"My name's Ahaana. We're of the same age." Galen nodded, digesting the information. He swiftly typed again.
Do you work around here?
"No, I don't. I actually live around."
I see.
"What about you? Do you work around here?"
He thought about it a bit and nodded. Yes. In a way, yes.
"I see. If I may ask, what do you do for a living?"
He picked up the phone again. She waited for him to finish typing and chose that time to observe the surroundings once more. Right then a staff came inside holding a big canvas in his hands with another staff following him, holding a hammer and nails in his hands.
Suddenly Ahaana remembered why she was there in the first place. Galen who was waiting for her to read the text glanced back to find what was having her thoughts this time and hummed to himself at the sight. He deleted the whole paragraph that he had typed and started entering new text swiftly. When he was done, he tapped the table, grabbing her attention effectively.
Do you like paintings?
"Yes, I do. How did you find out?"
Galen raised an eyebrow at her as if to ask her, isn't it obvious?
Ahaana smiled shyly. He typed again, without looking back. Do you know the song 'Snow on the Beach'?
Her eyes lit up even though her heart still felt heavy. "Of course I do. Midnights is my favourite album."
Is it?
"Yeah."
Then you are gonna love that painting.
"Wait what?"
Galen stood up from his seat and asked Ahaana to do the same with his hand. Ahaana, though confused, obeyed his words and stood up as well. Galen walked towards where the two staff were standing, with the tall one slamming the hammer onto the wall. The other watched while holding the turned canvas carefully. His head turned to both Ahaana and Galen when they approached and a pleasant, non-business smile formed on his lips.
"Hi man, the painting looks amazing."
Galen mouthed a thank you at him, shocking Ahaana. "You drew it?"
Galen simply smiled. He nodded at the staff holding the painting. They must've known each other for some time, for he immediately beamed and turned around the painting carefully. Ahaana gasped softly.
Black sea kissed tender grey dunes with grey foams. Several rocks were scattered across the painting. One of the waves crashed into a huge rock and splattered around it. In the midst of it all, snow fell, accentuating the colour white. It was a spectacular sight.
"Galen this is, this is amazing! I feel like I should reach it and touch it my with fingers!"
"I advise you against that ma'am. The paint is still wet." Advised the staff.
"Is that so?" A nod, "That's a pity."
If she could stress enough, she would be able to smell the faint smell of the oil paint used in the drawing but it was overlapped by the scent of freshly baked items and beverages. Ahaana etched closer to the painting and studied it carefully. The brush strokes were incomplete yet complete, intentionally overlapping over the other colour, a trick similar to Van Gogh but different at the same time. In her life, she had known one more person who used a similar technique to draw. And she adored every single painting that he drew that way. Her hand clenched, the golden ring on her ring finger growing tight.
A hand tapped her shoulder. Ahaana turned her head to face Galen with a forced smile. She doesn't know if Galen was oblivious to his surroundings and human feelings or if he pretended not to see her pain. Either way, she was thankful that he didn't mention it.
"Ma'am your tea."
"Ah right."
"Shall I place it on the table?"
"Yes please."
"I'll be back with your order right away sir." Saying that, the woman returned to her place, to the room behind the stairs. Ahaana watched as Galen fumbled with the sleeve of his shirt, fixing it and turned to face her. Their eyes met and once again Ahaana was shaken by how intense they were.
Intense, just like Saidh's.
Ahaana gulped. Galen pointed back at the seat. Ahaana's brows furrowed but went back to normal at the next instance. Together they walked back.
"Can I ask you something?"
Galen nodded as he slid into the seat. He kept his phone close by his side. "Are you the one who drew all of the paintings present here?"
He stared at her for a moment and started typing. No. I only drew three of them. Can you recognize them by any chance?
"Yes, I can." She said, looking up from the phone screen to right at him. "You have a distinct art style similar to someone I know. So it's easy to tell them apart."
Is that so? Then tell me, which are they?
Ahaana turned around and started pointing at two different paintings placed at two edges. One was of a flower vase painted in the usual cubism style with red, blue and yellow being the key colours used and another was the bamboo from before. The very first painting that she noticed.
When she turned back around, Galen was looking at her as if he was spellbound. It made her want to laugh and she did. He, with a smile, tilted his head to a side as if to ask, why are you laughing?
Ahaana gestured at him to wait and explained herself. "Sorry, it's just, you kind of looked…let's say awkward looking at me like that."
He squinted his eyes.
"Like you were spellbound."
He swiftly grabbed his phone. I might be for all you know. No one pays that much attention to paintings until they are a critic or a fanatic. Tell me Ahaana, which one are you?
"Hmm…" she pretended to think. "A casual observer?"
Galen looked at her like he couldn't fathom her at all. He glanced down at the cake and then at the black tea, and then nodded to himself.
"You should try this? It might seem like a bad combo but it actually tastes really good."
He shook his head. Moments later the lady staff from before came over to their seat with a choco velvet pastry and black coffee in her hand. She placed them on the table before Galen's grinning face.
Ahaana laughed again. "This is so silly!"
Galen smiled as well. He pressed the fork on top of the cake and lifted the cake-filled fork up to his mouth. His lips wrapped around the spoon and he hummed as if he was satisfied by the food.
"Good to know I'm not the only one with a cake-craving tendency in the morning."
You never walk alone, Ahaana.
"Hm, I have heard that line before but where was it? Where have I heard of it?" She put her free hand on her forehead and used the other to take the cake.
"So you are an artist by profession huh?"
Galen stared at her for a moment before shrugging.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
I could be. In a way I am but at the same time, I'm not? Does that make sense?
"Unfortunately no."
Well, I teach people how to draw.
"Ah, so a teacher."
He shrugged again and went back to eating. What about you? What do you do for a living?
"I am an editor at a publishing house in Kollam. Though sometimes I have to go to Kottayam for work since the head branch is there."
So do you go to and fro to Kollam every day?
"Hmm no. I live there."
He raised a brow. "Yeah, I know. I live here too."
It must've made sense to him because he stopped asking her at that point. What's working in a publishing house like? Is it fun?
"Uh no. It's pretty mundane."
What work do you consider fun then?
"I don't really have a definition for a fun job. Job is job, if you get money, that's what truly matters right?"
I disagree.
"Oh, then you have a definition for a fun job?"
He nodded, looking at his screen. He was furiously typing without getting anything wrong. When he was done he showed his answer to her. A fun job is something that you enjoy doing even if the pay sucks. You will look forward to your day at work instead of finding different excuses for a leave.
"So is teaching painting to kids and adults your fun job?"
He nodded again, this time while looking straight into her eyes. She blinked. "Wow."
They went back to eating in silence. By the time they were about to leave, more and more customers came rushing in, mostly adults dressed in casuals to buy essential baked goods for their homes. Galen went to the reception and bought five pieces of bread and paid them 12.5 rupees in total. He had already paid for both his pastry and coffee. It was now Ahaana's turn to pay. She paid rupees 30 for the pastry and 10 for the tea.
When it was time for parting, they both lingered before the shop, one with the phone in his hands and the other waiting for him to finish typing so that she could speak. Galen adjusted his bag on his shoulder.
Thank you for today. It was fun talking to you.
"Why are you thanking me? I did nothing."
You did. Even if you think otherwise.
A smile made its way to Ahaana's lips. Her eyes lit up and her heart swelled with joy.
"Thank you. For saying that."
Galen just smiled and waved at her while walking backwards. He then twirled around. Right then a bus stopped a few stops ahead of the shop, right where Galen was heading in. People started swarming in and out of the bus crowding the area completely. Ahaana gripped her bag tight. She looked at her scooter parked in the area and then at Galen who was disappearing into the crowd.
If it were any other day, she would have let him go right that moment. She got what she wanted and that was enough for her. But for some strange reason, she couldn't muster the strength to move. Her mind told her to go back home. You found what you were looking for. But her heart whispered, go after him, Ahaana. Go.
Muttering a curse under her breath, she immediately started looking for the scooter's key inside her bag. When she found it, she entered the key and started the engine. She not so carefully pulled the scooter from the parked place and drove it straight into the road without looking at the sides. Her only focus was Galen and Galen alone. But when she tried to find him in the crowd, she couldn't.
Could he have boarded the bus? But he said he worked nearby.
Just then a chestnut mess of hair peeked out of the crowd and Ahaana unknowingly grinned to herself. She hadn't realized it, but that was her first genuine smile in 3 months.
She pressed the horn thrice catching the attention of everyone around her including the auto drivers who were chit-chatting with each other. They all watched her with curiosity but Ahaana was busy beaming.
"Galen!" She called out when she was near him.
He didn't hear it the first time so she tried again. "Galen!"
As if they were in a movie, he slowly turned around and Ahaana slowed down, parking the scooter at the corner, right near the footpath where a clear warning of NO PARKING was written in bold red letters. Galen's doe eyes widened in surprise.
He raised his hands and waved them around making different gestures but Ahaana couldn't understand them at all. So she spoke instead, "You teach people how to paint, don't you?" Galen nodded, not understanding where it was going. Ahaana leaned onto the front of her scooter ignoring the looks she was getting from the people and spoke, "Can I be one of your students?"