Blank Canvas

●Chapter 07●

"I am actually considering writing a book." Kris mused, tapping her chin and giving me a sideways glance. After that incident inside the cafe, we both decided to head back to my gallery.

The main reason I had to come back here was because I wanted to suppress the already illuminated humiliation I had to go through.

"Wow!" I clapped my hands in excitement. "That's really awesome. What's it going to be about?" I asked her with my eyes widened, wanting to know further. I could take anything to forget all about my embarrassment.

"The embarrassing events of Aria Clarke," she said, scrunching her nose. I gasped and scowled at her playfully.

"And here I thought that you were actually going to write a book," I muttered, crossing my arms across my chest and huffed out loud.

"Just kidding, Ari baby," Kris assured me, draping an arm over my shoulder. "Stop sulking."

"I can't. I actually humiliated myself in front of Atlas," I said with a heavy sigh and continued. "He's not just a crush, y'know. I actually like him and now everything just… urgh, went down the drain."

Kris patted my shoulder and passed me a stimulating smile. "Don't feel low about something so trivial, Aria and don't push yourself either to make him like you. Be what you are and just go with the flow."

"Easier said than done, Kris," I mumbled, looking at her.

She shrugged and spoke, "Maybe. But, I think we only meet people who play an important role in our life. And I mean not everyone we see and walk past by but the ones with whom we have a good hearty talk. They come into our lives because they're meant to do something. And Atlas has entered your life even before you'd met him so there is something planned out for the both of you. There has to be," she said it with so much conviction that I couldn't help but believe it somewhat.

"You should really stop giving me those false hopes, you know." I laughed at her 

She just shrugged, giving me a small smile and replied. "Or maybe I can turn into a badass philosopher. Who knows, right?" We laughed and it was silent between us for a few minutes.

That's when I remembered something and glanced at Kris to find her staring into space. She seemed to be in her deep thoughts. I didn't want to disturb her but I was too excited to not say it.

"Kris." I nudged her arm and she seemed startled for a second.

"What?"

"I actually forgot to tell you something." She nodded for me to continue. "Today, I actually saw the face of the guy who sneaks into my dreams."

She whipped her head in my direction with such a speed that I actually felt a bit sad for her neck. "Are you serious?"

I've been having these dreams for a year and it all made sense now. There's this guy who always appears in my dreams but once I wake up, I'm unable to remember his face. After waking up, all I could remember is that he's got those beautiful blue eyes. So imagine my surprise when I woke up today, his face was imprinted on my mind, that too with no difficulty. No strain on my brain.

"I am. It was Atlas," I replied and her face morphed into one of those mouth splitting grins. "Yeah, I know. Exactly my reaction."

--

I decided to cycle around the town for a bit, thinking it might be best if I took some break from the gallery. The first place that popped into my head was Paradise. I parked my bike against a huge tree in the woods and walked through the dense forest to reach my destination.