"You said you could draw. What subjects do you usually paint?" Natasha asked as if she were just making conversation, fiddling with the fishing line in her hands.
"I draw all kinds of subjects, but mostly charcoal and pencil sketches. Cleaning up paints is a bit troublesome, so I prefer quick sketches with large areas left blank."
Natasha nodded, and Schiller continued, "I happened to bring paper and charcoal pencils. May I have the honor of asking you to be my model?"
"You'd better not expect me to sit still here for very long." Natasha shook her head. "I'm long past the age of going without food, drink, or sleep for the sake of romance. Do I seem like an old lady?"
"As I said, we're all shadows of the past. Hold that pose and try not to move. Ten minutes will do."
Schiller took a sketchpad from his luggage bag, wrapped a charcoal stick in tissue paper, and began drawing on the paper.
Before ten minutes had even passed, Natasha saw Schiller hand over the sketchpad. She said in surprise, "That fast?"
Schiller's speed made Natasha not expect much from the drawing. To an amateur like her, the longer a painting took, the more refined it should be and the higher its quality. A sketch finished in barely more than ten minutes was bound to be somewhat rough.
But when she saw the portrait on the paper, Natasha froze. The beautiful woman's face outlined on the page was not rough at all. Her hair was rendered in blocks of jet black, making her cheeks appear exceptionally bright. The shadows were smudged charcoal dust, dense at first but fading into a translucent gray, exactly like shadows under the light.
There was very little color and a great deal of blank