Page 149 of Just for the Cameras
I squat down and start explaining to her in simple terms why they’re pink just as a group of people start cheering, pulling my attention.
“Back up, please. Back up,” a man with a deep voice says.
I stand up just in time to spot Graydon walk through the crowd and head on over to the left side of the mural.
My heart trips in my chest as he keeps his gaze down, then settles in front of the wall.
Whispers erupt all around, while I will my lungs to find air to breathe. When he lifts his hand with a paintbrush grasped in his fingers and starts painting, I can feel every single bone in my body start to melt.
I knew it.
It was him.
It had to be him.
But…how? How did he do all of this in one night?
Phil must catch me staring as he comes up to me. “I heard from security that he was out here painting until three in the morning.”
My pulse rages in my veins, almost drowning out the noise around me.
“Three in the morning?” I ask.
“Yeah. Said he would have finished if he didn’t have to go to training camp.”
God, he must not have gotten any sleep by the time he cleaned up, drove home, and had to leave for training camp.
He stayed up all night?
“This was his idea?” Hank asks, walking up to us.
“It was,” Phil says. “Genius. He took a time-lapse of himself painting it last night. I’m sure he’ll share it with you to post. But this…this is exactly what we need to revive this zoo. Good work, Maple.” Phil pats me on the back, then takes off as I stare at Graydon, watching him concentrate on finishing his work.
Oh my God, what am I supposed to do now?
CHAPTER 28
GRAYDON
I finish washing the lastbrush and then set it on the drying rack before soaping up my hands and getting rid of the rest of the paint.
When I came to the zoo, I had one mission on my mind: to finish the mural. I didn’t stop to talk to anyone. I didn’t stop to take pictures. I focused on making sure that everything was done so Maple could enjoy the mural.
So she could soak it all in.
And from what Phil told me, she did.
He sent me a video of her seeing it for the first time, but I’ve yet to watch it.
The door to the flamingo building opens, and I can already feel her presence before I glance to my left.
She’s standing there with a bucket in hand, looking hesitant, like she doesn’t know what to say to me or how to approach me.
And that’s fine. She doesn’t need to say anything to me. I just want her to know that I’m sorry, that I care about her, and that I was a fucking idiot for treating her the way that I did.
“You ready?” Hank asks, walking into the room as well. “I grabbed your bag for you.”
“Oh, yeah, thanks,” Maple says as she diverts her eyes from me.
