The White Dove

Chapter 3

Friday 9th of May 2008 

"So what kind of art do you practice?" She had asked after a few seconds of silence. 

"I'm a painter, who is currently working as an art teacher for the sake of getting a fixed salary." "Like Picasso and Van Gogh?" Her big blue eyes staring at me curiously. "Yeah," I smiled. "Well, do you know that Van Gogh only sold one of his paintings when he was alive? Some people even believed his paintings were no good. Yet look how famous he has become now," 

I looked at her amused at her attempt to making me feel better about myself.

 "What? It's true, I've read it," She reasoned. "I know it's true I read about him too. I just don't see why you'd be interested in Van Gogh's life,"Her eyes met mine as she looked slightly offended. "What? You don't have that vibe of artists," I explained myself.

 "Well, I'm kind of an artist too," She had said boldly, "you mix colors; I mix scents and formulas, I'm a perfumer" She gave me a challenging look. With raised eyebrows, I raised my hands in surrender as well. Her point was crystal clear. "Yup, an artist indeed. What you do is pretty impressive actually." "Thank you," Her triumphant smile made me smile too. "and for the record, you don't have that vibe of an artist either," She had said mimicking me, "where's the messy hair?"

"Pardon me, I prefer my hair short and neat," I had replied at her strange remark with my hands up in surrender getting a cheeky smile from her.By that time, we had reached our houses and goodbye was inevitable. When we did say our goodbye's I watched her walk gracefully to the house before I stopped her. "Hey!" She turned to me, "You might want to keep your nose at a distance while opening these, the smell can be a bit heavy." I said referring to the paint she was carrying. "Will do, thank you." And with that, she waved and went straight inside her house. I entered my house as well, heading straight to take a quick shower. 

Afterward, and after having had a meal, the doorbell rang. I opened to see big blue eyes staring at me innocently. " I just realized, I bought the paint but forgot to buy brushes," Which was something I had noticed from when we were in the hardware store. "Can I borrow some from you?" "Yeah sure, come in." I left the door open for her to enter, while I went to search in my disorganized house for the suitable brushes. "A house of an artist indeed," She joked as I brought her three different sizes of paintbrushes. "I'm glad you liked it," I smirked back at her getting a tint of blush in return. I handed her the brushes one by one with mentioning the use of each one, "For spreading paint quickly... for the edges and small spaces... and this one's for the corners and difficultly reached areas," "What about the one that rolls all the way up to the ceiling?" "Unfortunately, I don't have it; your ceiling will have to wait for now."

 "Well, thank you for those. I'll start tomorrow, and I'll bring them back as soon as possible." She assured with a coy smile. "It's all right, take your time." I smiled back at her and a couple of seconds passed with us just smiling silently. "I'll get going now," She broke the non-awkward silence, "and thank you again,"

 "Yeah no problem," I held the door open for her to leave, watching her walk charmingly until she was finally inside her house.