Our Blessings: Ch. 03

“Argh! Damn it!”

Swear words echo in the studio.

“What’s wrong, Stefan?” I ask without taking my focus off my own model.

“I screwed up… I accidentally chipped off a lump of wood from my model. Now I have to re-do it. From scratch! It’s my fifth time doing it already!” Stefan laments, while still gripping on to his penknife.

“That’s because you are not focused. Who’s it this time?”

“Hey! I’m always focused when working,” Stefan rebuts, “Priscilia has nothing to do with this.”

“So her name’s Prisicilia. You have to stop thinking about girls, bro. You’re lucky it wasn’t your finger which was shaved off.”

My friends in the studio agree with me as they snicker at Stefan’s mishap.

I feel a gentle poke on my right arm.

“Clavier, you going for lunch?” Calista asks hopefully.

“Nope, this assignment has taken away all my hunger, Calista,” I reply as I admire my almost completed model.

“Oh… It’s alright then. I’ll just have takeaway from the canteen then.”

There is a tinge of disappointment in her tone.

“Does anyone want food?” She cheerfully asks the others.

The enthusiastic replies are hilariously off-topic.

“I want Clavier out of here! He’s the one distracting me!” Stefan hopelessly wails.

“We want Clavier to have lunch with you, Calista!”

“Yeah Clavier! You should take a break! Don’t make Calista eat takeaways!”

Calista gives me an embarrassed smile.

“It’s okay, really! If you’re not hungry, I can eat by myself!” She exclaims, while making a waving gesture with both hands.

I know she doesn’t wish to disturb me, but her hopeful tone betrays her.

I lift my head slightly and project my voice to the others. “Is anyone hungry?”

“Nooooooo!”

“Clavier, don’t let Calista eat alone~”

“Time is ticking! Tick tock, tick tock!”

I tilt my head towards Calista and look into that pair of hopeful eyes.

I finally give in and smile, “I guess it’s just us then.”

As I put down my pencil, the phone on the table vibrates twice.

Buzz buzz

I peer over and glance at my phone screen. The whatsapp conversation pop-up reads “Boy ah, where are you? Hair turning white already! Quickly get your ass here now!”

I look up and give Calista a silly grin.

“Ooops…”

Certain that Calista also saw the message, I apologise. “I forgot that I am supposed to meet Zac for lunch. Why not have lunch with us? It’s not as if you don’t know them. Amanda will be there too.”

Calista’s face lights up immediately, but then slackens when she hears Amanda’s name.

“Mandy’s joining too?”

It seems to me that Calista is having mixed feelings but she shrugs off her confusion and beams at me.

“Let’s go then,” I beckon.

We head for canteen.

While walking, my eyes shift to my right to take a closer look at Calista.

She sure is beautiful. Everyone in the cohort knows that she has a huge crush on me. And the fact that she plucked up the courage to ask me out countless times strongly suggests that she seriously wants a chance with me. Any man will fall for her fun and cheerful personality. I may not be an exception. I just do not wish to hurt anyone else, most of all, her, by committing to a relationship I know I cannot deliver. I still have doubts about myself…

Calista notices me looking at her and smiles serenely. “What are you thinking about, Clavier?”

I return a smile. “Do you think they’ll make us treat lunch for being late?”

“If they do, you would have gotten the better of two evils. Being late is much better than forgetting the appointment, right?”

Calista’s gentle giggle rings in my ears. The flowers along the pathway we pass bloom and the peck of birds on the trees chirps in harmony.