Ive Been Waiting

Road work ahead

Alistair thought for a moment. "I need all information on this piece of garbage you can get me. Anything and everything will be helpful. I'll dig in as well. Name, address, what car he drives. What time he walks his dog. Anything." He said decisively. "Soon. No one will even remember his name." (I'm not going to just kill the bastard. But I'm going to erase him entirely.) He thought.

Hazel finished going over the paintings, surprised none of them were even slightly damaged. So she just had to worry about finishing her last one before her deadline. She closed the storage room door and made her way back for the stairs.

Morgan frowned at him with another sigh. "I cant help with any of that. Him and Hazel were living together and engaged and when he kicked her out, he had already moved himself. He left town and we had no idea where. Then a week or so ago he came back, started asking around for her. Olive tried to warn her but she didnt seem to listen. So hes new in town again, i dont know anything about him anymore. I'll try to find out though. And that's really the basics of it. Trust me, this place will be transformed by tomorrow night. Can't wait to see ya there bud." He changed the subject quickly at the end casually when Hazel approached them.

Alistair frowned. He didn't like that he couldn't get information right away but it couldn't be helped. (I'll have to track him then and do this the hard way.) He thought. "I'm looking forward to it. She wouldn't let me see any of it until the gallery so I'm making her wait to see one I made for her." He said as if that had been what they were talking about the whole time. He turned and looked at Hazel as she approached. "So everything is there and okay?" He asked as he took in every detail of her. Her expression and body language showed her relief. The thought of losing her work had almost broken her and he would never forgive her ex for that.

She smiled at him with a nod. "Yeah surprisingly. Not even so much as a scuff." She answered with relief before looking to Morgan. "Can i finish my last painting here by any chance?" She asked, her eyes pleading. "Of course. Studio one is open so just head on in, it should have everything you need. Since youve approved the others, im going to have them added to the walls. Were all in double time to get this place decorated and ready by tomorrow." He admitted, gesturing towards a glass door upstairs. "And dont stress so much about it. You'll get it done, you have all day." He reassured, squeezing her shoulder before winking at Alistair. He turned to get back to work so Hazel looked to Alistair. "What are you going to do while i paint?"

Alistair chuckled. "I brought my own things to work on. Kind of my pet project that I'm hoping turns into more." He said casually. (But had I known this would happen I would have brought my laptop to get to work looking for this asshole.) He thought. He looked at her asking if it was alright if he was in there with her or what she wanted him to do.

She nodded easily at him and started for the stairs. "That actually sounds really nice. I always liked the idea of working in the same room as my significant other." She admitted. "You head on in i have to grab the canvas and ill meet you over there." She added, turning for the storage closet instead of the glass walled art studio at the end of the hall.

Alistair nodded with a smile. "Alright baby." He said easily. Part of him wanted to go with her to make sure she was safe, what if the asshole was still here, but he squashed it down. "I'll be waiting." He said before heading into the glass walled art studio. He decided he could just listen for her as he did before and he'd be able to protect her.

Hazel moved into the storage room and grabbed the unfinished painting before hurrying to the studio to meet up with Alistair. She hung it up on an easel and started looking around for what she needed but her eyes kept going to the canvas. She had been struggling with this one since the beginning and didn't really know where she was going with it. She kept sighing, going for different things and then changing her mind. It was never going to be done in time for the show.