Part 26

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26. Arya

Days pass blurrily and the weather gets colder and colder with every passing day. People around here aren’t used to the cold at all so everyone’s freaking out a bit and you can actually tell that people are scared of the cold. I welcome it. It’s a nice change to the usually ever present heat.

Seth is staying at Sam’s as much as possible and only goes home to check on Paulina. His father has fortunately left the state to attend to whatever business he needs to attend to, giving us enough time to talk to Seth’s mother.

We’ve tried multiple times now to get her to leave Mr. Smith but she won’t have any of it. If one thing runs in that family, it’s their thick skulls. All of them are as stubborn as the other. Luckily Paulina is back to her light-spirited self now that Seth has been back for a while and her father is gone. I don’t even want to think about what’s going to happen to her once Seth has to go back to campus and I won’t have time to check on her.

We’ll need to find a solution for this.

Seth for example refuses to come meet Alexander Crawford of Baumgold gallery with me. I am supposed to meet him today to discuss a first commission and he’s actually coming here for the first time. We’re meeting at a restaurant downtown this evening and I would have loved to introduce Seth to him. For one because I could finally convince Seth of the fact that Alex is in no way a threat and only wants the best for me.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” I towel dry my hair as I have just finished showering.

“Is that Sam’s robe you’re wearing,” Seth tries to change the subject, looking up from his phone. He's wearing his soccer uniform and cleats.

“It’s comfy! Are you planning to go out and play? It’s freezing outside.”

Seth swings his legs off the bed he’s been resting on and chucks his phone into his duffle bag.

“Yeah, I’m actually meeting up with some of the guys. Brice hit me up on facebook earlier today and I thought I’d go for old times’ sake, you know?” He pecks my lips quickly as he walks past me, swinging the duffle bag on his back.

“Wait!” I grab his arm, pulling him back. “So you don’t want to come with me but you will go out to see your ‘friends’?”

Seth furrows his brow at me.

“Arya, you and I both know that if I go to meet that man, things won’t end well.” He sighs, pulling his arm from my grip and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “I don’t want to ruin this for you. Please don’t make a big deal out of this.”

I take a deep breath through my nose and let his words sink in. There are two ways for me to react. I could freak out at him, do exactly the opposite of what he’s telling me and make a big deal out of this or I could actually listen to what he’s saying, be rational and realize that he’s right.

“Fine.” I pout and start untying the belt that holds Sam’s robe tightly wrapped around my body.

“What are you doing,” Seth’s eyes are focused on my midsection. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

“Oh me,” I bat my eyelashes at him innocently, grinning like the cat that got the cream. “Never! I’m just going to get ready. Have fun with the boys. Say ‘hi’ from me.”

“You’ll be the death of me for sure, Arya.” He slaps his palm against the doorframe twice before fleeing the apartment.

I spend the next hour and a half getting ready. This time I dress in a simple black dress that doesn’t hug my body quite as much as the red one did. I pair it with a simple black blazer, opaque tights and knee length boots. My hair is pinned up into a ballerina bun, only a few stray strands framing my face. My lips are painted a dark red and my eyes pop with a thin line of black winged eyeliner and a generous coat of mascara.

Before I leave the house, I wrap a woolen scarf around my neck, slip into my coat and grab my purse.

As expected, there’s a car waiting outside of the apartment building. Alexander Crawford leans against the passenger door, scanning his surroundings. He’s tall and thin, his dark blue suit fitting him like a second skin. Somehow the material of his suit makes his own dark skin look radiant and silky. His dark hair is cropped to a millimeters length. He looks absolutely immaculate. When he spots me, he flashes a bright smile and waves. He pushes himself off the car and holds his hand out for me.

“So good to see you again, Arya.” We shake hands.

“It’s so good to see you, too.” I try to hold in my excitement by taking a deep breath. This man represents my future. It’s in his hands whether I get to live a dream or not.

“Get in,” he ushers me into the car and slides in after me. “Peter, you know where to?”

“Of course, Sir,” the driver answers in a monotone voice.

Alex rolls up the partition that separates us from the driver.

“So tell me. What have you been up to,” he inquires, pulling something from a bag that’s situated at his feet.

“I’ve actually been thinking about that offer you made me last time we met.”

“Oh have you now?” His earlier genuine smile turns slightly cocky. He has every right to be cocky. If I were him, I would be too. “Go on then.”

“I’d love to be a part of your next exhibition. It would be an absolute honor. There’s just one thing that I’d like to change about the whole thing…” I bite down on my lip and Alex watches me carefully. His dark eyes narrow only slightly. I now notice that he’s holding a file on his lap.

“Go on.”

I hesitate but decide that it’s for the best if I just get it over with. This would have been a lot easier with Seth by my side.

“I know that… that the mural I painted on… you know… I know that that’s what got your attention but I would really like to present something else. Something of my own. The other mural was obviously Banksy inspired and I want this piece to represent myself completely. I have thought a lot about this and I’d really like to show you what I’ve got in mind.” I hope that I sound as convincing as planned.

“Can it wait until I’ve got some food in my stomach?” Alex turns his attention onto the file in his lap.

“Does this mean that you’ll give it a look?”

“Of course,” he turns his body towards me. “Arya, do you know how rarely someone as young and inexperienced as you catches my attention? I’m not about to give up on you. You have talent and passion and that’s exactly what I’m looking for, okay?”

I’m stunned, blush and try not to throw myself at him. Alex doesn’t seem to notice my extreme excitement. Instead he opens the file on his lap.

“There are a few… more serious matters that we’ll need to attend to if we’re going to hire you long term. We don’t let just anyone be a part of our exhibitions as I am sure you are aware. We have to do background checks in order to be a hundred per cent sure that who we’re hiring has no dark secrets that could potentially ruin our reputation, okay?”

Alex runs a hand over his head before turning the folder towards me. I gape down at its contents. My parents and a younger version of myself stare back at me. I take the printed out photo into my hands, stare at it for a few seconds and flip it over, revealing the next page. There are newspaper cutouts about my parents’ accident. Three of them pasted onto a blank page. They’re nothing spectacular. Only one of them mentions me by name.

I flip that page over as well and see a copy of Sam’s ID and driver’s license. My fingers tremble slightly. Attached to the copy of the ID is a police report. I don’t have to read it to know what it’s about.

“My cousin was never actually charged for anything. They would have never let me live with him if he did,” I argue but don’t expect a response from Alexander. I don’t get one either. He just waves his hand, motioning for me to keep going.

The next page doesn’t surprise me. There’s a blog post about the mural I painted onto the administration building of my former university. I brush past that. I know it almost by heart. There are only a few sheets of paper left now and I am curious to see what else Alex could have possibly dug up on me.

“We work very thoroughly, okay?”

And indeed they do. The last few pages were about Seth and his family. Nothing on there surprises me but I am a bit shocked to see that they even needed to know about the people close to me.

“I wanted you to meet him today. Seth, I mean,” I say, my finger absentmindedly circling the picture of him they had cut out of a soccer group photo.

“I expected him today. You mentioned wanting to bring him last time.” Alex nods, taking the file back and stuffing it into the bag by his feet. “What happened? Was there a hold up?”

“Something like that, yes.” I sound more wistful than I want to and immediately try to cover my disappointment at Seth not being here with a fake smile. “You’ll meet him some day, I’m sure. He’s great.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to choose anyone less than great, Arya. “

“We’re here, Sir. Shall I park the car and wait for your return, Sir?” Peter’s voice sounds through the intercom.

Alex rolls down the intercom, “That sounds perfect. Thank you Peter. We’ll see you later.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Alex leads me out of the car and I come face to face with a restaurant I definitely haven’t been in. As the sun is setting, light floods through the large windows. It looks absolutely stunning. The people in there are dressed to the nines. So much so that I feel severely underdressed in my casual outfit.

“That’s… fancy.”

“Of course. Did you expect anything else?” Alex chuckles, putting his hand on the small of my back, urging me forward. “Come on, I’ve got reservations and I’m starving. I heard they serve the best steak in this town. I’ll be the judge of that, okay?”

Once inside we immediately get seated. The food is in fact delicious. Alex makes light conversation. Just like the last time I met with him, we have absolutely no problem filling silence. We talk about art and Alex tells me about all the big cities he travels to regularly. I can’t help the jealousy seeping in when he starts talking about New York.

“You’ll definitely love it. I’d love to show you around once we’re there.” Alex suggests cheerfully, taking a long sip of white wine.

“I still can’t believe this is actually happening!” It’s then that I remember I hadn’t actually told him about my idea for the new art piece. “So about my suggestion from earlier… Do you think it would be alright if I made something completely new for the exhibition? Or is that not a good idea?”

Alex wipes his mouth with a cloth napkin.

“Tell you what, you get to work. Create, create, create. Once you’re done, you come to me, okay? You show me what you’ve made. We still have until the 20th of December. That’s a couple more weeks still. I’ll decide then whether we’ll go with the banksy interpretation or your own piece, okay?”

I clap my hands excitedly and Alex laughs at my reaction.

“Glad to see I can make you happy,” he comments, emptying his wine glass.

“I’m more than happy!”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

We finish our food and as it’s starting to get really late, we both decide it’s best to end the evening here. Peter, the driver drops of Alex at his hotel first as it is closer than Sam’s apartment. Once we reach the apartment building, I can feel the effects of an eventful day as my whole body aches for my bed.

As I approach the door to Sam’s apartment, I hear voices on the inside. I push the key into the lock und open the door. What I see almost makes me laugh. Sam, Seth and Brice sit on the tiny two-seater couch, playing some sort of video game. They don’t seem to notice me, too caught up in the game.

I slip out of my coat and hang up the scarf.

“Fuck off!” Sam suddenly yells, leaning back into the couch, clutching onto his controller. “Not again, you motherfucker!”

“Piss off Miller! Stop being such a little cry baby,” Seth responds cockily, pressing the buttons on his controller frantically. Brice laughs along with him until I clear my throat.

“Language, boys.”

Brice looks up at me, eyes widening. Seth grins but never takes his eyes off the screen. Seconds later Sam grunts angrily and chucks his controller aside as Seth hollers victoriously. He jumps off the couch and comes charging towards me. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek.

“Beat him! Again!” He shouts and I bend backwards, covering my right ear. The smell of beer hits my face and I pinch my nose.

“Geez, have you guys been drinking?”

Only now I see the bottle of beer that Brice is holding. He points the neck of the bottle at me, his eyes not giving away a single thought. Sam disappears from the living room into the bathroom without another word and Seth notices the little staring contest between Brice and me.

“You guys know each other, right?” Brice and I nod simultaneously. “Right, babe, how was the meeting?”

“Good,” I smile, returning my attention to him. I yawn involuntarily and cover my mouth. “It was really good but I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to get ready for bed.”

“Really? We were planning to go out for a bit. It’s still early!” I swallow my irritation and put my hand on his chest over his heart, trying for a genuine smile.

“That’s fine. You two can still go out. Just please take a taxi if both of you have been drinking,” I pat his chest before pushing past him and towards the bedroom. Seth grabs me by the waist, pulling me back towards him.

“I want you to come with me.” I almost let his wide green eyes and pout convince me but decide I’ll let him have a taste of his own medicine.

“Well I wanted you to come with me tonight as well.” I shoot back, knowing that what I’m saying is unfair. He’s drunk, I remind myself and shake my head. A flicker of hurt is visible in his eyes so I try to soften my expression. When I turn back around, Brice is walking towards Seth.

“She’s right, dude. Let’s just do the two of us tonight. You can’t make her come if she’s tired.” In Brice’s eyes I can see that what he’s saying is not actually in sympathy for me. He just doesn’t want me to join them. So one of us definitely hasn’t changed. I guess you can’t expect everyone to grow up after high school.

“You sure,” Seth asks, his grip on me loosening.

“Absolutely. Have fun.”

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