The following month passed by in a blur. Work and school took up more of my time, and Amanda was busy with work before the water park season ended. Even though we were busy, we always found time to text, talk on the phone, and see each other when possible. My fear of Amanda losing interest in me started to wane as she seemed even more interested in me as our relationship developed.
Normally when I hung out with friends, even if we were doing something I enjoyed, I would feel drained after. That never happened with Amanda. I could spend an entire day with her and still want more time with her. It wasn't just the fact that we were having so much sex. Which we were, but that wasn't it. There were times when we couldn't be alone, and nothing sexual would happen except maybe some making out and heavy petting. Every time I got to see Amanda, I would feel refreshed. Sometimes she would come over and read while I played video games or did my schoolwork. Often she would try and distract me, sometimes with playfulness and other times with sexual distractions, but she let me have my hobbies, and I let her have hers.
I was driving home from work when I realized that tomorrow would be our one-month anniversary. We already had plans to hang out that night, but I wanted to do something special for her. I thought about maybe buying her a necklace or some other jewelry, but I didn't have much cash. I remembered some of the book series we had read and had an idea of what I could do for her. It would be hard to finish it in time, but I was motivated.
I had plenty of supplies at home, so I got to work. It took me a short time to look through Google Images to find the right reference image. I decided to use one of the symbols that were repeated throughout the book series. I painted the medium-sized canvas white to prime it and sketched the image with a pencil. It was my first time working on something outside of one of the assignments for an art class. I just hadn't had as much time as I wanted to work on the art that I wanted to. It felt good to be doing something for myself again. While for myself to give to Amanda.
I lost track of time as I worked through the roughness I always felt when starting a new project. The inertia wore away as I got fully into my work. The only breaks I took were to text Amanda.
I was surprised when Amanda asked me if I wanted to talk on the phone before she went to sleep. I checked the time and saw that it was almost midnight. I had finished most of the background of the painting. The main thing left was to start painting the book's symbol in the middle of the canvas. Part of me wanted to keep on working, I wanted to finish the painting, but at the same time, now that I was aware of how much time had passed, a break sounded like a great idea.
I cleaned my brushes and work area and then called Amanda.
"You have some paint on your face," Amanda said.
"Yeah, I was working on something," I said.
"Just something?" she asked, picking up that I was trying to hide something from her.
"Yeah."
"Can I see it?" She asked. I had shown her a lot of my artwork before.
"It's not finished yet. I will let you see it when it's done," I said.
"Awe, please?" she asked and pouted. It was so hard to say no to her when she pouted.
"I promise as soon as it's finished," I said.
We talked about our day and finished setting up our plans for the next night. Amanda had to be up early for work, so we only spoke for a little longer and then said our goodnights.
I finished the painting the following day. Usually when I looked over my work, it was too easy to focus on the mistakes, no matter how minuscule. Looking over the canvas, I thought I did a good job. It felt good to paint something that wasn't just a still life.
I went to my classes and then back home to prepare for my date with Amanda. The painting had dried while I was gone. When I was done getting ready, I put it in the trunk and drove to pick up Amanda. Her stepmom answered the door when I knocked. I made small talk with her for a few minutes while waiting for Amanda to come down. Her stepmom seemed to like me, which was good because, while not openly hostile, I felt her dad disapproved of me.
I heard Amanda coming down the stairs and turned to look at her. She was wearing a leather jacket, boots, and a white blouse. She looked amazing. I always loved getting to see her in all of her different outfits. She had a walk-in closet full of clothes, so it would be a while before I saw them all. For someone who liked to claim she didn't know much about fashion, she certainly liked to shop and set up outfits. She had on red lipstick, a lot of eye shadow, and mascara. I found her irresistible when she had eye makeup like that.
We went to one of those movie theaters where they had cushy recliners and served you dinner as you watched the movie. When I told Amanda I always wanted to go to one of those places, she instantly had her phone out so we could look at the showtimes.
The food was good, and the seats were comfortable. We saw a raunchy Rom-Com. In my mind, Amanda was a perfect lady, so when the first dirty joke happened, I wondered how she would react. She laughed hard at it. The movie only got funnier as it went on. I loved hearing Amanda laugh so much, how, for those moments, she seemed stress-free. The only other times I saw her like that was when we cuddled together after a lovemaking session. When we finished eating, she held my hand and leaned against me as we watched the rest of the movie.
It wasn't that late when the movie got out, so we decided to do something else before calling it a night. We drove around and ended up going to Tempe Town Lake. The air was pleasantly chilly as we walked along the lake. Amanda leaned into me for warmth, and I wrapped an arm around her. After fifteen minutes of walking, we reached the pedestrian bridge that stretched across the lake. The bridge was white metal with a lot of curves to it. Amanda looked like a surreal beauty in the bright blue lights that illuminated the bridge and reflected in the water beneath it.
We walked halfway across the bridge and stopped. The bridge expanded here in a circle, and there were some benches. We looked out at downtown Tempe, where the lights from the streetlights and new high-rises danced in the rippling water. Amanda leaned against me. I felt her shiver and got to do something I had always wanted to do. I took my jacket off and draped it around Amanda's shoulders.
"I can't take your jacket. You will be cold," Amanda said.
"It's ok. I like the cold," I said. I did like it, but I also had to suppress a shiver. I held her tighter. "If we keep each other warm, then I don't need it," I said. She stopped trying to take it off and leaned against me.
"I love you," she said.
"I know," I said.
"Hey," she said as she playfully shoved me.
