Love Me for Me

Chapter Seven

NIALL’S POV

I walked up to the address that Sam gave me earlier and checked to make sure it was the right address. I walked into the building and looked at the paper again. It said “Studio --> 413-A” I walked into the elevator and pushed the ‘4’ button. “Okay, you’ll just go up, look at the art, and go. No flirting- just business.” I said in the elevator. I could feel myself getting more nervous as the elevator went up. I took a deep breath as the doors opened and I walked out, taking a left. I found the room quickly and noticed that the door was slightly opened. I slowly opened the door and walked in, looking around.

It was a small room, with a mini fridge, microwave, and table in one corner. The walls were a light brown, almost like a coffee color. I noticed towards the back was a flight of stairs, painted different colors. On the other side of the room were a small desk and two chairs in front of it, probably for meetings. I shut the door and heard a noise coming from upstairs. I looked up and saw a head pop up from behind the railing. “Oh hey, Ben. You can come up.” She said with a smile on her face.

I nodded and walked towards the stairs when I heard another noise come from the loft. When I finally reached the top, I could feel my jaw drop. Paintings and sketches covered the walls and there were three easels standing in the middle of the room. There was a huge window at the back of the loft with an amazing view of the entire city.

“Wow” I said, looking around at the rest of the space. “Nice studio. You work here?”

Sam walked away from an easel and nodded. She had changed her outfit from earlier and was now wearing a white v- neck t- shirt with a blue tank top underneath, red skinny jeans, and gray converse. “Thanks; and yeah- I’ve been here for almost a year now.” I nodded and kept looking around. She had so many drawings and paintings on the walls- there had to be at least 40 here. “So” she said, now in front of me. “What kind of art were you looking for- painting or drawing?”

I laughed and she raised one eyebrow. “Who said I was buying anything? I told you I would consider buying something if I saw them in person.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine; come this way.” She grabbed my hand and walked me over towards a drawing on the wall of two hands. “So this is one of my favorite drawings.” I looked at it closely, trying to interpret the meaning of it. The two hands looked like they were being separated, but kept trying to stay together.

“What’s the meaning behind it?” I asked, looking down at her.

“Well, I drew that when I was about 14. It’s supposed to be two people being taken away from each other forever and never wanting to let go.”

I looked at the drawing again and smiled. “It’s really good; you’re really talented.” Sam looked up at me and smiled, blushing.

“So, umm… I have another drawing over here.” She said, pointing to another picture on the wall. I walked over to it and saw a picture of a pretty girl in a purple dress smelling a rose.

“What’s this?” She took a deep breath and folded her arms.

“It’s me.” I looked at her confused. It looked nothing like her. “Well, it’s the girl I wish I was. She looks so happy and carefree, and I wish that’s what I could be. It’s almost like my secret identity.” She looked at the ground while I stared at the painting more. Even though the girl looked happy, she looked like she was hiding something.

“Were you insecure when you were younger?” I accidently asked. She looked away and nodded, trying not to cry.

“I had a hard childhood. Art was my only escape. I guess I just painted based on how my day went.” I felt so bad for her. I wish I could hug her and try to make her feel better, but I was a customer, not a friend. She turned around and walked over to the other side of the room. I followed her and stood in front of another sketch. It was a girl looking at the ground trying to hide her face with a tear running down her cheek.