X ‖ art store

LONDON
January 
Location: Assigned Apartment

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After Jax left the apartment, I tried to brush off all the bother as I busied myself to unpack my things. Realising that there's an easel in my room, I sighed in slight dejection that my paints and brushes were still left back in my old apartment. I sat around in the room and stared at the easel for a while before I decided to grab the car keys and head out.

"I'm heading out, you guys need a lift somewhere?" I asked, swinging the car keys idly with my finger. Vivienne and Seth turned and looked towards me, their expression also showed the slight weirdness that all of us are suddenly under the same roof.

"Could you drop me off at the grocery store?" Seth asked. "The fridge's empty."

"And we can't possibly let you go hungry," Vivienne teased, mimicking Jax's accent and tone, "Iva, you have to get up for me to get you something to eat." She rolled on the couch to face me while giving me a thumbs-up as she cackled away, "Gods, that was so hilarious!"

One corner of Seth's lips twitched unamusingly as he stared at Vivienne while the heat already stretched from my neck all the way up to my forehead. I groaned, "Shut up!"

"Oh dearest, don't say you didn't enjoy sitting with Jax," she winked at me and I threatened to poke her eye with my finger. Shielding her eyes with her hands, she continued to make fun of me with as she sang, "You know you like it but you're scared of the shame—"

Glaring at her, my hand shot out to cover over her mouth, "That's enough or I'll leave you alone at home."

"Gee, you're no fun." She pulled my hand away from her face and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I thrive on gossips, but you guys don't feed me any."

I rolled my eyes at her and Seth was side-eyeing her with a judgemental look on his face. He asked her, "You're going or you're not?"

"I shall tag along with Sethie!" Vivienne jumped on the couch and wrapped her hands around Seth's shoulder while ruffling his hair into a nest of mess. "Iva, where are you heading to?"

"Art store," I replied. "I'll drop you guys at the grocery store first and I'll fetch you guys again after I'm done."

"Sounds like a plan," Vivienne nodded approvingly. Then, she went ahead to grab her wallet and phone before the three of us left the apartment complex.

As we have agreed upon, I dropped the both of them first before I followed the GPS and pulled over in front of an art store three streets away from the apartment. Just as I approached the store, the glass automatic doors slid open and warm air rushed out from the inside together with the characteristic scent of paints and turpentine. Brimmed with happiness, I was comforted by the knowledge of something familiar in this foreign place.

I pulled a shopping cart out of the neatly stacked lines and walked around, trying to find what I needed but soon realise that this place is way too confusing with that many shelves and sections to start with. Headed towards the counter, I greeted the lady and she smiled warmly before asking, "Miss, can I be of any help?"

"May I know at which section can I find oil paints?"

"Any preference for brands?" she inquired.

"Gamblin, thank you."

"Section 4, Row 12," A deeply accented voice sounded from the side. I turned around and saw a tall handsome man smiling at me before he turned towards the counter and winked at the lady, "Good day to you, Shirley."

"Good day to you too, Mr. Gaillard," she blushed shyly.

He gave a slight nod before directing his attention back to me. "A new face, are you new to the city?"

"Yes, I just moved in today," I mentioned.

"That's nice to hear," he smiled wider and an outstretched arm appeared in front of me. "Isaiah Gaillard, how do you do?"

"Iva Laurent, pleased to meet you," I took his hand and introduced myself to him.

"That's a beautiful name," he complimented politely. "Come on, allow me to lead the way."

He walked towards the section that he mentioned a while ago and I followed right behind. Curious, I asked, "Are you the owner of this place or something?"

"Oh, how I wish," he laughed. "I'm just here more frequently than I should've."

"Why so?"

"Art store is an artist's grocery store. You don't have to need anything but you'd always want to walk around just to find something," he explained.

"I know that feeling," I responded with a light chuckle. "It's simply too irresistible."

"I'm glad to have a friend in this," he winked. "What do you paint, Iva?"

"Portraits, mainly."

"That's amazing, I would love to see them," he requested politely.

"No, sorry," I rejected him rather quickly and easily that my heart was unsure why I couldn't do that when it came to Jax. However, I added, "I don't mean to be rude. It's just that my paintings are rather personal."

"Don't worry about it," he smiled kindly. Then, we stopped before a display filled with the paints I was looking for. "Organised set or self-selection?"

"Self-selection," I said simply.

"Definitely a veteran," he nodded slightly. "Do you have a list? I can help you out a little."

"I dare not take the title of a veteran, I'm just picky with colours," I chuckled. "Since you offered, please help me grab a tube of cadmium red, quinacridone red, prussian blue and ultramarine blue from that top corner. Thanks in advance."

He stared at me for a moment before a light and uplifting laugh bubbled off him. He stretched his arm and picked out the colours that I had read out for him and I went on to pick the yellows, black and white paints before throwing them into my cart. "Thanks, Isaiah."

I was about to move ahead to grab some solvents before he called me from behind, "Iva."

I turned around to face him and he asked, "I would love to make friends with you. Can I have your number?"

"Do you paint?" I raised a brow.

"Yes," he said but raised his hand to grab the back of his neck. "But, well— um, I don't do portraits. I'm more of a landscape painter myself."

"And that automatically make us friends," I chuckled. "Come on, give me your phone."

His hand reached for his back pocket handed his phone to me. I tapped my number and saved my contact on his phone. "Here you go. I'll see you around, Isaiah."

"Alright," he grinned charmingly. "Let's grab a drink together someday."

"Sure," I smiled and pushed the cart down the aisle to grab some solvents on the way. When I was reaching the end of the section, my phone vibrated and I saw a message from an unknown number.

Looking up, I saw Isaiah at the end of the aisle. He waved at me, throwing me a playful wink before he walked off. I exhaled a laugh as I pushed my cart and grabbed the remaining things I needed. Loading all my art supplies into the back of my car, I hopped on the driver seat and drove towards the grocery store to pick Vivienne and Seth up.

◩

At night, I was resting on my bed, sketching randomly on a blank page of my sketchbook when my phone buzzed. An unknown number flashed and realised that it wasn't Isaiah but the code was definitely local. I swiped to accept the call and placed the phone to my ear.

"Hey, this is Iva Laurent," I said.

"Iva."

I have no idea what magic held in this voice that always caused my heart to pause a beat whenever my name was called. Each syllable was pronounced in such a careful manner with all the sentiments of warmth and softness mixed in the deep, baritone voice. Recognising the voice, I choked up on all the questions that got stuck at my throat and words refused to form at the tip of my tongue. Playing it cool, I asked casually, "What's up?" 

"Are you free to talk?" he inquired. For someone who lacked words with others, he sure had a lot to talk with me.

"Yeah," I responded. "Can I be the first to start this time?"

"Of course, sweetness."

Great. "Jax, who are you exactly?" 

◩

(viv's singing)