Lady Baby

15

Max remained awake as Sharon slept, and to kill time he went through the pages of her makeshift drawing book, drinking its content like a thirsty man. Her drawings didn't look like that of a child, they were done with strong quick lines—nothing careful about it. The sketch she made of him would have taken about 20 minutes to be done, if his guess was correct.

The next page got him smiling. Doodles—this he was familiar with. Sharon doodled a lot and from what he could see, there was hardly a difference between what she normally doodled to the ones on the drawing book. There were bees, butterflies, several hearts, flowers... The memory of the first time he found out Sharon doodled rushed through his mind. She had finally agreed to go on a date with him—during her lunch break. Max chuckled. Boy, was he crazy with excitement that day? What Sharon hadn't known was that he would have made do with anything. Yep, he had been crazy in love like that.

***

Recall. A little bit over two years ago

"Who brings a legal pad and a pencil to a date?" Max asked.

"I do." Sharon chuffed and swiped a hand over her temple, a nervous tic Max noticed she did quite often. "I love to sketch designs as they come to my head. Who knows when inspiration will strike?"

"Ahh, that's true." He rested both arms on the table and blessed her with a full grin. "That little detail brings me to what you do. How's it like being an architect?"

She laughed and the sound was the most melodious he had ever heard. What was he saying? Any sound she made was melodious to him. As she sat there at the corner coffee shop and sipped on a mug, he ruled it in his mind. There was no other person for him. His promise to her at the parking lot solidified even more.

"Yes, Einstein, I am an architect and you?"

"I—"

"Wait, let me guess." Her eyes gleamed as she straightened.

He leaned into his seat and took her in. Yep, that was his latest best thing, staring at her face. "Go ahead, just so you know, I am certain you would get it wrong in your first three tries."

"Cocky much." She sucked her teeth and shook her head as if she pitied him. When she tapped her chin with a finger, he noticed how slim and perfectly manicured it looked. He immediately began to imagine an entire art collection with her hand as the theme.

That would be awesome.

He frowned internally as a thought hit him. Nah, the only time he would paint such a collection was when she was safely married to him. Who knows, if he went ahead now and did the paintings, a bloke out there may see her hands and viola-look-what-we've-got, a besotted male he had to fight off. No, thank you.

"You're an artist," she said, a smirk of triumph on her small lips.

"Wha?" He leaned forward, amazed at her bullseye answer. "How did you know?" He frowned when she laughed again. "Did you cheat?"

"Not really." She raised a hand to her lips in an attempt to keep herself from laughing out loud.

"How then?" He bit into his doughnut and sipped his sweetened coffee.

"The project, dum-dum."

"Project?" He frowned in confusion. He did not— "Oh, that project. Pretty obvious huh." A number of his pieces had been used for internal deco in a few pent houses her company had designed.

"Yep," She nodded, her eyes falling to the notepad. She was doodling again and from what he could see, she had an impressive artistic side.

"You draw?"