Chapter 8 – Talia
"Wow! You just keep on amazing me with your beautiful art," said Blake softly over my shoulder. I hadn't even noticed that he had stepped into the room. A few weeks had passed and a lot had happened already. He liked to watch sometimes, but most of the time, he left me to my own devices, popping in from time-to-time just to see if I needed anything. I perked up immediately at the sound of his voice.
"Thank you," I said. "I am just amazed that you were able to get your hands on these sheets of full-size canvas. I have never made paintings like this where I have been able to pay so close attention to detail."
The far wall of the bedroom had been covered in different pieces that I had created. They each had a special frame around them that made them look so official, like I was actually a world-class painter whose work was to be hung in the Smithsonian. I hadn't really fallen in love with all of them equally and had said as much to Blake, not wanting him to make such a big deal about my work and find expensive frames for ones that might end up folded up and thrown in a drawer somewhere once I finally got home. But, he had been insistent.
"Well, if you decide that you aren't going to use them, maybe I can buy them off of you. Your pieces are much to pretty not be displayed, even if only a little while. Whichever ones you want to take with you for your showcase, just let me know and I will make sure that those arrive to the art gallery safe and sound."
He didn't let me say a word of protest after that. He would simply take up the piece, eye it appreciatively, and find a frame to put it in. Some he had around the house already and he took the picture that had been already hanging up on the wall that was created by a famous painter. Others he special ordered just so that it would look "perfect" hanging up on the wall.
It felt nice to have someone fuss over my art. Other than Harvey, there really wasn't anyone in my life who appreciated art as much as I did, let alone the art that I created.
The day that he had the canvases flown in, I had been sitting sadly painting on the last canvas that he had provided. I wasn't sure how I was going to continue making oil paintings without canvas.
"Oh well. I guess I'll just shift to sculpting or something. I guess the change will be good, anyway," I said aloud.
He jumped up and made a phone call, making a bee line out of the room. I kept on painting. He came back into the room after about twenty minutes and didn't say a word. About an hour later, I could hear what sounded like an airplane flying overhead.
"It's here," he said. "Come on."
He grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door and down the hallway. He was moving really fast and I was having a hard time keeping up with him.
"Wait," I said, trying to keep step with him. "What's going on? What's here?"
"The new canvases," he said, glances over his shoulder for a moment and smiling.
I didn't know what to think or say other than to be grateful yet again that I had responded to the ad on the website.
Once the plane shut off, the pilot emerged, canvases in hand. He looked like he was going to fall over backwards since his arms were full from all that he was carrying.
"This should be enough to last you for a little while longer. If you need anymore, though, let me know. I'll make sure that you get whatever it is that you need."
He took them from the pilot, thanked him, and carried them into the house. The pilot took off right away.
A special trip just for my canvases. I felt so honored.
I would often have a hard time concentrating when Blake was there. His sexy body would serve as a distraction and my art making session would soon be interrupted by lovemaking.
Lovemaking.
I smiled thinking about our bedroom sessions. They were so passionate, so arousing, that I couldn't claim that I didn't have my feelings all tangled up in him, even if I didn't want to.
But, as hard as it was to concentrate on creating art when Blake was in the room, I found it even hard to focus on anything but him when he wasn't there.
Today was a day like that.
He had gone off to the other side of the island for a hike he said. He told me that I could go with him if I would like, but he understood if I wanted to stay back and get some work done. I figured that the responsible thing to do would be to stay back. It was my way of trying to put a little distance between the feelings that were already beginning to mount between us.
Part of me was enjoying the connection that was building between us. Another part of me wanted to find a way to put more distance between us. But, how? I had been hired to be his companion. So, it wasn't like I could put up an emotional wall between us. I knew that that would be the best way to get me a one way ticket back home to our little apartment, my demanding job, and leave me scraping for time to try working on my art.
No. Him going on a hike on his own was perfect.
Or so I thought.
Except for I kept finding myself staring off in the distance after a few brush strokes thinking about him.
My mind drifted back to about a week ago when we had such a powerful lovemaking session that it left us both speechless. In fact, it was so good, I was just about to tell him that I loved him. But, I started coughing instead and was unable to talk for a few minutes until I got a drink of water.
"What were you going to say?" he asked me eagerly, his eyes so sincere and deep like large, blue pools of water.
"Oh. Just that it was really good," I lied. I had never been more grateful for a coughing fit than I had in that moment. Sure, I hadn't said the words, though, but that didn't stop me from feeling the feelings. It didn't stop the butterflies from tickling the insides of my belly whenever I heard his voice. It didn't make the hairs stay in their place instead of on end all of my body when he would rub his fingers across my skin.
I closed my eyes and leaned back, savoring the memory of that night.
Snap out of it, Talia, I told myself, trying to force my mind to focus on the painting that was simply not turning into much more than a few colorful streaks on a full-sized canvas.
I knew that I had to figure out how to distance myself before I ruined everything.