The White Dove

Chapter 5

Saturday 10th of May 2008

The smell of thick paint filled the house as we moved from one room to the other. We spent the whole day painting her house. She almost tripped over once and when I tried to help her, she independently steadied herself. I wondered if she refuses help to prove a point to herself and others. To prove perhaps that she is independent enough. Or because she is a feminist who wants to show men they are not as superior as their brains fool them to be. Or perhaps she is just like this; stubborn and feisty.
Whatever the reason was, it kept me wondering.Having little to no experience in this, the amount of paint she had bought was not enough. Thus we went back to the store and bought more paint. Also, I alone went to the store for the third time when she tripped over a full bucket and splashed the paint all over the floor and her clothes.I was trying to show her how to hold the brush properly and her response was "I know exactly what I am doing," After that she took a step backward where the paint bucket, that she didn't see,  was placed. And so she fell down.She had stayed to take a shower while I apologetically went to the store for the third time to get the girl a new replacement for the blue paint she had wasted. When I returned she was all dressed in new clothes and her wet hair tied up in a high ponytail. Despite the incident, she was eager to return to work, as we were almost finished. When we were painting the walls of the last room, I felt that I couldn't stand it anymore.
The way she held the paintbrush with her whole fist was frustrating and slowing her down.  Stepping behind her, I placed my hand on hers and fixed her grip on the brush. I moved our hands slowly up and down in the right pattern. This time she didn't object to me ordering her nor did she pretend to be an expert in painting. She just let me guide her hand as we added more color to the wall that was once pale. To me, standing close to her and touching the skin of her hand was a whole new level of assurance. I suddenly had this urge in me to take care of her and help her with everything. I wanted to protect her from anything that could possibly cause her any kind of physical or mental pain.  

Again, I could only blame my masculinity and the weird desire men always have towards protecting women.Half of the wall was done with my hand guiding hers in a soothing motion. After that, she turned slowly towards me; our faces dangerously close, "I can continue from here,"Indeed I let her be and went to the other part of the room feeling a little tug in my chest. Nearly an hour later, we were finally finished and grinning happily at each other.
We successfully painted all the rooms in the house, excluding the living room as it didn't need any redecoration. And it was where we sat later. "You must be as hungry as I am. I have some leftover pasta from yesterday," She had said and walked straight to the kitchen before getting any response from me. My response, however, was following her. I waited for her to heat the pasta and helped her place the plates on the table. We ate in silence; mostly because we were both tired. I took this calmness as a chance to watch her features warily. I was getting drawn to her. Not only by her looks but her determination as well and her seemingly neat and organized personality.

A realization then hit me all of a sudden. Until this moment, I never asked for her name and she never asked for mine either. I recalled the day we met, we didn't have the chance to introduce ourselves at first but later we could've done it. "What's your name?" "I thought you'll never ask," She joked. "I was actually just thinking how come we never introduced ourselves up till now," I said."We probably weren't interested enough in each other," She teased getting a laugh out of me. Truth is, she could be right; I never thought we'd have a conversation longer than two minutes. I never thought we'd get to laugh together or paint together. "My name's Louis," I said putting my hand out for her. She took my hand and shook it introducing herself as well, "And my name's Dove,"

"Nice to meet you, Dove,"