Page 23 of Hard Rock Muse
She gave me a reassuring smile, then left the room as quickly as she’d come in, like a whirlwind.
Julian and I stared at each other in her wake.
“Well,” he said, then stopped. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do.”
I knew how hard it was for him to express himself in words, but if I had to drag Julian’s thoughts out of his mouth with him kicking and screaming, I’d do it.
After all, I’d had years of practice.
I didn’t want to scare him off, though. I knew if I pushed too hard he’d just clam up.
“Remember what we used to do for inspiration when we got stuck?” I asked.
His eyes trailed up and down my body and I felt exposed once again.
“We did a lot of things,” he replied.
The heat between my thighs mirrored the heat in his gaze.
“Not that,” I said. “The museum thing.”
“Right,” he replied in understanding. “We’d go and re-name the art.”
Julian and I had a fascination with contemporary art, but not in the way most people did. We loved to go to museums and art galleries and make up new titles and captions.
An artist would title their workAbandoned Alleyway at 3 a.m.and we’d re-name it something fun or silly likeWatch Out for the Rabid Raccoons in the Garbage Bins.
“Why don’t we check out some local art galleries?” I suggested and Julian agreed.
We didn’t always make silly captions. If we found a piece of art that moved us or evoked emotion, we would be more serious about it. Once, we’d come across a painting of a balloon floating in the sky calledAdrift. Julian had stared at it for long, silent minutes before he took my breath away and made my heart ache as he spoke a single word.
Alone.
