Page 45 of All That We Are Together
“Sure. Get some sleep, Landon.”
“You too, precious.”
“Good night.”
I left my phone on the nightstand, turned around, curled up, and closed my eyes.
40
Axel
I was nervous when I got to the gallery. Things were different that day. Waking up knowing Leah was in Byron Bay changed everything. I’d been distracted when I was surfing that morning and had fallen off my board several times, so on my way to work, I went to the café and asked Justin to serve me a strong coffee. Bad idea. Right away, my head started hurting.
“You’re looking chipper,” Sam joked.
“God, let it go.” I rolled my eyes.
“You’ve got the same look my kids have on Christmas right before they open the gifts under the tree. Come here, let me fix your collar. Do you not know how to use an iron?”
“Do I need to answer that?”
“I guess I shouldn’t have asked.”
I didn’t even have an iron; I didn’t see the need for one. When on earth did mankind choose to make life more complicated by deciding wrinkles were ugly? Why couldn’t the opposite be the case? I sighed while Sam arranged my shirt with exasperation and smoothed out my clothing with her hands. I smiled at her.She was just a few years older than I, but she was acting like my mother.
“I doubt one wrinkle more or less will keep her from hating me,” I said, hoping to calm her down.
“So you fucked it up bad?”
“One hundred percent. That’s me. When I decide to do something, I go all in.”
Sam slapped the back of my neck just as someone rang the doorbell. She hurried over to let Leah in while I waited there trying to ready myself for the impact seeing her again would cause me.
“Sorry, the gallery was open, so…”
“Don’t apologize. It’s a pleasure meeting you, Leah. My name’s Sam. I’m guessing you’ve already been briefed. But in case you didn’t know, I’m the general manager of the gallery.”
“Really, Axel didn’t tell me too much.” She gave me a look that would have cowed most people, but that jarred me awake, as if I’d been suddenly roused from a long period of lethargy.
“Come on, I’ll show you the space,” Sam said.
“I’ll come along.”
Sam showed her all around the gallery and told her stories about it and how we worked with the various artists we represented. I followed behind them. Why lie—I liked the view. I barely heard what Sam was saying—Leah’s body held my attention. That’s why Sam’s question caught me off guard.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“The framing, Axel.”
“Sure, what about it?”
Sam crossed her arms.
“We’re in a hurry and you said you’d handle it. The artworks are already in the warehouse, so you can organize them today. You should try to put together two proposals, and we can decide which one is best.” She looked at me with worry. “Are you okay, Axel?”
“Yeah. Headache. Same as always.”
Technically, that wasn’t a lie.