Page 10 of Cocktail
“Come on,” she said, taking his hand. “We’re in the back.” She led him by the open room of women painting. They all paused to stare.
“Whew, girl. You’re one lucky woman!” Someone called out. Heat rose underneath Matthew’s shirt collar and he plucked at it as he passed the women.
“We aren’t painting with them?” Matthew asked Aubree.
“Oh God, no. I’m not that mean.” She laughed and pulled the handle of a roughhewn wooden door that opened into a private studio. But there were no easels, no paint, no one else. Instead, there were piles of wooden boards, stencils and paint.
“I thought this might be more fun.” She nodded at the room. “We’re going to make handmade signs. Does that sound fun?”
Actually, it did. Matthew loved working with his hands.
“Yeah, this is great.” He let her lead him to a rack where he removed his coat and rolled up sleeves. Aubree pushed up her sweater sleeves and motioned for him to join her by the wood pile.
“Choose four boards and we’ll sand them. Then we’ll paint a base coat and choose a stencil set. After that, you paint your words in your second paint color over the base color.”
“This is seriously cool.” Matthew grinned. “So, what’s the occasion?”
Aubree blushed. “I got another hanky-panky challenge.”
“Oh yeah?” He remained calm and casual. He didn’t want her to know yet that he was the one sending her the challenges.
“Uh huh.” She continued. “This one is called labor of love. You are supposed to do a fun activity that requires a little bit of work with someone you care about.”
“I like that.” He selected four pieces of walnut wood planks and she chose maple, then they headed to the sanding station. They worked on sanding the wood planks, while talking and laughing as they prepared their projects.
“Oh! I totally forgot.” She rushed over to a cooler by the door. “The drinks. Did you know there’s a Labor of Love cocktail?”
“I do.” He laughed.
“Of course, you do, Mr. Bartender. Want to show me how to make some?”
“I’d be happy to.” He left his sanded wood in a stack and they both washed their hands in the. Then he helped her lay out the supplies for the drinks. She’d come well prepared.
“You muddle the basil, rosemary, lime juice and simple syrup in the mixing glass.” He tossed in all the ingredients and used the bar spoon to crush them together as best he could. “Then you add the citrus vodka and two spoons of chartreuse before shaking with ice.” He handed her the shaker and she completed the process. “Strain it into two highball glasses over more ice and stir in the club soda, then top with a bit of pomegranate juice and garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary.” He handed her one of the two glasses.
“I like this one,” she said after a quick sip.
“Me too.” He took a taste and nodded to himself. “So, we sanded. What’s next?”
“We paint the boards with a base coat.”
Matthew chose black as his under color and a white paint for his words. Aubree chose a light khaki for her base coat and black for her words. After they painted the base coat and waited for it to dry, they collected the stencils for the quotes they wanted to paint on their sights. They worked in a quiet but pleasurable silence as they laid their stencils down and painted letters upon the board. When they were both done, Aubree looked up at him from across the table in excitement.
“You show me yours first,” he said.
Blushing she revealed her sign. It read: “Love is friendship that has caught fire.” The name Ann Landers was written beneath it. She had used different stencils for the words friendship and fire so they were bolder and cursive.
“Now you,” she said, grinning.
Matthew turned his sign to face her, his heart hammering and his hands a little sweaty with nerves. She read the words aloud, her face glowing.
“I love her, and that’s the beginning and end of everything. – F. Scott Fitzgerald.”
When her eyes met his, he saw a heartrending longing in them and his heart flipped. He was entranced by her, this gorgeous, smart, and fun woman. Something intense, indescribable but overwhelming, flared between them.
“Matthew, would you like to get out of here?”
“What?” He was confused. He thought the night was going well.
