The rain didn't let up over the next few days, setting the mood for Blue to stay home, drink tea, and work on her sketches. Using the rough versions she made in the library, she wanted to start working on the final products she would present during the first production meeting.

Digging around in the crowded drawer of her art table that resides in front of the window in the living room, she finally found what she needed: her beloved tools. She would use many tools along this process, but the first ones she would need would be her pencils, fine black pens, and watercolors. While carefully sharpening her pencils, the tempo of the wood scraping against the blade blended with the drumming of the rain against the window to make a soothing rhythm that instantly calmed her. Placing them gently in a cup on the desk so as not to break the freshly sharpened tips, she then opened her watercolors and smiled at the sight of them. All the bright little squares perfectly aligned, colors all from the most beautiful rainbow you could imagine. She felt the tips of the paintbrushes to make sure they were still good, it had been a while since she used them last. Most of the time they were used for work, for exactly this process of fleshing out designs, but occasionally she would get the "paint bug" as her dad called it and need to create something just for herself. She had even framed a couple of her favorite pieces and given them away as presents. They were especially popular as baby shower gifts, a small fluffy bunny wearing glasses being her most recent gift. It was based on a painting her dad had made for her room while her mom was still pregnant. They hung it above the crib the week before she was born, the smart little bunny ready to guard it's baby once she finally arrived. She felt like all babies needed a smart bunny to watch over them, so it was her most common baby shower gift.

Closing the channels of the emotions that threatened to overflow, she opened her notebook and focused on the task at hand instead.

Even when she sat down to work on designs, she made herself draw for pleasure first. It helped start the spark of inspiration and focus her mind on the work in front of her. She closed her eyes for a second and thought about what would energize her. Letting her mind wander, it was almost a form of meditation. If she got off track, she would just gently nudge her thoughts back in and let them start to form. She grabbed one of her black pens and began to move her hand over the thick paper. Not exactly sure where she was going, she let her pen guide her.

The first lines were heavy as she pulled the pen down towards the bottom of the paper. Starting back at the top of the lines, she pulled in opposite directions on either side. Slowly a figure began to emerge. Her pen moved quickly on some areas, and slowly on others. The calming sound of the pen scratching on her paper put her into a sort of trance. She dropped that pen and grabbed one of the finer brushes, dipping it into the gray square and swirling it around. She splashed the shades around where her mind's eye said they needed to be, making some blotches darker and some barely visible they were so light.

Finally, she laid the brush down and closed her eyes again for just a second, waking up from her spell. As she looked down at the paper in front of her, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

She had sketched the back of a shirtless male figure running his hands through his hair.

Seriously?

She just sat and stared at it for a solid five minutes, half impressed with how realistic her shading looked and half-embarrassed by what was obviously running through her mind when she let it run free.

Grabbing the paper and ready to crumple it, she decided to instead put it in one of her folders that held other random pieces she didn't feel like she could give away at baby showers.

She stood up and walked to the kitchen to grab a snack to try and erase what just happened from her mind, even if she couldn't erase it from that paper. Molly woke up immediately and leapt from the couch to follow her; if she was headed to the kitchen, there was a good chance it might be treat time. Why else would her human walk in that direction if it wasn't to give her some well-deserved treats?

Blue sat back down at her desk with a bag of peanut M&M's while Molly sat behind her on the couch cleaning her face and paws, thanks to the delicious treats she just gobbled up. Not only had her normal method for beginning to sketch not helped, but it had completely thrown her off her game now. Either she would have to stop the process and try another time, or push forward to see if, although the subject was humiliating, the method still actually worked.

Being as stubborn as she was, she chose to just push forward. Deciding that she would start with the main character named John, the one Gael would be playing, she dug out her preliminary sketches for him. She figured if she was going to draw him anyway, it might as well be useful for something.

————

She sketched through the night, making multiple drafts of each main character and crumpling the old ones to toss into the trash. She narrowed it down to the versions that felt perfect by around 4:00 am and finally crashed. Laying in bed with Molly dutifully purring at her feet, she decided she could re-check her work when she woke up and make sure her delirious decisions held up. She worked best late at night, she'd always been a night owl just like both her parents. The photo on her bedside table was like a beacon calling to her in the dark and quiet room. After exhausting herself creatively, she didn't have the energy to guard herself against the emotions that came on like a wave. Looking at their faces she felt angry and hurt and heavy and broken all at the same time.

Just like she had the day she was told she had lost them forever.

She was only thirteen, most girls that age are worried about what color to paint their nails or which boy they wanted to go to the school dance with. But on a cold day in February, only a week before the Valentine's Day dance, her teacher got a note from the principal delivered to her classroom. She called Blue's name out and instructed her to head to the office, adding that she wasn't in trouble but they needed to speak to her.

She headed down the hall with a slight worry in her chest about what they could possibly want to talk to her about, but remembered that her teacher said she definitely wasn't in trouble. It couldn't be that bad...

When she got to the office she saw Aunt Millie standing there which took her by surprise. Was she there for a surprise visit? Was she about to be whisked away on some secret adventure? She smiled at Aunt Millie, but when the older woman didn't return the smile, that's when she noticed the tear stains from her mascara on her aunt's cheeks.

Blue shook herself out of the memory, she had gone too deep and felt the pull of melancholy. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom for a drink. After she gulped the ice-cold water down she slammed the cup onto the counter and stared at herself in the mirror, "get your shit together, Everson."

Turning on her heel, she ran back down the hall and jumped into the safety of her bed, making sure to face the opposite direction of the photo, and stared instead out the window at the twinkling lights of the city. Molly snorted at her in disapproval for disturbing her slumber, then stretched and curled back up into an even tighter ball.

Blue closed her eyes and tried to think of another face, anything other than Aunt Millie's heartbroken eyes. Instead, she thought of a face that had happy eyes with little crinkles on the edges when he smiled at her. She didn't have the emotional capacity to feel ashamed of thinking of Gael's smile instead of counting sheep to help her fall asleep.

————

The next morning she was exhausted beyond words. The creative and emotional drain last night had taken its toll, and she wasn't ready to face the day. Checking her phone, she saw it was already almost noon which meant she had a meeting with her assistant in only two hours. Her stomach rumbled like a stampede of cattle in her belly and she realized she missed breakfast. The thought of food was bribery enough to drag herself out of bed, though just barely.

After a hot shower and an everything bagel, she poured her remaining coffee into a travel mug and grabbed her bag with her notebook inside. She quickly glanced at them again to make sure she still stood by her decisions, then put on her boots and headed out the door.

Then she came back in, grabbed her coffee that she left on the counter, and headed back out again.

When she arrived at the Century Theater, she realized she actually had no idea where in the building she was supposed to be. Entering through the side door, she only knew the first door on her right was Gael's office. Reluctantly, she decided she would ask him to show her to the costume shop. She hadn't even had time to get an official tour of the place yet since she was signed on so late, so she felt it wasn't odd for her to ask him to show her around.

She knocked lightly on his somewhat open door before stepping in. The sight of Carrie took her by surprise, but not as much as the sight of Gael looking visibly upset. She hadn't seen him like this before, and it was truly a sight to behold the fire in his eyes.

As long as you weren't the one on the receiving end of that fire.

He looked up at her as she stood awkwardly in the doorway, unsure of what to do since she had obviously just interrupted something.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were meeting with anyone. The door was open so I assumed -"

"It's fine Blue, come in. Carrie was just leaving," he said very pointedly while shooting Carrie a look that said his word was final.

Carrie just literally said the word "ugh" and Blue could tell she was not happy to be cut short on their discussion. She obviously thought she was getting somewhere with Gael on whatever they were talking about, but even Blue could tell from his eyes that he was done. She turned and walked towards Blue in the doorway mumbling, "congrats on the job," then pushed past her without so much as a second glance. Blue stepped inside the office finally and whistled, eyebrows raised high enough to wrinkle her forehead.

"Phew! I don't know what you did to piss her off, but I'm glad I saved you before she literally started to chew your head off."

Gael ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He finally smiled up at her and joked, "you're right, how will I ever repay you?"

"Well you can start by showing me to the costume shop. I figured I could find it on my own, but it might take less time if someone that actually knows this place just showed it to me. Arjun is out running errands, so you're it."

Gael frowned, "you haven't been given a tour yet? How did I forget that!" He hopped up immediately and shoved his phone in his back pocket. A few papers fell off his cluttered desk in the process and he quickly threw them back on top of a pile of folders.

"No it's totally fine, I'm sure it's the last thing on your to-do list and I haven't needed it until now. It's really okay, I can find it on my own if you're too busy?"

"There is literally nothing in this world I want more right now than to leave this God-forsaken office and give a beautiful woman a tour of our beautiful theater."

There he went again. She'd now graduated from cute to beautiful. Before she knew it, she would be stunning or maybe even ravishing.

"Okay fine, and if we find my assistant Kiara you can introduce us, seeing as I have no idea what she even looks like to try and find her. We have emailed a few times, but I have yet to meet her in person."

Gael nodded and started walking towards the door. He noticed her bag with the notebook in it and excitedly asked, "wait, is that the final sketches?"

Blue started shaking her head, "no no no, you're not allowed to see anything until I meet with Kiara and make sure we don't want any changes. Sorry, not sorry."

Gael feigned indignation and told her she was such a tease.

"Oh darlin' you haven't seen nothin' yet," she drawled out with just the slightest hint of her Texan accent for his amusement.

She expected to hear his booming laugh again, and wasn't disappointed.

They walked out of his office and turned right to head down the rest of the hallway. They passed offices for the director, choreographer, music director, accounting and front of house manager. The last office was empty so it was used as a sort of break room instead. There were some old wooden folding tables that had mismatched chairs around them, which no one decided to push in once they were done, and there was a fridge and a stove jammed on either side of a green laminate counter. Completely out of place next to a twenty-year-old microwave sat a small shiny espresso machine.

Of course he had an espresso machine in there.

Now that they were at the end of the hall, they went through a doorway into a large open room that took up the other half of the building that the offices didn't occupy. This was where the set design happened, along with the storage of finished set pieces that would need to be changed out during a show. The first half of the room that they were currently standing in was full of power tools and sawdust. At the other end were the beginnings of some mock-ups that the prop master had already been working on. There was access to the wings of the stage from that end of the room, which is why the set pieces were stored down there. Out of nowhere, a disheveled man in his early fifties popped up from behind a workbench, wafting sawdust into the air all around him. He slammed a hammer down onto the cluttered surface of the workbench, sending yet another cloud of sawdust into the air.

"Jin! Come here and meet our new costume designer, Blue Everson. Blue, meet Jin-Soo Baek our master carpenter. His wife Eliza does our set design, so she gets to boss Jin around and tell him how to build her sets."

"And she enjoys every second of it," Jin jested as he strolled over to where they were standing, wiping his hands on his pants which only made them dirtier. He stuck his right hand out for Blue to shake anyways and she did, laughing at his joke.

"You guys must have a relationship as strong as hickory to withstand being bossed around by your wife at work and at home," Blue quipped with a look of mock astonishment on her face.

Jin turned to Gael and said, "Ooh I like this one Gael, she knows her hardwoods. You better not run her off, woodworking knowledge comes in handy around here."

Blue added, "yes sir, my dad was a trained carpenter and taught me everything I know. It's been years, but I bet I can still build a frame in under thirty minutes. That was his passion you see, building custom frames for all his paintings. The tables and chairs he made just paid the bills, but he'd spend weeks figuring out just the right frame for his latest masterpiece. He always said the frame was almost more important than the art."

"I feel the exact same way. When my wife drags me to museums I couldn't tell you a single painting I've been forced to look at, but I can describe to you in detail at least twenty of the best frames that caught my eye," Jin agreed. "She thinks I'm insane and uncultured. She might be right, but don't let her know that!"

"Oh don't worry Jin, she already knows," Gael teased him and patted him on the shoulder. "We will get out of your way and let you get back to God knows what you were doing over there."

Jin tipped an imaginary hat as a farewell and walked back into the mess he was making.

There was a staircase to their left and Gael mentioned her workspace was upstairs, but with a smile growing on his lips he asked her if she wanted to see the stage before they headed up.

How could she resist his twinkling eyes, full of excitement?

They headed through the wings and onto the stage. Gael flipped a few switches on a box next to the curtain so that as they stepped out onto the stage the house was barely illuminated and a bright dramatic spotlight shined directly on them. She had no desire to be on stage in front of hundreds of people, but looking out at the empty seats she couldn't help but smile. It really was a great theater he had found for his show. The seats were a classic dark red, aptly representing the blood of the theater that they really were. If they could fill those seats, she knew they could make an impact with this show. And as people left their seats when the curtain fell, they would leave changed.

She glanced over at Gael since he had gone quiet. It was as if she could actually see the wheels turning in his head as he stood downstage center, staring out into the darkness.

"It's going to be great, you know." Blue tried to sound as sincere as possible, wanting to reverse the worry she could see brewing in his eyes.

Gael turned and looked at her, shocked that she could almost know what he was thinking before he did.

"How do you keep doing that? I know that I'm an achiever and normally people assume I'm overconfident. I have no idea why I come across that way, but that's what they see I guess. But you..."

He walked towards her and she felt the space between them shrink. His head was blocking the spotlight from her vision and a halo of white light flowed around the edges of his silhouette. She wondered why he always had to get so close to her. It made her head start going fuzzy and she couldn't think as clearly, which meant she would probably be saying something embarrassing real soon.

"...that's the second time you've seemed to know what I'm thinking," he continued, "even if I don't say anything. Especially if I'm stressing about something. How?"

"You're eyes. They're a window, clear as day, right into your thoughts."

Yep, there it was. Thanks to her fuzzy brain, embarrassing words were just falling out of her mouth right away. Didn't take any time at all.

He stepped even closer, if that was possible, and stared into her eyes. She inhaled sharply in surprise and could smell the slightest hint of coffee mixed with vanilla and cedar. It was intoxicating. He didn't say anything for a few seconds then finally asked, "oh yeah, then what am I thinking now?"

She looked into his dark eyes, watched them glide over her face and land on her lips. She swore she could feel him inching closer to her face, but it was hard to tell with the spotlight shining so brightly behind him.

"It looks like you missed lunch and might need a sandwich?" Blue lied.

Gael smiled, but it faded as quickly as it appeared. He sighed and said, "don't start charging money to tell fortunes just yet. Somehow you got that one completely wrong, mi Azul, " and he turned away from her to start walking back towards the wings of the stage. She forced a fake chuckle and followed after him. Staring from behind, she watched as he ran his hand through his hair then shoved it into the pocket of his hoodie. She knew exactly what he was thinking when he asked, but she didn't have the courage to say it out loud...so she lied.

He was thinking of kissing her. Right there on the stage. He must have been out of his mind; they barely knew each other and he was her boss, sort of. Those were two really good reasons to not even think about kissing a girl.

Blue felt torn between wondering if he was sincere in his attraction to her, or if he was like this with all the girls. She didn't trust people quickly, it was just the way her brain was hardwired. Test them, test them again, then decide to trust or toss them out. But guys? They took even longer to trust. She, like most women in the entire existence of humankind, had at least a few run-ins with creeps, jerks, and downright sociopaths. One guy even started dating her a few years ago at the exact same time he started dating another girl. He never decided to mention it to either of them, figuring he'd try to see how long he could get away with it. Luckily he was a complete idiot so it only took about a month for Blue to figure it out and call the girl from his phone. They decided to walk into his work together and act like they didn't know each other, just to watch him sweat. The other girl finally started yelling at him and Blue had to basically drag her out of the office, kicking and screaming. She didn't drag too hard though, making sure there was enough time to let all his co-workers hear the girl's issues with his skills in bed.

Blue decided the only way to know for sure was to do what she always did: test him. Not in a cruel way, but just try to notice how he was around other girls, maybe bump up the flirting game even more. She had plenty of time to see who he truly was since they would be working together for the foreseeable future. And once she trusted someone, that was it. It wasn't easy to get there, but once she did she could easily throw herself in with someone and not look back. That didn't really solve the problem of him being her boss, but she couldn't deny her own attraction at this point and her curiosity was compelling her.

They headed back off the stage through the wings and turned right to go towards the staircase they had passed earlier that took them up to the second floor. Upstairs, they ran right into a hallway with multiple dressing rooms for the actors, and at that end of the building was hair and makeup. They turned right and went past the audio and lighting offices, which were directly above the downstairs offices, until they finally came to the costume department. They were standing at the door of the room designated for working on the costumes and there was another at the end of the building for storing them.

"Well, what do you think?" Gael asked hesitantly?

Blue looked around the room and stepped inside. "I think this will do just fine," and she gave him her biggest smile as a reward.