Chapter thirteen: Jeanie's creation and a glorious mess

11.9K 338 21
                                    

Rewritten | Eleven

"Nice work, Mais," Cassidy commented as she passed by the little girl on her way to the coffee pot, glancing at her open coloring book.

What better way to start the morning than some coloring in the kitchen? Especially with a brand new coloring book that Amber gave her.

"Careful, babe. Your markers are rolling away," Planting a kiss on top of Maisy's head, she slid the run-away markers back in the right direction with a small yawn.

"Yep," Beau tapped the newest decor of their house. A gifted vase, textured with a braided pattern against the white porcelain rested on the island in front of Maisy. "No touching. We don't want to get any marker on this."

"Oh yeah—" Cassidy spared a quick glance to the new vase as she poured herself a piping cup of coffee. She didn't notice anything until caffeine was injected into her system. "—It's cute. Where'd it come from?"

"Jeanie," Beau examined it with a small smile as he looked over the hand-made beauty. It was quite impressive. "She took up pottery and made a few of these, I guess."

Jeanie is Beau's office assistant and secretary at work. She's a sweet woman, always offers Maisy a treat when she visits the office and lets her help water the plant on her desk.

And apparently, she's now a pottery enthusiast.

"Anyways," Beau continued, unaware of the fascination flickering behind Maisy's eyes at the shiny decoration. Across the kitchen island, her attention had been caught. "I have to get something to fill it."

Some people tend to gratify toward the mundane, romanticizing and finding beauty in small details that most others find completely ordinary.

Maisy happened to be one of these people, drawn toward the smallest yet most exquisite things around her. As the popular expression warns: Curiosity killed the cat . . .

. . . But satisfaction brought it back.

"You could put it over there," Cassidy sat down on the stool beside Maisy, sipping her coffee as she admired the vase too. "Next to the key bowl."

"You know, Miles is with Amber—" Cassidy continued to think aloud, throwing little suggestions out there. "If you text him, they could pick up some flowers or something."

Maisy continued to marvel over the vase as they spoke, tuning them out. Although it was across the counter, she began to notice the tinier details in the pottery.

She was almost certain she could see a fingerprint indented in the side, just grazing the pattern.

"Hey, uh, Cass?" Beau scratched his nose twice, their 'secret' signal. This time was just to get out of the room to talk about something where Maisy couldn't overhear. "Can I show you something upstairs?"

This time: A new idea for Maisy, one that was supposed to be a surprise for now.

Now, alone in the kitchen, Maisy continued to color. Even though her eyes wandered to the vase every few seconds. Beau's words stuck in the back of her mind, don't touch.

After a few more minutes of filling in pictures of cartoon wildlife, Maisy's makers began to wander again. Rolling across the kitchen island and toppling down onto the floor before she could grab them.

Maisy let out an irritated huff to herself as she carefully climbed down from the stool. At this rate, she was going to invent something to keep her markers from rolling away. Or begin to color on the floor.

Compared to the small four-year-old, the counter top was quite high. So the green marker needed a little more help as Maisy patted around for it.

"Marker! Come here!"

Little Miss MaisyWhere stories live. Discover now