They painted in silence for a few moments. At first it was companionable, allowing Effie’s heart to stop racing and her mind to settle. It was sort of therapeutic, painting slowly and carefully, trying to achieve a high finish rather than slapping the paint on and hoping for the best. She snuck a glance at Jake, feeling guilty that she’d dragged him into this mess, but he looked anything other than bothered by it. Did he even look like he was enjoying himself?
‘What?’ Jake asked with a smile, as if reading her thoughts.
‘Nothing.’ Effie quickly batted away. She didn’t like to draw attention to herself, therefore usually didn’t like to probe into other people’s lives, but she could sense Jake hanging on, wondering. ‘What do you prefer? Photography or painting?’
Jake tipped a bit more paint into his tray. Effie noticed he didn’t have any splatters on him, whereas she was glad she’d worn her oldest clothes. There was a smear up her arm and a blob of paint on her left knee.
Jake exhaled. ‘That’s a tricky question. I’m a photographer now, so maybe that’s what I prefer. I used to help my dad decorating during school and university holidays. He never thought photography was a viable job. It started as a hobby when I was at university studying marketing, of all things. I found out I was good at it. Here.’ He put his brush down and pulling his phone out of his pocket, beckoned Effie over.
Not wanting to stand too close, Effie craned her neck over the gallery Jake had opened on his phone. ‘Wow,’ she breathed as she watched him scroll through stunning landscapes and beautifully lit portraits. His phone contained a whole atlas of places Effie had only ever dreamed of visiting. New Zealand, Thailand and the Great Barrier Reef all zipped past her eyes. ‘They’re beautiful. You’ve been to so many places!’
‘Thanks, yeah, I have, I guess.’ He laughed nervously before continuing, his body language slightly uncomfortable, as if he didn’t really want to admit the next bit. ‘My ex, Tara, is an influencer. Well, she wasn’t when I met her, but we decided to go travelling together and basically with her style and my photos we managed to create a lifestyle we could live off. It was fun at first, but always trying to get the perfect social media shot eventually drove me mad. It became no fun. Taking three hundred photos of her posing with a cocktail in a hammock. I prefer capturing the rawness of life. Real people, real moments, you know?’ Jake swiped open his phone and before Effie knew what had happened the sound of a camera click snapped into the room.
‘Hey! I’m a mess, don’t!’ Effie protested.
‘You’re not a mess, you’re . . . you’re . . . natural,’ he said as he scanned through what he’d taken.
Their eyes met and they both knew he had been about to say something else. Effie felt her heart tug her towards him, to that possibility. Had he been about to say ‘beautiful’? She was almost embarrassed to admit how much she was hoping he had.
‘Here, look.’ He held the phone out again.
Effie studied it, at first only picking out her imperfections: her wild hair, the old lime-green T-shirt, the paint on her cheek. However, the more she looked, the more she began to feel that Jake had somehow captured the real her. ‘I look a bit startled,’ was all she managed.
‘Well, yeah, I did take you by surprise, but I’d rather take those sorts of photos than the influencer ones. I’m trying to build up my brand. Landscape, events, particularly weddings.’
‘What about book shop openings?’ she asked. ‘I’ve been trying to start the social media pages for this place and well, it’s not going great.’ It was her turn to put the brush down and pick up her phone. So far all she had were a few pictures of the view.
‘To be fair you’ve not got much to work with,’ Jake said kindly. ‘Once the shop is finished and dressed it’ll be so much easier to create the right balance.’ He glanced around him. ‘It’s also about spotting opportunities.’
She watched as Jake clocked the open door, clicked open the camera on his phone, played around with his positioning and snapped away.
‘See, look.’ Getting up, he turned the screen towards Effie. ‘It’s like an opening, a beginning.’
Effie followed his gaze towards the half-open door, sunlight streamed in creating a pathway across the floor. Through the gap she could see a hint of blue sky and sea. There was magic in the photograph, the light was bright, welcoming, like a pause in time, an invite.
‘Wow, Jake, I’d never have thought of taking something like that! It’s awesome!’
‘Give me your number and I’ll send it to you; you can use it to create intrigue.’
Effie repeated her number to him and within a couple of seconds her phone pinged with the incoming message. Effie was quick to post the photo and was thrilled to see how it lifted the social media page she’d set up for the new branch.
‘Thanks, Jake, for all of this. I mean, you don’t have to, it’s not your responsibility.’
Jake shrugged. ‘I need something practical to do other than wandering around taking pictures of the sea. I enjoy a bit of physical work, makes me feel useful. But I can leave you to it if you’d prefer,’ he said with a cheeky wink.
‘No!’ Effie gasped. ‘I hate decorating! You’re a lot better company than . . . Ah, it doesn’t matter.’
‘Than who? You can’t leave it like that.’
Effie felt her face warm. ‘Than my audiobook,’ she told him, her voice rather prim as if she didn’t want him to ask what she was listening to. Cowboy romance. Or cowboy smut, as Maddie gleefully called it.
‘Audiobooks? I’ve never tried one. I think I’d fall asleep.’
‘Audiobooks are great,’ Effie enthused. ‘Of course I love paperbacks the most, but they take up so much space and I get physically attached to my copies. But audio is great for when I’m driving or doing the cleaning or in the bath. That way I am never without a book.’
‘What sort of books do you like?’ he asked as he turned his attention back to the painting.
It was a very normal question to ask. Effie was asked it all the time, but she always felt like she should bring out the latest literary tome rather than see the flicker of judgement that came when she admitted she mainlined happy-ever-afters. She sensed Jake was interested, was waiting for the truth.
