He inhales deeply. I just need an answer from Evan and I hope that I can actually put this plan in motion. If we have a good name to tell people, I’m sure more graduates would get interested.
“That would definitely make it easier for you. Otherwise it would sound like a vague promise, and I think most people are cautious about those.”
Todd nods. He would be too. Evan texted him yesterday to ask for more time, and that sucked, but right now giving Evan more time is his only option. A small voice at the back of his mind whispers that this is another empty promise, that Evan isn’t going to call him and let him know if he found someone or not, that he’s going to drop off the grid or shrug and say he was too busy to bother.
“You’re disappearing into your head again,” Daniel says, a little smile on his lips.
Todd grimaces and stretches on the bed. “Sorry, bad habit.”
“It’s going to be fine.”
Todd is about to answer when the door bangs open. He jerks around, and Daniel turns a second later, reacting to Todd. His heart rate slows dramatically when he notices Ava in the doorway.
“Sorry,” she says and signs, clearly not very sorry at all. “Were you making out?”
“What do you want?” Daniel sighs, and Todd remembers hearing the same question from Evan every time Todd barged through his bedroom door just to disturb. Evan’s high school girlfriend hated him.
“I wanted to ask something, but I forgot what it was,” Ava says.
“You wanted to snoop,” Daniel states.
“Please, I already know.” She rolls her eyes. “You might not wanna tell Mom and Dad, but duh, I’m not blind.”
Todd wants to bury his face in his hands. God, he doesn’t have much of a poker face, but he didn’t think it was this obvious to people who don’t know him that well. Apparently, his crush is visible as a freaking lighthouse in the night.
“Did you want something?” Daniel asks again, and he sounds sharper. Maybe he knows, too, and he doesn’t want to embarrass Todd.
“Just your new Netflix password, since you changed it again.”
“I’m not giving you my Netflix password.”
“Daniel.”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“You’re on my side, right, Todd?”
And then Ava’s gaze is on him, and her eyes turn huge and innocent, as if she didn’t just put his crush on her brother out there for everyone to see.
“Don’t drag me into this,” Todd says, holding his hands up. “I’m definitely not taking sides.”
He smiles to himself as he leans back against the pillows, only half listening to their bickering. Daniel’s home and his family are so well put together. They’re perfectly fitting pieces to the same puzzle, and everyone has their part. Hearing them argue like real siblings, where Daniel is unreasonable and Ava sort of whiny and a bit spoiled, is definitely making them seem more human.
“Sorry,” Daniel says when Ava bangs the door closed. “She’s used to getting what she wants.”
“Aren’t you?” Todd asks, looking up at him from the pillow.
Daniel gives him a grin. “I always lose at home, so I’m only second place on the list of spoiled kids.”
“Thank god, that makes it so much better.” Todd rolls away, laughing, when Daniel throws a pillow at him.
“You’re a terrible guest, insulting me like that.”
“You obviously like having me here. You even let me sleep in your bed.”
“It’s clear that I need to work on my character,” Daniel agrees and flops down next to him. “I do like having you here.”
After a moment of silence, he adds: “I’m getting a serious headache from concentrating so much when we talk. It’d be great if we could just… not talk for a while. I’m pretty beat.”
Daniel plays games on his phone, and Todd reads angry posts on social media and leans more heavily against Daniel with every scroll on his phone. He still smells so good.
The next morning, Todd wakes first, with his legs tangled with Daniel’s. It’s not that early, and he’s definitely too awake to go back to sleep. Daniel looks as if he’s far away still when Todd glances at him, and it doesn’t seem right to wake him now when it’s the weekend. Padding out from Daniel’s room, Todd finds the remote and sinks down on one of the couches outside.
He turns the volume down so low that he almost can’t hear anything, worried that it will disturb the rest of the family. However, since he’s heard footsteps, at least someone else is up, but he’s just too uncomfortable to go downstairs by himself.
After twenty minutes, there are steps in the stairs, and Ava’s blond head comes into view. She waves at him over a glass of juice.
“Is he still sleeping?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to wake him.”
She shrugs. “He’s probably tired from studying. I thought I heard you get up—” Todd is just about to apologize when she adds, “—Daniel’s never that quiet. Do you want breakfast?”
“Um, sure.”
“Mom and Dad are already away. No need to worry about awkward parents.”
Todd snorts. “Am I that easy to figure out?”
“Anyone who doesn’t get anxious over talking to their kinda-boyfriend’s parents is a liar or a sociopath.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Todd sighs when they walk down the stairs together.
“I said kinda-boyfriend.”
“He’s not that either.”
Ava slows for a step or two. “But you’d like that, right?”
“Um.” What’s a polite way to tell someone that you’re not comfortable talking with them about their brother?
“I’m only asking because I already know that he’s super up for that.”
“He’s not,” Todd sighs. “I mean, really, he isn’t.”
In the kitchen, Ava hands him a bowl and gives him a skeptical look. “I took you for a smart dude, Todd, but I’m thinking I might have to take it all back.”
“Ouch, thanks for that.”
Ava opens her mouth to say something when a door bangs upstairs.
“I told you,” she says. “You were way too quiet.”
It’s easy to follow Daniel’s steps down the stairs and then to the kitchen. He appears in the doorway, hair messy and eyes merely sleepy squints. “Are you both already awake?”
“Even if we weren’t before, we would’ve been now. It’s like you’re a cross between human and elephant.”
Todd chokes on his coffee, and Daniel narrows his eyes at him.
“I definitely didn’t catch that,” Daniel says to Ava.
“I’ll write you a note.”
“Funny.”
Todd watches and listens, as Ava and Daniel sign while speaking. By now, he’s pretty sure that the signing is out of habit, but that the speaking is for him.
When Todd leaves a couple of hours later, Daniel hugs him in the hallway, and for some reason it feels like a goodbye. Todd aches as he pulls away, and the raw look on Daniel’s face confuses him. Why would they have to say goodbye?
There’s a lump in his throat the entire way home, as his brain tries to get a grasp of what’s happened. What if it has something to do with what Ava said when she barged in on them last night? Maybe Daniel is at a point where he doesn’t think he can ignore Todd’s obvious crush anymore.
Todd sticks his hands in his pockets and walks home as fast as he can from the subway stop. He wishes he had mittens. It wasn’t this cold yesterday, was it?
He pushes away any further thoughts of a possible goodbye as he bends over his books at home. He has two more finals and then he’s done. He can do this.
Chapter Nine
Evan calls him after his second-to-last final.
“Hello?”
“I have some good news,
” Evan says, and Todd is instantly lightheaded with relief.
“You do?”
“Called in a couple of favors and I have two people for you to start with. You need to call them yourself, though, and talk to them. They’re up for it. Maybe take a look at their work before you do—”
“Of course I will,” Todd interrupts. “I’m not gonna call them without knowing what it is that they do.”
“Of course not,” Evan says quickly. “I’ll text you their names in a bit.”
Todd chews his lip; his hand trembles where he’s clutching his phone. “Thank you, Evan. Really.”
“I’m just happy to help.” There’s a pause. “I might not get it, but I’ve understood now that it’s really important to you. I want to help where I can.”
“It means a lot to me.”
“I’m glad.” Evan clears his throat. “Call them as quickly as you can. I think they have a lot on their tables right now.”
Todd browses their websites that night. Renatta Fischer is a name he’s heard. She was a student at his college five or six years ago and has since then made a name for herself with thread and rope creations in vivid colors and patterns. Todd looks at picture after picture; his chest grows tight with the amount of work in her pieces and how they catch his interest even without seeing them in real life. The second person is Emery Musayev, whom Todd thinks he met once during his first year in college. Most of his work is digital, and, from what Todd can tell from his website, his pieces are massive. One piece covers an entire wall, and the patterns are hypnotizing.
He thinks they’ll fit, both with the gallery and each other, combining modern aspects of art and different mediums. Best of all, they’ve both already made names for themselves, and their work is frequently bought for quite a chunk of money. He’ll call first thing tomorrow.
He’s got his heart in his throat the next morning when he calls the first number Evan gave him.
“Fischer,” comes the answer on the fourth ring.
Todd’s voice gets stuck in his throat. “Hello, this is Todd Navarro. Um, I got your number from my brother—”
“—Evan, yes,” she fills in for him, and there’s instant recognition in her voice. Thank god. “How are you, Todd?”
“I’m good, thank you, how are you?”
“Splendid,” Renatta says. “Are you calling about your gallery?”
“Yes,” Todd says, relieved that Evan has at least told her that much. “I don’t know how much he explained to you, but we’re trying to combine exhibiting art from known artists with the work of college graduates to give them a step in the right direction after school.”
“From what I understand, you’re attending my old alma mater, right?”
“Yes.”
“I think this is a great idea, Todd. Normally I don’t stray from my idea of how to do my business, but this is for a good cause.”
“If everything goes as planned,” Todd says, almost tripping over his own words. “I think you’ll have a lot of media exposure as well.”
“And that is definitely worth a lot,” she says. “When do you want to get this show on the road?”
“When are you available?”
“I can start tomorrow, but it will take me a couple of weeks before I have my work set up, and I will need access to the gallery.”
Todd’s pulse picks up, but it’s not from nervousness or anxiety. “You got it.”
“Meet me there at four, and we’ll shake hands in person, okay?”
“I’ll be there. Thank you so much.”
“Pro tip for business in the future: Don’t sound like I’m saving your ass. Say it like you’re doing me a huge favor.”
“But you are saving my ass,” Todd whispers after she’s hung up. The high of having a successful call makes it a lot easier to call Emery.
Evan must have had pretty big favors to call in from them, because Emery is also happy to help out.
Mrs. Floral is at the front desk when he gets to work that afternoon. She looks up at him and smiles as though his success is obvious. “It seems to me like you have good news to share.”
“I have,” he says. “We have a donation that will keep the gallery afloat until we can pull this off, and we also have two pretty cool artists that are interested.”
Mrs. Floral’s face softens into a brilliant smile, and the next moment tears roll down her cheeks. “Oh, honey, that’s incredible.”
She hugs him.
“We’re going to make this happen,” he says, patting her back. “You know that, right?”
“I knew it right from the start, hon. You’ve got it in you. All you have to do is put your mind to it.”
Todd sucks in a breath, straightening where he stands, as if he’s just grown a good foot from her words alone.
“We have so much to do,” he tells her.
“And we will get right to it.”
He sends a group text to Mela, Daniel, and Jesse, letting them know that the plan is a go.
Jesse and Daniel are going to handle the contacts with the media, and Mela is going to get the word out through social media. Todd, well, his job is to get some of his friends from school to agree to exhibit.
That Thursday, Todd’s buzzing while he stands in front of the kids. They’ve lost their energy and their interest in the past few weeks, and he hasn’t pushed art knowledge on them, when all they’ve wanted is to spend time together.
“So, I have some good and some bad news,” he tells them, and Logan scrunches up his face as if he’s going to start crying any second now, and Todd hurries to add: “Mostly good!”
“Why do you hate us.” Najwa sighs and flops her head down on her arms on the table.
“Come on, guys, just listen to me for a second.” Todd crouches, resting his arms against the table too. “So, the good news is that the gallery isn’t going to close. We’re going to be here again next year, and Kids & Canvas is going to be here as well. Since we haven’t had time to put the application for next semester on the website, you can all continue next semester if you want. I’ll talk to your parents. But, we’re going to have to close for a few weeks now, so we can open the place again next year, with a bang.”
“With a bang?” Clara repeats and stares at him as if he’s lost his mind.
“A reopening. We’re going to make some changes to the rest of our work here, so we have to close up for a bit. But not forever and that’s the important part, right?”
“We can stay?” Jamal asks, disbelief written all over his face as he stares at Todd.
“You can stay,” Todd says, chest warming as Jamal bites the inside of his cheek and stares at the table.
They can stay, but so can he. Right here, where he belongs.
He bumps into Giselle after his last final. He’s put his anxiety aside and is handing out flyers Mela gave him. That he stood in the bathroom on the verge of throwing up for twenty minutes before he got himself together is a different topic altogether.
“Hi,” she says, stopping right in front of him. She’s paler than usual, and there are dark circles under her eyes. Todd gets the impression that it isn’t just because of finals.
“Hey,” he says and expects to feel smug, but he finds himself only being able to feel sorry for her. “Are you okay?”
“Not really,” she says and shrugs as if it isn’t a big deal, but she looks as though she’s about to break down in tears.
“What’s going on?” Todd follows her when she steps off the path.
“I made a huge mistake by turning my back on you and Mrs. Floral for Ms. Sosa.”
Huh. Todd has actually never heard Cruella’s last name until now. “You don’t have to feel bad about that. You were offered more money from her,” he says, and it’s easier now, when he knows that the gallery might actually make it, if all the pieces
fall into place before January thirty-first, when they are going to have a reopening of the gallery.
“I’m actually not getting any money at all,” Giselle sighs. “Apparently she doesn’t have any. It’s not just your gallery having a rough time, and when you and Mrs. Floral managed to make a one-eighty, Ms. Sosa has cut me off.”
“She cut you off?” Todd gapes. He’s dealt with Cruella before, but she’s mostly appeared to be an overly dramatic woman who likes to make life hard for others in ways that are annoying, but not actually destructive. This is extreme.
“I don’t know, she was pretty upset and said that I can’t count on ever putting my work up on her walls.” Giselle sighs. “I’m sorry. I just wanted you to know that I’m happy that things are going well for you. I’m sure it’s going to be a huge hit. I’ll definitely be there for the reopening. I’ve wanted to see both Fischer’s and Musayev’s work for years.”
Todd hesitates. A bunch of people have applied for their student’s spots, but he approached Giselle for a reason. She shouldn’t have let them down. But he remembers his mom’s words about holding a grudge: People are fighting battles you don’t know anything about.
“I think you should be there because your art is on the wall, not as a patron,” he says.
Giselle freezes. “What do you mean?”
“We all make mistakes, Giselle,” he says. “I didn’t approach you in the first place just because you’re a good person, but because you’re a great artist. I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I would pass up on having your art there for the reopening.”
She looks as though she’s going to protest, but then she closes her mouth. “This time, we’ll sign a contract, all right? That way you won’t have to worry.”
“I’m not worried,” he says, because he isn’t. This time around, he’s not dependent on her. He has something she wants, something to offer. It’s the most amazing feeling.
* * *
Evan comes home three days before Christmas. He stands in the hallway, looking as if he’s aged at least five years since Todd last saw him, and at the same time as if nothing’s changed. The strangest thing of all, he figures, is the fact that Evan is standing in the hallway at all. Todd hasn’t believed that he’d actually be here. Well, until now, when he’s standing right in front of him.
Brush Strokes Page 24
