"Cora." He called, eyes caressing my face in a way that I so badly wanted for his fingers to instead. "Tell me to stop."
I gulped, the words frozen on the tip of my tongue.
"Cora, tell me now." He repeated, growing more agitated as his gaze moved do...
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Thanks to the high temperature outside, a rarity in any British city, I could choose an outfit that prioritised appearance over comfort.
I decided on a summery white dress dotted with flowers and adorned with a bow, which I draped a light shawl over.
I had been planning to force myself to paint something today, having been distracted and uninspired for the past few days.
I wondered if it had anything to do with a certain blue-eyed, smirking boy that I last saw over a week ago.
When I closed my eyes and found myself surrounded by darkness, I could still see the disappointment that flooded his face as I walked away.
When I was laying in bed and met with complete silence, I could still hear him calling out "Candyfloss!" as I entered the taxi.
The irrational part of me that wanted him to find me was slowly coming to terms with the fact that it wouldn't happen.
That was probably going to be the last time I ever saw him.
I could already tell that this train of thought would just result in a repeat of the unproductivity of the past few days, so I pushed myself off the couch and went to stand in front of the mirror.
After showering my reflection with positive affirmations and talking myself up to nobody in particular, I felt ready to pick up a brush.
Once the blank canvas was supported by an easel and I was standing in front of it, I pulled up a copy of the message that I had received from an interested instagram follower.
"Hi, I've been following you for a while and I really love your artwork," they began.
"I thought that this would be the perfect time to ask you if I could buy a painting, but one that I decide the content of if that's okay?"
After scrolling past my reply of "Yes, that's absolutely fine!" I landed on their most recent message, detailing what they wanted the painting to depict.
I picked up my brush and began to give the canvas a wash of cool colours, layering the most intense of these over the lightest to create a shadow.
Using a faded yellow and a deep orange to weave through the gaps, I created the profile of a girl from the side.
I then discarded my soft brush in favour of a basic biro, vigorously scrawling bold marks across the face and neck, as well as drawing in features like the nose and lips.
