AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pulled my hair up and put on my clothes. I was grabbing my running shoes when Miranda placed her hand on my arm and said, “You haven’t told him.”
I looked up at her and shook my head. After a slight pause, I resumed getting ready, putting on my sneakers.
“Why not?”
I stood, smoothing my hands over my running tights. “What’s the point in telling him now? He’s moved on. He has a family and I’m nothing. I’m his past.” I withheld on purpose, hoping Miranda would draw her own conclusion. I needed someone on my side.
She placed her arm around my shoulders and walked me out. “Want a ride? My car is outside.”
I locked the door and gestured to my clothes.
She scoffed. “Oh, please. Get in the car, darling.”
We made our way down the steps, and when I opened the front door, I was greeted by a gust of wind that immediately made me miss the warmth of my heated studio. Snow fell lightly, but as I looked at the slush on the pavement, I decided it was best to get in the sleek black BMW that purred at the corner.
When we pulled off, Miranda directed the driver to the gallery. I looked at her quizzically, and she told me she had paperwork for me to look over.
“So, your new work. Are we going to continue in that direction or is that a personal one? I mean, the thing people love most about you is your versatility. You can create beauty with almost anything. Should I start putting another showcase together?” She got out her tablet and scrolled while digging through her designer bag for her phone.
“It’s too soon to tell,” I said, looking out the window. I wasn’t ready to do another so soon. My last one, while a success, had only been a month ago.
Christmas was coming. December was usually a hard time for me because all I could think about were those first few moments with Dexter, before he knew my struggle with alcohol. Before he knew my mother and what I’d come from. Before she embarrassed me, pushing me back into the sinking hole.
I thought back on the night of my eighteenth birthday, how Dexter shut down after I inadvertently insulted him. It was hard for me to see the best in people, to rely on people when I knew only the worst. He turned away from me and fell asleep, leaving me to chase away my own demons. I went downstairs and felt like I was being drawn to the liquor cabinet.
I was already drunk and still going when Tim walked up, wrestling the bottle from me. I lashed out and ran out of the house, to the dock. The water was beautiful, I thought to myself, and I loved the way the light from the moon bounced off it. Tim was standing behind me, telling me things he thought I cared about.
All I wanted to do was feel free.
And then I heard Dexter calling me.
“Noa?” Miranda snapped her fingers. “Noa, we’re here.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
She waited until the driver came to open her door and slid out easily.
I wasn’t as graceful, stepping in a pile of slush and cursing under my breath.
We entered the sleek building that housed evidence of my emotional wreckage. The windows were large, and although modern, it made you want to come inside. I looked around, noticing they’d already moved things around in preparation for an up-and-coming artist’s new showcase. I walked into my area of the gallery. No matter what, this was my space. This was where my work lived.
I looked at one of the walls, walking closer to get a better look.
And the past hit me as tangibly as the winter breeze outside as I looked at the old canvases crowding the white space of the wall.
“He brought a few of your older paintings in. Hence the new paperwork,” Miranda said as she walked up. “You were always so good. So detailed and talented. But this stuff, it’s soraw. I envy it.”
She stood beside me and my eyes watered. Six paintings, all from Blue.
The girl I used to be.
Noa
My phone chirpedfor the third time in an hour.
Dexter:I’m outside. Let me up.
I ignored it. At some point, he’d give up.
