Page 12 of Omega Artist
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve noticed.” She moves the screen further away from my face, and I try to focus on what she’s showing me, to no avail. “You must be blind, Tig. That’s why I’m finally speaking up. It’s about time you pulled your head out of your now sumptuous ass.”
The heat behind my neck is unmistakable, although it’s clear that her compliment isn’t an act of seduction. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me, silly.” She punches my well-defined bicep which makes Lucas sneer. Completely lost, I look his way, and she addresses him and Marco instead of me to explain, “See that? There’s another comment onyourpost.” She air quotes the end of her sentence and reaches for her bottle, takes a swig, and smirks. Yeah,myposts are nonexistent since she’s been running my social media and pretending to be me for a while, like Soraya did at first when the shit hit the fan.
“Let me see that.”
“Shut up, Marco.” She swats away his approaching hand. “This doesn’t concern you, go back to your flirting. I’m trying to show Tig!” She points out the last post on Instagram. “Here.” She scrolls down, showing every single post from the last couple of weeks. “Her.” Claire posts at least three times per week on my behalf. Tattoos I designed. Piercings she performed. Paintings I created. “See?”
“Mmm…” is all I can answer for now. I snatch the phone from her hand and examine the screen between sips of my delicious (lol) seltzer.
“If that’s not dedication, I’m not sure what is. Thank God, I have a girlfriend now; otherwise, I’d interact with this girl and steal her from you!”
“You have a girlfriend?” tumbles out of my mouth in a strangled voice before I can stop myself.
I’m shocked that she’s disclosing this piece of information. So casually. So mindlessly. So unexpectedly. I’m about to complain that I feel betrayed for being kept in the dark, but she shakes her head without another word. Under other circumstances, it wouldn’t have deterred me from pursuing this line of questioning, but not tonight.
“You’re not funny, Claire… There’s nothing to steal from me, and for the record, I have no clue what you’re hinting at.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Tig!” she proudly exclaims. “This girl, right here, might be worth some of your time. She’s been following you for months, using actual words to comment on every post while most of your followers just like the post and add an emoji or two. What’s surprised me the most is the feedback that she gives on your art… I mean, your paintings.”
I push away the agonizing memory of Delia’s loss, which is threatening to resurface, undeterred by the three years that have passed. I shake my head to make the dark thoughts vanish, then smile at my friend. “Where exactly are you going with this?”
“I’m simply saying that you’d know if you were interacting with people online.”
“Oh, trust me, I have plenty of online interactions.” She doesn’t miss my teasing tone, and that earns me another slap on my arm.
“Right,” Lucas adds in a haughty voice, tapping his foot under the table.
“Oh, shut up, Lucas. What is it with you people tonight? I’m trying to have a coherent conversation with Tig, and you’re interrupting us every chance you get.”
“Calm your tits, Claire! Why should Tig be briefed about what’s happening on his social media platform? You’re the one managing it.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, moron. I’m not his PA!” She nervously rolls one of her dreadlocks between her thumb and pointer finger.
“His what?”
“Personal assistant, Lucas.” I interrupt, proud of my knowledge.
“Oh, so you know more than you lead on, don’t you, Tig?”
“Well, Lucas… I may be a few years older than you, but I’m notthatout of touch.” To tell the truth, this is utter B.S., but his smug smile is grating on my nerves. “And for your information, the fact that I don’t manage my accounts doesn’t mean that I don’t spend time following others.”
“Oh, right, your new fitness gurus with massive cleavage.”
That bitch!
It’s my time to knock some sense into her by jabbing her with my elbow. Meanwhile Marco is still oblivious to our friendly quarrel, too focused on scoring a date later.
“Some have good tips. The cleavage is just a perk!” Lucas shoots. All of the men at the table chortle, but I’m not sure that Marco knows why.
“Thanks for having my back, man! Claire doesn’t get how following woman gurus can be helpful for us.” We both let out snickers that sound more like hyenas than grow-ups.
“Whatever.” Wiggling on the leather bench, she dismisses the topic with a fleeting gesture of her black-lacquered hand and moves on. “So, as I was saying, your followers interact with a person they believe to be you, and you don’t even care. I care. This girl cares, and she’s genuinely nice, which doesn’t hurt.”
“What do you suggest I do? Invite her to my next show?” I ask jokingly. “Or invite her to my studio to fuck her brains out since she’s my number one fan?” I instantly regret suggesting that. Even if I had the opportunity, I don’t know the first thing about this girl. I shouldn’t make a habit of bringing people to my studio. I only did that with one of my hookups, and it wasn’t the brightest idea for numerous reasons.
Come on, man. There’s no need to get all worked up.
