Chapter 23: Mosaic Bullshit

"Hey love, sorry to bother," Mary greets at the front door in a deflated voice. Her English accent laces her sorrowful words with a bittersweet charm that still manages to elicit pleasant chills down Daniel's spine. Hiding such a reaction, he smiles reassuringly and motions her in.

"No worries, come in. Let me guess: Client didn't like the painting?"

The ex-girlfriend steps into his apartment and then lets out a heavy sigh as her fellow artist nails it on the head, although it's a bit too simplistic. "You have no fucking idea. Should we get straight to it?"

"Sure, although if it's legal advice..."

"I know, I know," Mary grumbles as she enters the hallway.

Looking around, she hums. "Anything changed around here? I haven't visited in a few months."

"Not much," Daniel lies. Although disregarding the slime girl, it's the truth as far as his apartment is concerned.

Mary stops when she hears the sound of brushing. Daniel didn't bother closing the door to his studio since he figured the artist would take the chance to see what he was working on. However, the dark-skinned girl is surprised by the sight of Anne's painting.

Sensing eyes upon her, the slime girl turns her head and smiles. She waves a little. Seeing this, Mary blinks before waving back, feeling a little warm.

"Your girlfriend is cute~ Are you teaching her how to paint or...?"

"Well, she um...happens to do oil painting for a hobby, so I've allowed her to use my studio," Daniel explains, clearing his throat.

Mary raises an eyebrow before entering the living room across the work area. "Well, it must be nice. I hope things are going well for you since, well, none of us had any luck with dating our own kind."

There's an unmistakable sadness in her voice, but Daniel knows why. They might've stayed together if it weren't for their passion for art. Although he hasn't pried into her personal life too much, she did reveal on their last phone call that she's been single for the past three months.

Simply, it's tough finding someone willing to accept and appreciate the time of a working artist.

Setting that aside, Mary places her piece flat on a kitchen table. "First off, tell me what you see."

Daniel leans in and stares at her painting with a hand to his chin. It's a lovely mosaic of a pink rose flower. While the palette seems basic, there's an intricate motion of space around the flower, making it seem like the different mosaic pieces are swirling around and feeding into the plant.

"A pink rose absorbing space around it. It's kind of hypnotizing."

Mary nods, pleased with the impression as it was her intention. "The rose is pink though, right?"

The artist's forehead creases. "I mean, it's obvious."

The dark-skinned artist sighs as she crosses her arms. "So let me explain further; this was a commission for a girl. The parents wanted to surprise their daughter for her birthday with her favorite flower - a rose."

"And she didn't like the painting?"

"Well, she couldn't see the rose."

...

"What?" Daniel questions, staring at the painting closely.

"The parents were able to see the rose too, but they forgot to tell me one tiny detail...ha...ha..."

Daniel has to take a slow step away as Mary shakes while chuckling in a dead tone. Sure enough, she explodes, slamming her fist down on the table and jittering the framed piece.

"Their daughter is fucking color blind!"

"Oh…shit."

A mosaic depends on the viewer to disseminate the difference in colors, so having a color-blind daughter is a huge omission from the parents. However, Mary isn't done with her rant.

"Even though they told me that they loved the mosaic style, they thought that somehow the daughter would still be able to tell what the painting is. Knowing that information would have let me known to use different colors though! How the hell can parents not think to tell an artist that their colors may not show up for their intended child?! Fuck!"

Daniel sighs, understanding her frustration now. "Did you get paid for your work?"

Mary forces herself to calm down and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Yes, they did and honestly, I would be more pissed if they didn't. Still, they wouldn't keep the painting! It...hurts. It hurts because I spent a lot of time on this. I don't often get the chance to do mosaics either."

The male artist hums. "Well, on the plus side, you can try selling it."

Mary scoffs, taking a shaky breath. "Yes, there's that. Sorry, I know this is not worth bothering your time about, but it's certainly a first for me to deal with a sudden color-blind client. I just needed to vent and make sure I'm not going crazy by myself."

"H-hello? Is everything alright in here?"

Anne walks in carefully, unable to help herself after hearing Mary's frustration from the studio. Seeing this, the female artist blushes and clears her throat.

"Sorry for the noise, love. I know we met before briefly at the restaurant, but let me reintroduce myself again: I'm Mary," she greets, extending her hand.

The slime girl blinks before smiling warmly and receiving her hand. "Hello! I'm Anne! Thank you for taking care of Daniel previously!"

The female artist laughs a little. "What a strange thing to say. Really, I think he took care of me more when we were together. Would you like to see the painting?"

Anne nods fervently and steps closer to the table. Her eyes widen. "A rose!"

"Yes, it's lovely, isn't it? I'm not sure how much you heard, but to put it simply, my client rejected the painting due to their daughter."

Anne nods, roughly hearing something about her being color-blind. She stares at the flower sadly. "That's unfortunate. You got paid though, right?"

Mary raises an eyebrow and fails to stifle a grin. She turns towards Daniel, who rubs his head, embarrassed. "Wow, Daniel. It looks like you've found someone who actually thinks like you!"

Feeling accused, he coughs. "Hey, while money is important, it's not like I don't get why you're upset. Even I would be but these things happen. I'd be more pissed if they tried to renege on the contract."

The dark-skinned woman exhales and shakes her head. "I know very well. Still, I don't like how you make it sound like I'm the one overly-impassioned."

'You generally are,' Daniel thinks with a deadpanned expression.

"I'd love to try out painting in this style one day!" Anne remarks, taking in how the painting looks like broken glass pieces.

Mary hums, her lips slowly rising. She's actually curious to get to know Daniel's new girlfriend, especially seeing how well she can paint.

With that, she turns towards her ex. "Actually, I do have some time. Why don't you let me sit down with your girlfriend and-wait, why do I even need your permission?"

Mary turns back to the slime girl before Daniel can respond and grabs her hands with sparkling eyes. "Anne, if you want, do you want to try a painting together? Maybe we can teach each other some things!"

Daniel's stomach curls. "H-hold up-"

"Really?" Anne gasps, her eyes sparkling back at the artist. "Yes, that would be great! Daniel also told me that he admires you as an artist and seeing your work, I completely agree!"

Mary snickers and glances at the male artist's reddening face. "Admire, huh? How flattering."

Her eyes travel back to Anne. "Well since I do need a distraction from what happened today, I don't mind staying longer. Do you want to try painting something together?"

Anne gasps in delight while Daniel sweats. So far, Anne hasn't had to interact too much with people; however, Mary would absolutely try prying into the slime's life, which could be a problem!

Trying to calm himself down, he coughs. "Anne, are you sure? What about your current project? Wouldn't it be better to find time later with Mary?"

He hopes that the slime girl picks up on his tone. Unfortunately, the "hobby artist" is too excited about working with his ex.

"Actually, I already finished the second layer! It's not detailed, but I'm doing it differently from my last nature painting by making the first applied colors lighter so I can work in darker portions in the next layer," Anne explains proudly with a tilt of her head.

Mary raises her brows. "Huh. I noticed that you were working on a landscape painting. That's good foresight since landscapes tend to have more color, and by starting light, you're giving yourself room and time to work in the details."

Daniel gulps, amazed yet frightened. Her learning speed and execution of the process are too fast! Being the case, Mary will definitely think something is up if she witnesses her painting skills.

He changes direction and tries to push his ex-girlfriend instead.

"M-mary, are you sure? Surely painting is the last thing you'd want to do right now-"

The dark-skinned artist cuts in with a huff. "No, painting is exactly what I need to do! I won't let this bad taste of mosaic bullshit linger on my tongue!"

Like a switch, she calms down and stares pleadingly into her friend. "Look, I won't bother you too much, Daniel. Besides, didn't you tell me you're working on that Stonehenge fantasy piece? I'm super interested to see what you have so far!"

Daniel flattens his lips. "I'm not sure if I'd call it a fant-"

He stops and puts his hand to his forehead as he sees the conversation going off-topic. It's no use. Dissuading his ex is ineffective when she's taken a liking to Anne, and he doesn't have the heart to kick her out!

The female artist even sweetens the deal. "Since I'm intruding, I'll even cater lunch for us, all on me!"

Daniel cries in his mind while nodding with a forced smile. Although he's worried about having his ex spend too much time around Anne, he's done all her can without being too aggressive. Ultimately, he looks at Anne, whose eagerness to learn how to be a better artist shines through.

With a sigh, the male artist smiles dryly. 'Well, she's bound to have to interact with others soon. But why did it have to be my ex?'