Orange. It was the first color that Je Anne saw when she lifted the window cover in the office. The sun was just beginning to rise. A start of a new day. Another chance of life. Another shot of making things right.
But not everyone was given that chance, right?
The people they saw yesterday was a clear testament of how short people's lives are, and how sometimes how insignificant they are.
There were so many emotions swirling inside her. Anger. Grief. Suffering. Glee?
That emotion made her pause. Somehow, someone felt a glee of happiness with the death of many. Je Anne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Trying to focus all her energy on the scene that her mind had captured the moment she had seen it.
Slowly her eyes opened and saw the last vestige of the previous night fade, sunshine streamed through the open window giving the room an ethereal glow.
Je Anne looked at the seven unpainted easels on the right side of the room. They were calling her. Begging her to fill them with colors. Her art supplies were almost gone. She needed some new tubes of paint and at least a couple of new brushes.
With the budget cut, buying the things she needed was going to be on hold.
Her fingers ran on the canvas. Testing its texture, she smiled when she felt the roughness of its primer against her touch. Without pausing, she took her color palette and began to paint.
The bottom of the canvas slowly filled with green and grey. The small gaps were filled with brown and a bit of color. There were flowers on the side of the property that were not burned by the fire. They were too far away.
Time passed like a blur as Je Anne filled the canvas with colors. With each stroke, a story was formed. With every dab of color, emotion blooms. And with every line, the truth began to be seen.
By the time lunch and Mace walked in, she was down to two finished canvases.
Mace looked at her supplies, it will not be enough to finish her scenes. She needed more paint, but…
"She paints?"
Drake asked when he saw the other woman enter the room. He saw her enter the station, as quietly as he could, he watched her. Trying to figure out if she had seen him or not. When Mace did not even bother to look in his direction, Drake shrugged.
"Yes. We don't take pictures. Je Anne paints them. She was laughed at when they saw her do it the first time," she said, amusement colored her voice. There was something in that tone of her that made him observe her.
"When they saw how realistic her paintings were, all of them began to get weary of her. Especially when she painted the crime scene we shared the first time."
Mace's smile blossomed into a full grin. Drake blinked a couple of times making sure he was looking at the same woman, who had a chip on her shoulder. What was happening?
"The blood on the wall of that painting was the same as the scene, and the body on the ground was even more vivid than the picture. I'm sure some of the rookies got nightmares from looking at that painting. We eventually had to burn it once the case was solved."
She gave a sigh of regret, she wanted to keep it. A memorabilia of the shared case, but it cannot be kept. All her painting had to be burned.
Mace learned that the hard way.
"Something wrong?" He asked. Mace looked like she was lost in her memory, it was a second but he saw fear and horror in her eyes.
"No, I'm good. But I need to buy her some stuff…"
She gestured to the tubes of paint that were almost empty. There was no need for her to explain. The budget cuts had also affected their salary. Not to mention the things they needed. Their station chief might see it was unnecessary, but as he could see, this division was different.
"Where is the nearest art store?" He asked, looking at his watch gauging the time. He glanced at Je Anne, she was almost done with the 3rd canvas. The dim light of the sun in this particular painting set the painting in a very dark mode.
"About 20 mins from here if we take the car," Mace replied.
"Wanna go shopping with me?"
Mace gave him a ridiculous look, she tilted his head, indicating the supplies Je Anne was using. She caught on, and grinned.
"Je, want some coffee? Or something to eat?" Mace called out.
"That Sb concoction, and rice. You know what I mean. Why?" She paused at what she was doing to look at Mace.
Her eyes widened when she saw Drake, she gave a small nod before looking back at Mace. "You guys going somewhere?"
"Going to buy coffee. Jerome still on the way, Drake offered to buy us food," Mace explained.
Je Anne threw Mace a narrowed look but shrugged her shoulders after. "Just be careful," she replied behind her canvas, resuming painting once more.
"Later!" Mace shouted. Herding Drake out of the door. When they were far, she finally asked, "let me get this straight. You plan on buying her paint?"
The man nodded, "Just paint?"
"Why would I just buy paint?"
Okay…Mace thought. What was he up to? The last time someone wanted to buy them any kind of supplies, they were tasked to be part of the Election watch.That was not fun. Not one bit.n
"Is there a catch?"
Drake laughed, he was aware of why this division was weary of his offer. Jerome had told him about that particular incident. Suffice to say, none of them accepted any from anyone after that.
"Oh, I know why. Don't worry, there is no catch. I am here to provide support, or am I wrong in that regard?"
"IDK what kind of agreement you guys had, but if Jerome told you of that, he trusts you. So…"
They had reached the doorway of the station when she let her words drift. Mace stared at Drake. Trying to see if he wanted something more.
The man was difficult to read. Like the rest of them.
They looked at each other, trying to see what was behind each other's words. If there is a hidden agenda.
"Mace, who is this? Is he your boyfriend?"
Mace groaned, ignoring the woman who broke their little bubble, without saying a word, she grabbed Drake's hand and dragged him to his car.
He waited for her to put on her seatbelt before turning the engine on. He kept silent and waited till they were out of the parking lot before he said, "That your station chief?"
Mace nodded, not offering an explanation as to why she was like that. She took several deep breaths to quell her irritation.
When she was sure she was okay, she looked at Drake and asked, "If you are sure of what you want to do, I hope you bought enough cash."
It could be that bad right? There were just going to buy some paint, how expensive can they be?