Page 70 of Why Cheese?
Brie flushes fuchsia, and he bites his lip. Then he nods hard and stares at the ceiling for a change of pace.
“Can I see it?”
“Well, I…there’s just a few, um. I don’t know if…”
“Oh, show her already, Brie!” Cheddy shouts. Sure enough, a line of tomato sauce and cheese dribbles down his chin. “He went on and on about it all night.”
“Your chin,” Cam says, tapping his at Cheddy.
“No.” He laughs hard. “That’s your chin. This is mine.” He smears the stain clear across his palm, then runs it through his hair. Cam answers with a slow sigh. He returns to his dish but keeps an eye back on me and Brie.
“Okay,” Brie says. “Okay, I’m gonna.” He pulls the canvas out, but it’s facing his stomach. “The thing is, I don’t know if it’s good. It’s not good. But I just, I wanted to—. Here!” Clenching his eyes tight, he flips it around.
Holy shit.It’s me. But like me through all the best beauty filters. No acne scars, no rosacea across my nose and forehead, with my hair behaving instead of sticking straight up on the crown like a light socket shocked me. I’m sitting on a park bench with sunlight streaming through my dark blond and pink hair. Oh, it’s Cheddy’s park with the fountain just behind my shoulder.
“It’s okay if you hate it. I’m not very good. I just thought, maybe you’d like to. I don’t know.” Brie’s still got his eyes closed as he extends the painting out like it's an angry badger.
“Brie, it’s beautiful.”
“Really?” His eyes pop open, a smile rising, before he frowns. “You’re only trying to assuage my feelings.”
“No, no. What’s assuage? It’s good. I mean, it’s fantastic. You made me…” I can’t stop staring at my own eyes. The acrylic ones sparkle with dots of blue and green catching in the park’s sunlight, unlike the real ones that, at best, can muster up ditch water gray. “Beautiful,” I whisper.
“Because you are,” Cam says. “Not to downplay Brie’s achievement in capturing your vivacious spirit with a brush, but it can’t be too challenging given the porcelain he had to work with.”
“Did you just say Vi’s a cup?” Cheddy asks.
“Yes,” Cam deadpans, then he smiles. “A gleaming bone china so delicate a single sip could shatter it.”
“So you, are you saying you like it?” Brie asks.
“I love it!” I gasp, overwhelmed by the mass of foreign compliments.
They’re being nice. It’s not like they meant any of it. They need you.
I know, but I can still enjoy them, at least a little bit.
“Here.” Brie passes over the painting, and I reach for it. A thud drops in my stomach. Even if I spent a hundred hours on my hair and makeup, I’ll never look as pretty as that Violette.
“No,” I cry out, causing all three of them to look at me. “I…I think you should keep it.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“So you can see me whenever you want,” I whisper to Brie. His cautious smile becomes genuine, and he nods.
“Hmm.” Cam scoops up the painting and turns it around to inspect it. “If that’s the case, I have a few suggestions on the next one. Violette reclining in the bath with her glorious hair spilling down the side as she sucks upon a ripe, crimson strawberry. Are you writing this down?”
A loud clap breaks us from having to answer or think about Cam’s request. Dressed in not only an apron but with a white hairnet, Roq looms impatiently. He crosses his arms and tilts his chin. “Are you ready to learn how to make cheese?”
“Yes. Please. I was watching a few videos and doing some Googling. In anticipation,” I say, damn near boiling over in excitement.
“That is…something,” Roq says. “Cheddy, Cam, I will need your help in heating the milk.”
“What about dinner? Freshly prepared by our mistress herself.” Cam extends the lasagna pan which Roq only gives a cursory glance.
“That can wait until the milk is acidifying. Come on. What’s this?” Roq’s steamroller is thrown by the painting in Brie’s hands.
“It’s, I…I wanted to—” Brie begins to explain as Roq pulls it from his fingers.
