Drops of Crimson

Chapter Four

I go down to the local newspaper press and put the ad in there. It'll be interesting if anyone actually calls. I highly doubt it, I think to myself.

I want to know who it is, but on the other hand, I also don't want to know. That painting had to have been of me, I just don't understand how. Whoever knows is obviously taunting me, or trying to get a rouse out of me and I don't even know or understand why.

None of this is making any sense.

With my hands firmly on the steering wheel, I drive back to the art gallery.

I'm probably thinking too much into what Iris said, too. She has always loved all animals and has always hated the thought of entrapment and capturing them. I remember a while ago, she used to tell me how much she hated Thomas going hunting. She was always afraid for his safety, but she was always not one to like animals getting hunted either. She never went as far as being a vegetarian, but she didn't like the idea of hunting them for sport.

I think long and hard about that and feel like I was out of line to bring that up earlier. I know she doesn't like hunting and she did make a valid point; it hasn't hurt anyone... yet.

The more I think about it, the more I understand why she felt that way. Think about what they do to the animals like that that are caged. They either put them down, or do testing on them, it's just the reality of things.

I think too much into things.
I pull up in front of the art gallery and notice the sign flipped over to 'CLOSED'. I grab out the keys and unlock the door switching it back over to the 'OPEN' side. I look at the desk and see that she has written me a short note.

'Went out to get some lunch for us, won't be long.'

I sit at the desk and wait for her to come back. It doesn't take long and after about five minutes she is walking through the door with take-out in her hands.

"Are you in the mood for Chinese food?" She asks smiling my way.

"Always," I reply to her gratefully.

She sets the food down and I am engulfed by an amazing smell that I can't quite figure out.

"Thank you so much, it smells amazing."

"Doesn't it? They added some new sauce to it, so I'm hoping it tastes as good as it smells," she laughs.

We both finish our food and sit and chat most of the day--as usual. But a nauseous feeling lingers in my stomach throughout the day never leaving. It is slowly easing up now, but it still feels weird; maybe it was the Chinese food.

I didn't push about the wolf anymore and she wasn't bringing it up again either, so I leave it knowing as much as I had before.

I sometimes forget that she is much older than me. She looks amazing for her age and I swear she acts like she is twenty. I am able to just freely talk with her and laugh with her like she's my best friend. We tease and mother each other and I don't know what I would do without her. She is always there for me.