The Black Canvas

Pink

Ellis and Marisole sat in a little café on the corner of the busy street. They were both very quiet, hardly looking at one another. Ellis aimlessly twirls the silver spoon through his cup of coffee and stares at the liquid with concentration. He's bored, Marisole thought as guilt pinched her innards, I'm boring him.
Marisole studied his features closely. His face was glistening from the last bits of tear on his cheeks. His brown eyes looked worn out with dark gray bags supporting them. He looks a little bit asian too, Marisole thought as she noticed the eye shaping. Ellis had a five o' clock shadow on his face and it reminded Marisole of the times she would touch her father's stubble and called it whiskers. Marisole found herself smiling from the memory. She was 5 years old at that time. Later that year, her father had died in a car accident. Just like that, her mom remarried. The new guy was the literal antichrist. Solely because he was a drunk, abusive, narcissitic anal orifice who enjoyed carving into Marisole's arm with pieces of broken beer bottle.
"I like your smile." Ellis told her softly before taking a drink of coffee.
Marisole felt the heat go to her face as she nervously laughed. "Thank you." She replied.
Ellis nods and put down his cup. "What're you thinking about? If you don't mind me asking."
Marisole took a sip of coffee. She didn't even want to drink it, it was just a nervous tick to consume something before answering a difficult question.
"I was just wondering...how old are you, Ellis?"
Ellis thought for a long moment, as if he forgot his own age. His eyes wandered around the room before landing on Marisole. He looked at her forehead intently.
"What? Do I have a pimple?" She giggled a bit and quickly shielded her face.
Completely ignoring her humor, Ellis lowly replied. "I'm 26."
Marisole frowned when she saw the serious look on his face. She watched as he looked out the window. The stubble on his chin looked as if somebody with dirt on their hands grasped him lovingly.
"Ellis," She spoke up, just barely getting his attention, "We can leave now, if you want."
"Why would I want to leave?"
Marisole's stomach was in knots. "It was great meeting you and everything, but I'm a really boring person and I don't want to hold you back."
She watched as he sighed and turned to face her.
He slowly places his hands over top of Marisole's and looks into her eyes. They both had soft chestnut brown irises that glistened constantly.
"I always give bad impressions, Marisole. We all have demons we have to deal with, and I'm currently fighting a lot of mine right now." Pause. A breath.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do better, but if you give me a chance, I can be."
She nods with understanding. "Same goes to you. I'm sure the more we talk, the less awkward things will be."
The waiter brings the bill for the coffee. Marisole and Ellis pay, then walk out the door into the gloomy streets. Marisole wondered where everybody had went. It was so crowded when they were in the café and now it was completely barren. She looks up at Ellis, who doesn't seem to notice that nobody is there. They continued to walk, not really having a destination to go to, but simply enjoying each other's company.

"Do you ever think about how extraordinary humans are?" Ellis asked as they walked on the pier. Marisole smiled. "I mean, look at what we've created. We make big things out of small ideas. We build, and we built so much that our brains have grown. We've evolved as the most intelligent species in the world. I wouldn't go as far as saying the Universe quite yet, we're not sure what's out there. But we look. We search for other life. We have determination. Humans are amazing. And we have emotions. We get sad and lonely, we feel love, compassion..."

"Are you just now finding this out?" Marisole asks as she gazes at the scenery. Boats of different sizes take up the blue water surrounding the pier. The sky's color was a consistent gray and wind chilled their rough skin. Seagulls flew over their heads and sang to each other as they glided freely. There was a pause as Ellis looked down at her and smiled.

"No, I've always known," He replies, "I've just looked more into humans and why we do the things we do. I'm studying psychology and general philosophy."

"Are you looking for a job in the psychology field?"

"Oh me? No, I would make a terrible psychologist." Ellis argued with a playful grimace.

"Aww, how so? You have so much insight," Marisole complimented, "I'm standing here amazed by your intelligence."

There was a twinkle in Ellis' eyes as he looked on towards the horizon, studying the miles of ocean in front of them. Marisole did the same and felt peace consume her spirit.

"I learned from the best." Ellis quietly replied.

Marisole didn't hear him over the wind.