Galen blinked. Slowly, he pointed at the NO PARKING sign board. Ahaana waved it off.
"Ignore that thing. People don't mind it anyway," she said, hinting at the bike parked right behind hers.
"So let me repeat my question. Can I be one of your students?"
Galen lifted his arm but put it down after some thought. He appeared helpless. His hand went over his shirt pocket and pulled out his phone. He swiped opened the phone and started typing almost immediately.
I don't mind. But how are you so sure that I don't teach at some school?
Ahaana looked at him as if he were stupid. "Which school allows teachers to walk around drinking coffee and cake during school hours? Last time I checked, schools had curfews even for teachers. Besides, you teach art. Some artists give classes apart from school hours, which you don't have to be worried about since you don't teach at school."
With an eyebrow raised he typed. Nice observation. You are right, I don't teach at school but run a private academy.
"See! I am always right."
Galen shook his head with a fond smile. Move that scooter of yours and follow me. That sign has been bothering me for a while. You might know the complex near the Diara. We are going there.
"The complex near the Diara? Ah, I know that one. I'll be waiting for you there at the entrance then!" Saying that she started the engine and drew back the scooter. This time she made sure to look at her surroundings and carefully enter the road. She slowly advanced to the Diara. Had she looked behind, she could have seen Galen looking at her from where he stood, with his lips tilted up in an almost sorry smile that reached his eyes. He strolled ahead quickly.
Ahaana regretted not wearing a helmet almost immediately. The moment her phone buzzed when she passed by under the AI cameras fixed on the lamppost, she knew she screwed up. Goodbye, my 500 rupees. It was nice knowing you. She cried inside.
She drove closely to the left lane, letting the other vehicles overtake her without disrupting her moment of tranquillity and minimum effort. She continued to gaze at her surroundings with keen eyes, taking in the change with a pang in her heart. Change has always frightened her.
The passing buildings hid her from the harsh rays of sunlight falling upon her. It provided momentary coolness from the scorching heat. She turned on the indicator to the right and crossed the road when she noticed there were no vehicles behind or before her. When she reached the complex there was no sign of Galen. But that was resolved when moments later he appeared looking disheveled and out of breath. She smiled.
"Did you run?"
When she looked at him, he rolled his eyes and made some motion in the air which included pointing at her. Somehow for the first time, she understood him. Because of you. He seemed to say.
She laughed. "Sorry."
He shook his head and then gestured towards the entrance of the complex using a swift hand motion, signalling Ahaana to follow him. She didn't say a word but understood his gesture and started walking alongside him.
Ahaana kept looking at all the shops and the people inside it while deliberately following Galen who kept glancing back at the woman curiously. Ahaana couldn't understand why she did what she did. It was so unlike her to follow a stranger and ask him to do something but something about Galen kept pestering her in a good way. In a familiar way.
And that hurt.
But Ahaana was always someone who preferred being hurt over and over again to not be hurt at all as being hurt meant having memories good enough to lament over. Galen guided her through the familiar path of the complex and Ahaana witnessed another one of her suspicions coming true.
It was four years ago on a November night when her entire family had gathered for a dinner night. Her late grandfather had mentioned something about a foreigner renting one of the empty rooms in the complex entirely for himself. Ahaana hadn't given it much thought back then. But now since she is almost sure of the foreigner being him, she had to speak up.
She climbed the stairs and stole a glance at the CCTV that blinked white when they entered its field of vision. "Were you familiar with the previous owner of this building?"
Galen nodded. He tilted his palm with half-bend fingers and raised his brows. Why? He seemed to ask.
"He was my grandfather. Now my father runs his business."
His eyes widened. Is that so? They seemed to say.
"Yeah."
He glanced down at his watch and sighed. "What is it?" Ahaana couldn't help but ask. His demeanour left nothing for her to comprehend and it made her slightly worried about this whole ordeal.
It's fine. All you did was ask him to teach you how to draw. Her mind tried to tell her. Right.
Galen shook his head and looked in the direction of a room closed with a shutter. He started searching inside his bag for something. She could hear the jingling sound of keys and almost at the same moment, a relieved smile appeared on his face. He pulled out the set of keys and dangled it in front of her face.
Ahaana took that time to observe the room. The outside of the room was painted ocean blue. It stood out in between the purple and green combo colours on either side of the room. Ahaana half expected the inside of the room to be of the same colour since that was the most natural choice to make.
He signalled at her to follow him and she did. She strolled behind him like a lost puppy. Maybe he was thinking the same for a smile made its way on his face entirely hidden from her.
He crouched down on the floor and picked up a lock. He placed the key on his palm and started looking for the right key. When he did, he turned the lock. He did the same for the second lock as well. He stood up and bowed down to effortlessly pull the shutter up, his arm flexing as he did so.
He glanced back at Ahaana and smiled warmly. Then he turned to the glass door and turned its lock. He made a sign welcoming her inside. Ahaana nervously went inside.
Contrary to her expectations, the inside of the room was not painted blue. It was all yellow. Galen flipped on the lights and Ahaana gasped. In the center of the ceiling, hung a beautiful plant that appeared to radiate a halo of light from its leaves. Apart from that, different indoor plants that she recognised were inside the room neatly kept near the edges.
At every corner, there was an easel with a canvas perched over it. There was a table next to every easel with different types of brushes kept in a glass, a wooden colour mixer, different kinds of colours and different kinds of tools all arranged according to the convenience of the artist. The easel at the farthest end was particularly unique, with a large layer of plastic smeared with colours spread underneath it.
Ahaana shook herself out of her trance and started searching for Galen. He was nowhere far from where she was but he was occupied by something. Galen stood near the table near the easel that she found particularly intriguing. He kept looking in between papers, leaving Ahaana to herself.
Ahaana smiled at a particular thought that entered her mind, albeit sadly.
Saidh would've loved this place.
Ahaana neared the table where Galen was at and knocked lightly on top of it. Galen looked up and handed over one of the sheets from the collection he had in his hands. Ahaana stared at it in wonder. He was already passing her his phone with words typed in it before she could even ask him what the paper was about.
Fill it. Everyone who enters the academy needs to fill out the form.
Ah, so it was the admission form.
He passed her a pen and motioned for her to sit on the chair before her. Ahaana did as she was told and started filling out the form. It was all the basic details such as name, address and phone number. As Ahaana was filling out the address, she mistakenly gave her address instead of her home. When she told Galen that, he merely smiled and waved it off.
Ahaana completed the whole form and handed it over to Galen. Galen skimmed through the details given and gave a nod.
My staff is on leave today so it's just me and you for a while until my students come in. So what do you want to learn? Should we start from the basics?
Ahaana gave it a thought. "No, not the basics. I just want to learn watercolour painting if that is alright with you?"
He shrugged. Anything is alright with me. You don't have any of the tools right? To draw
Ahaana's eyes widened. "No…I can go buy it from the store below-"
Galen's head bobbed slowly and he looked around. His fingers generated a rhythm on the table. Suddenly, he inhaled sharply through his teeth and moved his head sideways without looking at her. He motioned at her to wait and Ahaana did nothing but follow his movements closely. He jumped up from his seat and headed over to the table next to the easel. He grabbed the glass in which the brushes were kept and handed it down to Ahaana.
Ahaana immediately gave it back to him. "No, this is yours. I can't possibly take it!"
This time Galen laughed, soundlessly at that. He swiftly typed. Calm down. I'm only lending this to you for today. Be at ease and keep it. It's yours for a day or half, depending on how long you are planning to stay here.
"Ah. Sorry." She hid her face with her hands. God, she was embarrassed!
A tap on her shoulder. Then two.
Ahaana lifted her hand from her face only to have the phone shoved at her face. She jumped in her place, then squinted her eyes to read the text.
What are you sorry for? I must say you have caught me off guard thrice in a single day. Aren't you full of surprises Ms. Ahaana Saidh Waheem?
"You memorised my full name." Ahaana said in awe.
Yours is quite easy to remember.
"You have had more hard names to remember?"
Galen nodded, picking up random brushes from the glass Ahaana was holding and inspecting it. "Like whose?"
With his left hand, he typed.
Mine.
Ahaana straightened herself and peered at him curiously. "What's your name?"
Galen.
Ahaana gave Galen a look. "You know that's not what I meant."
Galen playfully squinted his eyes at her.
It's a bit unfair to know every secret in a single day itself, isn't it?
"Boy, you haven't revealed a single secret yet!"
Galen shoved his paintbrush into her hands, distracting her. Then he picked up the paints and stepped away from her, to go near the washbasin that Ahaana failed to notice before to get water filled in a separate glass. He returned with the glass filled halfway.
Ahaana watched silently as Galen did all the work. He cleared the table slowly and Ahaana, getting the hint, started helping him. He stepped back, letting her clear the space she needed for herself and walked towards the shelf. He crouched down and from a carton full of paper, got her the paper suitable for watercolour painting.
He picked up a chair from before one of the easels and sat close to Ahaana. Ahaana shifted slightly in her seat, still not used to having a man's presence next to her who was not Saidh. But strangely enough, Galen's presence didn't bother her much. It was in a way similar to her experience with Saidh in the beginning.
Saidh…
Galen tapped her with the back of the brush. When Ahaana turned to face him, she found him dipping a flat-tip brush with the smallest tip in water. Ahaana looked down at her hands, at the brush that Galen had picked for her. It was the same one.
So Ahaana mirrored his actions and dipped the brush in the water.
"Now what?"
As it appeared, Galen had already seen her line of thought for he had already prepared a reply for her. Let's start with something simple. Like the types of brush strokes and how to make gradients. Follow what I am about to do.
Ahaana's gaze lingered on his left hand and moved to the mixer. He gently dipped the brush in the paint making it all watery.
Another text followed.
Now dip the brush on the colours that I've picked and make sure it's watery.
"How watery should it be?" She asked while dipping the brush in the corner of the colour. Galen looked satisfied. He just picked his brush, dipped it again in the water and brought it near the mixer to let the droplets fall on the colour.
About this much.
He typed when he was satisfied with the results.
Galen, with practised ease, carelessly glided the brush down the paper. Ahaana watched as the colour slowly turned into a lighter shade with each slide of the brush. She was mystified.
Galen knocked the wood three times to catch her attention. He pointed a finger at her and then swung his hand at the paper. Ahaana, taking the hint, tried to mimic his actions. The colour, though darker and thicker than his at the beginning, slowly started fading into a lighter. She beamed at him like an excited child.
Galen looked at her back with a gentle smile. Do the same but you constantly add water into the paint after each try.
Ahaana bobbed her head in understanding.