Page 41 of Curious
He shrugs. “I’m the office gossip. They want to talk with me because I keep them informed about everything that’s going on. When they aren’t talking to me, I know something big is happening.”
“Does that happen very often?”
“No,” he admits.
“So all you need is a million dollars, and you have everything on your list.”
“Sorta.”
“Can I make one?” I ask, taking the seat next to him.
He looks surprised, but he nods. A lock of platinum hair falls into his eyes, and I brush it away. We both look at my hand.
“Sorry,” I say. “Okay, so how do we do this?”
“I just go by feel. What images speak to me. I rip them all out, then I make up a collage.”
“Sounds like fun.”
He passes over a stack of magazines:Architectural Digestand various decorating magazines, plus some with different focuses, likePeople,National Geographic,Out,Men’s Fitness, andThe New Yorker. “Where did all these come from?” I ask. I haven’t seen him get anywhere near this amount of mail.
“Noah and August said it’s okay for me to take them from our reception when we get the new ones in. And I maybe snuck one from Dr. Logan.” He holds up aPridemagazine. “Reyna says her friend works for this magazine back east. There’s supposed to be a calendar coming out soon.” Shelby waggles his eyebrows.
I snort and pick up aMen’s Fitness. “This kind of cover model gives me a complex. I’m never going to have abs like that.”
“Do you want them?”
“Not really. I think I’m in good shape, but I like to enjoy a hamburger every once in a while.”
“You look good.” His ears go red.
“Thanks. So do you.” Now his cheeks match his ears.
I start flipping through the magazines. I go more slowly than Shelby, who tears through them at a rapid pace, only stopping now and then to rip a whole page out.
Pretty soon, I loosen up and am doing the same thing he is, pulling out not just photos of ideas for this house, but also places I want to visit, landscaping I think looks cool, and anything else that pulls me to it.
I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. I like to make things, but these days I only do it for a living. And to be on Ad/VICE, I guess. But this—there are no expectations. It’s fun and freeing.
When we both have big stacks of photos and headlines or quotes, Shelby pulls out two large pieces of poster board as well as scissors, glue, and tape, and I start arranging the images I’ve picked out. “I’ve torn out way more than I’ll ever be able to fit, so I’m going by what feels good,” I say.
“Hmm,” he says, then looks over and grins. He’s so damned cute. “That’s perfect. That’s exactly how this should be. Just whatever feels good.”
We both complete our art projects, and when we’re done, we compare them. I’ve pulled out photos of houses, landscaping, pools, and vacation spots. Also people holding hands, champagne glasses clinking, roaring fires, skiing. Shelby points to the image of a snowy slope. “You like to ski?”
“I try to go at least once a year. This year?” I sigh. “Maybe I’ll be healed enough. I hope so.”
“Interesting. You can find out a lot about people from what they put on their vision board.”
“It’s kind of a mess and kind of beautiful,” I say.
“That’s how most things are.”
Shelby’s cut out photos of a pool and a house again, books on a shelf and trendy haircuts. And rings.
“You’re asking for a husband, even though you already have one,” I tease.
He shrugs. “I like being married to you, but someday I want a real relationship.”
