There was a sombre air in Elmfield House on Friday afternoon. It was
raining fiercely outside and the combination of grey and overcast skies and the
sound of heavy rain rattling against the window made the workroom feel remarkably
dark and gloomy and contributed greatly to our apathetic mood. Poor lighting always
makes Leonard irritable and his frustration at being prevented from working
showed in his furrowed brow and exasperated mutterings. I had changed into and
out of my sitting clothes three times and I finally resigned myself to lounging
in the armchair and wrapping a tartan travel-rug tightly around my shoulders in
order to keep warm while we waited patiently for a break in the clouds (Leonard
requires me to wear a thin, summer top so that he can see the line and shape of
the muscles and bones in my arms and back). Leonard plugged in a small electric
fire to compensate for my light clothing and the infusion of warm air that crept
into the room made us both feel very lethargic. Even Hooter fell fast asleep at
my feet.
Since neither one of us was
in a particularly sociable mood and our motivation was at a seriously low ebb,
we decided to work on some basic exploratory sketches rather than persevere in
the vain hope that the weather might improve, so I moved to the comfy chair by
the window and watched the rain beat against the glass while Leonard sat on a
lower chair to my left with his sketchpad in hand, studying every tiny movement
that I made (he must know every inch of my face by now). These informal
exploratory drawings are for a set of armatures that Leonard is working on and,
from what I can gather, he has been working on the bust peg for these armatures
late at night. He would like to produce one or two terracotta portraits of me
and ideally a bronze with an instrument; a violin perhaps, but his ideal
musical prop would be a saxophone (fortunately I still have the alto saxophone
that I learned to play at high school and I can’t wait to surprise Leonard with
this revelation, he will be absolutely thrilled!).
Leonard put a tape of Taizé
chants into the cassette player and we worked quietly for a while, just
listening to the relaxing music. He is very fond of his collection of Taizé
chants and one of his favourites that he is inclined to rewind and play over
and over again is a particularly soothing chant called ‘Bleibet hier und wachet
mit mir’. Leonard lit a number of tealight lanterns in order to contend with
the increasingly aphotic darkness that was quickly descending upon the room and
the golden glow of the flickering flames combined with the gentle music generated
a reverential and meditative atmosphere in the workroom. It felt like a secret
place, a place of pilgrimage.
Unfortunately after half-an-hour
or so the peaceful ambience in the workroom was shattered by wild barking from
the neighbour’s dogs and shortly after came three loud knocks on the front
door. Leonard threw his sketchpad onto the floor and stood out of his chair,
grumbling to himself and complaining that Luke always knocks even though Leonard
leaves the front door on the latch when he is due to arrive. He shuffled off
into the hallway muttering “he knows that he’s perfectly welcome to let himself
in…I shouldn’t have to repeat myself...”. I then heard Leonard greet his
visitor and Luke’s deep voice echo through the hallway, so I decided to take
the opportunity to leave before they entered the room and Leonard embroiled us
both in conversation.
Although I am finding it
easier to converse with Luke now, recent events have made me a little nervous
in his company and I feel that I owe the reader another confession. A few weeks
ago I decided to test out another magic spell from The Omega Course. It was a love charm designed to attract the affections
of the opposite sex and, although I am ashamed to admit it, the curious and
love-struck romantic that will be forever imprisoned inside me could not resist
testing whether the charm would have any effect. Luke was the test subject for
this spell – quelle surprise! - and during our last few sessions I have noticed
that he has been watching me intently, waiting until I catch his eye and
holding my gaze a little longer than usual, to which I look away shyly and
smile to myself in acknowledgement. He is testing my reactions to his blatant
display and the attention is flattering and by no means unrequited, but there
is something about Luke’s character that continues to unnerve me and I am
always grateful for Leonard’s presence and mediation at our meetings.
