Page 146 of Infatuated as They Come
“Take my photo.” Brodie shoved his phone my way. “I was there for that. That’s history.” He gave me a big grin and a thumbs up as I snapped a photo of him next to the painting. “I’m so proud of you. I knew you first, though. Don’t forget that when you become some big, famous artist.”
“Could never forget you, cousin.”
“I couldn’t help but overhear,” a voice said next to me. “You’re the artist?”
I turned, seeing some guy in a suit, his brown eyes going from thepaintings and then back to me.
“These are yours? You made these?”
“He made all of them!” Brodie said, throwing an arm around me. “They’re all amazing, right?”
The guy chuckled. “Yes, they’re wonderful. You must take inspiration from Curran and Pissarro then?”
I had no idea who those people were, so I just gave him a shrug. “I mean, I just kinda do my own thing.”
“Mm. I love the colors. Very vibrant. Soft yet bold at the same time. And such expertly crafted brushstrokes too. You must be studying. Are you at Columbia? NYU?”
“Uh, nah. I’m, you know, self-taught or whatever.”
“Exciting. I love the themes here. Naturalism, light, summer. You can feel the sunshine, the warmth and closeness. And I see there’s one young lady who seems to be your biggest inspiration,” he said, gesturing to the paintings with a wine glass in hand.
“My girlfriend. Yeah. She kinda brings that outta me.”
“All I need is here,” he murmured, squinting at the little plaque. “And this is a series, correct?”
I nodded. “Yeah, they all kinda… tie together.”
“May I know the story behind them all?”
“They’re just… You know, when you fall in love, it feels like everything kinda changes. Everything feels like it gets better and you just wanna make as many memories as you can with that person. But it’s the simple moments that really stand out. Days where you don’t even really do anything special, but they feel special ‘cause you’re with the girl you love. And you’d think you’d forget the little details, like the color dress she had on, or what she looked like when you were watching a movie, but you remember it all. You just wanna give her lots of happy memories, lots of good things to think back on, and then…” My eyes landed on the last one. “You also wanna give her a future to feel happy about as well.” My head shook and I cleared my throat. “I don’t know. That sounds dumb.”
“The short version is that he’s just really, really in love,” Brodie said,squeezing at my shoulder.
“Yeah, I should have just said that,” I said.
The man laughed. “No, I like your version much better. Very beautiful. I’m quite interested in purchasing your series, so I might be taking these off your hands tonight.”
I blinked at him. “You wanna buy them?”
“They’re all for sale, right?”
“Uh, yeah, they are,” I said.
“I might wander around some more, but I’m keeping an eye on your stuff,” he said, his eyes lighting up as he looked past my shoulder. “Ah, and that must be your inspiration in the flesh.”
I followed his gaze, and there stood a shyly smiling Holly with her dad by her side.
“Hi,” she said, voice soft and timid.
“Hey,” I said lowly. Fuck, had she overheard all that stuff I said? Her dad too?
“I’ll leave you guys alone,” Brodie said into my ear before disappearing into the crowd.
Her heels clicked on the floor as she made her way closer and closer, until she was standing right next to me. A shaky breath left her lips and I grabbed her hand at the sound, my fingers getting all tangled with hers.
She squeezed at my hand. “Um, my dad wants to talk to you.”
Slowly, my eyes moved over to his. Dressed up in a suit and tie, he fit in with a good chunk of the other people in the building.
