The Masterpiece (Work of Art #3)

by Ruth Clampett

  By the time the director calls the final cut, I have no idea if they got anything usable. My gut tells me we got some unusual stuff, but the expression on the director’s face is hard to read.

  “Ava, I can’t believe you got Andrea to try on that wig,” Nick says, when I join them after we wrap.

  “Me neither. She was so weird with me when we were first introduced. I thought this was hopeless. It’s sort of my own little miracle that I turned it around so she was actually having fun.”

  “Miracle is right,” Travis says with a tight smile. “I didn’t think it was possible to get anything close to what you got with Andrea.”

  I fold my arms over my chest. “Thus confirming my suspicion. I was set up to fail today. Care to explain why?”

  “Au contraire, Ava. Today was a challenge, yes, but also an opportunity—one you’ve succeeded at rather brilliantly. I think we should go for a drink and celebrate.”

  I look at Nick and can’t read his curious expression.

  “Actually, I have an afternoon flight, Travis. I should be leaving for the airport shortly.”

  He pulls out his phone. “I’ll have your flight pushed back.”

  I step closer. “I have an obligation in L.A. later tonight, so I need to take this flight. We’ll have to make plans for another time. Can I take a rain check?”

  He doesn’t look pleased, but he nods before giving me a charming smile. “Next time, I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Something tells me he isn’t joking.

  We say our good-byes before I meet my driver taking me to JFK. I call Max from the airport and tell him about the shoot before I board the plane, and he sounds genuinely relieved that I got through it and landed on my feet, considering the challenges. He’s heading to the gallery event, but we agree that I will call again when I’m on my way to my apartment. I’m too wired from the tense day to sleep on the plane, and I relive the events over and over in my head.

  I arrive in L.A. around eight thirty that evening and stumble out of the plane toward the baggage claim. When the other passengers and I finally get to the area for pick-up, I search for my name on the little signs held up by the chauffeurs. Takamoto, Goldstein, Anders, and then my eye catches what I’m looking for, but something has been added. The sign says, I ♥ Ava Jacobs. My heart skips when I see Max grinning ear to ear as he waves the sign. Standing behind him is a disgruntled driver with his arms crossed.

  I run to him and practically land in his arms. Our kiss is passionate, even by airport reunion standards, and the driver clears his throat uncomfortably.

  “Ava, you’re going to have to tell your driver that I’m authorized to take you home. He wouldn’t believe me. I practically had to wrestle the sign out of his hands.”

  I laugh happily. “What a great surprise, Max. But I thought you would still be at your show.”

  “Why would I linger at a show when my love is on her way back to me?”

  I kiss him again. “I’m so glad you came to get me. And the sign…well, that was the sweetest welcome ever.”

  I turn back to the driver. “Yes, thank you, but my boyfriend will take me home.”

  I sign his receipt form and he leaves us without another word.

  I hold Max’s hand and look out the window in a daze as we drive along Pacific Coast Highway toward his home. The moon is high in the sky, and its silver light shimmering across the ocean enchants me. The shocking difference between a day walking the crowded streets of Manhattan to gliding past the quiet empty beach in Malibu is startling and profound. My breath suddenly catches in my throat as it all hits me. Can I find a balance between so many different worlds? Can I hold these newfound gifts in my hands without my fingers sagging under their delicate weight?

  I wonder if my silence and twirling mind spook Max, so I stroke his hand reassuringly. Because I’m beyond exhausted when we step in the house, he seems unsure of what to say or do. He decides to feed me, and he heats up the leftover pasta from his dinner and pours me a glass of Pinot Noir. We sit at the kitchen island, and he watches me eat as if each bite is his own. I lick my lips and watch him watch me, too exhausted to make much conversation.

  After dinner, I shower and crawl into bed, still damp and disoriented. He pulls me into his arms and rubs my back gently. I’m so in love and happy to be back home with him, and I tell him that in quiet mumbles. I have a vague memory of my knee hitched up against his erection, but sleep takes me hard.

  The next morning dawns in a gray quiet light, and I lift my head and see a thick blanket of fog draped across the Malibu horizon. I settle back into the bed and watch Max as his chest rises and falls with each breath.

  I observe him for a long while and become overwhelmed with the desire to see more of him. I slide the sheet off, excruciatingly slowly, to reveal his incredible body. His thighs…God, I love his strong thighs and the way they’re slightly parted, leading my view to his beautiful ass. My insides curl with desire as I skim my hand down his back.

  I’m glad to be naked and warm, my arousal spreading through me. I want him so much that it takes everything not to shake him awake and seduce him.

  I quietly lift myself up to my knees so I can study him from another angle. I gently push his waves of hair off his forehead.

  Inexplicably, tears fill my eyes and I still for a moment. I love this man, and when we’re joined together, all I know in life is the depth of my passion. I kiss his neck, his taste and the Max smell of musk, paint, and salt air arousing me further. He stirs out of the deepest sleep, and as I kiss his jaw, his eyes slowly open.

  “I thought I was dreaming and didn’t want to wake up. What are you doing to me, Angel?” he says in his morning voice, as he rolls over to his back.

  “Good morning, handsome. Sorry to wake you, but I woke up and you’re naked and all…”

  “It’s okay,” he says, smiling lazily as he reaches for me. “I take it you missed me.”

  “You have no idea,” I say, as I straddle him, resting lightly on his thighs.

  There’s something so intoxicating about how he makes me feel as he looks at me. His eyes are wide now and alert to my movements. He skims his fingers up my sides and then across my breasts, his thumbs circling my nipples.

  “Max, I want you so much,” I whisper, as I gently run my fingers up and down his length.

  His face colors and his jaw flexes as he watches me touch him. He’s completely hard now, and my fingers tighten as I stroke him.

  His hands slide back to my hips and he pulls me closer so I can lift up and sink down on him.

  I love it when he’s all the way inside me. His eyes close and his head tips back before he lazily begins to rock his hips.

  We move slowly in the morning light with the sound and rhythm of our breath and the waves crashing just beyond.

  I gaze at him as the intensity builds. His eyes are stormy as his body tenses.

  “Max,” I whisper.

  He takes a sharp breath as he pulls me to him. “I’ve got you, Ava.”

  His words spark a fuse, and I tremble with exquisite pleasure as he watches me. Every hard thrust is the very definition of masculine energy as he brings me to climax and soon after joins me with a quiet roar.

  We both settle and try to catch our breath. I ease off of him and curl into his side.

  “Round one,” he says, as he nuzzles and kisses me.

  “Yeah, wait until we have our coffee. I’m already imagining round two, but I’ll definitely need breakfast first.” I settle back into the sheets and we lie quietly, listening to the waves break along the shore.

  My limbs are loose and happy and my head as clear as the early morning beach. Max’s eyes are deep in concentration.

  “I can hear your wheels turning. What are you thinking about?” I trace circles lightly with my fingertips across his chest.

  “Your birthday.” He grins and pulls me closer.

  “Oh, it’s next Saturday, isn’t it? Can we do something special
?” I’m like a little girl, complete with party hat and balloon.

  “It’s already planned.”

  I grin widely. “Really? What are we going to do?”

  “I’m not telling. It’s a surprise. But when you come to spend the night Friday, bring your swimsuit and something nice to wear.”

  “Oh, I love birthday surprises!”

  He kisses me on the forehead. “I’m glad, because this one’s special.”

  Chapter Three / The Luckiest Girl in the World

  It takes a long time to become young.

  ~Pablo Picasso

  A few days later, the UPS driver delivers a package at our door just as I get home from work. Could this be what I’ve been waiting for? I carry the box inside, carefully open it, and lift the heavy book out of the wrapping. As soon as I see the title, I let out a cry of joy.

  My heart pounds as I slowly skim my fingers across the glossy paper of the book jacket. I pause over Max’s embossed name before trailing my fingers along the edges of his painting featured on the cover. I want to lift our book over my head and run through the streets, jumping for joy.

  I can’t believe I did this! I wrote a book, and the feeling of holding the first gorgeous galley proof in my hands is extraordinary. I grin like an idiot and blink away a tear when I see my name boldly printed as the writer. Writer! How I wish my parents could see it. They’d be so proud.

  I take a deep breath as I think of my journey writing Unspoken Truths…from Jonathan hiring me to my upcoming trip to Barcelona with Max to promote the finished work. Although the writing took only a few months, it’s influenced every part of my life and changed the course of my future.

  I’ve always loved art books, and as I turn each page, I vividly remember the moment I first fell in love with contemporary art. My fifth grade class went on a field trip to a local museum featuring a traveling modern art show from New York. I’d never seen anything like the Rothko, Pollock, and Kandinsky paintings on display. Wide-eyed, I was overcome by the emotions the paintings evoked in me. It made all the other landscapes and portraits I’d seen framed as art look so boring in comparison.

  The docent who was walking us through the exhibit must have seen the spark in my eyes, because she focused her lecture on me as we both tried to ignore the stupid comments of classmates. If I had to hear Billy Woodruff pronounce loudly “I could do that” one more time, I thought I’d have to deck him.

  I look back down at the Unspoken Truths galley and pick it up, hugging it tightly to my chest. Who would have thought that the young girl who shyly asked the docent that day how she could learn more about the art and the artists would one day end up holding a book she wrote? And to top it off, a book about an artist who loves her.

  I carefully position the book next to my angel painting on the mantle and step back for another moment to take it in before letting out a happy sigh.

  “Okay, did you get everything?” he asks, as he loads our bags into the Porsche.

  “I think so: swimsuit, nicer outfit, clothes for tomorrow, toiletries, and PJs.”

  “Who said anything about PJs? I want you naked in my bed.”

  “I know. I was just testing you.”

  He swats my butt lightly and then opens the door. I don’t stop my skirt from hiking all the way up as I slide into the car, and he watches with an arched brow and cocky grin.

  “So, where are we going?”

  “You’ll see soon enough.”

  Less than thirty minutes later, he turns off Sunset Boulevard and winds through a wooded area before finally turning into the driveway for the Hotel Bel-Air.

  “We’re staying here?” I’m so surprised my mouth falls open.

  “Yeah, I wanted to take you away for the weekend, but when I found out I had to do that interview tomorrow, this seemed like the next best idea.”

  “Next best?” I ask, laughing. “Hardly…I’ve always wanted to stay here. It’s so beautiful.”

  The valet takes our car, and we walk over a bridge with a stream trickling below. Just beyond is a little lake with a bevy of swans. It’s hard to believe this fairytale land is in L.A.

  After we check in, we’re led to our gorgeous room, which has a large sitting area. Max looks at his watch after he sets the bags down.

  “Are you hungry? We have reservations in a few minutes. I can’t believe it’s almost two o’clock.”

  “Well, you kept distracting me this morning,” I say with a playful huff.

  “Why do I always get blamed for the sex? You wanted to be distracted.”

  “That I did.”

  “Well, hang up your things, beautiful, and we’ll go eat.”

  As I take out my clothes, he removes a gift bag and card from his satchel before taking my hand and leading me out to the dining patio.

  “Caswell,” he says to the maître d’. “Two for tea.”

  “Are we having high tea?”

  He smiles and nods.

  We slide into a booth cocooned in an alcove that looks out on the lake with the swans. The patio is draped with fuchsia bougainvillea, and the tender petals drop around us like summer snow. The seating is layered with richly upholstered down pillows, and I fight the urge to lie across them. This is decadence defined.

  We’re served champagne as we look at the tea menu and make our choices. The waiter takes our order and brings over the tiered tray of sandwiches, petit fours and scones. I think back to our fancy high tea at the St. Regis in New York, right after we first met. This tea is the equivalent in terms of opulence, but California style.

  “Do you remember when you first knew you loved me?” Our hands are wound together.

  “The moment we met.” He grins mischievously.

  “Not lust, love.”

  He thinks about it for a minute. “It’s not going to be what you expect.”

  “And what do you think I expect?”

  “When you jumped into my arms when we were bowling, or the day at Huntington Gardens.”

  “Well, for your information, I would’ve never guessed something that early in our complicated relationship. I was thinking after you read the book in Ojai that night on Ann’s couch.”

  “Ojai? You are way off. You’re so wrong,” he says, teasing me. “I fell in love with you way before that. It was that night you showed up at my studio, unannounced, and yelled at me for being such an asshole.”

  “Oh, when I was warning you about the MOMA thing? You’ve got to be kidding. That’s messed up! You are kidding, right?”

  “No, I’m completely serious. When you walked out that night after nailing my ass to the wall, I felt as if I’d been struck by lightning. No one had ever cared about me enough to risk everything by standing up to me. I knew you were the girl who would own my heart. I lay awake all night plotting how I could get you to want me too. Unfortunately, all my attempts were misguided, and I only made things worse for myself.”

  “Now you’re wrong. Don’t underestimate what the flowers and painting did to me. You are stealthy at the art of romance.”

  He laughs. “Will you make sure it says that on my headstone in sixty years? ‘He was one hell of a romancer.’”

  “Okay, as long as mine is next to yours and says, ‘She loved being romanced.’”

  About an hour and many conversations later, while amped up on tea and the sugary pastries, Max opens the gift bag and removes two long, narrow boxes, one about the size of a woman’s wallet and the other much smaller. He then sets a card in front of me.

  “I want to give you your presents now. I can’t wait any longer,” he says quietly with a sweet smile.

  I remove the card from the envelope and swoon as I run my finger over the front of the handmade picture. The image was inspired by his crayon drawing of us on the restaurant craft paper in Santa Fe. But this version is intricately hand painted.

  “So perfect,” I sigh, as I squeeze his hand and slowly open the card.

  My beautiful Ava,

  You are my
heart, my fire, my best friend, my love…

  Happy birthday, Angel.

  Love,

  Max

  My eyes fill with tears, and I quickly brush them away. “This is all the gift I need,” I whisper and kiss him softly.

  “Ha!” He scoffs and sets the smaller of the two gift boxes in front of me.

  I carefully pull on the ends of the satin ribbon. The box is wrapped in a sheet of rice paper with delicate swirls of color. I lift the lid and find a long velvet box inside.

  I snap open the lid to discover a delicate silver chain with three charms. I smile and he grins like a kid.

  He takes it from me. “Here, let me show you.” He pulls the necklace out of the box and holds it up to the light. “See, this is about us.”

  He holds the first charm closer, and I marvel at the silver artist’s palette with a tiny paintbrush lying across its face. Instead of color where the spots of paint should be, there are different colored jewels set into the silver. It’s exquisite.

  “I love it!” I say, as I run my fingertip over its surface.

  Next he holds up a miniature silver book. I squint and read the tiny title, Unspoken Truths. He snaps the lid open and I gasp. In tiny letters it says by Ava Jacobs.

  “Oh, Max, this is unbelievable. Where did you get this made?”

  “From the jeweler my dad always uses. He’s amazing.” He turns his focus back to the necklace.

  There is one charm left, hanging between the palette and book, and it’s the one he seems most delighted by. He gently holds it between his fingers. “And this is you and me…the infinity symbol, because we will go on and on. See our names are engraved here…one on each loop. The diamond in the center represents us together because together we are so much more than when we are apart.”

  He opens the delicate clasp and wraps the fine chain around my neck until he catches the loop and closes it.

  I run my fingers down the necklace, admiring all the love and effort he put into my special gift. I frame his face with my hands. “This is, by far, the most wonderful and thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me, Max.”