[ a hum escapes his throat as he flips her sketchbook page by page as well as look at what art her phone holds. interesting art that she has — good. classy. perfect as a portrait in some parts of the cafe, and others that has him take a sip of the warm black tea that resides in his cup. what inspires her to create such art? what drives her? what resides deep in ms. allen's heart to create such darkness?

now he would be a hypocrite to ask, and it's ungentlemanly to do. instead, august looks up towards her. ]

There's beauty with your paint and coal. It makes me wonder why you haven't made your skills available — aside from my requests, this could bring in money for you.

[ but at least that's a valid question to ask, right? ]