47
Studio A was empty by the time Demir walked in that morning and he guessed it was because everyone were preparing for the upcoming workshop. His eyes moved to a particular desk among others in the studio, and he slowly walked towards it.
He ran his fingers over the table and turned his eyes to towards the covered piece beside him, reminiscing on the moments they'd spent together. He was being like an emo, these recent days and he didn't like that one bit, even though he couldn't help it.
He pulled her chair from underneath and took a sit, before taking out his phone to check if she'd read his message. The red tick beside her name showed that she hadn't, and he discovered her display photo had changed. Obviously, she has logged in, without reading his message.
He raised his hand when he heard someone walk in and discovered it was Derek
"What are you doing here?" He asked as he walked his way towards April's table, which was in front of Tahti's desk.
"Nothing much."
"Did you see April, by any chance?" Derek asked as he pulled out a stool.
"No, I didn't."
"Okay..." Derek sighed and paused for a minute, before asking. "Are you going to join the workshop?"
"No, I'm not going." Demir sighed in return.
"Why? Everyone will make a fuss, if they know you're not going?"
He didn't care if anyone would make a fuss. He wasn't just in the mood to go, except...
Demir swished towards Derek. "Is Tahti coming?"
"Tahti isn't coming either. You didn't know?" He asked and he disappointedly turned away from him.
"No. We're not talking much these days."
Derek finally tore his eyes from him. "You did something wrong, didn't you?"
What could he have possibly done wrong for her to vanish suddenly?
"I'm not sure."
"Don't lie.You know what it is.But still..." He turned back to look at him as he was saying. "She likes you. Can't you at least treat her sincerely?"
There was that word again. How did everyone expect him to do that?
"What about you? Is that what going on with you and April?"
Derek's eyes suddenly lightened up and a sidelong glance told Demir, he was surprised he knew.
"You noticed?"He asked and Demir chuckled in response before he sighed.
"Yeah. We're dating...but to be honest, I don't think I can take it anymore."
Demir raised his head, eager to hear more. "Why?"
"When we're together, she acts like I'm the only one in her life, so I thought she cared for me...but when she gets interested in other things, she ignores me...I keep getting depressed even when I'm with her. She says she loves me, and I want to believe that, but I can't help but doubt it." He ran a hand through his tousled hair. "This isn't what I'm usually like. Maybe, I should have just stayed friends with her."
"I've never seen you talk so much." Demir said. He'd always thought him to be someone, who could say more than ten words, per line.
"I know, right? Why was I even blabbering to you?" Derek asked and Demir lowered his head.
"Have you told her honestly about what you just said?"
"No." came his reply and Demir raised his head. "It's not easy being honest with her."
"Why?"
"I have pride, too. I'm already upset since I feel like I'm the only one who likes her."
"Then, what do you want from her?"
Derek exhaled loudly and hesitated for a while, to ponder on his question. "Certainty towards the relationship and sincerity towards me."
"That's unrealistic. As soon as you have sincerity, that relationship becomes weak... Have you ever wondered how someone gets that 'certainty'? And are you sure it'll help you?"
"You're pretty twisted."
"I think you're the one who's twisted." Demir threw and Derek chuckled. "But I'm sure, there a reason she's staying by your side."
"Yeah, I guess."
Tahti opened the door of the furnace before reaching out to take out the tray which bore two pieces of baked glass.
"Tahti, be careful when taking them out." Auntie Freya yelled from her working office.
"Don't worry." She replied as she closed the door, before she turned to walk out of the oven room.
Her auntie was still working on her pottery piece, by the time she returned to drop the tray in front of her.
"My stomach hurts." Tahti whined as she whipped off her gloves.
"You must have drank a lot...I guess it was total fun."
"It was. The food was so delicious..."
"I know." Auntie Freya replied, without taking her eyes off her work.
"And the beach was so pretty..." She said, her smile drily turning to a frown. "I should head back to L.A soon. I'm resting too much."
"That's why you can here, though...Oh, but you should fix that shelf for me, before you leave." Her auntie said and she turned to see there was a crooked shelf in the corner.
"Okay."
"Look at how pretty they are."
Tahti's head whipped to see her aunt was referring to the baked clay pieces, which she'd just taken out of the furnace.
"They look a little strange, though. Why are the colors different, though?" Tahti asked as she looked at them again. One had turned out to be blue green, and the other had turned out to be brown. "It's the same glaze after all."
"It was a little windy, a while ago. When you apply the same glaze, they look different, depending on the humidity or temperature. So, once you start baking them, you don't get to decide what color they turn out to be."
"Doesn't that make you feel uneasy?" She asked. "Why bother working on something when you're not sure about how it'll turn out?"
"What do you mean? It's fun because its unpredictable. That's why I've been doing pottery, for so long." Her aunt said and her mind went back to the time Demir had told her about his experience with baked glaze.
"You're saying the same thing."
Her aunt finally raised her head to look at her.
"Saying the same thing as who?" We asked as Tahti shook her head.
"Nevermind...It's getting scary to do sculpture, though. One mistake could ruin everything. I feel like it'll be better to do something digital, where I can Ave and undo my work."
"My goodness, you're being lazy, Tahti Lee." Her aunt teased and she smiled.
