My Love From The Canvas

Chapter 7: Tell me about yourself part 2

Patrick's POV

Jamie seems pleased with my answer. “Good because I make it a point not to befriend people who don’t like cheesecake. That’s my deal breaker. Last but certainly not least sour cream and chive chips.” I take a bite and the amount of crunchiness startles me. I don’t like these. I can’t pinpoint what makes these taste so bad. I think it’s a lot of little things that just equal really bad food. I shake my head and say “Nope I definitely do not like these. How can you eat them.” Right after I say that Jamie bites her lip drawing my attention. Then she bursts out laughing and I want to record it so I can play it back on loop. And I would if that wasn’t an incredibly creepy thing to do.

We continued to figure out some more of my preferences for example something called a cucumber which Jamie hates for reasons unknown (they’re delicious),  pizza with pepperoni, red onion and extra cheese I’m not sure I could create anything better, cheetos these crunchy things that are super cheesy and you guessed it crunchy also mango and passion fruit juice I like the sweetness and the thickness of it. Jamie says I have a sweet tooth. As we walk back up to her room we are joking back and forth. I keep making jokes just to hear her laugh.

We got back to Jamie’s room and opened the door and standing inside were Jamie’s parents. They look at me with confusion and I realise that as far as they know I’m a stranger that just so happened to be walking by, but I’m still here after all these hours. I guess we have some explaining to do.

We step into the room and let the door close behind us. I can tell that her parents are waiting for an explanation as to why I’m here. I try to think of an answer that will be believable. Before I can just say anything Jamie jumps in and calmly states “He’s a friend from university, we haven’t had a chance to talk that much but after you guys left he came back to make sure I was okay and we got to talking and it turns out that we have a lot in common.” I never know she could lie so fluently.

I turn to Jamie’s parents to see their reaction. Her father looks a little surprised and confused, probably trying to figure out what to make of this situation while her mother has a small smile and a twinkle in her eye. I’ve watched people long enough to know what that means. She thinks I like Jamie which is true but that is irrelevant. The number of guys around Jamie is minimal and she doesn’t tend to date much so her mother tends to worry about Jamie being alone.

Her mother is the first to speak “Well, isn’t that a nice coincidence. My name is Maria, nice to meet you.” She walks towards me with her arm outstretched. I reach my hand out and shake her hand “Patrick. Nice to meet you Maria.” I smile my warmest smile hoping to get her to like me. Her eyes widen slightly and she looks a little taken aback. I don’t know if I did anything wrong but I take a step back anyway.

She throws a quick glance at Jamie and I don’t know why. “Hello, I’m Tom Jamie’s father. Nice to officially meet you.” Jamie’s dad steps forward and shakes my hand.  “So Patrick, tell me about yourself.” 

“What do you want to know?” I smile while I panic on the inside just hoping that I will be able to answer all their questions. As Jamie’s father opens his mouth to ask a question her mother jumps in and asks “Do you have a girlfriend Patrick?”

“Mom!” Jamie whines sounding mortified.

“It’s a simple question, Honey.” Her mother replies calmly then looks back to me for an answer. I chuckle a little at Jamie’s adorability then say “No, I don’t have a girlfriend but I do have someone that I like.” She looks slightly deflated by my answer but seems to notice that my eyes cut to Jamie quickly then a huge smile spreads on her face. “Ah, I see.” She winks at me and goes to sit next to Jamie, while Jamie sits cross legged on the hospital bed with her head in her hands.

“Now that the most important question has been answered can I ask one now?” Tom says with a bit of humour in his tone and an almost unnoticeable smirk. “Yes dear it’s your turn.” Maria says as she rolls her eyes and shakes her head. I can tell they are really in love and I hope to have that with someone someday. “Thank you for the confirmation, Love. Now Patrick tell me about what you like to do in your free time?” I think for a bit trying to think of something presentable since most of what I do in my free time is watch Jamie and I can’t very well tell her parents that. “I like art and especially painting.” Jamie laughs then tries to cover it with a cough. 

“That’s nice so I guess that’s what drove you to art history.” Maria chimes in. 

“Yeah I guess I just want to have a deeper appreciation for what art can be for and to people.” Jamie looks shocked at my answer probably given that I’m not actually studying art history. We chat some more until her parents have to go and then chat between us for a while. Eventually we both fall asleep.