by Eva Luxe
Us. It had been such a long time since there was an us. And until now, I didn’t think that I would ever want to be an us again.
Talia made me want to be an us. And knowing that that was what she wanted too put a huge smile on my face.
“I hope that this isn’t some good dream that I’m going to wake up from and find that I had just imagined it all,” she said.
“This is very real,” I told her, kissing her neck tenderly.
I didn’t think that she and I would get this close. I was convinced that, as young and sexy as she was, that she would find someone closer to her age, maybe an artist, to fall in love with.
But, the more time that we spent together, the more I saw her beautiful personality, the more I witnessed her talent with her art, and the more incredible sex that we had, I started to feel this pang of jealousy. I started to feel that I didn’t want it to be someone else that she fell for.
I wanted to be the one that would have her heart, who would love and and be loved by her. Even before I was ready to admit what was happening, I secretly started wishing that she would somehow come to love me.
And today, in the throes of passion, she almost admitted that that was how she felt.
I felt like I had won the lottery or something.
Chapter 12 – Talia
“Do you have everything packed that you need?” asked Blake, peeking his head around the corner of the room.
“Yes,” I said, smiling.
I had finally finished all of my pieces and was going to be personally delivering them to Harvey’s gallery. At first, I was going to just have them shipped, but I wanted to see the look on his face as he looked over each piece to get a feel for what he thought of them before the showcase started. Plus, Harvey had been calling me a lot, eager to see what I had been working on.
“Are you sure that you will be ready?” he asked me over and over again.
“Yes, Harvey,” I would say, mildly irritated that he would keep asking me the same question, but somehow acted like the answer that I gave him was not the one that he was looking for.
In our last conversation, I told him that I would be coming back into town for a bit and would love to get together with him so that he could see the pieces that I had already done.
“Oh yeah, that sounds great!” he said, excitedly. “Just let me know when you get back into town. Don’t worry about making an appointment. I’ll make myself available to you whenever you get here. I am really excited about seeing what it is that you are working on.”
I told Blake about my plan to fly back into town and I could see that he was visibly upset. He didn’t even have to say it, but I could tell that he was thinking about the last time I had asked about flying back into town, when I was convinced that leaving the island was the only possible way to move forward. Weeks had passed since that had happened, but I knew that my asking to be flown back into town likely brought up those same feelings.
“How long will you be gone?” he asked, his eyebrows frowning up as he thought about my request.
“Not very long,” I tried to say as nonchalantly as possible. “I really just want to take the paintings over to the gallery so that Harvey can see that I hadn’t just been partying or on vacation not focusing. I think that’s what he thinks, though.”
“Okay, I understand. You have been working really hard on your art and I know how important that this is is to you. How would you feel about me joining you? I’m not trying to impose or anything, but I would be happy to join you if you’re up to having company.”
I thought about it for a minute and decided that that might not be such a bad idea. I loved being around Blake and figured that even being gone for a little while would make me miss his terribly.
“That would be wonderful,” I told him.
“Great! I’ll put the plans together and we’ll leave as soon as the plane gets here. Go ahead and pack.”
So, that’s exactly what I did.
Considering I didn’t bring very many belongings in the first place, it didn’t take long for me to get packed up at all. My paintings were actually what took the longest to pack.
About thirty minutes later, I could hear the sound of the plane coming in.
“It’s here,” yelled Blake from somewhere in the house. “Let’s head outside. I’ll get all of your things for you.”
I grabbed my bag and headed toward the door.
Once the plane landed and the engine turned off, the door opened and the pilot came walking down the small staircase.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he said, pulling Blake into a manly embrace. The two joked and laughed like two old friends seeing each other for the first time after many years.
“You aren’t so bad yourself, old friend,” said Blake. “Hey, can you do me a favor? Talia has a bunch of paintings sitting in the foyer that need to come on the plane. Could you give me a hand with them so that we can get this show on the road.”
“Sure,” he said. He turned toward me and said that I could make myself comfortable on the plane. I nodded and walked inside of the plane. It was just as small as I had remembered. I found a seat with a window facing the house direction of the house. After a few moments, I saw the two of them emerging with wrapped picture frames in their hands. They carried them to the plane and loaded them into the tiny cargo space. I didn’t even know a plane this small had a cargo space. But, it was a good thing because then I could make sure that I could get my paintings back to the gallery in one piece.
I felt so accomplished having finished my pieces early and now being able to take them to be seen my Harvey. I had been honored that he even asked me to be a part of his showcase and now I was proving to myself and everyone else that I was up for the challenge.
I had finished the job and I felt good about the work that I had done. I only hoped that Harvey would feel the same way.
I knew that this showcase could be the beginning of some major opportunities for my art.
Everything was finally falling into place the way that it was supposed to be.
“It looks like that’s everything,” said Blake, slamming the door of the plane shut after himself.
“Alright, get yourself settled in and we will be taking off very shortly.”
The pilot disappeared into the cockpit. After a few minutes, I heard the engine roar to life and the plane started to inch its way down the piece of grass that doubled as a landing field. A few minutes after that, the nose of the plane was pointed toward the sky and we were being lifted off of the ground and soaring in the air.
“I expect that this should be an uneventful flight,” came the pilot’s voice over the speaker. “We should be reaching our destination in about an hour.”
“Wine?” asked Blake, undoing his seatbelt and moving toward the back of the plane where there was a refrigerator.
“Yes, please,” I said politely. Blake grabbed two glasses and poured generous glasses of red wine.
“Here’s to a job well done,” he said, lifting his glass in my direction.
“Hear, hear,” I said, lifting mine. I took a long sip of wine. It sent a chill through my body. The wine was good, just like every other part of staying on the island. We sat quietly sipping wine and holding hands through the flight. We watched as the sun slipped over the horizon and day quickly turned to night. It was almost like we were leaving a dream world and being transported into the real world via airplane. I didn’t mind, though, because Blake was with me. We were together. So, it felt like we were just on another adventure like we had been since we met.
I couldn’t wait for Allison to meet him. She had asked me so many questions, but I almost felt like I couldn’t really do him justice trying to describe him over the phone. I knew that once she had a chance to meet him, she could see why I was falling for him so hard.
And I was falling for him. Hard. I didn’t want to admit it to him yet. I almost had while making love to him one night. I had to bite my tongue to
keep the words from tumbling from my mouth.
I don’t know why I was so anxious about telling him that I loved him. I was almost sure that he felt the same way.
Almost.
I couldn’t be sure until I said the words and he either said them back or didn’t.
I was sure that he would say them back if I did.
But, what if he didn’t?
I tried to put those thoughts as far out of my mind as possible.
“We are now approaching our destination,” said the pilot, his voice cracking over the loud speaker.
“Wow, that was fast,” I said.
“Yeah, we actually aren’t too far from civilization,” said Blake. “I wanted to be close enough that I could come back for a short trip from time to time if I wanted to, but far enough out that you didn’t get any unexpected visitors ever.”
I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. I went through spells of wanting to be left completely alone myself. The only difference was that I didn’t have an island of my own that I could escape to.
We landed in the same airfield where we had taken off the day that I had left to go stay on the island. It looked a little different because it was dark, the lights everywhere made it so that I could see everything. There were people walking around a hangar nearby and another small plane much like the one that we were in was taking off nearby.
The plane engine shut off and the pilot appeared.
“Your limo should be pulling up shortly, sir,” he said, opening the door of the plane and getting off.
“Let’s go,” said Blake, extending his arm to me so that I could join him. We walked off the plane together. I felt like I was accompanying the president as first lady. It was all very magical.
When the limo pulled up, Blake walked over to it and opened the door.
“Wait! What about the rest of my things? My paintings?” I asked, confused.
“Don’t worry about those,” said Blake. “I’ve already arranged for them to be delivered to the gallery. Let’s go ahead and get ourselves situated at the hotel so that we can get settled in.”
I hadn’t even thought that far ahead, to where I would be staying. I had forgotten that before leaving I had given up my apartment, so it’s not like I could have gone there. And considering the fact that I was with Blake, a man that my family knew nothing about and, honestly, I wanted to keep it that way for a while, I knew that going home to stay with my family really wasn’t an inviting option.
So, going to a hotel seemed perfect.
We pulled up to the most regal looking hotel that I had ever seen. There were doormen, valets, and all sorts of people to wait on us hand and foot. The beautiful chandalier in the foyer gave it a fancy look. It gave me the feeling of royalty even more than I was already feeling it.
“Maybe you’ll have time for a light dinner before heading off to the gallery?” asked Blake, looking at me questioningly.
“I really want to get this meeting over with so that we can get back,” I said. I didn’t want any more time to go by and risk Harvey thinking that I was blowing him off. I already had a feeling that that was how he would be feeling, especially when he saw that my paintings were being dropped off and I wasn’t the one bringing them like we had discussed.
I called Harvey and told him that I had just gotten into town and asked if we could meet for drinks in an hour. He said okay and quickly hung up. I thought that I had heard something in his voice that I didn’t quite expect. Irritation? Disappointment? Whatever it was, it only made me more eager to meet with him to find out exactly what he thought. I just hoped that he hadn’t seen my work and feel like he had made a big mistake in deciding to let me be a part of the showcase.
We got the room. I made a beeline for the bathroom. I splashed some cold water on my face to try perking up. I found a comfortable dress to change into. I didn’t even bother showering. I just threw it on, put on a few sprays of perfume, told Blake that I would be back later, and raced out the door. Harvey and I were going to be meeting at a bar that was about a block away from the gallery.
By the time that I got there, he was already there and had ordered two cocktails, one for me and one for him. He waved when he saw me, but I noticed that he didn’t smile at all the way that he normally did when I saw him.
“Hey, Harv! How’s it going?” I asked, excited to see him.
“Peachy,” he said, stirring his cocktail with the toothpick that was in it.
“Okay,” I said. “Did you get a chance to look at my pieces?”
I said that I was going to let him bring it up, but the way that he was acting, all cool and distant, had me a little worried.
“Oh, the pieces are fine,” he said. “Actually, they’re pretty good.”
I felt relief wash over me. I reached over and grabbed my drink, sipping it graciously.
“I’m glad that you like them. I spent a lot of time working on them and wanted to make sure that they were right.”
“Yeah, well, it seems like art hasn’t been the only business that you’ve been working on these days.”
I was really starting to get confused by the aloof way that Harvey was talking. I had never seen him act like this.
“Is there something that you need to tell me?”
Harvey rolled his eyes.
“Actually, there is. There’s no sense in beating around the bush. Talia, I am very disappointed in you. I really thought that you were a different type of girl than most of these artist types and I treated you with nothing but respect since the moment that we met, even if you were naked when we met. I guess that should have been a sign.”
I was quickly going from being confused to being offended.
“What are you getting at?”
“Allison told everyone about your little business arrangement, how you’re basically selling your body to have a place to paint. I didn’t really want to believe it, but she insisted, even showed me the text messages between you guys to prove it. And I have to say that I thought that you were better than that.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“I don’t believe that Allison would do that. She’s my friend.”
“Oh, she didn’t really mean to. It was an accident. We were all out drinking and she had way too much to drink and one thing led to another. We ended up going back to my place and she was half asleep and drunk as she told me.”
That made more sense. Allison wasn’t much of a drinker. So, when she did drink, she really wasn’t herself. I would have to talk to her about this, though.
“It’s not at all what you think.”
His mean laughter caught me off guard.
“That’s what all you type of girls say when you’ve been caught. And it’s almost always exactly what I think. It’s me that’s the stupid one. Here I am, doing things the hard way, trying to be respectful, hoping that I can somehow seduce you into sleeping with me. Hell, that was the real reason why I offered you a spot in the showcase. Why else would I want a no name artist that I had never even heard of to be a part of a showcase? If I’d known that all I had to do was come with the right dollar amount, I’d have just done that and not even mentioned the showcase.”
I had this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I felt so stupid, so used. I honestly thought that Harvey’s interest in me was purely professional, that he had liked my work and saw potential in me. I had taken him seriously because I thought that he was taking me seriously. It was so disappointing to find out that it had all been a big game to him, some strange way of flirting that somehow involved my art work.
“Again, I’m sorry that there seems to be some sort of misunderstanding, but I thank you for your time.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he said, curtly. “I haven’t fucked you yet. But, I’m sure my money is just as green as the guy who’s paying you to fuck him. So, what will it be? How big of a check do I have to stroke to get you to sleep with me? I can’t imagin
e that it would be too much.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his checkbook and waited for me to say a figure. I was so blown away, so disgusted, that I couldn’t even speak.
He sat there, his pen at the ready, waiting for me to say some number that he could write down on the check.
I couldn’t believe that this was happening. I felt like I had entered some sort of alternate reality, some dream that I wanted out of immediately. I tried to swallow, but my tongue felt like sandpaper in my mouth. I felt like the walls were closing in on me.
When he saw that I wasn’t speaking, just staring off into the distance, blinking like a robot that was having some sort of electrical malfunction, he snapped his checkbook closed and moved closer to me. I could smell liquor on his breath. It was so strong, the smell burned my nose. I turned away and coughed, trying to getting the smell out of my nose.
“I know you like me. I knew that from the moment that we met. So, what’s the deal? You should be jumping at the chance to sleep with me. I’m giving you the chance of a lifetime here. Oh, wait. Maybe not the chance of a lifetime for you, but A chance.”
He threw his head back and laughed like an evil villain in a bad movie. I know that Harvey and I weren’t the best of friends, but I hoped that there was a level of respect that we had for each other. I knew that I had respected him. I guess that I assumed, wrongly, that he respected me. This whole display of his was showing me just how wrong that I had been. And the respect that I had for him was slowly dwindling.
Maybe he was drunk, I thought. Some people just aren’t good at holding their liquor and get out of hand when they drink too much. Maybe the stress of the upcoming showcase was getting to him and he was having a hard time holding it together.
“Hey, Harvey, I think that you’ve had too much to drink,” I said, getting up from the table. “Why don’t you go ahead and get some sleep and let’s talk about things in the morning when you are in your right mind.”
