Autumn

55: How she creates

"Now, I don't show many people this, but we've been dating for a while now. This is probably the most intimate thing I will ever share with you."

Theodore and Maggie were at her apartment. Theodore wasn't new to the space, but he was, however, never to go into the spare bedroom. Until today, that is. Today was the day Maggie was going to show him her art.

"I'm fully prepared," Theodore said. "Show me what this glorious brain of yours has created." He brushed some stray hairs from Maggie's face and tucked them securely behind her ear. His fingers brushed against the delicate collection of little silver earrings that decorated her helix and lobe.

She squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched up her face. Then she let out a breath and opened the door. Theodore peeked inside the room.

"It's beautiful!" he said.

Maggie punched him. "I haven't even shown you yet."

"I'm sorry, I'm just excited," Theodore said, giving her a grin.

The room just looked like an office. A spacious desk was pressed against one wall, with a collection of different devices littered on its top. A desktop computer, a laptop and a couple of different tablets. A tall bookcase sat on the far wall and was overflowing with broken-spined paperbacks.

Maggie walked up to the desktop and began clicking around. She opened up a password-protected folder and stepped back, inviting Theodore to have a browse. He welcomed the invitation and sat down at the computer chair to begin looking through.

All types of different files were in there. From short comic strips to small animations to longer videos. Her characters were diverse with interesting facial features, different skin tones, ages, and body shapes. Each one had their own style and flare. There was still an extremely aesthetic cohesion with Maggie's art style though. Each of her characters glowed pink around the cheeks and nose.

"I have a thing for freckles," she said, leaning in beside him so their cheeks were just inches apart. "I just think they're so cute."

"This is incredible," Theodore said, clicking through the work she had to offer. "So you do commissioned work?"

"Yeah. I work with a lot of smaller businesses kick starting with some of their advertisement and marketing. I collaborate with other artists too and musicians for their social media feeds and I occasionally do small animations for content creators. I'm still learning though."

"If this is the level of talented you have now; I can't imagine what kind of work you can do once you build on your skills even more." Theodore noticed another folder when he scrolled right to the bottom. "What's this?"

Maggie reached over to take the mouse and clicked on it. "Just some digital art I'm playing around with. I like combining anatomy with nature. I know it's a really basic combination, but I enjoy the aesthetic."

Theodore was speechless that the illustrations. There were works of animals emerging from bodies of glittering water, their reflections distorted in the liquid. She had women growing from flowers, appearing to be reborn.

"I am open to feedback," Maggie said. "I'm my biggest critic, so I have pretty much heard it all from myself."

"I am in awe at your creativity," Theodore said, and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"You flatter me too much," she said quietly, but couldn't contain her smile.

She sat on the armrest of the chair and leaned her head against the top of Theodore's. Theodore placed his hand on her knee and gave it a squeeze. His gaze wondered across the desk until he noticed a collection of photographs in the corner.

"Was that your mum?" he asked.

Maggie straightened and leaned over to grab the photograph. She sat back down on the armrest and wrapped her arm around Theodore's shoulders so they could both see the picture. "Sure is. That was Dianne."

The photograph was of Dianne and Maggie. Dianne was a petite, plump woman with the same kind, brown eyes as Maggie. They had the exact smile; wide and open mouthed with deep dimples. Maggie had her arms around her mother as they posed in front of the wet, sandy beach.

"You look just like her," he said.

Maggie's eyes were watery tears as she ran her thumb over her mother. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad."

"Oh, Theodore, I'm not sad," she said, wiping her tears away. "I am so happy I look like her. It's just not the easiest for everyone else."

"Your dad?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, he never actually admitted it out loud, but he just gets this sad look on his face whenever we catch up."

"One day it will get easier," he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

Maggie gave a small smile. "One day," she repeated.