Summer Love

A Small Mess

Eager to finish the work as soon as possible, Sophie attempted to paint as efficiently as possible, at least by her standards. She alternated between dipping the brush into the paint and running the brush vertically across the door's surface. Her method proved to be effective due to the door having a flat surface. She had a good rhythm going, humming a song and moving rhythmically as she painted the door. However, this caused paint to occasionally drip onto the floor. As she painted, she kept taking glances towards Max to see how he was faring.

Unlike Sophie, Max was still new to the experience. Although he was no stranger to manual labor, he had never painted anything in his life. He wanted to make sure he did a good job for the sake of Sophie, the retirement home and its residents. He did not want to make a mess, so he made sure to lay out a few newspapers where he thought the paint might drip onto them. After dipping his brush into the bucket, he lightly tapped it on the bucket to let the excess paint drip back. He saw this as cost-effective, since he figured the paint would not be wasted on other unnecessary surfaces. Assuming the paint would no longer drip, he hastily pushed the brush onto the door and began applying the paint.

They both began painting their respective doors, making sure to do a consistent job on each one. After finishing one, they moved on to the next in line. Sophie had an easier time since she only needed to carry the bucket and paintbrush. On the other hand, Max not only had to carry the bucket and paintbrush, he also had to lay down the newspapers for each door. In order to save resources, he tried carrying the previously used newspapers to the other doors, but it proved inefficient as it often resulted in wet paint spilling over or the newspapers being torn apart. He realized how tedious it was and why Sophie did not bother doing it.

Seeing Max's struggle made Sophie feel bad for him, but it also made her chuckle. She had finished painting all the doors on her side, taking a step back to observe her masterpiece. She gave herself a nod of approval for a job well done. All she had to do now was wait for them to dry before they could start cleaning the floors. She decided to see how Max was doing, and she saw that he still had a few more doors to go. She went behind him, leaning over his head, "Hey, do you need any help?"

Max was so focused on the task that he did not notice Sophie creeping up on him. He had finished the previous door and was about to start a new one before he heard her question. "What, are you done already?" he asked. He stopped his work to look around for her, but instead he felt her behind him. He got startled, letting out a soft gasp and accidentally dropping his paintbrush. Unfortunately for him, the paintbrush had dropped into the bucket of paint. Though, fortunately for him, his reaction time was fast enough to grab the paintbrush before it sunk in completely.

Sophie composed herself, a noticeable heat rising in her cheeks. She realized that she had played a part in what had happened, so she took a step back to give him some room. "Um, yes, I'm already done with my portion." She answered nonchalantly whilst pretending that nothing had happened.

Max chuckled softly to himself, shaking his head in disbelief. He turned around to look at her. "In that case, I would appreciate some help..." he said, before reassuring her with a smile "...and for the record, I'm not mad or anything. This is why I take precautions". He dripped the excess paint on the brush by tapping on the edge of the bucket, letting it fall back into the bucket.

Before he resumed his work, a thought had crossed his mind. He turned towards her to see that she was picking up her equipment to bring them over to the next door. He gestured to get her attention and asked, "Hey, do you want to help paint this door together instead?"

"Sure!" She said as her eyes immediately lit up, and she hurriedly brought over her equipment to him, setting it down near the door.

He shifted a bit to make room for both of them to paint the door at the same time. Despite making room, Sophie tried to scoot as close as possible, leaving very little room between them.

"Maybe I can paint the bottom half, and she can paint the top half?" he thought to himself. As he was thinking, he kept feeling Sophie's arm brushing against his and, to his surprise, she had already started painting the door. He grabbed hold of her hand to stop her from continuing her work and asked, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, shouldn't we discuss how we're going to paint this first?" Sophie became flush due to the firmness of his grip, and Max immediately released her hand upon realization. “Oh, um, sorry about that,” he apologized, feeling just as flustered.

“It’s okay…” she reassured him with a hand on his shoulder, “…just follow my lead and paint any spots that I missed.”

He sighed in relief and watched as she resumed painting the door. He tried his best to fill in any gaps while also trying his best to avoid contact with her. Still, that did not stop them from constantly brushing against each other. He focused his gaze completely on the paint, trying to avoid the growing awkwardness caused by her proximity. Painting with two people did make the job finish quicker, and they were able to finish in half the time Sophie did when she was on her own.

They breezed through the rest of the doors, developing a sense of rhythm as they painted. The contact became more prominent as they went on. Sophie had even pressed herself against Max’s back at some point under the pretense of trying to paint a hard-to-reach spot. Though, he was able to avoid the awkward tension by focusing his gaze on the paint.

Eventually, they finished painting the last door. Both of them heaved a sigh of relief. Max plopped down onto the floor from exhaustion. He still needed to clean up the newspapers and put away the buckets, but he figured he would do it after a short break. He sat down with his hands pushing against the floor behind his back for support. Without warning, Sophie suddenly collapsed face first onto the floor. Fortunately, Max was able to catch her, and he positioned her comfortably beside him.

Feeling more concerned than embarrassed, he was about to sit up to check on her before he felt her arms coiling around his waist in an embrace. “Thanks… I just…need…a minute...,” she muttered between heavy breaths before laying her head against his chest.

Max felt guilty for having been so focused on his own discomfort that he hadn't noticed her condition. She had clearly painted far more doors than him. Perhaps what he thought was her supposed attempt at making physical contact was just her trying to hold onto him for support.

Looking down at Sophie, he ran a hand through her hair. “It’s okay, take as much time as you need,” he assured her as he gently caressed her hair. Her lips formed a smile, hidden from his gaze due to her face resting on his chest. She adjusted herself to be more comfortable, climbing onto him for a tighter embrace. They remained like that for a while, sharing warmth in a moment of silence.

Eventually, she regained some of her strength and was able to sit up. He quickly moved his hands behind his back in an awkward attempt to gain some composure. “Uh, I hope you don’t mind me touching your hair. I do apologize if I had gone overboard,” he uttered sheepishly, looking away.

She let out a hearty chuckle and ruffled up his hair. “It’s fine Max, I kind of enjoyed it,” she admitted, also looking down in embarrassment.

His eyes widened in surprise, and his lips curved into a smile. “Oh, uh, that’s cool then. Should we go clean up and return to base?” he suggested whilst pointing to the storage room, trying to avoid any more awkward confrontation.

“Sure, let’s go,” said Sophie as she got off the floor. She dusted herself and hopped off to the storage room, leaving Max to pick up the items they had left. Though, he did not mind it one bit, and soon followed after her with the items in hand.