Saturday was going by slowly, too slowly. I couldn't wait to go to work that night. I’d get to spend time with Celadine, and I’d been waiting weeks to do so. She always showed up near the end of my shift to ask how things were going and how was I liking it there. But I never get to learn from her, to see what she did in the gallery.
It was midafternoon. Julie was at the library and Will was working. I decided to take a long shower to kill some time and then go downstairs to hang with Will.
After I got out of my forty-five-minute-long shower, I noticed something strange. As I walked from the bathroom to my room, I could tell something was off in the apartment. Everything was different but yet the same, like someone had been there and moved everything an inch to the left. Weird, but maybe I just needed to get out. I had been there all day by myself. I quickly got dressed and headed downstairs.
"Hey, Will!" I greeted as I approached the counter. "You busy today?"
He turned from the coffee pots and handed me my usual coffee with milk. I smiled and threw some change in his tip jar. He never charged me for coffee so I always made sure to tip him.
"Not too bad, the regular rush at lunchtime, but now it’s pretty good," he replied. "What are you up to today? Don't you usually work on Saturdays?"
"Yeah, Celadine wants me to come in tonight instead, though. I can't wait, I haven’t actually worked with her yet."
"Cool. That's the creepy dreadlock chick right?" he asked and handed me a muffin.
"Yeah, she's not creepy, though. She's actually pretty cool."
I sat and hung out with Will for a couple of hours before I decided to head out and walk to the gallery. It was only a few blocks and I had time to kill. As I approached the gallery I felt a weird shiver come over me, like someone was watching or following me. I glanced around but found nothing. I shivered but shrugged it off and hurried up to the grand entrance of the building. Inside I found Mona at her desk. I wondered if she ever took a day off.
"Hey, Mona." I waved to her. She barely looked up from her computer to give me a half smile. I had to give her credit; she was trying to be nice. I think. "Mona, do you work every day?" I asked her.
"I work for Celadine. If she needs me each day then that's what I do. I have been with her for a very long time," she replied. It still didn't really answer my question, though.
"Hey, if you ever need a day off for yourself I don't mind coming in and covering," I offered. She pulled her eyes away from the computer screen to look at me with a confused and almost offended look.
"Or not, whatever, the offer is always there if you want to use it. Just call me up." She continued to look at me strangely. "Um, I’ll go see Celadine now." And I scuttled off to her office to get away from the awkward moment I was having with Mona.
"Avery, darling," Celadine cried as I entered her office. She didn't usually greet me with such enthusiasm. It was nice but very weird. Celadine was a very intimidating person, she never made me feel at ease around her, but right now it was as if she were someone else. "How are you? Thank you for coming in tonight."
"No problem, I never mind coming into the gallery, I love it here." I took a seat. "So what is it that you need me to do?"
"Well, I would like to see how you work," Celadine replied. Funny, that’s the one thing I was dying to see her do. "I have a small studio upstairs and we can work there. I want you to have fun, but I will pay you of course, for your time."
This was great, I’d get to paint with the great Celadine Danes and get paid for it! I loved my job. I beamed with excitement but was still uneasy about how nice she was suddenly being.
"Yes, of course, I will. Who wouldn't?"
She grinned at that. "You would be surprised. Not everyone is as...comfortable around me as you are. I tend to give an intimidating first impression, so I am told.”
I was beginning to believe that her behavior up until now was all in my head. "No, I think you’re getting yourself confused with Mona." I laughed.
"Wonderful. I'm glad you feel that way with me, Avery. Now, come to the studio. Let's create some masterpieces shall we?" she suggested as she threw her arm around me and led the way. I was on top of the world.
The "small" studio, as Celadine called it, was enormous. It took up the entire second level of the gallery. The third supposedly housed a modest condo where Celadine stayed when she worked late, but her version of modesty probably meant that it was enormous too. She had set up a number of canvases on easels as well as some large ones on the floor.
"Where would you like to start?" she asked me.
"I don't know. How do you usually start?" I was at a loss for words. There was every art supply you could think of here.
"No, I am here to see how you work," she insisted. "Do what you like."
I picked up a pallet and started to load it up with colors. I grabbed a brush and began working on one of the smaller canvases on an easel. Celadine watched me patiently for a few moments. Then I heard her sigh.
"No good?" I asked, embarrassed.
"No, it is good. But I know that you are holding back," Celadine claimed. "Avery, have you ever worked in a studio this large? A studio that you could do whatever you wanted?" She waved her hand around the room.
"Um, no, Tess's garden was my largest studio," I admitted. She would let me haul all of my stuff out there and spend the day just painting and sketching.
Celadine smiled and took my hand. Hers was chilly, like before, and I wondered if she always ran a little cold. "Here, take these and stand there." She gave me a couple of squeeze bottle paints and put me in front of one of the large floor canvasses. She then grabbed her own paints and began making a mess. She even began to dump whole cans onto the floor! I started to copy her and soon we found ourselves with a unique rainbow of paint in front of us. We looked at each other and smiled. I hoped she was going to do what I thought she was going to do.
"Well?" she asked as she prompted me to make the first move. Her magnificent violet eyes were eager with excitement. Eyes wide, I took off my shoes and socks and threw my hair up into a ponytail. I looked to Celadine once more and we both smiled and laughed as we walked onto the canvas.
We found ourselves smearing and blending the paints with our feet, hands and then our bodies as we rolled around. The bright colors drastically contrasted with her skin, that’s when I noticed how very pale she was. Next to me, I appeared to have a tan, which was ridiculously out of the question with my fair Irish skin. I guess she really didn’t get out much.
In the end, we stood up, covered from head to toe in various colors, and stared down at our creation. It was stunning, like a piece you would see on the wall of a rich art collector, the only colorful thing in the room.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. Hours had passed and I hadn't even realized it. It felt bizarre to be here with my employer and to be having fun. All of my pre-conceived notions of her were gone. She was no longer my strange and creepy boss. I felt as if we’ve known each other our whole lives. I felt a little silly once I thought about it. How could I suddenly feel this way? Obviously, Celadine couldn’t possibly feel the same.
"How do you like it?" Celadine asked me.
"It was…fun. I can't believe we created something like this. It's amazing," I replied. "Thank you."
"No, thank you. It is nice to have someone I can do this with," she claimed. “I rarely get the chance to put my work aside.”
"Really, but someone like you must have tons of artistic friends, for sure much more experienced than me."
"True, I do know many artists. But none I wish to befriend and none with your talent," Celadine insisted. "I would like it very much if we could be friends if you would. But I would understand if you choose to keep our relationship strictly professional."
"Celadine, of course, I would love to be friends with you. You're one of the most interesting people that I know."
She smiled proudly. "Very well then, friends." She held her chilly paint covered hand out for me to
shake.
I smiled. "Friends."
CHAPTER EIGHT
MOTIONED OVERRULED