Page 50 of Finding New Dreams

RoseWithLove: If I am, then it looks like I found my perfect match in ArtsyHotGuy3234. What do the numbers mean?

ArtsyHotGuy3234: My pant size ;) the tux measuring guy looked at me funny when I asked if he’d measure the girth of my biceps. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask him to measure any other girths ;)

RoseWithLove: Haha omg I think most women would be blocking you right about now before they end up with a dick pic.

ArtsyHotGuy3234: Good thing I’m only on here to talk to you then. Plus, my phone doesn’t have a wide-angle lens ;)

RoseWithLove: Why am I not surprised your favorite emoji is the winky face?

ArtsyHotGuy3234: Of course ;) Let me guess yours…the horrified face emoji because of all the stupid men you message on here?

She sent me a screenshot of her frequently used emojis.

RoseWithLove: Close. Looks like the crying face, laughing face, and wide-eyed face are at the top. Probably because I text Gina, Chloe, and Sarah a lot.

ArtsyHotGuy3234: Um, why is the *squirrel* one in there?!

RoseWithLove: Lol because in our group texts, we tend to go off on tangents, so we preface a tangent with a squirrel. Because squirrel brain. You know, like from Up, “SQUIRREL!”

ArtsyHotGuy3234: I almost tipped off the bench I was laughing so hard. And I cried watching that in theaters with my friend and his kids.

RoseWithLove: Omg, me too! Some of the most romantic five minutes in a movie ever!

ArtsyHotGuy3234: Maybe that should be the movie they pick for Pictures in the Park this year. Everyone gets a balloon and a box of tissues.

RoseWithLove: Lol I’m sure Gina would prefer that over a romcom. I’ll put a bug in her ear later. She’s doing Chloe’s hair right now, and I don’t want to wreck her concentration.

ArtsyHotGuy3234: How’s the dry run going?

RoseWithLove: Great! Our dresses all turned out fabulous and perfectly sized. Chloe’s dress is absolutely gorgeous. She told me the paper clip through the zipper was your idea.

ArtsyHotGuy3234: What can I say, I’m a genius ;) Well, at least a more decent human being than whoever invented that zipper pull. It’s like they *want* to ruin your special day.

RoseWithLove: :) I think I would go simpler. Something I could twirl in and easy to take on and off.

ArtsyHotGuy3234: I knew you were my kinda woman ;)

RoseWithLove: That doesn’t scare you, me talking about my wedding dress?

ArtsyHotGuy3234: Nope. As long as you’re not planning to drag me down the aisle tomorrow. And even then, I might only put on a show of resisting ;)

RoseWithLove: No kidnapping, promise. Oh, it’s my turn for hair. I should go. Everything okay at EM?

ArtsyHotGuy3234: All good. Am I allowed to see a picture of you all glammed up?

RoseWithLove: Maybe ;)

I smiled at that winky face as if it were Rose herself. But damn, I wanted her to keep talking to me.

Slipping my phone into my pocket, I walked around the gallery with a rag. I hummed the theme song to Up while I dusted Rose’s framed portraits and canvases.

Her work was beautiful and detailed in a way that should’ve made me jealous. But instead, it simply inspired me, made me want to be like her. Maybe it was because I knew the person behind the brush and the camera.

Even if I didn’t, I’d be able to feel her spirit coming from these pieces. The way her “Firefly Dance Under the Moon” painting practically glowed silver and gold and sapphire. The way her portrait “First Leaves” captured an emerald-green leaf twinkling with dew.

I wanted to be in those scenes. I could almost feel the summer night air and smell the growing earth.

I dropped the rag on a bench and headed back to the studio. I needed to use the raw inspiration building in my mind while it was still there.

---