Page 70 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
“I did. I’m still not really clear why you thought I would, but I did.” Thereal dealcomment from earlier echoed through my thoughts like a ghost, but nothing else she did indicated she meant anything by it.Maybe she watchesthe show and picked up the lingo?
“I read people really well. For example, my cousin likes you a lot, Alatheia, but you don’t like him, which only makes Davis like you more. Right, Davis?”
I sucked in my breath, surprised at her bluntness and afraid to steal a glance toward Davis.Oh boy. So embarrassing. Why is she doing this?When I finally got the courage to peek at Davis, I noticed his smile showed all his straight teeth. Whatever else he was, Davis wasn’t embarrassed in the least.
“True,” he agreed easily with a careless shrug.
“That said, I can’t figure out you and the Lents. You say you aren’t dating, and I believe you. Yet they remain really interested in you in a way that just doesn’t feel platonic.”
Jer rocked back on his feet, hands tucked in his pockets as he smiled at her. “Well, she’s a really interesting person. You’ve obviously taken a strong interest in her, too.”
I hoped he wouldn’t trigger her temper. They might be part of her world, as she said, but I wasn’t. The only one who could get hurt in the situation was me, which felt like a really importantfactor for him to remember. I decided it might be safer to ignore her comment about Davis liking me, since I didn’t know how to define my relationship with the Lents either, beyond that I loved them. Instead, we could focus on safer topics.
So I said, “I am their granny’s companion, but you knew that. It’s a little old fashioned, but have you ever read that book. . .”
She interrupted me and said, “I guarantee I haven’t. I don’t read if it isn’t required by school. Art is my thing. Why bother with reading?”
Does she really want me to answer?“There are all kinds of art. Everything speaks to us in different ways. Think about art, or reading… I like music and plays, too.”
“Boring.” She sighed and her gaze swiveled to Jeremy. “You what? Met her at your granny’s?”
He shook his head. “Why are you so interested, anyway?”
“I like stories.” She smiled at me. “Maybe Ishouldread.”
I preferred her focus on me rather than Jeremy. I couldn’t believe we just chatted in a random hallway of the Met. “I met Julian at his granny’s, and later on, I met Jeremy through Julian. Eventually, I met Barrett and Phoenix the same way.”
She tapped her foot then started walking. I didn’t know where she was headed, but I followed her. “Not very interesting, actually. But I do find it sort of curious how you brought Jeremy today. Barrett is usually right and proper all the time, while Julian is nice to everyone. God knows if Phoenix even knows what’s going on most of the time, but you brought Jeremy. The one who already made his way through all of my friends.”
He jolted next to me, instantly going stiff at the mention of his former hookups. It didn’t bother me, but it clearly bothered him. “I have done no such thing.”
“You know you have,” she practically purred, her tone saccharine sweet, but it came across just gross. “I mean, Maggiedidn’t lose her shit like that over nothing, and I think we both know better.”
He sighed. “Maggie is always losing her shit. It’s why she got suspended sophomore year. She set the bathrooms on fire.”
She did what?I opened and closed my mouth. Why would he hook up with someone like her in the first place? I didn’t ask aloud though, making a mental note to ask when we were alone.
“And Greer…”
He interrupted. “Hooks up with everyone, which you know. She thought she hooked up with Julian. She didn’t even know it was me.”
“Thatistrue.” She nodded, tapping her chin with one elegant finger. “I guess my point here, Alatheia, is that you want to be careful with this one. He has no regard for the hearts he leaves shattered in his wake.”
She couldn’t have been more wrong about Jeremy, but I didn’t argue. He felt things so deeply, so acutely. He kept so much of his life hidden from the world, so she would never be able to truly understand how hard life could be for him. The guys each found a way to cope. Barrett walked a line so nobody questioned him about his family. Julian people-pleased, kissing asses with a charm that could make their head spin. He charmed them so well, in fact, that they stopped wondering about the scandal with Phoenix. Their youngest brother took substances to avoid the realm and the rest of us most of the time, preferring a world without his trauma, dulled by narcotics. Meanwhile, Jeremy ran around trying to protect everyone else. I got lucky and saw him in the moments when he could lose himself for a while.
Although lately, they seemed to be switching it up. Julian was getting angry and into fights while Phoenix tried to get off the drugs. And Jeremy remained romantic and there for me whenever I needed him.
But to Murial, I simply said, “I don’t want to talk about their family. Not ever, I mean it. They’re very good people and my friends.” She didn’t need to know how precisely close I got to the brothers. I tapped my lip with my own finger, mimicking her motion from earlier. “But I do have an idea. How about if we go see the two Michiel Sweerts paintings? I’ve been reading about him, so I know they have two of his works here. I looked him up online after you pointed him out next to the Rembrandt. I mean, how cool is it that you have one of his one hundred paintings, when some sources say it could be as low as forty or fifty?”
She brightened immediately. “Oh, Alatheia, you did! You listened and researched.Yes, there are so few of them. My uncle found one when I wanted it then Daddy bought it for me.” It just blew my mind, but I didn’t say it aloud. If I had that kind of money, I would do something charitable with it. I wouldn’t line my walls with paintings, not even treasured ones, but I wasn’t there to judge.Okay, maybe I am a little bit.She certainly judges everyone else around her.“Yes, maybe only half of his work is in private collections. It’s hard to verify, because people don’t like to talk too much about what they have in their own homes.”
Well…she does.
I smiled anyway, and let her lead us toward the Sweerts paintings. I distracted her for the moment, but I still didn’t understand her objectives, nor did I know what she wanted from me. I was really unimportant to her level of life, less important than an insect.So why bother with me at all?
Finally, she turned back to face Jer. He lifted his eyebrows, stiffening like he was ready to take a blow. She explained, “You’re not my type. Your friend Alatheia is over there. As beautiful as she is, she’s actually not who I want to be with. But I’m not done with you all, either.”
He cleared his throat. “You really must be bored.”
