Amber and Tom rescheduled their visit to the secret house and went on a Saturday. He had picked her up at a designated point and drove her all the way to the house. They maintained an atmosphere of silence in the car throughout the drive and Amber just enjoyed the view of the city she didn’t even know was that beautiful because she was always lost in her own busy world.
They got to the house and he took her to see the paintings he had previously painted and kept in the secret room in the basement. She could not keep her shocked expression to herself as she walked through the room filled with paintings of different sizes, patterns and colors.
She slowly trailed her hand around one of the canvass sitting on the painting stand in the middle of the room and mumbled “This was the last one you posted on the page” as she gazed at it with love and care.
“I painted that one the same day I finished it but I don’t really like the outcome” he explained from behind but she cuts him short immediately, “What is wrong with this? This comforted me the day you posted it so I am in love with it and it is perfect” she fired and he was taken aback for a moment.
She realized the intensity of her tone and blinked for some seconds before marching to the other side of the room to see the different painting tools and instruments arranged on the huge brown shelf. She saw a paint bucket popping out of the shelf as it would fall any moment and went to set it right but it fell on her before she could even get a hold of it. All her body got covered in paint making Tom open his mouth in surprise.
He ran to her side to help her out as he scolded her. “Why would you touch that? This is a workshop where you have to be careful because there are many dangerous things around” he blabbered on and didn’t know when he stepped on the paint and fell next to Amber in the paint mud making her laugh her lungs out.
She had even forgotten about her own appearance and laughed so hard at Tom’s fall that he couldn’t even feel embarrassed. “I guess it could not be helped” he mumbled and laughed with her.
He tried helping her up but she slipped once again, dragging him along to the floor as they landed on each other. Her button holding the shirt tight flew off and her shirt parted way to show her black bra under her shirt. She was shocked beyond words and pushed him off as she struggled to cover up but that only popped another button making the shirt part the more.
“This is terrible” she clamored and closed her eyes in embarrassment but she felt a covering around her and slowly opened her eyes to see Tom’s naked chest in front of her which made her scream in shock.
“You should warned me before you undressed!” she protested and he scoffed before adjusting the shirt on her body. “You should have warned me before you opened your chest to me” he countered and she bit her lips.
“It’s not like I wanted to show you on purpose” she murmured and he helped her up, ignoring her statement before leading her to a tiny passage.
They stopped at the door and he motioned to her to go in, “That’s the bathroom, you can clean up there” he told her and left her to her business.
She could not get the scene where all her buttons popped off in front of her boss off her head, she was a bit embarrassed at the situation but it also made her laugh. She wondered what might be going on in his head and to be honest, she enjoyed the look on his face.
She held her round fleshy mound in her hands as the water poured down on her head, a tingling feeling swept through her as she wondered how his hands would feel around them. She came to her senses and quickly shook the thoughts out of her head while muttering a low “I must be crazy” before washing off the paints as quick as she could.
She got out in the white shower robe hanged in the bathroom only to find a bag in front of the bathroom. He told her that it was for her as he sensed that she had finished bathing and she brought it into the bathroom to see a white gown lying in it.
She changed into it and the length was way too short for her even though it was the perfect fit for her. She had never worn something that short outside her stripping work so she was a bit hesitant to step out of the bathroom until her boss’ voice boomed through.
“Are you going to spend all day in the bathroom?” he asked and she quickly replied “I am done here” as she opened the door and appeared in her wet hair and the extremely short gown.
He scanned her from head to toe for a while as he marveled at the new side of hers but he quickly cautioned himself with a slight cough. “You will find a hair dryer on the shelf” he told her and went inside to clean himself up too.
He had cleaned the studio while she was in the shower. She dried her hair and he also came out in the clothes he had changed into before they began the day’s work. He explained each paintings to her and the inspirations behind them.
They spent close to four hours discussing his paintings, thoughts and the reasons why he did them because she had to know all the details of the work, should in case she is asked about it outside by the time she reveals herself and the work.
She ended up speaking with Lawrence through a video call and he was surprised to see that a woman was behind the painting he had loved so much.
“I never knew it was a woman that is behind this masterpiece, how did I miss it?” he remarked with a slight chuckle and she was taken aback by how he could guess that. “You thought it was a man? Why?” she slowly asked and he smiled
“The strokes of painting brushes reveal the person behind its grip. As much as it might not matter or be obvious, I can still tell apart but I must have guessed wrong in your own case” Lawrence explained and she felt bad for lying to him because he was obviously telling the truth, it was not her work after all.
They ended up discussing a lot more on their personalities, hobbies and other things instead of talking about the paintings and strangely, they flowed well with each other. They both had similar view of things and life in general and she even gave some ideas that ended up helping Lawrence thanks to the experience she had gathered in her years of working in the company and closely with Tom Holland.
Lawrence received a message which he checked and he looked up to tell her “I think I have to go now, let’s meet some other time and also I will send the official invitation to your mail. See you soon” and she nodded with before waving a bye to him on the screen that went blank after he disconnected the call.
She breathed in relief and puffed out the tense air from her lungs before turning to see Tom Holland who already slept off on the couch next to her. She stood up and picked the sofa’s blanket to cover him up when he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to his chest suddenly from his sleep.
“You, you keep tempting me” he mumbled with his half-opened eyes and she just lied there with her eyes opened in surprise and her heartbeat increased rapidly.