by Eva Luxe
“Okay,” she said, sounding more hopeful.
We said our goodbyes and hung up the phone.
Blake sat in an armchair in the living area of the suite, reading the newspaper. He still had that secret smile plastered across his face.
“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on with my art?”
He folded the newspaper carefully and set it down on the coffee table in front of him.
“Sure. I had a friend of mine go over and pick up the pieces and put them in a storage unit that I got specifically for your art. You can keep it for as long as you need to.”
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
Even though I wouldn’t be using the pieces in Harvey’s showcase, I really had put a lot of heart and soul into making those pieces. I was glad that I would at least have them, if only for me to look at. It meant a lot to me that Blake took the initiative to make sure that my art would be kept safe.
“It’s not so amazing. You’re an amazing artist and just an amazing person in general, so there wasn’t much to think about.”
A look came over Blake’s face and it made me stop and think about things.
“Did-did anything happen with Harvey?” I asked, wringing my hands. I really didn’t want there to be any type of conflict with Harvey. I just wanted to forget all about him.
“No, he wasn’t around,” said Blake. I could see his jaw clenching and unclenching. Even though I hadn’t wanted him to lash out, it felt nice to know that he cared so much.
“Good,” I said.
Just then, I got an alert on my phone from Allison. She said that Linda wanted to meet for lunch. I looked at the time and saw that it was almost eleven o’clock. I wouldn’t have much time to get ready. I told her that I would meet with them and ran off in the direction of the bathroom to start getting ready.
“Where are you off to?” asked Blake, curiously.
“Allison has a friend who is doing an art show and she is looking for artists, so I’m going to meet with her just to see what it’s all about.”
“That sounds promising,” he said, getting up from the chair. He walked over to where he jacket was hanging up in the closet by the door. He took out a key from his pocket and pressed it into my hand, telling me that it was the key to the storage unit where my art was being stored.
“I don’t think that I’ll be needing it today,” I told him. “We’re just meeting for lunch so that we can meet and I can hear more about what she’s working on.”
“Either way, I just want you to have it and be able to access it. With your talent, I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted to buy all of them right on the spot. So, it’s good to be prepared.”
I blinked a few times. I was taken back by his belief in me.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, turning the key over in my hand. I couldn’t remember the last time that someone had genuinely complimented my art work. I guess I could say that he had some vested interest, but not really. I would keep sleeping with him and being around him whether he was into my art or not. The fact that he made such a big deal about my art definitely meant a lot.
We planned to meet at an upscale Mexican restaurant. The décor was very chic and classy. The lighting was soft and muted and the walls were covered in a soft pink that almost looked red. It was a very relaxing atmosphere with a live piano player playing soft romantic music in front of a beautiful waterfall. I arrived a little bit early and sat down to order a drink. I hadn’t had a chance to peruse the menu for very long before I could hear Allison’s jarring laughter wafting in through the doorway. She was accompanied by a robust woman with curly blonde hair and the biggest teeth that I had ever seen. And she smiled a lot, so it was hard to miss them. Once Allison spotted me, they walked over to the table where I was sitting.
“Hey, Talia! I’m so glad that you could meet with us on such short notice. Talia, Linda. Linda, Talia.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Linda, extending her hand and shaking my hand firmly.
“Nice to meet you, too,” I said, smiling back. Both of them sat at the table across from me.
“I am absolutely famished,” sighed Linda, picking up a menu that had been sitting on the table and perusing it.
“Oh my goodness! Me, too! I honestly would be okay if I ordered one of everything on the menu. I would probably still be hungry.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes while we all decided on what we would eat. I ordered something light, a couple of cheese quesadillas do go along with a Corona. Both of them ordered platters of enchiladas, tostadas, tacos, rice, and beans. They joined me in ordering Coronas, too.
After ordering and handing the menus to the server, Linda clasped both hands together and looked at me.
“Well, Allison here tells me that you are the lady to know when it comes to finding artists who can participate in the showcase that I am putting together. Is that true?”
I smiled sheepishly.
“I’m not sure if I’m an artist to know, but I am definitely very passionate and serious about the art that I create.”
Linda nodded as if she were processing what I was saying.
“Do you have any pieces that I can take a look at?”
I tried to think quickly.
“Yeah, I took a few pictures of some of my pieces,” I said, pulling out my cellphone and scrolling through my gallery. I found a picture of one of the full size canvases and showed it to her. She was wearing glasses, so she took them off so that she could get a better view. She stared at the screen for a few moments. I looked over at Allison as if asking her if things were going well. She just looked back and me and shrugged silently. Linda didn’t really give an indication either way about whether she liked the piece or not.
“You know, it’s really hard to get a feel for the piece on the phone like this,” she finally said after a while. “Is there any way that I can take a look at some of your pieces in person?”
“She has a bunch of her pieces in storage,” blurted out Allison before I had a chance to say anything.
“Actually, yes, I have a storage unit right around the corner from here. I’d love to take you to see it.”
Love was really not the word that I was looking for, but I wasn’t quite sure what else to say. I was actually really nervous to show her my pieces. I didn’t know how things would go with me standing there in the storage space, face-to-face with the very pieces that had been discarded by Harvey, thrown into the alley behind the gallery like yesterday’s garbage. I wasn’t quite sure what would happen once I showed her my art. Maybe she would laugh at them or turn her nose up in disgust, cursing Allison for wasting her time on a no-talent, no-name artist.
Either way, Allison had already let the cat out of the back about the storage unit. Besides, it was only a few minutes away walking, so I really didn’t have a whole lot to lose.
“Why don’t we finish eating our lunch and we’ll head on over,” I said.
“More like roll on over,” said Allison, who had already eaten a good amount of her dinner and was starting to get full. The food smelled and tasted wonderful. It had been a long time since I had eaten authentic Mexican food. And since I would be going back to the island soon, I didn’t know when I would be eating it again. So, I wanted to savor every bite.
When we had finished, we paid our bill and left.
“It’s such a beautiful and sunny day,” remarked Linda. “It’s almost as if the gods are supporting this little walk of ours.”
I smiled at the thought of things going so well that she looked at it as if there were some sort of divine intervention happening. I only hoped that she still felt that way once we were standing inside of the storage unit.
When we got to the storage facility, I went to the front desk, showed my ID, and the attendant walked me to where my art was stored.
“Here it is,” he said. “It feels like I was just helping your husband load everything into this space just a little bit ago. Let me know if you need anything else.”
The attendant, an overweight man with sandy blonde hair and thick glasses shuffled off, his head down, back in the direction in which he came.
“The moment of truth,” said Linda, waiting eagerly for me to open the door. After fumbling with the key for a few minutes, I finally got the door open. It slid up much like a garage door.
My pieces were still sitting in the crate that they had been when we brought them. I took a deep breath and opened it.
The first picture that I pulled out was the portrait that I had painted of Blake. When Linda saw it, she gasped.
“The detail! The color! Wow! Allison, you were right! Your friend has real talent!” Linda ran her hand along the frame, careful not to touch the canvas itself. I just stood there silently, taking out one piece at a time. She marveled at each one of them, telling me what she liked about each piece. By the time that I had taken out the fourth piece, she waved her hands, motioning for me not to take out another piece.
“I’ve seen enough,” she said. She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse and handed it to me.
“What’s this?” I asked, confused.
“This is a contract for you to have your pieces displayed as part of my showcase that I will be doing in six weeks. Your pieces are exactly what I have been looking for and will be a huge hit. Will you please come and be a featured artist at this event?”
Her eyes were pleading with me. She thrust a pen in my direction and waited, her lips pressed together. I was blown away with how much she liked my work. And I knew that it was genuine. She had nothing to gain by being nice to me and asking me to be a part of her showcase.
“Artists have been begging to be a part of Linda’s showcase,” said Allison. “She literally turned away three artists while we were on our way to lunch. This is a huge deal, Talia.”
“Wow, I am so honored that you think so much of me and my work. I’ll do it,” I said.
“Yes!” yelled Linda, pumping her fists in the air. “This is going to be amazing!”
She pulled out her cellphone and started making phone calls to put things in place. I quickly signed my name on the dotted line of the contract and handed it back to her.
It was official. My art pieces were going to be displayed in a showcase after all.
I all but ran back to the hotel suite, excited to tell Blake the good news.
When I walked in, he could see the excitement on my face and was eager for me to talk.
“Well?” he asked, waving his hands.
“She signed me to be a part of her showcase,” I yelled, jumping around. Blake laughed.
“I knew that she would love your work. I told you that it was amazing.”
I beamed for the first time in a long time. I was good. I could own that now. And once I had officially done the showcase, it would be all the more true.
I was an artist and I was damn good.
I ran over to Blake and threw my arms around his neck.
“Thank you so much for all of your support,” I said, landing a juicy kiss on his lips. He kissed me back, lingering for a few moments.
We looked at each other longingly.
“Well, I guess there’s only one thing left to do,” he said, smiling that secret smile of his.
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“Celebrate,” he said, walking over to a corner of the room where a bottle of champagne had been chilling in a bucket of ice.
“Wow, it looks like you came prepared,” I said.
“I haven’t ‘cum’ yet, but I definitely plan on it. After I’ve made you cum a few times.”
He poured two glasses of champagne, not taking his eyes off of me. He brought the glasses to the side table by the bed and motioned for me to join him on the bed. I did. He passed a glass of champagne in my direction and raised his own.
“Here’s to things turning out better than we could have ever imagined,” he said.
“I’ll definitely toast to that,” I said, raising my glass and then taking a sip of it. The bubbles tickled my nose and made me giggle.
Blake took the glass from my hand before I had a chance to take another sip and carefully placed it on the table. He licked his lips and smiled that brilliant, sneaky smile of his.
“We can fly back in a couple of days,” said Blake. “Since you aren’t doing Harvey’s showcase, we can go back and maybe you can work on some more pieces for the new showcase in a few weeks. But, for now… dessert,” he said. I was immediately turned on. There was something about his deep, dark eyes and penetrating gaze that drove me wild. I could smell his manly musk as he crawled toward me. When he reached me, he pressed his body against mine, laying on top of me while he kissed my lips tenderly. He quickly darted his tongue in and out of my mouth. I caught his tongue and sucked on it as hard as I could. I loved the way that he tasted.
That must have really gotten him turned on because he grabbed me around my waist with one of his arms and started grinding his hips against me. I could feel the imprint of his hard dick on my crotch, making my pussy moist. The rubbing of our pants together made me so hot I thought that our pants were literally going to go up in flames from all of the heat and passion.
I reached down and pulled off my pants with him still on top of me. He took his clothes off, too. He rammed his hard dick into my soft, wet pussy with such force that I let out a small cry. I could feel him opening me up. It was rough, but I liked it. I wanted more. He stroked my pussy, first slowly, and then harder, keeping up the pattern for a few minutes until I couldn’t take it anymore. I flipped him over so that I was on top. I planted each foot on either side of him and started to ride him. My slippery wet pussy clasped around his rock hard dick, coating it with my sweet juices. He leaned his head back, gripping onto the sheets for dear life. I watched him growing more and more excited with each pump until he grunted and moaned, cumming so hard that it left him without any energy to move afterward. I could tell that he was drifting off to sleep as his eyelids got heavier and he wrapped himself up in the warm comforters.
“Congratulations, baby,” he said softly as his eyes closed and he began to snore softly.
I lay there happy. I couldn’t remember the last time that I had been so satisfied. While the sex had been incredible, the satisfaction that I felt came from a place much deeper than that.
I had finally come to the place where the things that I wanted for my life were finally happening. And that was more than enough reason to celebrate.
Chapter 15 – Talia
“The plane’s going to be coming in soon and I was thinking that maybe you might want to go into the city for a bit,” said Blake, popping his head in through the doorway of the studio where I stood working on another painting.
“No,” I said without even looking away from the painting. Blake had gotten me some glittery paints that glowed in the dark and seemed to even shimmer in the light and I had been having so much fun creating different pieces. Some of them even had a 3D effect making the art come alive right on the canvas. Even Blake had noticed the new skills that I was developing in my art and told me that I was making more progress.
Coming back to the island after being in the city was refreshing. I thought that it might have been bittersweet returning to the place where I had had such high hopes for the showcase with Harvey, where I had created pieces thinking that he would be excited and somehow give me a seal of approval. But, after talking to Linda and seeing her genuine excitement, it restored a faith in me that I’m not sure that I ever really had. I believed in myself. And that belief alone opened up a side of my creativity that I had never explored. I felt like the fourth wall had been blown out and I had no limits to what I could do.
And, of course, Blake was there to nurture that. He lovingly gave me the time, space, and supplies that I needed and balanced that perfectly with compliments that were like water to dying plants.
I had been waking up every day, excited about getting in the studio and working on some new pieces. I w
as even considering expanding my craft into creating mosaics. I had always loved the bright, shiny colors and had wanted to dabble in it. I mentioned it in passing to Blake over dinner about a week ago and he ran off to make a phone call. Within a couple of days, the plane arrived chocked full of the supplies that I needed to create beautiful mosaics. They sat in the corner for now since I was still working on a painting that I wanted to finish first.
But, that was even more reason why I wasn’t too eager to leave the island. The only time that I planned on leaving was for the showing.
But, even after that, I wasn’t quite sure where that would leave me. Blake and I hadn’t discussed what would happen after the showing or even after the time came for our agreement to be dissolved. We had both kept to our word not to mention the agreement anymore. But, that left a huge question mark in my mind about where I was going to end up. I had already given up my place in the city, so it wasn’t like I could just go back to where I had been living. I would either have to go back home to live with my family or find a new place, but even that would be a process.
If I could have my way, I would want to come back with Blake to the island after the showing and stay with him. But, we haven’t talked about that, either. In fact, I had been holding in a huge secret because I wasn’t quite sure how to tell him.
I was in love with Blake.
The realization had hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been laying in bed with him. He was snoring pretty loudly. And I didn’t quite care. I knew that I could have gotten out of bed and gone elsewhere in the house where it would have been quieter. But, the thought of not being next to him pained my heart deeply. It was such an intense sadness that I felt just thinking of being away from him that I sat up in bed so suddenly that Blake stirred and turned over. I got up and started pacing the floor.
Was I in love, I asked myself. I had never been in love, but I knew that I had never felt as strongly for anyone as I did for Blake. Long gone were the thoughts of wanting to keep him at a distance, to protect my heart. I want more of him, to be around him all of the time. There were times when he would leave the studio to do something, but still be in the house, and I would find myself wondering where he was and hoping that he would reappear soon. When he inevitably showed his face, I could feel relief wash over my entire being.
