be careful," River announced as he opened the door.

The first thing my eyes laid on was the ceiling. It was painted to resemble the sky, and two walls had skinny trees on them with small birds in the branches. In the corner further to the back by the windows, was a pond and water lilies on the floor. It had all looked so realistic, as if touching the objects would be like the real thing. Lastly, seated on the edge of the window was Winnie with his usual jar of honey and on the other side was Paddington with a jar of marmalade.

"I figured this room should be lighthearted, seeing a child is going to be in here. When its dark the ceiling has stars on them because of the glow in the dark paint," River explained.

Elias walked further into the room taking it in. "This looks amazing. And the window," he pointed at Paddington, "She used to draw windows and bears all the time. It's perfect."

River smiled, still in the same spot leaning against the door frame, "Thanks, this was fun."
"I think my favorite part is the pond," I leaned down to get a closer look. The varnish allowed you to see your own reflection and it had a sparkle to it with little pieces of glitter spread around.

Elias turned towards the pond, "I'm kind of jealous her son is going to have a cooler version of the room than we did."

I stood back up before looking around once more, "Kind of? If my room looked like this as a child, my friends wouldn't have heard the end of it."

"I can definitely agree on that one."

This was bland and took me forever to finally finish💀But um, I'm out of school for two weeks bc of COVID-19 and I'm lowkey upset we still have to do work online😭It is better than staying in school longer though

Anyways hope you all are having a good weekend and if you'd like, go check out my new book 90210