Page 8 of Treehouse Whispers
Chapter 4
It was Jamie’s birthday, and Benji was vibrating with excitement—and apprehension—about giving him his gift, so Benji had risen earlier the sun had. He knew he wouldn’t see Jamie until later that day because Jamie had to work, but he wanted to make sure Jamie knew Benji was thinking about him.
Happy birthday! I hope you have a good day even if you have to work. Remember to let me know when you get home, and I’ll bring over your gift. See you later.
Straight away, he sent another message full of birthday and celebration emojis. He got an answer immediately.
Thank you! I’ll message you. Have a good day yourself. Don’t forget to set your alarm.
Benji smirked at the paintbrush emoji at the end of the message. He pocketed his phone and moseyed to the kitchen for breakfast. As he ate his cereal, he set alarms on his phone for lunch and three o’clock to give himself enough time to make sure he was showered before Jamie finished work. He was planning on buying Jamie a takeaway for his birthday dinner that night, he wasn’t sure which one. Jamie would have to decide.
Rinsing out his bowl, he left it in the sink for washing properly later—he had a dishwasher but never used it because there was only one of him and it seemed a waste, so all of his dishes were washed by hand.
Wandering to his studio, he thought about his current project. It had been commissioned by someone through the email. They had provided a photograph of a cabin nestled on the edge of a lake with trees and mountains in the background, and they wanted him to make it into his own vision on canvas. Benji had never done this before and hadn’t known whether he could. But he’d agreed to try and to a price they could both live with. Benji had stipulated if they didn’t like it, they could have the deposit back, but the man had refused. The guy had countered if they didn’t approve, Benji could keep the deposit and the painting and try to sell it on. Agreeing to those terms had been difficult because Benji potentially would be taking their money for nothing, but the man wouldn’t falter.
Standing in front of the painting, he inspected what he’d created so far. After Benji had agreed, he’d asked one question regarding the painting, and that was if the photograph had happy or sad memories attached to it. He hadn’t wanted to create something dark if it was supposed to be happy or something too light if it was supposed to be sad. Armed with the information that it was a mixture of both, he’d chosen to make the cabin and lake in lighter colours central to the painting, and the surrounding landscape in greyscale. He tilted his head as his eyes roamed the canvas, a small upturn gracing his lips.
Nodding his head in satisfaction with what he’d accomplished, Benji went about setting up as he did every morning, and he was soon in his element. He chose the colours without thought, whichever his brush touched. He was concentrating on the cabin after having done the lake already, a slab of blue bright against the white canvas. Golds, browns and oranges were the colours for the cabin, colours of warmth; he was hoping to bring good memories to the forefront with those.
With his abstract art, his paintings didn’t always take on the same shapes as what the real-life object did. It was in the viewer’s mind what they saw when they studied it. Benji painted whathesaw in his mind, he had no choice. Sometimes the paintings were light and full of awe and wonder; other times, they were grey with panic and uncertainty. A lot of it did have to do with the emotions he was feeling on any given day, but he would never apologise for it. It was the reason why he always had several paintings on the go at once. If he was feeling melancholy, he worked on a darker painting; if he was feeling upbeat, a lighter one; if he was unsure, there was one filled with the colours of the rainbow, and he added to it as needed.
His alarm sounded through the quiet, not even making him jump. It was as if it was coming from a place far away and slowly got louder the closer to the surface of his mind he climbed. When he’d tried to explain the feeling to Jamie, he ended up telling him to think of a flight of stairs, and he was at the bottom when he was painting while everyone else was at the top.
****
Jamie’s message came through at four-twenty, and Benji was round there immediately after, carrying the painting. He let himself in after a knock on the door and wandered to the living room. Jamie followed shortly after and grinned when he saw him.
“Happy birthday, Jamie!” Benji said with a smile, pointing to the gift.
“Thank you. What have you got there?”
“Open it and find out.” Benji was mainly apprehensive about people seeing his paintings, but with Jamie, he loved seeing his reaction. Benji bounced from foot to foot, barely restraining his urge to rip the paper off himself.
Jamie snorted and picked it up. Tearing off the wrapping paper, he examined the large canvas. Benji could see his eyes roaming all over it as he took it in. His hand followed his movements, grazing the rise and fall of the paint. The painting showed shades of blue and white around the top; browns, yellows and oranges around the bottom; and front and centre were greens and browns in various circular shapes.
“It’s amazing, Benji. Our treehouse.” Jamie’s expression was amazing, too.
Benji gazed at him wanting to memorise it, even though he saw it every day. He wanted to paint Jamie, but he was afraid a substantial amount of himself would be revealed, therefore, had never taken the chance.
“It’s going over the fireplace without a doubt.” Jamie trailed over and moved a few ornaments around, settling the canvas in place. “That will do until I can get it on the wall. Thanks, Benji.”
Jamie wrapped his arms around him, and Benji closed his eyes as he rested his own hands on Jamie’s back, swallowing the lump in his throat. Jamie’s warmth seeped into Benji’s body, and his mind wandered to a different scenario where he could hold onto Jamie and never let him go. But not today. He took one last inhale. “You’re welcome.”
Pulling away earlier than he wanted to but knowing he had to otherwise his body would start responding, Benji asked what takeaway Jamie wanted for dinner.
“Chinese?” Jamie asked, hopefully.
Benji chuckled and took out his phone, placing their usual order: chicken chow mein for him and duck pancakes for Jamie.
“What film are we watching?” Jamie asked.
“Birthday boy’s choice,” Benji answered, getting out of having to decide. He hated decision making. It was why he got other people to do it for him when he could get away with it.
“Okay…let’s see what we’ve got…there’s comedy…romance…action…” Jamie blew out a breath. “I’ve no idea. Um, how about Jurassic World?” He glanced over at Benji.
“Fine with me.”
“Or White House Down? I know you love Channing.” Jamie grinned as he said it.
