Paint Me a Picture with Nothing

Chapter Three

Alex looked around, the darkness filling his view. He was used to the scenery; it was a typical occurrence. He'd see darkness, the only light coming from his blinking phone, the little blue light notifying him that someone has attempted to come in contact with him.

As he sat up in his room, he looked around, the dim moonlight shining through his window as the sounds of downtown Baltimore filled his room. The faint sirens echoing in his quiet room as Alex looked over at the clock reading 4:27 A.M.

Alex was used to waking up this early some mornings. He never knew why; it was another strange trait about the brunette.

After reaching over and flicking on the lamp on his nightstand, the room now coming to life as the light reflected against everything. He rubbed his eyes and slowly got out of his bed, grabbing his phone in the process as he walked to his living room. His eyes squinted as he unlocked his phone, the bright light becoming hard to adjust to.

His eyes looked over the email preview from Taylor.

What's the Difference? Look Over

Alex's eyebrows rose slightly at the email as he opened it, he had just emailed Taylor his rough draft of a new novel he was working on yesterday afternoon. He wasn't expecting to hear back from her anytime sooner than a week, if not more.

I attached the file of the edited version of your draft. I also left notes for you to consider in order to broaden the story and give readers a better understanding as to what exactly is happening. I know this is just the draft, and nowhere near the finished piece, but I didn't have a slight issue focusing on what was occurring. Other than that, it was fantastic. The plot is outstanding, and holds much potential. I do have to say, however, from what you sent me, you left me at a devastating cliffhanger. Not cool.

When Alex finished reading the email, a slight smile appeared on his face. Shock flowed through his body when he realized the facial feature he was producing. See, Alex doesn't smile. He can't remember a day he's smiled, not even as a child. If he's at a signing, he'll use his famous fake smile, it's impossible for anyone to even notice that's it's far from real, which Alex has taken pride in. He's baffled by the fact that this girl comes waltzing into his life, and all of a sudden has him smiling. He sighed and shook the thought as he opened the document.

---

Three hours later, Alex was straightening up his house, though there wasn't much to do since the brunette was very particular about keeping his apartment more than neat.

After fixing his hair and flattening out his black polo shirt, he looked over his appearance in his mirror, the tight khakis resting perfectly on his hips. He ended up spritzing a bit of cologne on his next before walking over to his front door and opening it when he heard the repetitive knocks.

"Hey, Al-" Taylor started.

"Mr. Gaskarth." Alex corrected before moving out of the way so the shorter of two could walk in.

"Right, forgot." Taylor mumbled as she walked in, her eyes quickly landing on the blank canvas placed in the center of the living room. "Do you paint?"

"Not at all." Alex replied, closing the door in the process.

"Then why is there a ginormous canvas board sitting on your wall?"

Alex walked into his kitchen and smirked. "We're two different people, Ms. Jardine. Instead of a TV hanging upon that very wall, I opted to have a plain white canvas board. Is it strange? I don't know, and I don't care to know. Life shouldn't have answers, and neither should your question. If you ask me why the sky is blue, does it look like I would know?"

Taylor stood in silence as she tried to understand what this man was going on about. "P-Possibly." She stuttered out as a faint red covered her cheeks.

Alex's smirk grew even more as he went to grab a bottle of water. "I guess we'll never know." He replied before taking a gulp. "Shall we begin?"

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, where should I sit?"

"Where do you think you should sit?" Alex retorted as he walked out of his kitchen.

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you. It's your apartment, remember?"

Alex hummed and nodded. "Very well, follow me, Ms. Jardine." He commanded before walking into his living room and sitting down on his couch.

"You can call me Tay, everyone does." Taylor suggested as she sat down next to Alex, leaving a decent amount of distance from the author.

Alex raised an eyebrow slightly. "Do I look like everyone?"

Taylor furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "No..." She trailed off.

"Then I will continue to call you Ms. Jardine, and you will continue to refer to me as Mr. Gaskarth. We are not friends, understand?"

Taylor slowly nodded. "I understand, Mr. Gaskarth."

Alex flashed her a forced smile. "Good, I'm glad to hear that. Now I read over your suggestions, and I'm truly amazed by how well you both edited and analyzed what I wrote. It's shocking, honestly. I did, however, take into consideration with what you said about remaining concise throughout my work, and though I've never really had the proclivity to do that, I understand where you are going with it, so kudos to you."

Taylor smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Gaskarth. That means a lot."

Alex's forced smile gradually turned into a smirk. "But don't get too presumptuous though." He replied in a vitriolic tone.

"I wasn't planning to, but thanks for the heads up." Taylor mumbled as she redirected her view to her closed laptop sitting in his lap.

"You're very welcome. Shall we get started?" Alex asked, even though he was already walking over and opening his laptop, his fingers quickly working to open up his revised version of the first five chapters of What’s the Difference? as he walked back to his spot on the couch.

"Right." Taylor agreed with a slight nod as she looked up at the author, noticing the faint bags under his eyes, only indicating that he has yet to get a good night’s sleep. As Alex worked to pull everything up on his screen, Taylor's eyes continued to scan the face of the elder, his stubble needing a more than overdue shave, but somehow she couldn't help but see that it fit him perfectly.

Alex felt the eyes on him before he looked up at Taylor. "Are you done staring up at me?" He asked with his eyebrow raised, only causing the small girl to jump slightly and nod, letting out a quiet apology.

The two eventually sat in a comfortable silence, well a comfortable silence for Alex of course. Taylor, on the other hand, sat in a more than uncomfortable silence. Every time she'd ask a question, a hum would come from Alex, followed by a nod or a shake of his head. She didn't understand what exactly his problem was. It's not that he's stupid, she realized that that's definitely not the case after reading his work, but what she didn't understand is why he's like this. Every five minutes, she's calculated it perfectly seeing as the elder was right on time with each five minute interval, he'd either stare at the blank canvas board for no more than thirty seconds, twirl a piece of his hair as his right hand efficiently typed away, or twitch as he wrote. She just didn't get it. He was such a talented writer, but came off as an ass, while still being able to capture the attention of anyone he talks to. He wasn't different, no, he was twisted.