Shit, now I’m blushing…
“So which piece did you make?” Tania asked him. “I’ll scratch it off the list.”
Jonah scrubbed his hand through his hair. “Um, it’s…”
“A perfume bottle,” I said. “It’s beautiful.”
Tania wrinkled her brow. “A perfume bottle. I don’t recall that—”
“I have to drive Kacey back to my place,” Jonah said quickly. “I’ll come back to finish out the day.”
“Sure, sure,” Tania said. She held Jonah’s eyes a moment, then turned to me. “Will I see you again before you leave?”
“No,” I said. “We fly out tomorrow.”
Again, Tania’s eyes met Jonah’s. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them, reminding me of the one between Jonah and Theo in the kitchen yesterday.
“Well that sucks balls,” she finally said.
“Tania doesn’t express herself very well,” Jonah said dryly.
“And aren’t you lucky I don’t?” she said. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Kacey.”
She offered her hand again but I hugged her instead. “You too, Tania. Maybe I’ll visit sometime soon.”
“Yes,” she said. “I think that would be a very, very good idea.”
“Tania’s awesome,” I said as we drove back. “Has she been your assistant long?”
“Since I began the installation,” Jonah said. “About two months ago. She’s a senior at UNLV. Industrial arts and all kinds of talented. I’m lucky to have her.”
“She seemed so happy to see me. That felt nice.”
Jonah shifted in his seat. “She’s like that. Friendly.” He glanced at me then back to the road. “The truth is… I’ve sort of walled myself off to a lot of people since I began my installation.” He spoke slowly, as if inspecting each word before he let it out. “I have Tania, Theo, my parents, and my best friends, Oscar and Dena. They’re all I have time for. I think Tania was happy that I brought someone new to the hot shop.”
“Oscar and Dena are the friends I saw in your photos? African-American guy with a nice smile? Pretty girl who looks Middle Eastern?”
“That’s them. Dena’s parents are from Iran. She and Oscar have been together for ages. I’m actually supposed to hang out with them tonight. We get together every week. It’s part of my routine, like dinner with my folks.”
“Oh.” I twisted my hands in my lap. “That’s cool. I think I’ll—”
“But I was thinking that since it’s your last night here, maybe I’d cancel.”
“No, no,” I said, even as happiness bloomed in my chest. “I don’t want to interfere…”
“I feel like vegging out with a movie.” We came to a red light and Jonah turned to me, a grin tilting his lips. “Is there an eighties classic on the agenda?”
“There could be.”
The light turned green, and he turned his eyes back to the road. “Sounds good.”
“Yeah,” I said, resting my chin in my hand to conceal the idiotic smile on my face. “Sounds perfect.”
When my cell phone rang around eight o’clock, I knew it would be Theo. I’d already gotten an earful from Tania when I’d returned to the hot shop that afternoon: question after question about Kacey. I stuck to the story, she was leaving the next day.
“And the perfume bottle?” Tania asked, her lips curled up in a knowing smirk. “I don’t recall it being on the gallery manifest.”
“I added it.”
“Whatever you say, boss,” she’d said, and let the matter drop.
Theo on the other hand…
“Oscar texted me,” he said now. “You’re canceling tonight?”
“It’s Kacey’s last night—”
“So it’s about that girl.”
“Kacey. Yes. I—”
“Are you going to sleep with her?”
“Jesus, Theo.”
“Are you?”
I sat on one of the two stools at the kitchen that served as my dining table, turning away from the hallway bathroom where Kacey was washing her face.
“I’m being polite to my houseguest. I don’t want to invite her out, she’s trying not to drink, and I don’t want to leave her alone to be bored all night. And by the way, newsflash…” I lowered my voice and made sure the water was still running in the sink… “It’s none of your business who I sleep with.”
“You know what Dr. Morrison told you,” Theo said. “You have to be careful. Don’t overdo it.”
“Theo…”
“And you have to use a condom, no exceptions.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
But of course, I didn’t hang up. Because he was my brother and beneath his tough talk he was scared shitless for me. “I told Oscar and Dena we’d hang out on Wednesday to make up for it. You free?”
“I’m at the shop late Wednesday,” Theo said. “She’s leaving tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.”
There was a silence on the other end.
“Hello?” I said. “Want me to tell her you said goodbye? Safe travels? How about an autograph?”