Page 60 of Fear of Love
“Ready to go? The others are outside,” he mentioned. I wanted to stay longer, but I knew we already spent a good amount of time here.
“Yeah.” I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
“We’ll come back,” Landon said as we weaved around kids to get to the exit.
“You promise?”
“Pinky promise.” He held out his left pinky finger for me to hook mine around.
We walked to the exit, but before I could step through, Landon tugged me back a step. I turned, confused for a second as Landon’s hand came up and cupped my cheek. His lips touched mine, and my eyes immediately fluttered shut. I kissed him back eagerly. When he pulled away, I whimpered.
“Tonight.” My insides flipped at the promise in his tone.
He gave me one last quick kiss before we stepped outside. Our hands parted slowly, fingertips brushing for a second longer before we met our friends.
17
LYDIA
“Why do I have a feeling we’re about to be traumatized?” Tasha asked as her, Josie, and I stared at the building in front of us.
“That, or see a whole different side to Evelyn,” I added. The three of us were about to go to Evelyn’s painting class she told us about a few weeks ago.
“It’s just an art class. It can’t be that bad…” Josie trailed off. The only reason we were concerned was because of the way Evelyn was acting about it. The smirk on her face when she invited us. The mysterious text saying to come prepared. Prepared for what?
We shared a look before Tasha opened the door. The moment I stepped through I was met with chattering. Glancing around I found each wall of the art studio was a different color, no specific pattern. The overhead lights had been changed out to have four hanging chandeliers that looked to be made from different kinds of material. I wasn’t exactly sure what but they gave the place an artistry vibe. It wasn’t a huge studio and had that close-knit type of feel to it. Stools and easels were scattered around, most of the seats already occupied.
“Girls!” Evelyn’s voice brought my attention to a group of women off to the side of the room. At quick glance, I took note that they were in their fifties, maybe even sixties, and they each held a big glass of wine.
“Glad you guys made it!” Evelyn beamed as she made her way over to us and pulled us into a group hug. “Excited to paint?” Again, there was that mischievous look on her face. She was up to something.
“Yes?” Josie said hesitantly.
“Let’s get you some wine and find you a spot.” Evelyn led us over to the group of women she was sitting with.
“This is Tasha, Lydia, and my future daughter-in-law, Josie.” Evelyn squeezed Josie to her side as she introduced us.
“We’ve heard so much about you all,” a woman off to my left said. “I’m Mary.” She shot us a cheerful grin before she gestured to the others. “Anne, Wanda, Bea, and Monica.”
Within minutes Wanda, a beautiful red haired woman with bright green glasses pulled me into a conversation. On the other side of me Josie talked to Monica who wore a long orange dress and had her white hair pulled into an elaborate bun. Tasha was handed a glass of wine as Anne and Bea, two gorgeous black women with kind smiles, animatedly chatted away.
I wasn’t sure if it was the wine or not, but they were chatterboxes as we waited for the class to start. I could have sworn I saw a few of them giving us curious but amused looks which was odd. I was pulled from conversation to conversation for the next ten minutes, learning more about the women. Each more impressive than the last as they told us girls about their lives.
Bea used to work as an assistant to the Attorney General of Canada until she retired five years ago. Wanda was a retired English teacher. Monica back in the day was an opera singer and claimed to have slept with John F. Kennedy once. And Annewas the first black woman to hold a head position at Toronto University.
All of the women were impressive, which was no surprise that they were friends with Evelyn. Twenty minutes passed before Evelyn interrupted all of our conversations.
“Let’s get you three a spot.” Evelyn gently herded us across the room from where her and the other ladies were seated. I thought we were sitting with them?
“Feel free to put them up front!” Wanda, the red haired woman I talked to moments ago called after us. I shared a look with Tasha and Josie when we heard the snickers.
“What the hell?”Tasha mouthed.
“Here we go.” Evelyn gestured to the three empty stools directly in front of the circle they had us in. The way it was situated, it seemed like maybe there would be something in front of us.
“There are paints for you girls here.” Evelyn pointed to the tray on a stool next to us, paint brushes beside it. “Have fun.” With a wink, she walked back to her group of friends.
“That’s it? No instructions?” Josie asked.
