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‘Hey artists, I’ve brought hot drinks! I can’t stay and help today but I’ll try and be back tomorrow. But here, I have hot flasks of coffee, tea and hot chocolate.’
Melanie recognised the voice and refused to look down at Polly, stood on the corner of the street. ‘Oh thank you, I’ll come down now,’ Selena shouted out. Melanie heard her unclip herself from one section and clip herself on various parts until she made it low enough that she could just walk down the last few bits.
‘You are a star, thank you so much . . .’
‘I’m Polly, one of Melanie’s friends.’ Melanie would like to say she didn’t see both Polly and Selena look up at her expectantly — except she hadn’t been able to stop herself from looking in their direction. So she said nothing and turned around and continued to paint. She wasn’t all that surprised when Selena decided to station herself next to Melanie not ten minutes later.
‘So, things still a bit difficult, hey?’ Selena asked.
‘Nope. Do you really think we’ll get this all done in less than a week?’ Yes, it was an obvious subject change but so be it.
‘Well, we can only do what we can only do, you know?’ Selena’s voice drifted off at the end, and Melanie didn’t think that was much of an answer. ‘And failing that we’ll just call it abstract.’
Melanie did laugh at that.
‘There’s more than one way to see things.’
Melanie tried not to roll her eyes. ‘Real subtle.’
Selena sighed happily, almost sounding like she was singing. ‘Some things are inexcusable, some behaviours that deliberately hurt shouldn’t be accepted. But in art, we tend to draw outside of the lines, we constantly push what’s accepted and what’s new. Always trying to create something that was never there before. It’s almost always messy, but with art we invariably leave something richer behind than was there to begin with.’
‘Have you finished?’ Melanie said, surprised at her own rudeness.
Selena smiled again and did her little sing-song exhale as they each concentrated on their own areas to paint. It was about an hour later, and Melanie’s arm was starting to ache a little, not enough to stop, but she carried on for the time being, knowing she’d need to go and pick up Alfie from school shortly.
That was a mistake. She should have left.
‘Hi Paige. Yeah, there’s space here. Let me help you get set up,’ Selena called out.
Melanie should have guessed it wasn’t going to be easy to avoid her. If it wasn’t now it would’ve been at the next Business Alliance meeting. Best to get it over and done with.
The familiar spicy scent of Paige wafted towards her as Selena directed her to work between them. ‘Make sure you’re always clipped in, else we get into trouble,’ Selena said. ‘Then it’s a simple case of grabbing some paint and a brush and going for it. Let out your creative side.’
That sing-song exhale again and Melanie brought her arm down to check the time on her phone. One hour to go. She could do that.
‘Hey Melanie, you OK?’ Paige asked quietly.
‘Yup. You?’
Paige didn’t answer but Melanie heard her sigh.
‘So, Paige. I’m trying to talk Councillor Houghton into working with me on more projects. In other words, I’m trying to get him to give me some more money.’ Selena laughed. ‘I’m going to need your help again, if that’s OK?’
‘Sure, what do you need?’
Melanie couldn’t help but listen to the conversation happening right over her, but to say she was intrigued would be an understatement. But at the same time her stomach soured as this was yet another part of Paige she didn’t know about.
‘I need some stats. How many of the women I referred have you trained up in bar work?’ Selena asked.
‘Erm, I’d have to check but I would say close to fifty.’
‘How many of them went on to work in bars?’
‘I’ve had requests for quite a few references. They didn’t all go to bars, some went into hotels working the day shifts because it was easier for childcare.’
Selena nodded. ‘Yes, that make sense.’ Selena got closer to Melanie. ‘Paige helps me run a programme with some of the women we work with. Some, well most, haven’t worked in a long time, or ever, and so Paige gives them bar work, trains them up, gives them a safe space and then after a few months they’re able to get new employment.’
‘It’s not quite as saintly as Selena makes it sound.’
