Sometimes I let myself get talked into things that I'm really not interested in doing, but never by a man. I guess it's possible that I just don't have any guy-friends that want to spend time with me, or, even less likely, that I'm just such hot-stuff that all the ladies want to get some face-time, but...women can just manipulate me any way they please. And then there are times that I'm actually able to say no to a woman that's asking me for something. This is one of the times that I said no, and then changed my mind to suit, not a matter of the heart, but a game of spite.
There was an event in our town that involved a window-painting contest. There was a specific theme that had to be followed, and the businesses that owned the windows were allowed to make a few requests of the painters, but other than that the artists had free-range of what they were doing.
Jill and her sister, Leigh, were both very artistic people, as was their mother, and they were extremely excited to participate in the window painting contest. There wasn't any exceptional reward for the winners, but that didn't matter to them, because all they wanted to do was spend some time downtown painting windows and having fun. It was cold outside, and there was really nothing that I wanted to do less than stand out in the frost and paint a stranger's window, so when Jill asked me if I was interested in participating, I told her that I would think about it, which really meant that I wasn't going to pick up a paintbrush any time soon.
It was a few days later when Jill and Leigh were yammering on about the competition during our lunch hour. Amber asked about it, expressed her interest in going with, and, suddenly, it was decided that Amber would be their third. This would just...not do. I don't want you to think that I did what I did out of spite. Just know that I did what I did out of spite and pretend that I did it for a different reason that doesn't make me look like a jackass.
"This is gonna be great, just us girls!" Amber exclaimed, pulling Jill and Leigh into an awkward group hug that neither appreciated. "Actually," I announced. Rage immediately registered on Amber's face, because she knew exactly what I was doing, "I've considered your offer, Jill, and I think I'd like to help out. You know...if you're still interested in having me." Before Jill had a chance to react to my news, Amber jumped to her feet spitting "I don't remember YOU even being INVITED." To be honest, I don't remember her being invited, so...really, it was she that was intruding on my event. You know, aside from the fact that I didn't want to do it until I found out I could make Amber miserable. More miserable, I mean.
Leigh diffused the situation before I could say something devastatingly harsh, and it was decided that the four of us would work together to beautify the downtown area.
The following two weeks involved the four of us arguing over what we should paint, what colours we should use, who should be in charge of doing what area of the windows, and so on. Jill had the unfortunate task of incorporating all of our ideas into a single picture, as she was the most artistically inclined, and I honestly don't think we would have come up with anything without her. Leigh was fairly laid-back about the entire experience, as she didn't really care what she was painting, she just wanted to paint. Jill was fairly receptive to most of my ideas, and I knew her well enough not to push anything on her if she wasn't really feeling it. It was Amber that became an artistic nightmare.
Amber wanted a lot of things put into the picture, but had no idea how they would relate to one another without seeming tacked on. She also didn't care, she just wanted her ideas heard and put into action. Jill tried, at first, to put all of Amber's ideas in, a lot of which happened to overshadow my own contributions to the picture, and Amber finally seemed appeased with what turned out.
The day before we were supposed to go and paint, Jill and I were looking over the plans. While the picture was drawn quite well, I just...wasn't sold on it, and Jill wasn't either.
"This is...technically well-done...but not visually pleasing." That's the most tactful way I could think to put it. Jill nodded, "there's just too much going on. I don't think we'll have time to paint all of the smaller details. And we're definitely not winning." This is when I sprung into action and started suggesting changes. I took a piece of tracing paper from the art room at school, laid it over top of Jill's page, and told her to trace out only the parts she was absolutely sure of.
Once she had done so, she looked at it, shook her head, and said she still wasn't sold on it. She then slid the original out from under the traced copy, and, to her surprise, found that the tracing was quite good. It removed most of the elements added by Amber (and most of those added by myself) and was left with the original idea that Jill had had for the project. And it was spectacular.
She took the new drawing to the administration office and enlarged the copies so that we would have something to tape up on the inside of the windows and paint from the outside. Seeing Jill so satisfied with her artwork was a really good feeling, and was made all the more sweet when I saw Amber's face drop as she saw the new drawing. "Where's all the stuff I added? This isn't what we agreed on!" she was ready to rant for a while, but Jill quickly cut her off, waving a hand in the air, "it just wasn't working."
Amber turned on me, "I bet you're pleased." I shrugged it off, "most of my ideas were taken out, too." Somehow this made Amber even angrier. She slapped me across the shoulder, which...seems completely ineffective, and said "don't be such an ass! You claim to be Jill's friend and then you put all the blame on her?" Huh. I really, really disliked this chick.
I probably shouldn't have provoked her so much...because, really, it made for a really, really long weekend of window painting. More on that later.
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