Who the hell am I? Book 2 Chapter 2

Printer-friendly version

Chapter 2

The rest of the day they pretty much left me to it. I made a list of meals I could prepare and ingredients. I ransacked the kitchen to try and find enough materials for that evening meal. That didn't take me very long. They were going to order out again, but I convinced them that I could make a good omelet. I was getting really bored and I had only been here half a day. I would need to talk to them about things to do. I wanted to go for runs and maybe join a library or something. A cleaner came in twice a week and the place was spotless so I didn't need to do any housework. Although I had left school early, I had been on top of all my homework and missing the last few weeks of term had been authorised without giving me any extra stuff to do. I needed some kind of part time work for when they didn't need me for modelling.

I spoke to them that evening, trying to get a feel for how I was going to fit in. They liked my cooking at least. They set me up online so that I could order the groceries and they would be delivered. Then we got into a discussion on art and how they were hoping I would fit in. Mark disappeared upstairs and Jean continued chatting with me.

“We have offered profit share a few times because I wanted to try a few things, but you are the first one to take us up on it. What do you know about my art?” Jean asked.

“Not a lot. All I can say is I like it. I couldn't tell you why.”

She took me to an amazing photograph of a pier with the sun setting. “This is one of Mark's. What do you think?”

“Beautiful. Truly beautiful.”

“But what emotions does it evoke.”

“I don't know, maybe, wonder at the natural beauty.”

“Mark and I always have this debate. He has this great ability to find the beauty in the world and capture it with his photographs. For me as an artist, I feel like it is missing something.” She then took me upstairs to her studio and showed me a picture of the same pier with a similar sunset but this time it had a boy at the end hunched over swinging his legs and next to him was a man holding a fishing rod casting it out to sea. They weren't a huge part of the picture but somehow that added to it immeasurably.

“I feel that you need human presence to give a perspective on a piece. From Mark's photo you can see a beautiful scene. From my painting, you can imagine being the boy at the end of the pier or the man fishing and that gives the whole thing more warmth. For me you need three things to be a great artist. You need to have the talent and skill to be able to paint what is in your mind's eye. A character flaw, being a perfectionist, and inspiration. You are going to be my muse, my inspiration. When I saw you, I immediately had ideas and that is why I wanted you here.”

“Umm. Thanks.” I think she was paying me a compliment.

“The problem with models is that getting paid is what it is all about. I am hoping that by doing a profit share, you can help me get what I want out of my inspiration with a different attitude. Sitting still for hours is not going to achieve that. No, what I wanted to try is to use Mark to help me capture my ideas, then print them life size and then paint them.”

“I will do my best. That does sound like I will have a lot of free time. I was thinking, maybe, I could get a part time job.”

“At the moment, I am just finishing a commissioned piece, then I will need your assistance. Hmmm. I will want you when I want you, but at the same time, there will be a lot of time when you are not needed. I will think about it. Maybe discuss it with my sister tomorrow.” We wandered back downstairs to the open plan area. I had heard Mark in his own part of the upstairs studio. He was clearly busy doing something else. “Tomorrow I have booked us in to my sister's salon for those pedicures. Marie wanted to give us the works, but I want that just before I am ready to paint you. I want to start with a portrait. I half want her to play with your make up. It will give me thoughts and get my creative juices flowing. The problem is, I need to get this commissioned piece finished first.”

I didn't really know what to say, so I went with “I'm in your hands.” She seemed a bit frustrated, but I think it was mainly that she wanted to get started but had to do other stuff first.

Mum phoned me that evening. I had texted her when I had arrived so she knew I had arrived safely, but now wanted the gossip of how my first day went. It wasn't a long conversation. I could report on the great living accommodation, but little else as yet. She was taking Lilith to the grands tomorrow, so she was unsure when or if she would be phoning me tomorrow. She was a bit worried about talking to me in front of granddad.

Today she had packed up as much of the house as she could. She had been assigned a one bed flat which was part of a retirement community and would be moving in in 2 weeks time. She had contacted the landlord and was trying to do right by him as much as possible. He had agreed to waive the fee for leaving the tenancy early if she kept the property in good condition. I think he was worried that she would trash the place, if she had nothing to lose. The bond would then be split between us and him depending on the arrears. When that happened she was hoping to put some money into my account. I reassured her that I was doing fine and there was even the possibility of getting a part time job.

The talk was pretty positive until the end when it was time to say goodbye. Then came out the 'I miss you' and 'I love you' and I am sure I heard crying before she put the phone down. We had arranged for all of my friends to Skype on either Saturday or Sunday morning, around 11 am so I had nothing further to do. Getting bored again I decided on an early night.

I had spoken to Jean about running in the morning and she had given me a key and suggested the track by the harbour bridge that went to Luna Park. So when I woke up early that is what I did. The sun was only just evident and there was more than enough light to see by. I started concentrating on where I was going, to make sure I knew the way back. When I got to the harbour bridge, I paused to enjoy the iconic scenery. Despite the early hour on a Saturday morning, I was not alone. There were other joggers, mostly with earplugs in and total focus on their running, and dog walkers. I stretched my legs and pushed myself until I had caught the runner in front of me. Not because I was interested in him, just because it was a challenge. Once I had achieved my goal, I slowed down, turned around and started heading back. I think the man thought I was playing with him. He turned shortly after I did and started chasing me down.

Then I was in a bit of a quandary. Did I let him catch me? I didn't mean any harm by catching up to him, maybe he would understand that and not make an issue, or do I increase my speed and not let him close. He looked a fit young man, maybe I didn't really have a choice, he would probably be able to catch me anyway. Whilst we were on a fairly frequently travelled track, I thought it best to stop and catch my breathe and see what he was going to do. I had been hearing the footfalls get closer and closer and didn't want him to chase me to an unknown part of the track.

up
360 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

A young woman out by herself.......

D. Eden's picture

In an area she isn’t familiar with should be very aware of her surroundings. I wouldn’t stop unless there are other people around the area. Having someone as a witness, or potentially help if something happens is critical.

I’m really looking forward to seeing where this goes.

D

D. Eden

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus

The profit sharing

WillowD's picture

After hearing Jeans explanation of what she has in mind, I think this arrangement could turn into a lot more than just a place to live while mum is sick.

I hope the encounter with this jogger turns out well. It could easily go either way.

The other part of being a woman

Woman chase men and men chase women, though this time was a bit literal.

chased?

could be a pickle ...

DogSig.png

Grandparents

Really looking forward to seeing how grands handle the issue of Jesse since it’s bound to come up.

hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna

If I were her, I would

If I were her, I would immediately turn around and run right back at whoever is running behind me. One thing that a person with ill intentions wants is to be identified by their victim. If they see that their face will be seen, many times, that person will shy away immediately. Does not work every time, but it does work often enough to employ that method. Plus it places her back near other people, if she has out distanced them.

Unknown area

Jamie Lee's picture

Getting back into one of her routines is good to help pass the time until she is needed.

But Jesse is new to the area so she doesn't know the safe areas or the to avoid areas. That goes for people as well. She should be very careful giving out any information about herself or going with anyone she doesn't know. Hopeful the young man chasing her only wants to be friends.

Others have feelings too.

Missing parts?

RobertaME's picture

So book 1 ends with the main character talking to their pregnant teacher and a very short book 2 starts with an unexplained airline trip and a suddenly sick mom. I'm guessing that a part went missing at some point?

Good story, but too difficult to follow without the whole thing and ends with a cliffhanger. Will more be written for this story or is it an abandoned line? (seeing as nothing has been added in the last 19 months I'm guessing it's the latter, but I know sometimes Real Life gets in the way and delays things more than we'd like)

(Edit: After reading the author's blog entries it appears that they have pulled several chapters from some of their stories to publish them on Amazon Kindle, explaining the missing parts. While I think it's good that they are able to make some money from their work, it was sort of irritating to start a story with no knowledge that it could only be continued with a purchase. I wouldn't have minded if there had been a notice at the start of it to let me know that it was just a teaser, but the lack of one left me sort of miffed. Please add disclaimers if you intend to leave teaser chapters up that require a purchase to read the full story. It's just polite.)

Best Move

When I've run across this situation (or a few others), I've found the best move is to click "Ignore User" and move on. I don't buy works for sale, period, particularly at the prices being asked. For example, I won't pay $5 for a 95-page novel. I expect a decent length story, one that has been properly edited, with spelling and grammar checked and to have finished sentences.

Adios


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Published stories

kindle unlimited for the win. ;)

I recommend reading the full story. It's worth it, especially with the unlimited.

Unless, like me, you're a pedant who grew up there. :D

Post or Don't

I accidently clicked on this again, and I find it more irritating the second time around. If you are not going to post the entire story then take it all down. The way it is these are not teasers, unless you call being repeatedly poked with a sharp stick a teaser. Just stick up a note saying the story was removed to sell it on amazon and leave a link. Otherwise I would consider this deceptive advertising. You promise a full story but all we get are hacked up chunks of one.


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin