Page 8 of All That We Are Together
Sam’s cheeks were glowing. I glanced around the corner where she worked, which was full of more…amateurwork. I smiledwhen I saw a new drawing she’d hung close to the others, done in crayon, of five people, with a child’s irregular scrawl reading,For the best mom in the world.
“That one’s got a future,” I joked, pointing at it.
“I’d be happy if they’d just let me sleep one night for more than two seconds in a row.”
“You should have thought about that before you decided not to use a rubber.”
“Axel!” She threw a pen at me and laughed.
“Isn’t that workplace harassment?” I raised an eyebrow.
“You’re a lost cause. Let’s focus. Tomorrow I’m meeting Will Higgins around ten for a studio visit. He says we might be interested in some of his new work. I hope so, because the last stuff he did…” She frowned amusingly.
“Show me the photos. I want to see.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if you just came along?”
“I’ll pass. Walking around a studio, looking at all those pictures, dealing with him…”
Sam groaned as she pulled back her hair.
“You’re the weirdest person I’ve met in my life.”
“Have you met a lot of people?”
“More than a few. Do you even like art, honey? Or do you hate it?”
“I still haven’t decided. You want to grab lunch later?”
“Sure. Let me clear a few things off my desk.”
I looked over the agenda for the upcoming months, the pieces that were coming in and going out, the upcoming fairs, the ones we’d submitted work to by artists we represented. That was thebest way to promote their work—apart from Hans’s numerous contacts in Europe, of course.
We headed out for a bite an hour later.
Sam had the habit of telling me in detail her three children’s each and every feat. One of them, the oldest, went to the same school as my nephews, and they were masters of the art of cooking up new schemes. According to Justin, the twins had inherited thebad genesin the family. In other words, mine.
“So when I got home, the three of them were covered in chocolate syrup, and I put them straight in the tub, clothes and all, to save time.” She brought her fork to her mouth, chewed, and turned serious. “What about you, Axel? Doesn’t the idea of having children tempt you? They’d be adorable, with those little eyes of yours and that eternally furrowed brow…”
“Kids? Me?” I felt a pressure in my chest.
“I said kids, not aliens or dinosaurs.”
“I think that would be more likely.”
Sam had more than enough maternal instinct to go around. When she passed by me, she liked to pinch my cheek or muss my hair, and whenever I had a headache, she’d take my temperature. My headaches were becoming more and more frequent. She always carried around a huge purse packed with all things useful: towelettes, mint cough drops, Kleenex, ointment for mosquito bites…
She stirred her coffee and looked at me pensively.
“You’ve never been in love before, Axel?”
The question caught me by surprise. Leah flashed in my head, one of the many mental photographs I had of her. The smile that filled her whole face, her penetrating gaze, the feel of her skin on my fingers…
“Yeah. A long time ago,” I grunted.
“So what happened?”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.