Zehal-e-Miskeen - A Tale of Lost Love [part 2 link, page 23] - Page 9

"Dev?" Geet called as she threw her keys on the side table beside the door. She wandered inside to the kitchen, leaving Maan stood beside the keys. His fingers lingered on a diamante G keychain.

"He's probably working overtime," she explained as she settled on the couch. Maan moved away and stood still, watching Geet flick through the channels.

"Do you want to watch anything?" she asked, handing the remote control over to him. But he refused, shaking his head.

"Can you show me some of your artwork? That is, if you don't mind."

She fell silent. Something inside of her stirred, eager to show him her paintings. But a voice in her head warned her she was about to cross some kind of blurred line, a line which wasn't yet evident to her.

"I-er, it's not very good..." she feigned a laugh, one hand covering the other, gently applying pressure.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" his mouth curved up into a crooked smile, and she found herself leading the way to her studio upstairs.

***

"Wow."

He was left breathless by the sheer talent displayed in her paintings. Some were laced with intricate details, such as portraits of the beach or the countryside or the view from the bedrooms.

And others were more complex, such as self portraits. Several colours and patterns overlapped the images, reflecting the complicated nature of Earth's human beings.

He turned back to Geet, who had her eyes fixed on a portrait of the sea, the very sea she had taken him to earlier.

"Could you paint me?"

She turned around, her loose bun swivelling behind her. Her face painted an expression of surprise and confusion.

"I've always wanted a self portrait, but I'm no better with paints than a four year old."

"I'm not very good at sketches of people-"

"You painted quite a few self portraits."

"Yes, but they are representations. I wouldn't be able to draw a pencil sketch of yourself."

"So paint a representation then. Use your medium to reveal what you think lies behind this rugged mask."

Geet studied his expressions for a moment, and then she gave a half smile. "You'll need to grab the stool from downstairs, unless you want to stay standing for the entire time."