‘Depends if he’s in your corner too.’
Luke was just finishing off the small flamingo when Flick came rushing back in with a big smile on her face.
‘I know what we need to do to,’ Flick said and hecouldn’t help smiling at her enthusiasm. ‘We need to start doing the workshops again, helping those whose lives have been impacted by brain injuries. That’s why my grandad opened these studios in the first place, that’s what he was passionate about and what the artists who worked here were passionate about too. That’s what our anonymous donor cared about too, enough for him or her to donate thousands of pounds. We need to give the artists something to fight for, something to care about. That’s the legacy I came here to save, not the artists’ studios, especially when they don’t really care about saving it themselves. So I’m going to ask them to teach workshops so they can be part of the change.’
‘Yes! I love this idea,’ Luke said. ‘Partly that was the reason I wanted to come and work here so I could help people in the same way your grandad helped my mum. I was a bit disappointed to find the workshops didn’t run anymore.’
‘So will you help, will you be happy to teach, before you go anyway?’
‘Yes, but I don’t feel like I know enough about how to help people with brain injuries. Don’t I need special training?’
‘No, not with therapeutic art. I just spoke with someone from a local brain injury charity about this on the way back up here. They love that we’re going to be offering this and they said they’d be happy to do a video conference call with the artists to talk through how to make their workshops accessible but they gave me some advice. They said art therapy is delivered by a speciallytrained art therapist but with therapeutic art it’s about giving them the opportunities to maybe try something they’ve not tried before, teaching them a new skill, letting them express themselves, building their confidence, letting them use tools they might not have used before. You will have to be patient, explain things simply and not overload them with multiple instructions all at once. You may have to demonstrate it or explain it multiple times because those with some injuries will forget it very easily, but really it’s just about being calm, quiet and friendly. You have nothing to worry about there, you’re so lovely and kind and laid-back, this kind of thing is perfect for you.’
He felt warm inside at those words. It had been a long time since someone had seen past his bank balance and liked him for who he was. God, he really liked her and this passion and excitement for helping other people made him fall for her a little bit more. He really hoped he hadn’t screwed things up with the kiss earlier when he’d wanted so much more. But he’d been so stunned by how heated the kiss was and how she had behaved towards him after because Flick having feelings for him too hadn’t been on his radar. He’d wanted to make sure they were still on the same page, whether this was all still fake or whether she’d wanted more too. But it had sounded like he was dismissing it when he’d asked her if it was real and knew he’d hurt her in the process. And he was leaving in a few weeks, it felt silly to start something with her now but he knew he would always regret it if he didn’t take this chance with her. Hewanted to talk to her about it, take a risk and tell her his feelings, but he wasn’t sure if now was the right time. Maybe tonight, over dinner.
He cleared his throat and refocussed on what she was saying. The workshops were important and he felt honoured she would trust him with them. ‘Thank you. I’d be very happy to do it.’
‘I’ve also potentially found four more artists who are going to come up to have a look and see if they’re happy to move in. I’ve told them our terms and that some of their items need to be priced at less than thirty pounds so we’ll see if they’re willing to join our ranks. But I was chatting to Alex, she makes these sculptures like forests and seaside villages made from book pages. Anyway, her sister had brain trauma and Alex is very keen to help with the workshops even if she decides not to come up here as an artist so that will be good. And Quinn says he’s going to come up and have a look to see if it suits him too.’
‘Oh, it’ll be good to have him up here. He’s very laid-back and happy.’
Flick looked like she wanted to say something really uncomfortable. ‘He knows about our kiss.’
‘Oh?’ He wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that she was telling people. Was that good or bad?
‘He said something which made me think he knew, I thought you’d phoned him to tell him and so I mentioned it. But I told him it was fake so you don’t need to worry.’
‘Right.’
That was definitely going to make for an awkward conversation with Quinn. He wouldn’t let Luke hear the last of it.
‘Anyway, I’m going to tell the other artists about the workshops. Let’s hope they’re as excited as I am about it. Or even a fraction excited. I’ll take that.’
She turned to hurry out.
‘Flick.’
She turned back.
‘Are we good?’
Her cheeks flushed although he wasn’t sure why. ‘Oh yeah, we’re fine,’ she dismissed it with a wave and hurried out before he could say anything else to her.
Flick let herself back into the flat later that night. She’d spent the afternoon showing the four new potential artists around the studios and talking to them about what she wanted to achieve at the studios. Alex and Quinn had agreed to come and join them. Max, the man who did the jewelled eggs, was going to think about it and Suki, the lady who did paper quilling, had politely declined.
Then Flick had spent the rest of the day cleaning the gift shop ready for the delivery in the next day or so. She was knackered.
She had done her best to avoid Luke for the rest of the day. She didn’t want to talk about that kiss and how she’d read too much into it. She didn’t want to hear himdismiss it and she didn’t want to tell him she thought she might be falling in love with him because that was ridiculous. Although she knew he had occupied many of her thoughts that afternoon. And what if he wanted to kiss her again, as part of the charade? How could she do that and keep her heart locked away? And what if he never wanted to kiss her again? That might be infinitely worse.
Urgh, why was she feeling like a silly teenager around him?
Luke was in the kitchen cooking when she walked in and he gave her a small tentative smile as she closed the door behind her. God, it was already awkward. Did he think she was going to throw herself at him again?
‘Hey, I made dinner,’ Luke gestured to the oven. ‘Lasagne, hope that’s OK?’
‘It smells delicious, thank you.’
He nodded, pushing his hand through his hair as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Was he going to talk about the kiss? She wasn’t ready for that if he was. She’d much rather be an ostrich and stick her head in the sand and pretend it had never happened than talk about it like a grown-up.
