I laugh loudly, the pigeons scattering off as I scare them. “As if!”
“The pictures of you in the studio, they’re some of the best I’ve ever taken. It’s a damn shame you don’t let me sell them.” He grins down at me, letting me know he’s messing with me.
Once upon a time, I’d have had no problem with Joey selling the pictures he took. But when I lost the studio, they seemed to become more personal.
The image of me looking into the camera, it reminded me of Mason. And in nearly every shot stands his mother’s beloved piano. They remind me of something I don’t hold on to anymore, so keeping them in my grasp and only my grasp seems important to me. “It doesn’t seem right to have my face on a wall. I love the pictures and I’m glad I got you that distinction.”
He rolls his eyes. “Oh, because it was all you.”
“But I wouldn’t want them plastered on random people’s walls. It seems… weird.”
“Did you know Mason offered me money for them?”
I falter but keep moving. “What?”
Joey doesn’t answer me right away, and his face is a mask of indifference.
“Mason offer?—”
“You know, forget it.” He waves me off, picking up the pace.
“No. What you just said! Mason offered you money for the photos?”
Joey runs his hand through his hair, looking conflicted. “Yeah.” He nods.
My lungs burn but I don’t stop. “When?”
“God, I don’t know.”
“Before or after I found out I was pregnant?”
He frowns, slowing to a walk. I welcome the change of pace. My legs feel like jelly. “After, it was just before you moved into the apartment.”
“What!” I feel my brows crease, my mind tripping out.
“I didn’t sell them,” he assures me, as if that’s what’s important.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t speak about him at the time. I didn’t think you’d want to know.”
He’s probably right. I wouldn’t have wanted to know. Things were tough after I left Mason. But now I do know, and it leaves me with so many questions.
Mason made out he was angry with me. That he didn’t want me after I ran out on him. But why would he try to buy my photos after I left if that was the case?
I stop dead in my tracks as a thought comes to me.
“How much?” I ask.
Joey drops his head, knowing how important the answer is to me.
“How much did he offer for them, Joe?”
“More than I will probably make in a lifetime off all my other photos.”
“Son of a bitch!” I seethe. “How much? I want to know.”
He rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t let him have them and he wouldn’t give up. He didn’t go in high at first, but every time I refused, he upped the offer.”
