The Life of Jane

Chapter 3

elliot

I'm taking a break and going for some coffee. I grabbed my leather jacket and my wallet, walking down to the other corner of the street to the Lima Bean. Yeah, what a cute name for a coffee house.

I stood in line for a few minutes and ordered my usual - a large caramel macchiato with extra caramel and whipped cream.

"Oh, hi there!" I heard a feminine voice say behind me. "Hi." I smiled. I saw my neighbor from earlier.

"I saw you in a studio earlier. I was across the street. Are all those paintings yours?"

I chuckled and diverted my gaze to the floor before looking at her again. "Yeah they are."

"Wow, they're amazing. Did you make those on your own?" A barista set my coffee on the counter and called my name. I answered and said yes before going to retrieve it.

"Well, Elliot, I'm Jane."  I laughed and offered to show her around my studio sometime. "Really? Thanks." I pulled a pen out of my pocket and grabbed a napkin from a table nearby. "So," I scribbled my number. "you can call or text anytime you want the tour."

"Are you busy right now? Because I'm free at the moment and I'm kind of excited about seeing them." Nice.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Now's good." I waited for her to get her coffee and we walked out together, making small talk all the way to my studio.

jane

Well I learned a few things about Elliot. He's majoring in art at the Berkeley Department of Art Practice. Very nice. He paints using oils, watercolors, anything really. He can draw, and he also uses spray paints. Apparently, he's gotten arrested a few times for graffiti. Yikes.

"So tell me about yourself now." He said. "Well, there isn't really much to know. I'm an aspiring writer but I'm studying psychology and criminology. I'm fascinated by criminals and killers, things of that sort." I smiled cheekily.

"Where you from?" He asked, unlocking the door to his studio. "I'm from Seattle. I lived there until I was five, then moved out here."

"This is it." He motioned toward everything in his room. I saw different types of paint brushes scattered about, there were three tables surrounding the room, one against each wall. Each was covered with paint splotches, plus other tools. I saw a cabinet that was slightly opened, blank canvases stacked on top of each other inside.

"Wow this is really cool." I began sifting through some drawings on one of the tables, they all had different women in different angles. One even featured a naked lady with blooming flowers covering her private area. I actually really loved this.

"Yeah, those are...I dunno. They were just for fun. I was bored." I saw the slightest hint of a blush creep up his face.

"These are really good, I like them." I set them down and inspected his other tools. It seemed like he had an endless supply of paints and brushes. "Do you take requests? Like if someone wants you to draw them?"

"Yeah, a few people have asked." Great great great.

"Could you draw me?" I kinda wish I didn't ask because I don't want to be sitting in one spot for a really long time because my butt goes numb after a while.

"Yeah, sure." I pulled out my purse. "How much?"

He motioned for me to put it away. "First one's free." Okay, I'm not gonna lie. This boy is fine. Like damn. Can I get a slice of that??

"Oh, okay," I laughed. "Is there a certain position you want me in? Or a certain spot you want me to sit in?" Any position you want, papi. Oh my God, I need to stop.

"Sit over here," He motioned to a bench. "I like the lighting here." I sat on the bench with my legs stretched out and one arm draped over the back.

He pulled up another bench and took his leather jacket off. Damn. Those biceps. "Just look off into the distance, super dramatic. Like a novela or something."

I nodded and laughed. "Gotcha." I noticed the subtle faces he made when he was sketching. He squinted his eyes a teeny bit and furrowed his eyebrows. In my opinion, his Hispanic features made him a lot more attractive. He kinda reminded me of Stavo from Scream. Just the shape of his face. Wow, he's hot.

Twenty minutes later, he finished his drawing of me. He handed it to me and I was flabbergasted. I was dumbfounded. I was left aghast. I was stupefied. Needless to say, it was pretty good.

"Honestly, it's just a sketch. Shading would take a lot longer." He said, setting down his pencils and erasers on a table. "I love it. Thanks, dude."

"No problem." He laughed and grinned a bit.

"You really are talented. Wow." I stood there staring at the drawing for a moment longer.

"You mentioned you're a writer, right? You should show me your work sometime." He leaned against a table and I sat down on the bench again, bringing my knees up to my chest.

"I dunno. It's not that good, to be honest."

"Nah, I bet it's really good."

"Ehhh, I guess I can show you eventually. After it's been edited and stuff."

"Awesome. I can't wait."