Chapter 8：Sixteen Years Later

Hazel Dixon frowned, looking back and forth between two character samples that were identical other than the color of their hair and eyes. Why was it so hard to create characters that looked different in comics while sticking to the same art style?

She could tweak the eye shape, nose, and hairstyle but would it be enough? Maybe changing the height of one of the characters would help as well.

She sighed and set down her stylus. This was getting nowhere but it needed to be done today since she would be getting married tomorrow and going on her honeymoon.

Her fiancé, Billy Lawson, had specifically told her she wasn't allowed to bring her iPad with her when they went to Hawaii because he wanted her attention on him. Hazel couldn't begrudge him that; she did tend to get pretty caught up in her art.

He really shouldn't complain though since it was how she helped pay her half of the bills. Hazel was a freelancer who had done a variety of odd jobs related to art. She had done caricatures at amusement parks, sold paintings, drew fan art for people willing to pay online, and more.

Currently she was the head artist turning a popular online novel into a comic. Sure, she had a few assistants to help with things like layers of coloring and text but she was still in charge of most of it.

Hazel needed to propose character designs for every single character that would appear more than once within the next month and she was only halfway done. The original author had to approve them but so far she had been very picky, since Hazel's drawings didn't match how she had imagined them.

'Excuse me for following your very vague descriptions as best I can,' she thought irritably.

She was already annoyed even before she thought about her problems with the author. Billy had left her alone, saying he wanted to go see the fountain show in front of the Bellagio while she worked even though she had wanted to see it too.

Hazel had seen videos of it before; it looked spectacular. She imagined it could inspire another painting.

But Billy disregarded her feelings on the matter. He had been like that a lot lately. He used to be more supportive of her art.

When they finally met up again about ten years after the hospital fire, it was at an amateur art exhibition done by local college students in her hometown in California. She was only a freshman majoring in art at the time but her faculty advisor convinced her to showcase something, so she did.

Hazel had been standing not far from the painting she submitted, looking around at the other works. Not to brag, but hers was definitely the best one there.

She smiled sadly to herself. At least that was what Billy would think. He always praised her art, even when she had nothing to work with but cheap crayons.

"Excuse me, you're Hazel Dixon, right?" a male voice sounded from behind.

"That's me," she said without bothering to turn around.

Who was this person? Nobody here knew her other than the faculty advisor. She hadn't exactly been friendly with others since coming to college. There wasn't any time for that. She needed to refine her art skills.

"I wanted to tell you that your painting is the best one I've seen today. The subject matter is intriguing and it looks both realistic and dreamlike at the same time."

Hazel finally turned around. She had painted Billy the way he looked leaning up against that tree the night he came back after she had been in isolation. Cold and alluring. The moon shone brightly in the sky and the trees cast eerie yet beautiful shadows over him.

Her professor had found the figure in the painting mysterious but what he really liked was that the whole painting seemed rather hopeful despite the dark colors used in most of it. Hazel was great at creating contradictions in her art.

No one else had complimented this particular painting though until this random man came along. She peered up at him—this was the problem with only being 4'11" tall—and nearly did a double take.

This man's hair was medium brown and his hazel eyes were a bit less golden than she remembered but it was entirely possible she remembered wrong. It had been a very long time after all.

"Billy?" she whispered incredulously.

"Hey, you remembered me!" the man said with a smile. "Nice to see you again."

Nearly paralyzed with joy, she stood there gaping at him for over a minute until he suggested they go get ice cream. Finally she came back to her senses and nodded vehemently, leaving the exhibition behind. She didn't technically need to be there anyway.

That had been nearly six years ago. They slipped back into their old friendship naturally, though both of them had changed over the years, and eventually they started dating. Billy proposed to her two months ago and now they were getting married in Las Vegas because neither of them had family they cared about inviting.

Hazel's uncle had passed away her sophomore year of college and she didn't miss him one bit, though she supposed she owed him for hiring tutors that helped her get academically on track after being locked up in the mental ward for so long.

She didn't need to worry about her lack of family any longer though. She was about to become Mrs. Billy Lawson and would never have to worry about not having a family ever again.

Hazel stretched and looked back at the digital art app on her iPad. There was no way she was going to be able to finish this tonight. It would be better to meet Billy downstairs and try to see the fountain show.

She closed the application and headed downstairs to the lobby of the MGM Grand. The Bellagio wasn't too far from here; she could walk and get some fresh air. She had been cooped up in this hotel room too long.

Sending Billy a quick text to let him know she was on her way, she hummed happily to herself as she walked towards the Bellagio. She couldn't believe she was getting married tomorrow!