Nobody greeted meas I slipped quietly into the restaurant and headed straight for thetransformative piece that had taken me so long to accomplish.
Smoke danced fromone side of the wall to the next—wispy, and dark, and emotive. I was proud ofthe way I’d shaded all of the different tendrils, giving it depth, making itcome alive with hidden meaning. On the left, a pair of female eyes sathalf-hidden under the cloak of gray and black.Cold andcalculating, sad with unspoken grief.They were clearly feminine, butthey were also mostly faded, barely visible in the rest of the scene.
In another two feetwere another pair of eyes—they were hungry, desperate to fit in and be seen. Inanother couple feet a third pair, and then another pair after that. Eachtelling a tragic story that evoked sorrow and longing, leaving you with thefeeling of something missing as real pieces of them had been left unpainted.Two more pairs of eyes could be seen on the far right, closer together than anyof the others. Finally, there was hope. Finally, completion. They were brighterthan the rest, meant to be there and connected by some unseen force. And allaround the smoke swirled and billowed, becoming the most entrancing part of themural.
Ezra had been a bitshocked to see that I’d painted his dating history on the wall of hisrestaurant. And embarrassed. But I assured him that only he knew the secrets ofthe painting, to everyone else it was only art.
In the end, he’dadmitted that he couldn’t stop looking at it. The mural had done exactly whathe wanted it to do, which was fill the awkward space of his restaurant and giveit a memorable quality.
And not only that,but I was finally happy with how his eyes had turned out, finally pleased withhow I’d painted him.
They were deep andmysterious, but warm too, and kind. The eyebrows were exactly right and thelashes were thick and defining. They were eyes that you could fall in love withif you stared at them too often.
Eyes I did fall inlove with.
I prepared mypaints and readied my brush to add a few brushstrokes here and there. Ezrawalked out from the kitchen, murmuring about asshole chefs.
“Any luck?” I askedhim, already knowing what was on his mind.
“He’s a fuckingnarcissist. He’ll take the job as long as his film crew can come in andrestructure the entire building for when they need to tape. Fucking realityshows,” he growled. He held his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “I’m thisclose to putting out a Craigslist ad.”
I tried not tolaugh or even smile. But his indignation was adorable. “Patience, babe. You’llfind the right fit soon.”
His attentionturned to the mural. “It’s stunning, Molly.Every time I walkout here, I‘m blown away all over again.Hiring you was such a gooddecision on my part.”
Of course he wouldtake all the credit. “You’re so smart,” I deadpanned. “You’re such a genius.”
He flashed me adevilish grin. “Thank you.”
Wrapping his armaround my shoulder, he pulled me against his chest. We stayed like that for along moment, hugging, holding onto each other… holding each other.
We’d been nearlyinseparable for the last month. It had been the most beautiful, blissfulchallenge of my life. He was a difficult man and it turned out I wasobviouslyakind of a difficult female. But we needed each other. Our push and pullwas what made me keep falling for him more and more and more. Becauseapparently there was no end to how deep my feelings for this man could go.
The morning afterI’d slept over at his apartment, he’d marched me intoSixTwentySixand raised hell like he promised. I didn’t need him to fight my battles for me,but dang was it nice to have him on my side.
His lawyer hadjoined us.
We went straight tothe Mother Tucker’s office and let him have it. It turned out Henry Junior haddone exactly what I’d expected him to. He’d run to Daddy and they’d decided tofire me. Not deal with Junior’s sexual deviance in any way. But fireme.
So, I quit.
And even thoughHenry had subsequently been put on probation and sent away for training andrehabilitation in sexual misconduct, Brent was still gathering a case. Itincluded my testimony of course. And Catherine Dawes, who had come forwardafter I made such a scene and stormed out of the building with my dignityintact. There were three other women from the office who were also contributingto the case. They had been shut down by HR and Mr. Tucker just like I had.
I didn’t know whatwould happen to STS because of the suit. But I had trouble caring. I was sad ofcourse that so many people might be out of a job, but if they were smart, theywould jump ship before worse came to worst.
Like Emily. Who hadleft STS the same day I did. We’d decided to open up a social media strategyconsulting firm together. Thankfully, we knew some wealthy investors who werevery interested in our services.
Obviously, Ezra.But Killian and Vera also wanted in. They were dying for our help as they gotcloser to the opening of Salt. Plus, Vann wanted to hire us as well. For beingonly a couple of weeks old, our client list was bomb.
Our friends werealso extremely happy for us. After I officially quit STS, we’d met Vera andKillian for lunch. Our first double date. And it had been everything.
Vera was thebiggest cheerleader for our relationship, although I still blamed her pendingmarital bliss for her over-the-top reaction.
But nobody had beenas thrilled for us as Wyatt. Which might have sounded nice of him, but his felicitationswere totally selfishly motivated. Apparently, Ezra in a committed relationshipwas a much easier man to work for.
I liked to take allof the credit for that.You’re welcome,chefs of Durham.
“Jo wants us tocome over for dinner tonight,” Ezra said into my hair. “She says she wants tosee this for herself.”
