by JA Low
I left the girls at a bar in Brooklyn near the gallery, I had to do my first walk through to see if the art was hung the right way. I knock on the glass door but no one answers, I push on it and it opens. I walk into the white space; one wall is a giant window overlooking the street. There are floor to ceiling white walls that I can see are showcasing Louis Marchant’s originals. The first couple of paintings are some of his older work, before he split with Elisabeth, the colours and vibrancy is there, I walk past another wall and you can see the art change, this was during his darker period, the dark colours, the blacks, the greys, the angry reds that slash across the canvas, he even left in the ones that he had ripped in a drunken rage. And then I see the sunshine lips. The ones he told me he painted for me after our first kiss. The same ones that made him move back into using colours. I stare at them, my hand touching my lips, remembering what it felt like to feel his lips against mine. My heart aches missing him. Not going to lie, I’ve stalked his social media pages, granted his images have changed since I was there, no gratuitous shirtless photos, which is good to see, he’s even deleted those ones. He took more images of his art, his studio, the surrounding villages for inspiration ideas. I’m really proud of him doing something I know he hates, he looks happy and healthy in them, no falling down a tequila hole again. Which is a little bit of a punch to the guts, because he looks like he’s got his life in order now. Maybe he doesn’t want me anymore. Maybe he just wasn’t that into me. Maybe too much time apart has extinguished the burning flame between us. Melancholy seeps into my veins. I continue along looking at the paintings. I see the colour start to come back gradually, the moody colours making way for more muted colourful tones. Then as I look over at the next wall they are dark again. I frown looking at the images. There is a lot of bright red hearts with slices cut deep into them. Goosebumps race over my skin as I realise these are the work he did after I left. Tears well in my eyes. I’ve ripped his heart out. I broke it in two. Shit. I had no idea. The more I move along the more heartbreak I see and I can’t hold back my sob as I realise how much I hurt Louis by pushing him away. That while I was breaking so was he. I clutch my shirt against my heart and let the tears fall down my cheeks as I stare at the heartbreaking art.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry.” His voice startles me. I turn around and see him for the first time in months. His blonde hair has been cut, the five o’clock shadow has been shaved away, he’s looking clean cut. He’s dressed in old designer jeans and a white dress shirt, his sleeves are rolled up his tanned arms. He smells like the earth and sea combined. He takes a couple of steps toward me, his large palm reaches out for me, he wipes away the tears falling down my cheeks.
“I never meant to hurt you, Louis.” He gives me a sad smile.
“I never meant to hurt you either.” His palm cups my cheek, his warmth seeping through my pores. We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, until his hands falls from my face, the loss is felt in my core.
“Your paintings look good.” I’m not sure what else to say.
“Thank you,” he answers. Silence falls between us again. He then holds out his hand to me. “Let me show you the rest.” My heart is thumping uncontrollably in my chest, but I reach out and link my fingers with his, anchoring me to him. “As you can see, I went a little dark here.” He gives me a timid smile. “But things seemed to turn around.” I notice the colours have come back again just not as bright as they once were, but they are most definitely back. “This is where I got closure.” Oh no. Does he mean this is the end of us? That he got closure of us. “And the rest is to be determined.” We reach the end of his section.
“You must feel so proud finishing your exhibition.”
“I am. I never thought I would be here again, not after everything I’ve done this year.” He’s come a long way since I first met him. “But I couldn’t have done it without a no-nonsense, calls me out on my bullshit, assistant.” My head turns up to look at him, there is a wide smile across his face as he looks down at me. It makes my heart skip a beat and my stomach flutter. Maybe I’m not too late. Maybe there is a chance for us. “Come, I want to be the first person to see your reaction over your first exhibition.” He pulls my hand further into the gallery, I pause when I see my paintings, pulling Louis back to me. Tears form in my eyes again, my hand rises to my mouth in awe. There, in all their glory, are my most inner thoughts and feeling, my own vulnerabilities staring back at me. “They are amazing, Emily.” He walks forward and I follow on his heels. “Even though they are about a horrific time, they are brilliant.” The painting of hands ripping at the invisible girl catches his attention.
“I had to paint it out of me,” I whisper.
“I know. I understand. That’s what I did.” He turns and looks back at me. “But I don’t ever want to go back to the darkness, Emily.”
“I don’t either,” I confess. Silence hangs between us again.
“I also don’t want to be alone again.” Huh. Louis’ words grab my attention. I look up at him. He’s staring at my paintings. I reach out and touch his arm pulling his attention back toward me.
“I’m sorry, Louis.” He nods.
“I understand. I wouldn’t want to be with me either after everything that has happened to you.”
“You don’t think I want to be with you?” My stomach somersaults. “You think that I haven’t missed you?” He looks at me confused. “It killed me to leave you.” I thump my chest. “It killed me that, that monster took me back to a place I never thought I would be back in. I hate that he fucked us up. But what I hate the most is that…” I suck in a deep breath. “That I let you go. That I pushed you away.” Louis’ eyes search my face as if he doesn’t quite believe what I am saying.
“I thought…” He takes a step toward me. “I thought you hated me?” I shake my head.
“I hated myself. I retreated into myself. My guard came up. I shut you out trying to protect myself.” He steps closer, his hands coming out and grabbing my face.
“You were in shock. I understand.” Tears flow freely again down my cheeks.
“I needed you Louis but in the same breath I couldn’t be near you.” Hurt falls across his face. “I was broken. I needed to fix myself. I wanted to make sure I was whole again before…” I let the unfinished words hang between us.
“Before?” He moves closer, our bodies almost touching, hope crosses his face.
“Before…” Those blue eyes intensifying, they are trained on me. “Before I gave myself to someone.”
“And would that someone be… I don’t know…someone like a sexy, French, artist.” This makes me laugh, breaking the tension between us.
“Maybe.” Heat races over my body. His hands grip my face.
“Someone who has a big dick and knows how to use it.” My eyes widen and a smile crosses my face.
“It’s been awhile I’m not sure if I remember.”
“I can easily make you remember, just say the word.” He winks at me.
“Maybe you could just kiss me first and see how that goes.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Louis bends down taking my lips against his in a soft kiss. The instant our lips touch, my body relaxes, I’m home. This is where I’m supposed to be, with this man. My hands move around and wrap around his waist pulling him against me, which intensifies our kiss.
“I’ve missed you so fucking much, Emily,” Louis says against my lips.
“Me too,” I add.
Eventually the kiss ends and we reluctantly pull apart. His forehead rests against mine.
“I love you, Emily Chapman.”
“I love you too, Louis.”
“Never push me away again. Okay?” he tells me. “I want a future with you, Emily. You and me, creating art together. Maybe creating more later down the track.”
“I want it, Louis. I want it all with you.” I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him again.
“Can we go back to my hotel room now; I need to sho
w you just how big my dick is.”
“Lead the way.”
37
Emily
I am so sore from last night still. I texted the girls to let them know that I was going home with Louis, much to their delight. Of course as soon as we made it into the hotel room Louis had me out of my clothes and in his bed. As frantic as we both were at the beginning, as soon as we were naked, he slowed down and made love to me, all night and then again in the morning. Waking up to Louis beside me makes the world feel right again. All the shit I went through to get to this moment made me appreciate what is right in front of me. We spent the night talking about a future together, he asked me to move in with him and he suggested that could either be in London or France or both, wherever I wanted us to be as long as we were together. He wanted us to have our own studio spaces, he wanted to spend our days painting, making love and drinking wine, in that order. If I don’t want to spend my days painting, he said he would introduce me to people I could speak to about art curation at museums. I guess my future all revolves around what happens tonight. If the show is a success or not. Hopefully the critics like it. I’m a nervous wreck.
“You are going to be fine.” Louis pulls me toward him, he’s just stepped out of the shower, his warm body wraps around me, his towel is slung lowly against his trim hips.
“Easy for you to say, Mr. International Artist.” I roll my eyes at him which makes him laugh.
“Look, everyone is going to have an opinion, art is subjective, some people get it some people don’t. If they don’t like it then it wasn’t for them and if they do, then great you found your people.” I look up at him and smile.
“Seriously, how did I get so lucky with you?” I wrap my arms around his neck.
“You hooked me coming out of my pool nearly naked in your innocently white underwear.” A laugh bubbles from my lips.
“I was not trying to seduce you.”
“I beg to differ. It worked. I was seduced.”
“Um, you yelled at me, you were so not seduced,” I tell him.
“My dick was hard as a rock and I was trying to not think about fucking you.” God, he’s an asshole, but he’s all mine. “Come on, you need to get ready, you do not want to be late for your debut.” He gives me a heated kiss then pushes me toward my clothes. I guess I have an art exhibition to open.
“Breathe, Emily. It’s going to be okay,” Louis instructs.
“But look at all the paparazzi out there.” The entrance is swamped with cameras.
“Just hold my hand and follow me.” I don’t think I am ready, can’t we go back to the hotel room and fuck again, I like that, that was fun. As if reading my mind, Louis nuzzles my neck. “You look sensational.” His warm lips leave tiny trails against my goose pimpled skin. The girls chose my dress from the many styles sent over on Louis request. We drank champagne and I tried on designer dresses. I’d settled on a beautiful emerald green cocktail dress, my strawberry blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun, my make-up all natural with red lipstick. “You ready?” Louis bites my shoulder.
“Fine.” He grins and opens the door, the flashes go off and everyone is screaming for him. Asking him questions about Elisabeth and Yves. But Louis expertly navigates us through the paparazzi. He twirls me around then kisses me, and it’s not a Sunday at church kind of kiss, it’s a turn the thermostat up to one hundred kind of kiss. The flashes go crazy getting their image of us. I’m a little shell shocked, but Louis calmly walks us into the gallery.
“What was that?” I tug on his arm.
“What?”
“Um that kiss. In front of those vultures.” He smirks
“I would rather them write about our love than dwelling on Yves and Elisabeth’s drama.”
“I hate when you’re right.” I pout.
“Better start getting used to it, because forever is a long time.” He smirks. He kisses me once more then starts introducing me to all the people standing around wanting to talk to us, I mean him.
“Congratulations.” My girlfriends find me, pulling me into a huge embrace.
“You look happy,” Rosie teases.
“I am.” I smile.
“So Louis and you are back on again?” Ava asks.
“Yeah. He just declared together forever.” The girls squeal with delight. “He’s asked me to move in with him after all this is finished.”
“So you're moving to France?” Georgia asks. I shrug.
“He said he would move to wherever I choose.”
“Don’t leave us,” Ava pleads.
“Stay in London.” Rosie flutters her eyelids.
“France isn’t really that far,” Georgia adds.
“Let’s worry about that another night, tonight we need to celebrate all my paintings selling out.” The girls squeal again which makes me laugh. I’m on the biggest high I think I have ever been on. Nothing can ruin this night.
I take it back. Something can most definitely ruin my night. Toby is here with a big bouquet of red roses, dressed in a suit. When he sees me he smiles and waves. I excuse myself from some guests and make my way to him.
“What are you doing here?” I place my hands on my hips.
“I’ve come to celebrate your night.” He goes to lean in and give me a kiss but I take a step back. He frowns as he hands over the bouquet of flowers.
“Where’s your American friend?” Not that I care, but I’m curious.
“We broke up. She was sleeping with someone else at work, one of the bigger bosses.” I raise my eyebrow in surprise but deep down I’m screaming loser.
“So you thought you would try your luck with me again?”
“I was a fool, Emmy. You were right. You were the best thing to ever happen to me. And now, now you are this huge artist, everyone loves you.”
“So now I’m dateable? Now that I’m a somebody?”
“Emmy, don’t be like that.” He takes a step toward me. Then I feel arms wrap around me and warm breath against my neck. Toby’s eyes widen at whoever is behind me. Who am I kidding? I know exactly who it is. Louis.
“Bonsoir, I’m Louis Marchant, Emily’s boyfriend. And you are?” He holds out his hand to Toby.
“I’m Toby. Just an old friend from London wanting to say congratulations.” Louis knows exactly who he is. They shake hands quickly.
“That’s nice. Can you believe she sold out of all her paintings? That’s like over a million dollars in sales.” What the…? No! Really? I’ll ask him if he’s serious once he’s finished marking his territory.
“That’s truly amazing, Emily. I always knew you would do something with your art,” Toby adds.
“That’s strange because she said she hadn’t painted anything in the last five years because her last boyfriend hated it. How bad is that?” Louis stares at him. Toby decides to stay quiet. “I guess it just takes the right man, hey, mon coeur.” Louis nuzzles me again.
“Yeah, I guess it does.” I try to hide my laughter.
“Well, I should let you get back to your party. I just wanted to say hi and congratulations. You look good, Emmy.” I give Toby a smile but that’s it, plus Louis has a tight hold on me, I wouldn’t be able to hug him goodbye even if I wanted to. “Stay in touch,” he adds.
“She won’t. She’ll be really busy. With me,” Louis replies. Toby frowns and rushes away. I turn in Louis’ arms and look up at him, he has the biggest smirk. “Too much?” he asks.
“Never.”
“Good because what I really wanted to do was punch him in the face, but I didn’t think that would be appropriate for tonight.”
“I love you, Louis Marchant.”
“I love you too, Emily Chapman.”
38
Louis
Two months later
Emily and I have been living in London for the past couple of months since coming back from New York. Daniel has let us stay with him while we settled on a new townhouse. Emily has turned into the new ‘it’ girl of the art scene, actually
we are the ‘it’ couple of the art scene. The demands for more shows around the world has been overwhelming, plus the media attention surrounding us and our love story is kind of intense. Daniel has been getting a ridiculous amount of branding deals for us, for companies that have nothing to do with art but who want us because we look good together. We haven’t been so keen, but the money they are offering is becoming irresistible, so far we have stayed strong but not sure how long it’s going to last. Emily thinks if we take all these deals we could donate the money to good causes and I like that idea. We are making a decent living off our art at the moment, so we might as well make a difference in the world. That is the huge difference between Elisabeth and Emily, she wants to do good with the money while the other one just wanted it for herself.
Speaking of Elisabeth, apparently she has disappeared off the radar, no one knows where she is, her last post on social media was about her staying in Russia with friends and that was the last we heard of her. I don’t wish her harm so I hope wherever she is, she is okay. Yves, well he’s skipped town, he left France and is on the run. To say I was surprised was an understatement, I knew if they let him out on bail he would bolt and that is exactly what he did. I just hope wherever he is he is rotting in some cesspit. I’m not going to dwell on that scumbag because Emily and I are going strong.
I just hope today goes okay.
Daniel and I told Emily that we had found her mother while we had everyone over for dinner one night. I thought if we told her in front of her friends that they would help her work through her feelings on the issue. Emily surprised me, she said she wanted to meet her, that she didn’t care if she never wanted to see her again after this first visit. She needed it to move on with her future, our future. But I know Eloise wants a future with her. I also told her that I actually already know her mother which really surprised her. I filled her in on how she is the wife of Victor, my mentor, which of course she remembered that Elisabeth was his mistress. She got angry over that, that her mother was being cheated on but then I explained the situation to her just like Eloise did to me. She didn’t understand it or like it but it’s her life, she can live it anyway she wants.
