Ki opened the door, pulled me in close and I felt the tension seep from my shoulders.
“Nice to see you, too,” I said, smiling as my lips touched his.
“What happened?” he asked, touching my cheek that must’ve still been red.
“Mum and Trent were being themselves.” I shrugged. “But I gave better than I got.”
Ki took a step back and ran his hands through his hair. “Antagonising Trent is playing with fire, Emerson.”
“I handled it.”
He shook his head. “Come on,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside the house.
“Are your parents home?” I asked.
“Nope. Mum is on the road for the next few days, and Dad is on night shift. We’re alone tonight.”
I was overjoyed. As much as I loved his parents and how they treated me like I was part of their family, the idea of having a whole night to spend together alone was exciting.
“Mum left a pasta bake for dinner,” Ki said, pulling me towards the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
My stomach growled in response when the delicious smell of bacon and cheese filled my nostrils. “I love your Mum.”
Once settled in front of the TV, I flicked channels until I found a Megastructures documentary. It was Ki’s favourite show, and I loved sharing that with him.
“Are you looking forward to the art show tomorrow?” he asked as the closing credits came up.
“Of course I am,” I replied. “It’s my dream to be part of it one day. Imagine if my art travelled around the country.”
“When, not if,” he corrected with a kiss on my forehead.
After we’d cleaned up, we turned on a movie but didn’t see much of it. Making out on the couch was far more entertaining. It was almost midnight when we climbed into bed and lay on our sides facing each other.
“This feels so right,” Ki whispered. He stroked my cheek and pushed the loose hair behind my ear. “I can’t wait until we can have our own place together.”
Leaning forward, I placed my lips on his. The kiss deepened, and he groaned when I allowed his tongue entry to my mouth. Our pyjamas were discarded urgently, but we made love as if we had all the time in the world. As far as we were concerned, we did.
Once it was over, we lay facing each other, and I whispered the words I knew to be true. “You’ll never leave me.”
“Never ever.”
The art gallery in our town managed to secure a few travelling exhibitions every year, but this one was the most prestigious they’d ever had. It originated in the city, and it was a huge coup that the curator had managed to secure a slot on its itinerary.
“I love seeing you so happy,” Ki said, grinning broadly as we walked through the front door. Art was not his thing at all, but he was supporting my passion in the same way I fished and watched engineering documentaries.
Elated, I darted from one display to the next. It was overwhelming and inspiring seeing so much beautiful art in so many different forms.
“What on earth is this about?” he asked, pointing at the first in a series of installations.
“These are the winners of a state-wide competition,” I said. “Light is the theme, and there were no rules or restrictions other than the overall size.”
He cocked his head to the side, perhaps trying to make sense of the odd structure of lightbulbs, knotted ropes, and coat hangers. “I think it looks like some kind of torture device.”
I chuckled. “Art is art. It’s completely subjective. Who the hell knows what the artist is trying to convey here? Perhaps he doesn’t even know himself. But someone might see something that speaks to them.”
Ki shrugged, but I knew he was intrigued enough to move onto the next installation. It was a series of glass blocks stacked unevenly. Some towers were only three blocks high while others were at least ten blocks above our heads. Each block was lit from within, and the colour changed at seemingly random intervals.
“It’s beautiful,” I said after we’d stood in silence for several minutes. “It’s hypnotic.”
“What makes you happy, Emerson?” Ki asked.
I turned my head and found his gaze still fixed on the art. “Why?”
“When I look at this installation, I think about happiness.”
I looked again at the colourful blocks and wondered what he was seeing that I was not. I cocked my head to the side and tried to look at it from a different angle.
“You’re responsible for your own life and your own happiness, right?”
I nodded.
“So let’s say the blocks each represent different people or things in your life.”
I nodded again, starting to see where he was going with this.
“If you stack your life tower with things that make you happy, your life will be filled with colour and light, but if you ignore your passions or fail to invest in the right things or the right people, your life will be flat and dull. You’ll live in the shadows.”
Taking hold of his hand, I squeezed. “You’re the best person I know, Mereki, and you make me so incredibly happy.” I glanced at the towers of light. “As long as we’re together, I’ll smile forever.”
We moved across the room to a group of glass cabinets displaying some very expensive-looking jewellery. The first one housed a ring with an enormous pink diamond surrounded by smaller ones. The necklace next to it was breathtaking, too, and I could only imagine its worth.
“I’d love to buy you something like this one day,” Ki said.
I shrugged. “I don’t need expensive trinkets, Ki.”
“I know you don’t need them,” he replied, meeting my gaze. “Nobody needs them, but they would look so beautiful on you, and I’d like to think one day I could be the one to put them there.” He kissed my cheek. “I’m just going to pop out for a smoke. Will you be alright for a few minutes?”
“Of course.”
I don’t know why I continued staring at the jewellery. It was, of course, very beautiful, but I meant what I’d said. I couldn’t imagine ever wearing anything like that.
“Like what you see?”
I snapped my head around at the sound of Jacob’s voice.
“Hello, Emerson.” He moved too close to me.
“Leave me alone, Jacob,” I replied, shuffling a few inches away.
He waved his hand over the cabinet. “I can show you jewellery like this in our store anytime you like.” His smug expression made my skin crawl.
“No thanks.”
His smile faltered. “A girl as pretty as you deserves pretty things.” He turned to face me and picked up my hands. “If you were mine . . .”
I cut him off. “I’ll never be yours,” I said, ripping my hands from his and taking a step back.
His eyes narrowed. “Your loss.”
Mereki moved in next to me and put a protective arm around my shoulders. “Get outta here, Smith.”
“I’ll see you later, Emerson,” Jacob said, winking, before slithering away like the snake he was.
“Are you okay?” Ki asked, clenching his fists.
“I’m fine, babe.” I took his hand and led him to the other side of the room. “I want to show you this painting over here.”
We spent another hour in the gallery before heading down to the river. I was so inspired by the art show that I managed to finish my school project weeks before it was due.