Sunflower

28

CHARLIE POV

My phone vibrates, indicating Hero is outside the school gate – punctual as ever.

Hank and I are still cleaning up, so I bring Hero him inside to show him the finished mural. Part of me is nervous – his reaction to the Shoreditch one was more than I ever expected; now I realize I'm going to hold my breath every time he sees one of my projects.

"Here it is," I say gesturing to the wall, which is still wet.

Admiration colors his face and he breaks out in a two-dimpled smile. "Wow, Charlie – it's incredible!"

I point out all the different ways we've brought the students individual stories to life and he listens silently, taking everything in. I've always loved my work, but it's only through Hero's reactions to seeing it that I've allowed myself to pause and appreciate the finished product. Even my own parents don't react to my work like this – maybe it's because they rarely see it these days.

He leans down and kisses me, whispering in my ear, "It's incredible. You're incredible." I feel some part of my insides (my heart? my stomach? my soul?) preen with pride.

Hank clears his throat behind us, so we step apart.

"Um Hero," he interrupts awkwardly, to which Hero spins around to face him. "I just wanted to thank you for sharing the Shoreditch project on your Instagram." Hank looks uncomfortable; like so many artists I've known, conversation – especially with strangers, isn't his forte. "We've gotten calls for other projects just from that one post."

"No problem, Hank," he replies. "It's a stunning piece of work; I'm glad more people will see it now." I start folding up a drop cloth, ready to wrap up work and hang out with Hero. He notices this and asks, "Can I help you clean up?"

"No," Hank replies. "We're pretty much done here; Charlie, you guys can get going. I'll handle the rest."

"Are you sure?" I ask, looking around. I know Hank has at least another 30 minutes ahead of him, which could be 15 if we stayed and helped. He nods and so we leave, with Hero guiding me out the front gate.

"Have you had Nando's yet?" he asks, with a glimmer in his eye.

"Nando's?" I reply, making the answer pretty obvious.

"Good! It's a London staple and I'm happy that I get to be the one to introduce you to it," he says, bowing at my slightly.

--

We settle into a booth at Nando's and Hero takes the liberty to order for both of us. As we wait for our food to arrive, I elaborate on what Hank awkwardly mentioned earlier.

"You know how Hank said your Instagram helped generate new projects for us?" I begin, excited to finally be telling him this news that I've been holding onto all day. "He got 15 calls from people who want us to do murals for them – including one from some royal person!" I still don't fully understand the whole royal system, but Hank seemed impressed so I feel it's my duty to convey the sentiment.

"That's amazing," Hero replies and looks genuinely pleased with the news.

"That's not all," I continue. "Hank wants me to take the lead on design for a few of them!" I am literally buzzing in my seat. Of course I've had a million ideas and opinions on the two projects we've done so far, but I've chosen not to share all of them. I'm here to learn from Hank so didn't want to be presumptuous about inserting my ideas into his designs. Now, I'll be the one driving the design and can work with Hank in more of a partnership to bring them to life. "Can you imagine? My designs – my concepts! – are going to be on display in London?!"