...And a Happy New Year

March 23, 2014
Chaney woke up feeling especially inspired this morning, and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time as her gallery show was in a few days and she needed to finish her pieces. She had been swamped at work this past week, and by the time she came home, only wanted to go to bed.

Today was different however. She woke up feeling refreshed, and had a new sense of purpose with what pieces she was going to create for this show. The theme for this particular gallery showing was “New Beginnings”. She was flooded with ideas and she got up instantly so she could start painting.

She started a pot of coffee, and ate a piece of buttered toast while she set up her board and prepped her watercolor paper so she could paint. She pulled her colors out, and set up a couple glasses of water and some paper towels. She loved how sunny it always seemed to be here, and loved overlooking the city from her windows. She set up her station by the open doors leading to the small landing she had that connected to her kitchen. She also cracked open the door to her apartment for some cross ventilation. Today was such a nice day, though a bit colder than normal, and she wished to air out her apartment as much as possible.

Once her paper had finished prepping and she had it attached to the board she was using as a table, she pulled out her phone and pulled up the picture of John she snapped of him the week before. She smiled as she looked at the photo on her phone of John driving down the road, singing along to whatever was playing. She felt like in that moment, she somehow captured him and who he was. She knew a part of him that she’d never known before. This new friendship with John was definitely a new beginning for her in a completely different way than she would have envisioned a few months earlier. However, she couldn’t say that she was disappointed. Quite the opposite. She loved this dynamic she had with John; more than she thought she would. She began to feverishly paint and recapture that moment with watercolors. Despite her somewhat rusty painting skills, she was pleased with how it was turning out.

Getting back into watercolors felt like a new beginning to her as well. The joy she was feeling as she captured moments of her life with water, paint, and a brush was incomparable. She had no idea how to thank John for pushing her to pursue her painting again. She hoped this could be a small thank you to him. She loved the feeling she had while she was creating. The sense that whatever you’re working on will never again look just like it does at that particular moment, sparked a sort of new love towards her work. She loved how she would never be able to exactly create this piece again. This moment in time is one that can never be repeated. This made her relish the feeling even more than when she painted in college. She couldn’t decide if it was because it had been so long since she painted, therefore missing painting so much; or the fact that she never realized until now how much she took for granted what painting gave her while in college. Regardless of the reason, her creativity and inspiration was at an all-time high, and she quickly was entranced into a creative flow.

As with most creatives, she had no idea how much time had passed as she had been in a complete zone of creativity. Which is why when she heard a small clearing of a throat and an “Wow, that’s amazing…” the she jumped at the sound and turned quickly around to find John standing a few feet behind her. Frantically turning around to see that she was adding finishing touches to his piece, she panicked.

“John! What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to see this!” She tried desperately to cover what she had done, with her arms while also staying far enough away to not ruin what she’d already painted.

He chuckled, “Well, nice to see you, too, Van Gogh. Can I not just stop by and see a friend?”

“Well, yeah, but…this was supposed to be a surprise! I didn’t want you to see this yet…it’s not quite done yet…”

John stepped around Chaney, and pulled the board she was working from, gently from beneath her arms. She didn’t fight him, as he extracted the almost completed piece. He didn’t say a word as he stood there holding a giant painting of him. He couldn’t deny that it felt a bit strange that she painted a giant piece of him, however he was so blown away. She captured him at his very essence. In this piece she created, she seemed to capture all the small nuances of himself that made him himself. She captured who he was without not really knowing him. She had captured more of who he was in that piece than most of his friendships over the last decade.

As Chaney sat there, she felt her face grow red. She looked up at John from beneath her lashes, and noted his furrowed brow. She couldn’t tell if he was angry, upset, entranced, impressed, anything. He was so unreadable. She silently prayed he didn’t hate it, and even more so that he wouldn’t be offended by the piece and request she not put it in the show. She could tell this particular piece above the rest would end up being her best one. She had already finished a couple of pieces, but this particular one held so much meaning for her and she only hoped it did for John as well.

After a deafening amount of silence, she spoke up. “John? Uh, what do you think? I want your honest opinion. Don’t spare my feelings. I can take it,” she uttered barely above a whisper.

John looked up from his intense study on the piece and saw Chaney’s downtrodden expression. He set the piece back on the table by where she was working and kneeled down to be eye level with her. He put a comforting hand on her forearm, hoping she would look at him so he could tell her how amazing of an artist he thought she was, but she wouldn’t budge.

“Chaney…hey, look up.”

She begrudgingly did so.

“You want my honest opinion?”

She meekly nodded, trying to keep from crying. She put so much of herself and what she felt about their new friendship in that piece, and she wasn’t sure if she could take his rejection of it.

“Honestly…though it kinda freaks me out to see a giant painting of my face, I think it’s absolutely amazing. You captured so much of who I am in that piece; more than anyone I’ve ever met. Without us really knowing each other that well, you seemed to ‘get’ who I am. I’m not sure if it’s some creative intuition or what, but wow. There’s so much emotion in this. I can feel it. I do have one question though, why me? Why this painting?”

She took a deep breath, and gave a small smile in relief that he didn’t hate the work. She explained, “Don’t hate me, but I did this for the gallery show. The theme of work for that night is ‘New Beginnings’ and I felt that encompasses so much of our friendship right now, and in a very positive way. When we went to the art store last week, while driving I felt this…bond with you that I hadn’t felt with another person since I met Halvo. However this goes a step further. You encouraged me to pursue my passion, something I had forgotten about for so many years. I lost sight of what I truly loved. You reminded me. That in itself feels like a new beginning. Like I’m getting a fresh start. As for this picture, well, once again while driving, I happened to look over, and you looked so in your element. I can’t describe it. I could tell in that precise moment that you were completely content, and if you were to die right then, you would be alright with that. Something about the look on your face and this unspoken bond we share resonated with me and I had to capture that moment. I felt like that moment was a turning point in my life. This morning it happened to hit me that it was, and this should be the centerpiece for my debut showing.”

Without saying a word, John pulled her up from the stool she was sitting on, and pulled her into a giant hug.

“Thank you Van Gogh,” he mumbled into her hair.

She chuckled at the nickname.

“So I take it Van Gogh is the new name you have for me now?”

He pulled away from their embrace with a smirk, “Yeah, I think it suits you. C’mon, let’s grab something to eat. Looks like you haven’t eaten all day.”

She chuckled and looked at the clock and noted that it was past 1 in the afternoon. She definitely hadn’t eaten yet. Her stomach growled upon that realization. She motioned John to the couch while she went to her room to change out of her painting clothes and into some nicer clothes. She reappeared a few minutes later, slipping on her Chuck’s and grabbing her purse and keys as she opened the door wider so they could leave.

***

“Woah, woah, woah, so you’re telling me that you actually contemplated going?” John asked Chaney in disbelief, while laughing hysterically.

“Yeah! I mean, obviously it wasn’t the safest situation to be in, but c’mon. We were in the middle of nowhere, we had little to no cell service, and every route that we kept taking ended up in a detour or re-route. When the random guy at the gas station offered to take us to his house to draw us a map, by that point, I was up for anything,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“I just, I can’t picture you guys going through with it. You mean to tell me Halvo was actually alright with that idea?”

“I mean, the guy had a six pack of beer with him…he was quite willing to share and make a party of it if we brought a pack or two with us,” she said over a laugh.

“Alright, I’ll give ya that. What kind of beer was it? That would be a huge hinge factor for me.”

“He had a pack of Natty Light.”

John deadpanned. “You’re shitting me.”

She laughs while shaking her head. “Nope. Which is why we didn’t end up going. You and I both know that is the nastiest tasting beer.”

John’s features seemed to relax as she said that. “I’ll say this, I’m just glad the dude was drinking shitty beer, otherwise you may not be sitting here right now,” he said with a smirk as he sipped on his own bottle of beer.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh c’mon John. What’s life if you don’t risk something every now and then?”

“I guess…how long ago was that?”

“Hmm…about 4 years ago. We had all just turned 21 and knew that we could get better tasting alcohol since we were of legal age, and no longer had to worry about getting shitty tasting beer.” She laughed.

He laughed with her. They both sat at the bar at the back of the restaurant in silence after that. Just enjoying the time they had together; something they seemed to do a lot of when they spent time together. They both had long finished eating their lunch, and were currently having a couple drinks to unwind for a bit.

After a couple hours of small talk, Chaney began to stand up and grab her things.

John looked at her perplexed, “Where ya goin Gogh?”

She chuckled, easily noticing he was a bit on the tipsy side. “I was sick of sitting inside,” she shrugged, “and figured we could either walk around town or head back to my place and chill on the back landing. Maybe I could paint more. Ya know, since I have to have 5 pieces by Tuesday for my show,” she smirked.

He nodded and got up. He quickly finished off what was left in his bottle before setting it down on the bar and pulling out a few bills to cover the cost of their drinks. He followed her outside and they drove back to her place, jamming to the tunes of Tom Petty.

He pulled into her complex, and they made their way upstairs, bantering back and forth when Chaney heard a strange noise coming from inside her apartment. She shushed John, and quietly approached the door and leaned her left ear against it to hear what was going on inside. John, with a furrowed brow, approached the door, and leaned his left ear against the door, now facing Chaney. Both were utterly confused as to what was happening inside. Neither could tell what was going on, much less describe what it sounded like. She mouthed to John “Do you hear that?” to which he nodded with a stern expression. John held up a finger, and motioned that she hand over her keys so he could go in first. The door was locked, so unless someone broke in and locked the door back, they had no idea who could’ve gotten inside or how.

John took a deep breath, pulling Chaney behind him and motioning for her to wait for him out in the hallway until he signaled her in. She nodded in affirmation.

John quietly selected her apartment key and put it in the lock, slowly turning the key as he reached for the knob. He took another deep breath before carefully turning the knob on the door and cracking it open as he stuck his head in. As he looked around he was confused as he continued to hear the noise but didn’t see what was making the noise. He opened the door wider and stepped inside. He motioned for Chaney to follow, without turning to face her. She cautiously stepped inside, looking around to figure out what was making the mysterious noise.

They soon had their answer as John began laughing hysterically at the perpetrators.

“John…what’s going on? What’s making all the noise and why are you laughing?”

With a huge grin, he points toward the kitchen floor, begging her to look at what was going on.
With furrowed brows, she slowly looked towards the kitchen floor from where she stood and began screaming as she noticed a small flock of birds had flown into her room. She looked over and realized then that she hadn’t closed the door to her landing when they left. The birds must have flown in the open door. Now they were all over the kitchen and areas of the living room, wreaking havoc on her furniture as they pecked on her wood pieces. She instantly dropped what she was carrying and began chasing them out her apartment while John watched in amusement.

She heard his continued laugher as she tried without success to shoo the birds away.

“Don’t just stand there, help me get rid of these birds before they damage my furniture and paintings!”

He laughed and playfully rolled his eyes as they tag-teamed to rid the birds. Once the last bird was out, Chaney instantly shut the landing door and locked it. She turned and looked at John sternly,
“Change of plans. We’re staying inside now.”

He burst out laughing and she couldn’t help but do the same. There was so much ease in this new-found friendship. His laugh and smile were contagious. She couldn’t place what it was about him, but she was becoming addicted to his positive persona that he always seemed to possess. Had someone told her a couple months ago that she would be saying that about John O’Callaghan, especially after the hell he put her through, she would have laughed in their face. However now, she could finally begin to understand what all the hype about was. He genuinely was as caring of a person as he seemed to be.

John lounged on the couch and turned on the TV as he began to look through the channels to find something on.

“Oh go ahead John, make yourself at home. Lounge on my couch, watch my TV, hell eat some of my food…” she said sarcastically while trying to hold back a laugh.

He turns around giving her his signature grin, “Sure thing darlin’, I think I will.” He then turns back around and continues to channel surf.

Chaney grabs her supplies from before and sets her stuff back up next to the couch so she can watch what John’s watching while she paints.

Despite them doing different things, they both were content in this being the extent of their time spent together. Though they hadn’t spent a lot of time hanging out, it never had to be anything elaborate. Most of the time, it was spur of the moment plans. John was handy like that. Very spontaneous. A characteristic that Chaney was beginning to really appreciate about him. Her life was so often set in such a rigid routine that she never did anything outside of the box. She was liking this change of pace. She was beginning to like the person she was becoming.

She became absorbed into painting again when John’s phone ringing brought her back to reality.

He quickly muted the TV before answering.

“Yeah dude what’s up?....I’m over at a friend’s house, but you’re more than welcome to stop by…”

Chaney glared at him, John just shook his head and ignored her as he continued talking.

“Promise, you’re cool to come over…Sure, bring it by…”

He then gave out Chaney’s address over the phone before hanging up.

Chaney was fuming. “Mind telling me what that’s about John? You better not be throwing some party at my apartment…”

He chuckled, “Don’t worry Gogh. I promise that I’m not. O’Callaghan honor, you won’t mind who’s coming.”

She was still doubtful, but eventually accepted what he was saying with a nod before returning to her painting.

A knock on her door about 15 mintues later put her on edge. John motioned for her to stay seated as he got up to get the door. She couldn’t hear what was being said, nor could she make out the voices of whoever was talking. However after a few moments, she was shocked at who came walking through the door.

“Uh, hey Chaney…”

“ALEX?! What uh, what are ya doing here?” Chaney asked, completely dumbfounded at seeing her brother in her living room.

“I uh, was just dropping off a couple new records that we got in the shop this week that he’d been on the hunt for. I uh, had no idea this was your place or I may not have come…”

She quickly stood up, and made her way over to Alex, for once not knowing how to interact with her little brother.

“No! I mean, it’s fine that you came. I was just…surprised to see you is all.”

“Yeah, I could uh, say the same…”

Both were silent, trying to figure out what was going on. Chaney looked around for John, finding him absent from the room. She panicked momentarily until she saw that he had slipped outside to the landing to give them some privacy. She smiled before turning back to her brother.

“H-how’s the shop?” she hesitantly asked.

He scoffed, “Fine I guess. Same old shit. Nothing exciting.”

“I guess…” she trailed off, “but you graduate in a couple months right?”

He shrugged, trying not to look too excited.

Chaney bit her lip wanting to somehow reach out to him.

“How are things at home?”

“They suck. Same as always.” He muttered.

As much as they didn’t get along, she hated how bad things had gotten at home. She hoped once she moved out that Alex would have it easier with her mom since she wouldn’t be there consuming her loathe and attention all the time. She guessed now that their mom moved onto Alex instead.

“Is mom still being a bitch?” she partially smirked, hoping he would respond with more than vague answers.

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards slightly, “Yeah, more so than ever.”

They both chuckled a little at this.

“Ya know Alex, I really am glad to see you. And uh,” she couldn’t believe she was about to offer this, “if you ever want to move outta the house, I have an empty room here. I would love to have you living here.”

He instantly tensed up and backed off. “No way in hell that’s happening. Tell John we’re getting the next shipment in a couple days.” He then dropped the records he had in his hands on the coffee table before storming out her door and out of her apartment.

She was hoping that she would be able to break through to him. Maybe John could help. Alex seemed to get along with him.

John came in after a few minutes when he noticed Alex was no longer in there.

“See…told you I wasn’t throwing a party,” he snickered.

She merely shrugged, not really making eye contact as she continued to paint.

He sighed, “I take it by that response that it didn’t go so well between you two?”

She shook her head. “I just don’t understand what happened! We used to be so close! Now he completely hates me and wants nothing to do with me. We seemed to be making some progress when everything fell apart.”

One of the corners of John’s mouth tugged south. “Mind telling me what happened? I mean, just now…”

She nodded, setting down her paintbrush and giving her full attention to him. “We were talking, actually talking, for the first time in…years. I thought we were making progress. He seemed to open up a bit, more than his sarcastic replies. He was talking about how much it sucked living at home, even worse now that I’m gone. I offered to let him bunk here, and he closed up instantly and left. Speaking of, he told me to tell you the next shipment comes in a couple days.”

John nodded before placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’ll work out eventually Gogh. Promise.”

He half smiled, and she nodded, wondering if she really believed him or not. Despite not knowing for sure, what she did know was that she had never been so thankful to have John in her life.