Her eyes

Chapter 7

I lay on my bed just staring at the ceiling. I had spent my afternoon painting. I liked the mindlessness of it. I liked letting my mind go, and letting my hands do the work. Which is why I was almost halfway done with my painting when I'd realized I'd painted Archers cerulean eyes, framed by his thick golden brown lashes, and eyebrows.

It was too late to change my mind so I continued. In the end I'd added little twinkling stars in his eyes, they were only visible if you looked close enough. But I wanted to add them because just looking into his skyblue eyes reminded me, that whilst I was focused on my small corner of the world. There was a whole universe out there. The sky and the stars, the sun and the moon, the planets and every other mystery of the universe.

I think I needed that reminder to widen my horizons. I might feel stuck for now and a deep gut wrenching loneliness. But I knew better days were coming and he was the beginning of those. He was the first page of a book that you already knew you would miss as soon as it ended. You would miss the characters, that world, the feeling of excitement it gave you just knowing you would get to spend a whole day immersed in an another reality.

Now I was waiting for my painting to dry. My phone buzzed beside me. It was a call. At first I thought it might be one of those annoying phone sellers trying to scam people into signing a contract, they didn't even really want.

I picked it up and saw Archers name flash on the screen. My heart immediately felt like I'd ran a mile. I cleared my throat and pressed the green button.

"Hi" I was nervous.

"Hey" Archer said, sounding breathless. "What are you doing today?" He asked.

"Oh, uh nothing?" I don't know why I made that sound like a question.

"Can I pick you up?" I didn't know he drove.

"Now? I mean, yeah sure."

"Perfect, text me your address Layla" he hung up, but I was still stuck on the way he had said my name in his dark accented voice. He had given no indication of where we were going.

I was already panicking. I don't know why I said yes. I shouldn't have said yes.

If I didn't know a person that well, I always needed to plan everything in my head from what I was wearing, to what I would say, to back up things to talk about if an awkward silence occurred, how I would walk and talk and eat.

I didn't do impromptu meetings. I needed time and I needed a plan. But I couldn't say no it would be rude to cancel on such short notice. I needed to suck it up and be brave.

So I texted him my address. My apartment complex looked alright from the outside. Very deceptive to what lay inside. There was black mold in a lot of places and no matter how much one scrubbed it was ingrained in the walls. There was also questionable spots on the floors and a fresh smell of piss in the hallway. It was the only thing I could afford at the moment, living on student finances. But it was mine.

I changed into simple baggy jeans and a tight white T-shirt, and my worn converse shoes. I grabbed my bag and decided to wait downstairs for Archer. Lest he sees the interior.

As soon as I exited I saw a polished black SUV pull up. I couldn't see what brand of car it was seeing as I was facing the side but it looked expensive.

Before I even had time to look in the window and see if I was even getting in the right car, Archer pulled his door open. He had a big smile on his face as he walked around to my side.

I was a bit confused, why was he getting out of the car?

He reached my side his eyes twinkling just like my painting. "Hey."

"Hi." An unauthorized smile crept on my face.

His arm brushed mine and I swear I felt like I'd just touched electricity, it was a small spark. But I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd rubbed a ballon on his head before showing up.

He pulled the passenger side door open and my I felt a small blush creep up on my face. I muttered a small " Thank you" and got in. It was a small gesture but I felt like I was in a 2000's movie.

He got into the drivers side. As I pulled my seatbelt on. The car smelled like him. Leather, citrus and like freshly chopped wood. I inhaled as much as I could without it looking weird. Basking in his smell.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see, I hope you don't mind a bit of a car ride"

"I don't, I just hope you're not taking me somewhere to harvest my organs." I said and he chuckled.

"No, I would never do that to you. I thought we said we would explore the city together... I've asked around and found somewhere for us to explore. That's all I'll say for now."

I looked over at him, his eyes darting between the road and me.

"Wow well aren't you a man of action." I instantly regretted saying it, I quickly added " I mean we just had that conversation like yesterday."

"The day before that actually, the first day we met." The side of his lip raised in a small smile. Next time I would paint that smile.

"So... is it far?" I tried again.

"I already told you I wasn't going to say anything else, so stop fishing for answers." He humorously said.

After that I shut up and enjoyed the ride.