The Studio

“These are wonderful.”

Turning slowly, Abbi took in the many sketches and pieces of art that seemed to line the room, almost from the ceiling to the floor.

Eddus said nothing, not wanting to disturb her. Her gaze reminded him of the night he’d first seen her so many weeks before, and he wanted to see her expression for as long as possible before it changed.

Seeing it again, and this time in his own studio, just made him want to pick up the nearest medium and start working. He almost laughed aloud at the momentary sadness he felt when it occurred to him that he’d already done this piece.

“You drew all of these?”

Eddus nodded, fighting the urge to mention that not all of the pieces were technically drawings. He knew what she meant, and he wasn’t going to say anything to change the look on her face.

Abbi took a step closer to the piece she was looking at, touching the edge of it with her fingertip. It depicted a man and woman, sitting on a park bench, holding hands as they faced one another in the light given off by the lamppost to the right of the bench. Late afternoon, or perhaps early morning, their surroundings, the tree line behind them, could be seen, but in shadow.

She felt she could safely assume that park they sat in was City Park, or some place very similar. The lamppost in the piece was of the same old-fashioned type as the ones there, and the park bench on which they sat was positioned along a narrow path, much like in the park.

Eddus stepped a little closer to her, still behind her, but enough to the side that he could continue observing her facial expression.

“You get paid to make these?”

Glancing over her shoulder at Eddus, Abbi then continued observing the artwork. She moved slightly to her left, looking at a small canvas depicting simple glass on a tabletop against a darkened background. The glass was half full of water. Drops of perspiration on the outside of it, there was a small pool of water around the base of the glass, on the surface it sat upon.

“Well, not these,” Eddus told her, “most of the work I’m paid to do has already been collected. These, I did on my own.”

“For fun?”

“I guess you could say that.”

Eddus chuckled softly, turning his head, looking at the several pieces that lined the walls of the studio. No two pieces were the same. People, trees, buildings; close-ups, distant perspectives... Eddus loved to draw the things he saw, and while most times, he was not unhappy when drawing them, he’d never really considered that they were done for fun.

As he watched the young woman in front of him, his mind began to wander. He’d always been artistic and was lucky enough to be able to make money at it, but it was deeper than that. It was almost a compulsion to express the things he saw day to day on paper or canvas. In every instance he could remember where he’d drawn something that he hadn’t been commissioned to do, he’d felt almost a need to do it. He couldn’t imagine life without the art he made, or making more of it.

“Eddie...”

Hearing his name brought him quickly out of his thoughts. Abbi now stood facing him. She looked up at him, her head tilted slightly.

There was a pause, the two of them looking at one another. Eddus wasn’t sure what was happening. He’d been so engrossed in thought that he’d not even seen Abbi turn toward him, a questioning look on her face.

“Did someone pay you to draw me?” she asked him.

Blinking in surprise, Eddus took a small step backward.

“Of course not,” he almost stammered. It was certainly not a question he’d expected.

Abbi was quiet for a moment more. She bit her lip, turning her head toward the many pieces of art she’d been looking at.

“You said that the pieces you had been paid to do had been collected.” Abbi looked back up at him uncertainly.

“They have.”

“And you said you’d drawn me, but...” She glanced around.

“Oh, no, Abbi.” Eddus placed a hand on the young woman’s shoulder, biting back a smile and the urge to laugh in relief.

He gently turned her in the direction of the far corner of the studio. It was in that corner where he liked to work. In it stood an easel, draped with a thin black sheet. Upon finishing the portrait, he’d sprayed it with a matt adhesive and covered it so as to let it dry. Later that same day, he’d met with Abbi in the park, and hadn’t been back into the studio since, having been spending all of his time with her.

Stepping past her, Eddus stood for a moment next to the easel before taking the sheet between his fingers. In that moment, he suddenly felt very self-conscious. His housemate had already seen the piece, but this was different. This was the subject of the portrait. He gently lifted the black sheet, letting it fall behind the easel, and then stood, watching Abbi’s face. He felt like a child turning in an assignment.

For a moment, nothing happened. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them moved. Eddus felt numb watching his guest remain expressionless, as nothing but her eyes moved, scanning the piece.

“Eddus,” Abbi said softly, turning her head. The light glistened in her eyes as she met his gaze. Slowly shaking her head, she blinked a few times, her eyes glowing for a few moments longer than they had in the past. “I love it. It’s beautiful.”

Eddus studied her face. In that moment, everything in him wanted to ask her to hold her pose, so that he could draw her, sketch her, paint her... The expression on her face, the slight smile and look of wonder, much like the one portrayed in the portrait in front of her, coupled with the way her eyes shone, would have made the perfect work of art.

“Did I really look like that?”

“That is exactly how I remember you,” Eddus said. “The way you looked that night while watching the play was the reason I couldn’t stop watching you.”