We were getting ready to leave when a finger tapped on my shoulder. I turned around to see the boy from the table earlier. I thought to myself, great he most likely saw me on the news last week. “Hi my name is Edus Malone, I couldn’t help but asking you; my golly you're beautiful.”. I was blushing by then, “Oh I’m sorry, I meant, well I mean… I -” I cut him off,
“I’m Odette Summer, you said you wanted to ask me a question?”, “ The girl from the papers?”, “Sure.” I grabbed my jacket to leave when he stopped me and apologized, “Sorry um, do you mind if I draw you?”, and I said yes.
We sat at the table for an hour or so ( but who's counting ) while he sketched me. We laughed and talked and I made a joke about him “drawing me like one of his french girls” hoping he’d get the reference. He did. He finally showed me the finished product, and it was prepossessing, and captivating. Edus managed to portray every one of my facial features in a fair and honest way. “It's stunning.”, I said “Just as you are.”, he said. He thought I was funny, artistic, winsome, and unique and I thought the same of him.
I wish I could have told him though, I loved him unconditionally and wondered why he bothered to even talk to me that day. Still I knew he loved me … but… I couldn’t figure out why though, why
I would never love myself again.