art student

at first, i thought she was an artist. or at the very least an art student. i came to the big round table for lunch. there were 9 people sat down. i said hello to everyone and everyone said hello back, except the art student.

she wore sunglasses in a relatively dark room. she didn't take off her jacket and kept it buttoned up as she sat at the table. her long black hair poured straight down, over her cheeks and past her shoulders. she wore a black jacket and dark grey jeans. she said nearly nothing to everyone, barely spoke and barely ate. the only time she seemed to move was to stand slowly and pour tea.

as we ate i noticed that she always had her arms crossed. she was sitting so far away from the table that everyone could see she had her legs crossed. when she wanted to sip her tea, she had to sit on the very edge of her chair and lean in, just so she could reach the table. everyone talked at the table. as everyone laughed she remained quiet and looked at her near empty plate.

she didn't smile. she only spoke to the person sitting directly to her left and when she spoke she spoke softly as if telling her friend a secret. plate after plate came and we all ate except her. we all spoke except her. she sat moodily behind her shades, away from us and not looking at anyone. toward the end she did leave her seat to go to the ladies room. someone then asked if she was ok. turns out she wasn't an artist after all, nor an art student.

last night, late into the night, she went to her friend's home. she had a black eye and bruises on the side of her face where her husband beat her. the swelling contined down her left arm, so much so she could hardly move it. she had bruising down her leg which made it difficult to walk. she wore sunglasses to cover up her eyes and brushed her hair down to hide her face.

she came back and poured everyone tea. again she poured it slowly, refilling everyone's cup. at one point she doesn't have the strength to continuously hold the hot heavy teapot so she places it down for a second, before resuming. her other arm is still and straight as she finishes pouring for everyone. everyone says thankyou and she says nothing and sits down again.

we leave the restaurant and she is the first out. yesterday was bright and cloudy. we all go to the carpark and find our cars. her friend gave her a lift. they drive past me and i wave at them. the friend and her husband wave back. their passenger is sitting in the back seat. the grey sky is reflected off the glass and all i can see is a brief shadow. the shadow is moving though i cannot make out it's exact movements. the car drives on. it signals right and is then lost in the traffic.