After our rather adventurous towel-drying session, Jonah smiled wide as he said, “I can’t wait to show you the project I’m working on.”
Like an excited schoolboy, he grabbed my hand and bounced his way over to a door where a sign hung that said “Off limits for the rest of the month”. With a light click of the locking mechanism and a quick flick of the light switch, we entered the room now bathed in the powerful glow of the florescent lights above.
After my eyes adjusted to the bright lights, I took in my surroundings. All the workbenches were pushed together at the center of the room and supported several sheets of drywall. With light pencil marks, numerous outlines of frogs in different positions decorated the plain gray surface of the soft material.
Mesmerized by the simplicity and the possibilities of this massive project, I slowly trailed my fingers along the smooth sheetrock surface, feeling every minor divot the pencil marks made. Jonah watched me as I made my way around the tables. After observing me for a moment, he walked over to the corner of the room where there was a large metal cabinet with a combination lock securing the doors.
As he masterfully unlocked the doors to the cabinet, twisting his skilled fingers back and forth over the knob of the lock, he began to tell me about his project, explaining everything in great detail.
“The nature museum has commissioned me to do this piece to display a certain species of frogs. The wall of frogs will hang in the entrance, just to the left, as you walk into the foyer. At the moment, I am in the process of positioning the frogs across the wall, but I do not plan to actually bolt them down until the finished pieces of drywall are hung,” he explained as he set several different ceramic frogs gently onto the surface of the drywall.
Amazed with his attention to detail, I leaned in for a closer look. I couldn’t believe how realistic they looked. I reached out to touch one, but immediately retracted my hand. Worried I may be overstepping my boundaries by touching his work, I looked up to him in a silent request, asking his permission to handle the dainty little frogs.
He nodded once, encouraging me with a small smile and said, “Go ahead. You can pick it up and hold it if you want. It won’t bite you.” I looked up at him with a pseudo snarl on my face to show I wasn’t happy with his little joke. He began to chuckle lightly as he held his hands up in defense and said, “Holding one is the only way you’re going to notice the certain feature I want you to see.”
I felt like a child on Christmas morning, taking a peek at a shiny new toy with excitement. Slowly, I picked up the tiny creature, no bigger than the palm of my hand. The texture and coloring of the matte glaze made the fake amphibian look soft, but in reality the surface was very unforgiving and cold. If you were to put it next to a real frog, the detail and likeness would be uncanny.
“What species is this?” I asked, still studying the piece with intense concentration, turning it in my hands and inspecting every intricate feature.
“It’s called a White’s Tree Frog, usually native to areas of Australia and New Guinea...”
His voice trailed off. As I heard his words hit my ears, I realized I wasn’t quite paying attention—and for a very good reason. I could tell by the texture that the eyes were not ceramic, but the color wasn’t quite discernible against the brown glaze until the light hit it just right. As I turned the piece in my hand, the light reflected off the gems, making them glisten with an amethyst luster.
“Jonah!” I gasped. “What did you do?” I was so mesmerized—I hardly noticed that Jonah had approached me from behind until he spoke.
“There’s a piece of you in everything I create, Ella,” he said, enunciating each word softly into my ear. “You see, for so many years I have woken up with one thing on my mind... your eyes.” His breath on my skin made my stomach flutter and a quick intake of breath hiss through my teeth and catch in my throat. “Your eyes have been my only motivation all these years. Those beautiful, hypnotic, amethyst eyes. You’ve become my calling card. I’m known to put my own touch on a project that just so happens to end up using the color purple in some way. Most of the time it’s only a subtle use of the color. But, it all pales in comparison to you.”
“I don’t know, Jonah. This... this is just breathtaking. I have no words to express how amazed I am with your brilliance. The subtle touch of the eyes makes the piece... well, perfect.”
“And you’re my inspiration,” he said as he pressed a light kiss just behind my ear, causing goose bumps to crawl all over my skin.
I just stood there a moment, continuing to admire the frog in my hand and reveling in the feel of his strength behind me.
“What’s even better is the nature museum has a large dome skylight right in the center of their lobby. So, at certain times of the day, the sun will shine just right to make each eye sparkle and reflect minute amounts of color throughout the room,” he explained as he reached for another, somewhat larger frog and held it up to the light, twisting and turning until the eyes glimmered with brilliance.
I couldn’t speak. Just imagining this piece hung in the museum made me dumbstruck with wonder.
“Have you ever been to the nature museum here in town, Ella?” Jonah asked, positioning himself beside me.
I shook my head while turning to look at him.
“I’d love to take you sometime. It’s a great place. They have a lot of art exhibits, fossil exhibits, a planetarium, a butterfly garden, and even several nature trails to walk around in outside. I could spend hours there just looking and enjoying all the things they have.” His words became wistful, making me realize there is even more facets to this man I do not know.
“I would love that. It sounds so wonderful. And spending that much time with you would make it even better.”
“Great! It’s a date. I’ll check on their hours...”
We stared at each other for several moments before I broke our stare and looked back at the little frog in my hand. I moved it around, watching the eyes twinkle with brilliance, and wondered just how many other works of art he had on public display that have a piece of me somehow entwined within his art.
“So, would you like to help me work on this tonight?” Jonah asked, effectively bringing me out of my daydream and back to reality.
“I wouldn’t want to mess anything up, especially since this is a paid job.”
“You won’t mess anything up, Ella. Not only do I trust you and your skills as an artist completely, but the task I had in mind is rather simple, really,” he said with shrug as he leaned his elbow on the table and stared me. “Well?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I have about five dozen more frogs that need their amethyst eyeballs,” he explained with a huge grin and a wag of his brow.
“Oh, I think I can do that!” I responded with excitement.
“Of course, if you would rather go home, I can take you before I get to work. You don’t have to feel obligated to help.” His voice wavered with a hint of apprehension. I could tell by his thoughts he definitely didn’t want me to go, but also didn’t want to force me to stay.
“Jonah, there is nowhere else I would rather be than right here with you,” I said honestly, touching his face and offering him a light peck on the side of his mouth.
We spent the next several hours adhering dozens of beautiful amethyst gems to the eyes of the little frogs and laughing about everything and nothing as we got to know each other more.
*****
As the time crept closer to midnight, I began to drag ass. Worried I would mess up on the eye application process, I gently pushed the rest of the stuff away and laid my head on the table, watching Jonah from the side of my vision.
“I’m sorry I kept you out so late, sweetheart. I’ll just finish this one and we’ll head home,” Jonah said, never really looking in my direction, but still able to see me past the frog held high in his hands.
“It’s ok. I’m fine,” I slurred in an attempt to let him know he didn’t need to cater to me.
On the way back to my mother’s house, my lazy ass managed to fall asleep. Yeah, I know. It was literally only four or five blocks away. There was no reason for me to fall asleep so quickly. But, after walking to Lavendine earlier that morning and the emotional upheaval I had to deal with today, I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did.
I was startled awake by the feeling of someone carrying me. With a death grip around his neck, I looked up at Jonah’s face and immediately relaxed with the awareness he was moving me from the car and into my room. I relaxed my hold and propped my cheek up on his chest, relishing in the feel of his heartbeat next to my ear still in perfect rhythm with my own.
As he gently laid me on the bed, my eyes fluttered open to look at him, causing my mouth to water with desire. Are you leaving? I projected, too tired to talk.
Yes, I have to go. I’m sure your mom wouldn’t appreciate it if I stayed the night. Plus, I don’t think I could keep my hands to myself if I did, he thought with a smile as he stroked the hair out of my face.
“I don’t want you to go,” I said out loud as I gripped his hand and brought it to my lips, placing a long kiss in the center of his palm. I knew I sounded childish, but I didn’t care.
“I know. I promise I’ll call or text you tomorrow... first thing in the morning. Okay?”
I just nodded and gripped his hand tighter, my eyelids getting severely heavy with every passing moment.
Jonah bent over, gave me a soft, reverent kiss on my lips and said, “Goodnight, my sweet Orella.”
I was so far gone, I don’t even remember him shutting off the light and walking out.