~Chapter 28~
Hayden's art studio is a huge den and at first sight, it might even seem like we were walking into an established studio. A renowned one at that. Though that's not actually much of a case since it's built in the corner of a deserted street. When I'd asked him about it, Hayden replied to me that he prioritizes his solitary and peace more than his green bills. It was then I had realized that artists worked magic when left alone in their own world.
As soon as we crossed the threshold of the studio, my eyes fell on the sleek plaque above which read - 'Hayden's Art Studio'. In fact, this studio still goes with the tagline I'd come up with during my internship test. "Hayden's Art Studio. Splash and Dance, Switch on the Stereo."
This place's biggest selling point is its stress free room which attracts all kinds of despondent people and sometimes even the ones who are just looking for some fun. The reason why I had come up with that tagline plus it had actually worked for me.
Walking inside completely, my eyes landed on the receptionist, Keeley, who recognized me immediately. I waved at her with an amiable smile and she returned it with one of her own.
"Valerie!" I looked up to see Hayden grinning at me with his arms wide open.
With my hand still in Skye's, we both walked toward him. "Hi, Hayden." My expression mirrored his.
"Long time no see, girlie but… I know why you're here," Hayden said knowingly and looked at Skye briefly. I hugged him and patted his back before pulling away.
Of course he would. Everybody knew me with the way my image was being trashed around almost everywhere. I sighed and gave him a forced smile. "Yeah." Was my curt reply.
"Now that I look at you, I am actually starting to wonder that nothing ever pulled you to come here? Except for that one time, of course." Hayden laughed, ruffling my hair. He might be in his late thirties but he sure as heck acts like a teenager with his dark hair tousled carelessly and his blue eyes always holding a mischievous shine. I could tell that getting older never bothered him.
I chuckled and glanced at Skye who was sporting an awkward smile. "Oh, and he's Skye. Skye, this is Hayden," I introduced them to each other.
They both shook their hands and exchanged common pleasantries. Hayden looked at me hopefully. "So… I'm guessing art therapy then?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows with rapture.
"You know it!" I clicked my fingers as if he just guessed the mystery of the black hole.
Skye gave me a look which clearly meant that he didn't like to be left out of the loop. "Art therapy? What's that exactly?" Skye whispered once Hayden started walking ahead. We followed closely behind him. "Weren't we going to the stress reliever room or something?"
"You'll see," I repeated with a smirk and he shook his head with a small smile. It might be officially termed as an 'Art Therapy' but in my words, I still call it a stress reliever room. But it didn't matter much since it pretty much meant the same anyway.
Hayden led Skye and I both into two seperate rooms to gear ourselves up before taking us into the art therapy room.
It took us about twenty or something minutes to change into complete white overalls given to us along with the gloves, shower caps and socks. Not a single inch of our body was left uncovered except for our faces. The most difficult thing for me was to put on the jumpsuit on my own but somehow I managed it with the help of one of the female staff members.
After getting ready, I met Skye who was waiting for me with a small scowl directed toward his outfit. One word - ridiculous. We both looked ridiculous but the next part of it all was already bubbling me with an untamed excitement.
I started giggling at Skye and he glanced up at me, caught off guard. When his eyes fell on me, laughter started bubbling up his throat as well.
Before we could delve into another laughing round, Hayden quickly ushered us inside a different room with double doors. While Skye's eyes traversed around the huge white boxy room, I closed the doors behind us.
As I turned around, there was a huge wall sized blank canvas at the front. It occupied the entire length of the wall. A simple and flimsy sheet was strewn across the floor of the whole room. There were buckets of different colored paints in one corner with variations of thick brushes. There was a stereo on a small stool with 'Chasing Colors' blasting through it.
"Wh-what is it?" Skye frowned. It must have been the lack of color because I had the same anxious first reaction. "Is this white color supposed to relieve me from my stress? Like heaven stuff or something?" For theatrics, he even gestured at our all white outfit.
"Don't be dramatic." I chuckled and moved toward the paint buckets. "Now, come on here and help me out." I waved my arm for him to move forward.
He did as I said with no questions asked and we placed all the buckets in front of the canvas. There were around twenty of them and those bright colors were tempting me to just stare at them all day. The moment Skye saw them, he had the same amazed reaction as me and I could tell from his huge grin that he somewhat had an idea of what we would be doing.
Taking hold of four brushes, I handed two of them to him. I dipped both of my brushes into two different buckets. With a deep intake of breath, I glanced up at Skye with pure effulgence. However, he on the other hand looked reluctant to move his hands even a single inch.
"Don't be scared and if you have any sorts of OCD then just get rid of them because it's gonna be FUN!" The moment I exclaimed the last word, I spun on my heels and splashed the dark green color on the canvas. Without another thought, I stood at one end of the canvas and started swiping my brush on it until I reached the other side. "Woohoo!"
"I… don't have any OCD issues," Skye mumbled, eyeing me with a weird look but I didn't think too much about it.
"What? So, you're just gonna stand there the whole time? You're missing out on so much fun. Come on, here!" I yelled out to him as if we were miles apart. He chortled at my zest. Grabbing his arms, I urged him to do the same. I dipped his two brushes in some random colors and pushed them in his hands. "Do it! I swear you'll forget everything!"
"Okay, okay." He chuckled and passed me a soft smile before moving toward the canvas. Mimicking my actions, I could see his tense muscles loosening up. After a few rebellious strokes, he seemed to be getting in the character. "This is… so COOL!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
About an hour later, we had almost covered most of the canvas with splashes, brush strokes, hands and all sorts of fingerprints. Our overalls weren't even white anymore except for a few peeks here and there.
Every time the color would meet the canvas, we both would end up laughing like some brainless lunatics. Just at that moment, the chorus of Firework by Katy Perry started playing on the stereo.
My mouth hung open when Skye started doing the moonwalk and damn, did he look so beautiful because of how perfectly good he was at it. "Cause baby, you're a firework. Come on, show 'em what you're worth."
A chuckling gasp escaped my lips at his screaming/singing session and I joined him. "Make 'em go, "Oh, oh, oh". As you shoot across the sky. Baby, you're a firework. Come on, let your colors burst."
Soon we were literally dancing and singing around the whole room, purposely messing up the entire sheet on the floor with paints. We were unleashing our carefree side spot on. All our sad and pathetic problems were long forgotten which I was more than grateful for.
I was standing in front of Skye, both of us doing some penguin hops. I wanted to stop because my stomach was literally hurting so bad with all of that shrieking laughter but I just couldn't.
Skye started doing some weird dance with his legs when he accidentally kicked one of the buckets, spilling its contents. Our eyes widened and he hastily picked it up before the paint would be emptied up completely.
"Oh, my God!" I covered my mouth to restrain myself from giggling.
"Are we high or something? 'Cause I feel so drunk?" Skye grinned.
"High on paint, music and dance!" I replied to him or more like screamed my response because of the adrenaline running through my system.
"I don't know about you but I am coming back to this place," Skye told me, going back to hopping around.
A soft smile formed on my lips looking at the really happy side of Skye. No filter and no mask. Just him. Him dancing around the room like no care in the world. I could bet my whole bank account that not a single media corporation has witnessed him like this nor would they know that he loves football and dancing. His moves were just immaculate.
"What are yo-" He didn't even get to finish his sentence because his feet slipped on the spilled paint. He looked gobsmacked at first but a frown started forming on his face before he stood up. "Not cool," he deadpanned when I sniggered uncontrollably at his ungraceful fall.
"Sure it was." With that said, I moved behind him to see his backside fully covered in purple paint.
"Good God!" I walked in front of him again and began pushing him toward the canvas. It was so hard but if I had managed to lift him up bridal style once then I think I could push him too. Except it really required my complete and I mean complete strength.
He looked smug at my struggles but didn't resist. "Now I know how I fell asleep on my bed that night." He smirked, referring to the time when he was absolutely drunk in the club and I had to take him to his tree house.
Blushing slightly, I gave one last push on his chest and he stumbled on the canvas board. Confusedly, he looked over his shoulder to see a purple imprint of a crooked butt on it. Skye gave me an unamused look when he saw me cracking up.
To make him feel better, I covered my butt with the purple paint as well and squished my back side against the board. And, well, that was how it went again.
Both of us started spilling a small portion of the different colored paints and started rolling on them. Once done, we posted ourselves on the canvas. We were literally a laughing mess by the end of it. Even our faces were smeared with splotches of colors.
"That was really good," Skye breathed, walking closer to me.
I just smiled at him and shrugged nonchalantly. I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel proud of myself. Proud to make the guy that I love happy. My heart fluttered seeing him smile and how it reached his eyes, making them crinkle adorably. "I never knew you could dance," I teased, patting his arms.
"Well…" He trailed off and looked away with a smile still playing on his lips. "I have my moments, I guess." He flicked my nose and rubbed his paint covered finger on it.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You did not."
"Oh but I did," he replied, smearing some more paint on my cheeks.
I was about to do the same with a sassy retort when there was a knock on the door. "Your hours are up, lovebirds," Hayden spoke from outside the room.
Skye sighed, almost like he was disappointed and went ahead to open the door. I was trying to cover my blush at the term "lovebirds" with my hands. I couldn't see his reaction because he was already walking to the front with his back facing me.
Once he opened the door, both Skye and Hayden exchanged a few words here and there. Composing myself, I walked up to them when I heard Skye say, "Can you deliver this canvas at my place?" He asked Hayden.
Hayden glanced at me over Skye's shoulder with furrowed brows. "We don't usually do that but… sure."
"I'll pay for it," he added and I raised my brows.
"Good." Hayden winked and left before asking us to follow him.
"Oh, and these overalls too," Skye chirped again.
Hayden stopped short, giving Skye a strange look. "Okay…"
"What's up with you?" I asked him curiously.
He shrugged one shoulder. "Sentiments." He passed me a half smile.
I chuckled, nodding my head. "Sentiments," I repeated.
Bit by bit, the exhaustion was pulling me in. The adrenaline was wearing off pretty quickly. I stared into space as I walked like a zombie when the pinging sound of a cell phone brought me out of my trance.
Skye and I removed our gloves before he took his phone from the belongings tray that one of the staff members was holding out for him.
However as soon as Skye read the message, all the blood quickly drained from his face. "What's wrong?" I asked him worriedly and touched his shoulder gently.
Taking a deep breath in, he turned to me and locked his eyes with mine. "Ms. Maxwell… resigned," he whispered.
"Wh-what?" I stuttered, taking a step back.
"Told you, it's not her. Someone's out there to get back at me. But who could it be?" He gritted angrily and gripped the ends of his hair out of frustration. "Damn it!"
And I guess, we were back to square one. Could we please have another go inside the art therapy room?