When Megan got to Allen’s house this evening, she found him sitting in his “studio”, staring at a blank canvas. “Is something wrong?” she asked, worried about the expression on his face.
It was a moment before he looked up, coming out of his reverie. “I have a commission,” he said.
Megan dropped her purse. “What? That’s amazing!” She jumped into his lap, kissing his cheek.
He laughed a little bit. “Yes, but…”
“No, no buts! Amazing is amazing! This is just what you wanted, right?”
“Megan, listen a second.” He gently but firmly set her onto the bed beside him. “It is amazing,” he admitted, “and I want to do it. But they want it quickly, as a gift for a friend before November.”
“Oh. That is fast. But not impossible,” Megan pointed out.
“No, not impossible. But it’s got me thinking.” He got up and paced over to the window. “I’ve always been drawn to the creative side of art, but there’s a practical side too. How much time is each piece going to take me? What do I charge for each one? How much can I do in this little room?” He shook his head. “I don’t know, I guess it’s just kind of overwhelming me now that it’s a reality.”
Megan got up, too, and joined him, putting her arm around his waist. “So let me ask the big picture question,” she said, looking up into his eyes. “Are you all in on this? Is art the primary calling of your life, or just something that needs to have a place?”
He looked back at her, but he wasn’t really seeing her. His gaze was inward, and now that she asked the question, he knew what the answer was.
“I’m all in,” he said after a long moment. “This is what I want to do.”
She nodded, smiling. “So now that you know that, you can work out the details as they come. You don’t have to quit your job and drop everything right this second. Find a new space to work, and work around your job with the commissions you’ve got, and talk to Professor Groves about prices—didn’t she have some friends at the showing the other night who have been doing art for years? You’ve got nothing but time.”
Allen nodded, feeling as if the words were settling down inside him like snow, cooling and quieting his spirit. He stroked her hair back behind her ears and smiled down into her eyes. “Whatever would I do without you? You have such a way of making my dreams seem possible and even easy.”
“That’s because they are possible,” she said, leaning up to kiss him. “And without me you would fret a lot more, so it’s a good thing that you have me, right?” She broke away then and went to grab her purse. “So what do you want for dinner?”
Allen followed her, answering her questions, but his mind was caught up in a new stream of thought. He was thinking that it is a very good thing that he does have Megan, and that it’s past time that he did something special for her.
I fully approve of this notion, and I intend to pass the idea on to Sabasa. I think she would be able and happy to inspire Allen with the perfect way to show Megan what she really means to him.