Angel's Tears - 7. Learning

Monday had finally come, and my nerves were out of control. I was wearing a good pair of jeans with no holes or wear and a deep purple, short sleeved, button down shirt that he tucked in. He was afraid of being late so he showed up pretty early, half an hour to be exact.

I strolled up to the door, gave it a light tug, and was surprised when it didn’t budge at all. I tugged harder and still nothing happened. Either the door was horribly jammed or I had shown up before anyone else had.

I was slightly embarrassed at the thought of passerby seeing me standing outside of a random run down movie theatre, so I just walked away down the street at a slow pace. I figured that I would just walk around the block real slow and maybe by the time I ended up back at the doors, they would be unlocked.

So, off I went. It was a pretty nice day out and the night’s fog had already lifted. Not a soul was out and about yet though. The streets seemed to be bare of people or even cars. I walked a little faster and rounded the corner just as a car pulled up to the stop sign. I didn’t look too closely and kept walking but stopped when I heard a horn honk from behind me. I turned around slowly and about crapped myself when Aiden poked his head out of the window.

“You’re heading the wrong way, man. Did you forget where you work already?” he said as he put the car in park and stepped out, leaning on the top of his car.

“Nah, man, I was there a minuet ago but couldn’t get the door open. I figured I showed up too early and was going to stroll around the block to wait on you.”

“Ah, well hop in and we can go in together.”

I opened the door and slipped into the seat, not bothering to buckle my seat belt since we were less than a block away. Aiden threw the car into drive and sped off around the corner. He was driving a tad fast and ended up squealing his tires a tad when he stopped in front of the building. I opened my door and closed it behind me as I got out.

“Remind me to never let you drive again,” I joked as Aiden got out and walked to the door of the studio.

“I am actually an excellent driver, thank you,” he said as he unlocked the door and walked in expecting me to follow.

“Should I relock this or is someone else coming in later?” I called out to him as he disappeared into the office.

“Nah, leave it open. I think I have a few models or at least potentials coming in later.”

I let the door fall closed and walked into the office, stuffing my hands into my pockets as I went. Aiden was straightening a few stacks of papers and humming when I finally walked in. He seemed to have at least a slight case of obsessive compulsive disorder. I watched as he straightened and aligned papers, checked messages, and wrote some notes. Eventually, I had to do something too.

“So, what all am I going to be doing here?” I asked as he wrote a few more notes on the sheet he was inspecting.

“Well, for today I think I will just have you follow me around and take some notes,” he said as he threw me a clipboard with a note pad and pencil already attached and ready. “I’ll go through the routine so you can see what a normal day here looks like.” He finished his notes and looked up at me saying, “First thing we do is check up on any notes that got faxed in.” He pointed over his shoulder at the machine and kept on going. “Next we check the schedule and see who and what is coming in, when they are showing up, and what they are coming in. After that we need to walk through the studio and check the kiln etcetera for anything left to clean up.” He started to walk toward me and stopped to say, ”Notes, you should be taking some.”

He giggled and kept walking when I blushed a sharp pink and laughed louder when I fumbled with the pencil, writing down all of the steps. He passed by me and I followed him through the door.

“Now, we do have a few clients coming in and a model as well, maybe two. We need to set up for them. The first client is looking at that painting of John and a few others. We keep the completed products over here in this room and the ones in progress over there. Concepts and notes are kept with the projects they belong to.”

He walked fluently through the studio, pointing out each item and what it was used for and where it was kept. He barely noticed any obstruction like a stray stool as he deftly stepped around each. I watched and nodded appropriately at each, writing each down on one sheet and drawing myself a quick map on another sheet.

After walking the entire studio and learning the ins and outs, we set about getting the first client set up. He showed me where we would display the artwork and the best way to display each type of piece. All the while I took my notes and perfected my map. It seemed to take only moments but apparently an hour and a half had already passed. The client would be there any moment and they were a frequent customer, so I needed to meet them.

“Alright, let me see your notes, you go check yourself and freshen up if you need to. You need to look pretty clean and steady to be our office guy and deal with clients.”

I handed him my clipboard and walked off to the old annex to use the lavatory and make sure my hair was behaving. Had to wash some pencil marks from my fingers and straighten my shirt of course. When I was satisfied I walked back out to see Aiden still starring at my notes. No, he was starring at my map.

“Something wrong, Aiden?” I asked as I got close enough.

“When did you draw this?”

“What, the map? I drew it while I took my notes. Why, what’s wrong?

“There’s nothing at all wrong. That’s what is surprising me. This is perfectly to scale and even shaded. You have some amazing skill. You were even walking while you did this!”

“You’re acting like this is something amazing, man. It’s just a sketch without detail and is undefined.”

He tossed me back my notes and sighed deep saying, “Dude, your blind to your own talent.” He laughed halfheartedly and walked to the displays, taking a seat to rest his feet a little.

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. All I really did was talk with the people and take notes as Aiden went through his motions. When he sat down with a model to do a session he had me go into the office and call the next day’s appointments to confirm, which was easy enough. If they didn’t answer I simply left a message stating the time and reason of their appointment with a call back number with any questions.

When I finished that I walked through the studio, picking up and stray equipment and listening for the phone. I swept the floor and even had a chance to watch Aiden at work. He was like a machine, staring at the model and sketching, not sparing a moment to even check his watch or stretch out. His single minded determination was a nice encouragement. I took out my notepad and started sketching out the look in his eyes whenever he looked at his sheet. There seemed to be a deep fire and passion in his stare that was intensely beautiful.

Finally, the end of the work day rolled around and we went through the routine of closing the shop. Nothing too amazingly complicated. Mainly it involved cleaning and locking up. When we stood outside the locked doors, Aiden handed me a small key ring with maybe four or five keys on it.

“Here is your set. We may need you to come in sometimes a little early to set up or meet a client or something. It’s also for just-in-case situations. A day might roll around where I don’t need to come in but we need someone to meet with a client or something like that. Keep them on you whenever you can.”

I took the keys with slightly wide eyes. “I can’t believe you are trusting me with keys after my first day.”

He chuckled and said, “If you’re going to steal from us, we have video cameras and such things. It would be hard to get away with it. Also, I’m not too worried about you, you feel like a good person.”

“Well, thanks I guess,” I said chuckling as well. Aiden waved his goodbye and went to get into his car. I waved back and turned to walk toward home.

“Wait!” Aiden yelled after me. “Dude, I just realized that we live in the same building. If you’re not planning on making any stops, just hop in and we can drive back together.”

For some reason I hadn’t thought of this fact either. I looked back at his car and then at him. “Are you sure I will survive the trip?” I joked chuckling again.

He raised two fingers in the air over his chest and said, “Scouts honor,” as he unlocked and slipped into his car.

“Glad I wasn’t a scout myself,” I muttered as I slipped in beside him, this time buckling up as soon as my but hit the seat.

In no time at all we were back at the building and splitting up on my floor. He rode the elevator up one more level to his, saying he would see me at work the next day. I walked to my door and unlocked it, anticipating a nice long bath and maybe a movie before dinner.