See Yourself Through My Eyes // lh & ai

3

Ashton glanced down at the street as he walked, sketchpad held tightly in his hands. The leaves crunched under his shoes and he got some kind of childish joy from the sound of it.

He smiled softly and sighed, breathing in the air. It smelt like rain and honey, and.. apple pie? He looked up curiously and glanced through the shop windows beside him. There were pies, cakes, and pastries on display in the small building, people staring at them happily. He pushed through the doors curiously, jumping as a small bell startled him as it dinged.

Ashton hugged himself as cold air embraced him, and the sweetest scents filled his nose. He looked around, glee etched on his face as his eyes skimmed over the list of all the sweets available to buy. He shoved his hand in pocket, smiling widely when his fingers pulled out a small wad of money. 

He stepped into the shortest line of people in the room, gripping his money with both hands as though to make sure no one would snatch away the possibility of him getting a small pie. 

When his turn was up at the counter, his soft voice was heard only by the cashier, a short old woman  adorning a frown on her lips.

"I want a pie," Ashton rushed out before the lady could get a word out of her mouth. Well, he never had been very good at talking to people. She raised an inquiring eyebrow and he grinned nervously, "Um-an apple pie, please."

"As you wish," her grumpy voice replied. 

She knelt down to grab to a small pie from the glass display in the counter. It was only when she stood back up that a loud voice from the shy boy in front of her startled her, resulting in the grey head of hers knocking against the counter.

She stood up as fast as she could, one hand clutching her head and smoothing down the flyaway hairs mussed up by the counter. 
"What did you say, boy?" She nearly growled, her eyes narrowing at Ashton.

He smiled at her apologetically, then pointed at the paintings that hung up around the wall. "Those paintings are lovely. Where did you get them?" 

Apparently, he lost all shyness when his excitement was concerning art.

"What makes you think I would know where they came from?" She sneered. "I'm only the cashier."
She grabbed a paper box, placing his pie in it, then slid the box into a paper bag with a few napkins and a plastic fork.

"Every time you get frustrated or annoyed, you look over at one of the paintings on the wall like they'll help you," Ashton said quietly, a sheepish grimace on his face as his excitement died down.

The lady's eyes widened slightly before narrowing at the boy. She ignored what he said, instead naming out the price of his pie.

He grabbed the bag from the lady, trading his money for it. 

And he didn't walk away.

She looked up to see the boy nervously looking back at her, his weight shifting from one foot to the other.

"Boy, you are holding up the line! What is it you want?" 

"You didn't answer my question," he said quietly, frowning as if he didn't know he was doing anything wrong. 

She looked from the paintings to him, exasperatedly, admitting that she painted them herself. 

He perked up as soon as she said that, but his opened mouth, ready to start a conversation about art, snapped shut when she sent him a glare. 

He moved out of the way to let another customer up to the counter, and walked up to admire one of the paintings up close. It was beautiful; a sunrise over an old castle, and the detail of the colors in the sky was exquisite. He looked back over at the old lady behind the counter who was unhappily dealing with the line of people in the shop. He would be unhappy with this job too when his passion lies in art; and her passion for art is clear when you look at the paintings on the wall. No wonder she's grumpy.