Wow… It’s intoxicating to look at. I’ll have to check each one of these out very closely. And decide which ones I want to buy.
I came here with blank checks, prepared to drop some serious coin.
“There she is,” I whisper as I step up to my Alex, wasting no time slinking my arm around her waist.
She doesn’t startle in the slightest. Instead, she leans into me before turning her luminous face upward, smiling at me with ease and appreciation. Her eyes are so green and glowing, like dewy leaves on forest trees.
Thankfully, the cut on her lip is basically healed, covered in shimmery pink gloss, and the remaining bruises on her throat have been fully hidden, likely by some strategic cover-up.
“Hi,” she chirps up at me and I lean in to kiss her cheeks. She whispers as I do, “I’m so happy to see you.”
“Likewise. You have a fucking line outside,” I give her eyes wide with mutual excitement. “Are you sure this is your first show?”
She laughs and takes me by the arm. “Excuse me,” she says politely to the other two people who nod, immediately going back to her painting on the wall. “Have you checked anything out yet?”
“Not yet. I just walked in and I needed to see you first,” I tell her as we wander slowly through the space. “This is incredible, Al. You have no idea how proud I am of you.”
“I know, Noah, oh my God! Can you believe how many people are already here?” She squeals and tugs my arm which has me chuckling. “It just freaking started! The director thinks we’ll sell out! Isn’t that insane?!”
“No,” I shake my head vigorously. “I could’ve told you that. I mean, I don’t know about all these buffoons, but I came to shop.”
She huffs a laugh, and her face is gleaming. I can’t believe how happy she is, and how damn good she looks like this. Mental note: make Alex this happy all the time.
“Noah, you don’t have to buy anything,” she admonishes me, though she’s still smiling her face off. “You’re my best friend. I’ll paint you whatever you want for free.”
“First of all, yea you will. Second of all, it’s not about that. I just want to support you. And third of all…” my voice trails for a moment as I watch her head bobbing all around with zeal. “Am I really your best friend?”
She pauses her giddy movements and peers up at me. “Yes. I told you that, remember?”
Yes, she told me she didn’t have any other friends… Or family. So I guess that leaves me. Her best and only friend.
God, that makes me feel really guilty about how obsessively attracted to her I am.
But again, she needs a friend tonight, and that’s what I am. Her best friend.
“I remember,” I rumble, brushing her hair behind her ear, noting that there’s an adorable braid on one side. “You’re my best friend, too.”
She giggles and taps me in the stomach. “Uh false. You have plenty of friends you’ve known way longer than me.”
“Yea, but you’re prettier than all of them combined, so they don’t count,” I smirk as she laughs out loud, and I manage to pry my eyes away from her long enough to briefly scope the vicinity for Dr. Dickwad.
Alex reaches up to straighten my tie. “You look sexy.”
“You wanna ditch this thing and go make out somewhere?” I tease and she hits me again.
My eager gaze continues to dart around. Where are you, fuckface? Show yourself!
“What are you looking for?” She asks, giving me some eyes.
“Nothing. A drink,” I recover, grabbing a glass of champagne off the tray of a passing waiter. “Can I get you a refill?”
“No, thank you. I can’t get tipsy, I have to speak in a few minutes. I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be. You’ll knock ‘em dead,” I wink.
“Alexandra, darling!” A loud female voice booms from behind us.
A white-haired woman with giant black-rimmed glasses floats over and grasps Alex by the shoulders, kissing both of her cheeks.
“Fabulous! Absolutely exquisite! You must come. Jeffrey Donelson from Flatiron is just dying to meet you!”
Alex nods to the lady, then peeks up at me, giving me an apologetic look, though I’ve truly never seen a person so exuberant in my life.
“By all mean, go,” I shoo her off with a smile. “Rock house, Al. I’ll be here… sticking dots on stuff.”
I show her my evil grin and she bites her lip, wiggling her brows at me as she stumbles away to greet her fans.
As soon as she’s gone, I let out a swift breath. This is already the best night ever.
And it’s just getting started.
Almost three hours later, I’ve spent a small fortune.
Within fifteen minutes of me being here, I had purchased five paintings. As it turns out, Alex’s style is exactly my style, though I don’t have many paintings in my apartment. My art is more photography and collectibles, and I’ve been in the market for some oil on canvas ever since I found out my new bestie was a painter. Now I have pieces for my library, my office, the guest room, living room… Just about every room in my house. They’re all going to be decorated with Alex.
I’m practically giddy.
I knew people would be fighting over stuff tonight, so I wasted no time at all claiming mine. I even paid the desk right away to ensure no confusion as to what belonged to me.
I’m still staring at one I snatched up the second I saw it. It’s highly intriguing to me; all oranges and yellows on the canvas with a swirling black mass in the middle, filled with two eyes.
The eyes are… strange. But in a good way. They almost look familiar. And they seem to be staring back at me. I’m not sure what they’re trying to convey exactly… Maybe Alex can tell me how she interprets it later.
I’ve talked to Alex a few times since I arrived, but not for more than two minutes here and there before she was being pulled and yanked in all sorts of directions to schmooze with the art crowd of Manhattan. And I’m totally fine with it, only because I know I’m not letting her out of my sight tonight without some celebration. I fully intend to capture her when she’s done here and bring her to dinner or out dancing. Whatever she wants to do.
It’s her night, after all.
As for the other thing I planned on doing tonight, I haven’t so much as peeped her husband anywhere. It would appear he’s a no-show, which I don’t understand in the slightest. How could he not be here?
I really wanted to “accidentally” trip him and send him flying into a table of canapés. That would be hilarious.
“Noah! Hey, pal!” My friend and fellow actor, Keith Fisher, sidles up to me with two girls hanging on his arms. One is a blonde singer who has been climbing the charts lately, and the other is a redhead I’ve never seen before, but whose boobs are so big, I swear they could be used as floatation devices should a tsunami overtake this art show.
“Hey, Keith. How’s it goin, man?” I smile, giving him one of those half-hugs while the girls both flash oddly sultry looks.
“Good, good, bro. Can’t complain. Cashing in on this new streaming shit everyone’s talking about,” he says casually. “Hey, do you know Layla and Amber?”