“Okay,” Sebastian says, handing me my laptop and several folders that are exploding with papers. “Follow me.”
“What is all of this?”
“Purchase orders mostly. All awaiting your signature. And a contract,” he says casually as he plops down onto one of the giant throw pillows on the floor. He pats the rug beside him and pulls another pillow over. “Sit.” He purses his lips over a smile he’s barely containing.
I narrow my eyes and coerce my heart to maintain a slow, steady, unexcited rhythm as I swallow down the butterflies I refuse to acknowledge and sit on the floor beside him. “So what’s the contract for?” I ask coolly.
“Oh, just this gallery in Chelsea that’s hosting an exhibit for up-and-coming contemporary realist artists next summer.”
I sit up straight, no longer able to restrain my excited heart. “Shut up.”
“Aurelia Snow or something.” He pulls his mouth to the side and shakes his head. “Something like that.”
“Bas, are you joking?”
He smiles wide. “Nope.”
“Shut up!” I squeal and jump to my feet, blinking back tears. “Oh, my God!”
Sebastian jumps up with me. “I know!”
“Aurelia Snow wants to showcase me? Really?”
“I wanted to tell you so badly, but I decided to wait until you got back so I could do it in person. I’m so glad I did, because the look on your face is priceless.”
“Oh, my God!” I shout and grab his arms.
We proceed to jump up and down together.
“Sebastian?” I stop and look at him, then I wrap myself around him and begin to cry softly.
“Lucy. Don’t cry.” He laughs and rubs my back.
I wipe my eyes. “You were right.”
“Of course I was,” he says, wiping the lenses of his round tortoiseshell glasses. He pushes them back on. “What was I right about?”
“The exhibit. Waiting to break off things with Drew until after it was over. Even though I did actually try to do it sooner.” I shake my head. “Sebastian, without the exhibit, there’s no way this would have happened.”
He smiles and says, “Thank God. I was kind of going out on a limb with that advice. But it just felt like the right thing to do.”
I sigh and fall back into a sitting position on the floor, feeling like I can finally exhale the breath I’ve been holding since I decided to host the exhibit. “Aurelia Snow wants to display my work in her studio for all of New York to see.” I reach for the contract and start scanning the paragraphs. “What piece does she want?”
“Sam.”
I give him a confused look. “What?”
“She wants Lionheart,” he says, sitting on the floor beside me.
“My painting of Sam?” I put the contract down. “Uh—” I huff, but Bas stops me.
“I know how you feel about the painting, Luc. You can always say no. But…” He squints his eyes and shrugs his square shoulders. “It’s not like she wants to buy it. It’ll just be on loan.”
“What if someone at the exhibit wants to buy it?”
“We’ll just have the contract amended to state that it’s not for sale, so it’ll be a nonissue.”
“I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know? This is your dream, Lucy.”
“It’s Sam, Sebastian. It feels wrong to put him on display for my benefit.”
He grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet again.
“What are you doing?”
“Follow me.” He drags me across the studio and stops in front of my painting of the Atlanta skyline that I originally painted with dime-store paints when I was seventeen. “Tell me about this painting.”
“You already know.”
“I forgot. Tell me again.”
I give him a funny look, but entertain him anyway. He’s obviously trying to make a point. I stare at the painting, thinking of how the colors make me feel, even now. The way the two halves of the canvas are divided by the shadowy outline of the Atlanta skyline that cuts across the crisp cobalt blue sky and drips carefully into the sultry magenta below.
“I was seventeen. Sam bought me some cheap paints and plastic brushes.” I smile thinking of the sweet gesture. “We climbed up on the roof of an old abandoned building in Brighton Park, and this is what we saw in the distance. Possibility.” I exhale a quiet breath. “The original was a little more rudimentary, but the colors were similar. I used red to represent love, because it was the only thing we had, and well, I was seventeen…it seemed like a romantic notion.” I laugh softly and point to the bottom of the painting. “We were way down here, stuck in that broken place, dreaming about a better life. And this”—I touch the top of the canvas thoughtfully—“this represented our future. Wide open, just like the sky that day.” I glance up at Bas, who’s studying the painting carefully. “What did I know?” I shrug.
“This is her second choice,” he says, keeping his gaze fixed on the painting.
“What?”
“I sent her a copy of every painting in your portfolio and this was her second choice.” He turns to me and lowers his chin, keeping his dark eyes on mine. “Sam is in all of your best work. Don’t you see that? You can’t take him out of it because he is what makes you so damn good.”
I release a small breath and nod in silent agreement.
“Sam is part of you, Lucy. Not just now because you’re together, but way back before anyone even knew who either of you were. He was one of the first people to see you for the amazing, talented artist you are. Isn’t it only right for him to be part of this?”
I nod and blink back tears of gratitude, for Sam, for everything we went through, for this incredible opportunity, and for Sebastian, who always helps me to see the truth through my uncertainty. “Yes.”
“First choice it is then.”
I swallow down my hesitation and agree, “First choice.”
Bas claps excitedly. “Okay, there’s more.” He hands me another document that looks a lot like the Aurelia Snow contract. “This is from a gallery in Dallas. It’s a little uppity, but they want to showcase you in an exhibit too!”
“Seriously? How did they even hear about me?”
He shrugs. “Your paintings made quite the impression after the exhibit got so much press. I’ve been fielding calls and sifting through emails since you and Sam left for Exuma. You’ve been invited to participate in seven exhibits, Lucy.”
“What? Really?”
“None of the others are quite Aurelia Snow, but they’ll showcase your talent none the less.” He smiles wide. “You did it, Luc.”
“I don’t believe it.” I smile back. “Thank you so much for handling all this while I was gone. I don’t know—”
“What you’d do without me. I know.”
“Seriously. I feel like such a slacker. I spent the last three weeks lying on a remote island with Sam, while you were here doing all this for me. I don’t deserve you.”
“Don’t forget you pay me. Quite well.” He raises his eyebrows and smirks. “Speaking of lying on a remote island with Sam. Tell me everything!”