Left at the Alter

The information we gained at the conference was priceless. We did not hesitate to implement immediately and the bonus about driving is that we were able to bring back supplies that would have cost us a small fortune to ship. We were fighting with the city because they wanted a prototype of what the sculptor would look like, but I wanted a guarantee that this would not be released to the public. Marla took all of our ideas and digitally designed a virtual sculpture that would be close to what we were planning. When we got the green light, we got to work quickly. 

“Your turn to get breakfast.” A tired but dedicated Marla told me one morning following an all-nighter in the studio. I threw my locked hair in a high bun and took a quick shower. When I came back into the main area of the studio there was breakfast all laid out. 

“I was going to go.” I said, looking at the spread from Flying Biscuit and wondering who was going to eat all of this food. 

“Girl, this what not my doing.” She laughed while biting a piece of bacon, “This was a gift from your little friend.” 

“My little friend?” I questioned.

“That would be me.” Said a not so little Elijah as he dried his hand on a paper towel before joining us at the table. 

“You bought us breakfast? That was nice of you, thank you! This is a lot of food though; did you bring someone to help eat all of it?”

We all laughed as we ate. Elijah had gotten his days confused. He thought that I was teaching a class and wanted to surprise us all with food. Marla and I were thankful, and we placed some of the breakfast in the refrigerator. We boxed up the rest for the homeless. He stayed after breakfast, said he wanted to see me work. I usually liked to work in solitude but allowed him to stay. Marla stayed for a big portion of the morning as well. We all talked some and laughed more as we shaped clay into large books. Later we would add butterfly wings painted in bright hues to the spine of each one. The would appear to be floating above a young girl’s head. We would attach them using rods so thin they would be barely noticeable from the ground. I gave Eli a few lessons on working with clay and he was a riot to watch. 

“How did you let me take up your whole day?”

“I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. I had an… alright…time with you.”

“Oh, just alright.” I grinned, “I had an alright time with you too.” I nudged him. 

“It was cool, you and your artsy shit. You are cool people Cassidy.”

“Thank You” I suddenly felt shy. 

“If I help you clean up Ms. Lady, will you take a walk with me?” 

“Ok rule number one – you never ask the artist to step away from her work. She may go, cause your fine and easy to talk to, but she will resent you for it tomorrow when she did not make the progress she wanted.” 

“Noted.” He nodded and licked his lips. He rubbed one hand over the other before continuing, “Please don’t leave until you are absolutely ready. But, if you are ready tonight, I would love to take that walk with you.”

I laughed as I looked around – not planning on cleaning a damn thing at this table. It all was a work in progress.

“If we take a walk now, I am going to be starving. This itty-bitty salad I brought to keep me from gorging on carbs, like I did for breakfast, courtesy of you, will not be enough to sustain me through the night.”

“Ball is in your court, Cass. Dinner can be on me too.”

“Your plan is just to pop up and feed me until…what?”

“I don’t have a solid plan; I didn’t even plan to be here all day it just flowed. So, I guess my plan is to go with the flow and hope that you are flowing with me. 

Something about the way that Elijah had my nose wide opened scared me. It was almost the opposite of what I was used to. I was used to feeling in control of the situation but with him all I could feel was how he made me feel. To a point it felt good, but it wasn’t a decision I was making – which went against everything I believed. I couldn’t decide to like or not to like Elijah. Some connections were unavoidable, unstoppable and could be criminal if not managed properly. This alone made me want to decline his offer. I couldn’t afford to talk to a man that could influence how I felt to this degree. Not past hour long, ten-minute walks. Not past dinner that I ended up accepting or the movie that we watched back at the studio. Not past the coffee and Danishes we had in the morning after waking at the studio that I never planned on staying a second night at. I had never had a man stay the night with me here. Elijah had to go.