“Dat's good enough for me.” He kissed her cheek. “Are you excited about your first gallery showin' on Saturday?”
“Excited and nervous. I just don't know if anyone is really gonna like it.”
“You're brilliant wit' paint, Mia. People are gonna love your work. You'll see.”
“I hope you're right.”
There was still a lot to do between then and Saturday. It made the week fly by quickly. When Saturday finally arrived she was at the gallery early so she could oversee the layout of her pieces. It was a progression that started with very dark themes that showed her inner turmoil after the attempted rape, to lighter, almost happy pieces that emphasized the healing she'd done to over come what had happened to her.
Gage
Gage spent every spare moment that week working on something special for Mia. He'd ended things with Carrie and decided this was it. He was done being stupid, done fucking around. Knowing that he'd hurt Mia, it tore at his heart. He just hoped he could earn her forgiveness. When Saturday rolled around he dressed carefully. He was going to an art gallery. Wearing a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt wasn't going to cut it. Instead, he wore a pair of black slacks with a dark blue button-down shirt and a black tie. He even traded his old leather boots for a pair of new ones. Tucking his gift under his arm he headed out.
“Where you going all dressed up?”
Gage glanced at where one of his frat brother's was lounging on the sofa. “Art gallery openin'.”
“You're joking, right?”
“Nope. Da artist is someone very important to me.”
“Sounds boring, but whatever floats your boat, dude.”
Gage just shook his head and left. There was no sense in arguing with his fellow Delt about it. Along the way to the gallery showing, he stopped and picked up one more gift for Mia. This one he couldn't make himself.
By the time Gage arrived outside the Contemporary Arts Center he was a bundle of nervous energy. Doubts assailed him as he got out of his car and grabbed the long, thin box that sat on the passenger seat. What if she refused to even speak to him? Or worse, what if she took one look at him and started to cry? It would shred his heart even more. He kept flashing back on the look on her face when he'd opened his eyes to see her standing in the doorway at the frat house. The pain he'd seen there had almost crippled him. He reached the doors and paused to steady his nerves. “Here goes no'ting,” he muttered under his breath before he stepped inside.
Mia
It was 6:30 in the evening and the showing was in full swing. When it started, and only a trickle of people came through the doors, Mia got nervous. As the minutes ticked by, however, more visitors came through, and soon the nervousness gave way to pride. In the first half an hour she'd had three different people ask if any of her paintings were for sale and one asked if she did custom orders. The praise buoyed her confidence as she moved through the small crowd.
“Looks like all your worries were for no'ting.”
Mia turned to her twin and stuck her tongue out at him. “Smart ass.”
Julius snickered. “True, I am. And it's such a nice ass, as well.”
That made Mia laugh and roll her eyes. “You're awful. So, I noticed you were chattin' wit' that young cop dey sent over to keep an eye on tings.”
“I was askin' him about da job, what he liked about it.” His cheeks pinked a little.
“Were you tryin' to hit on him?”
“What? No. Dat would be illegal since I'm jailbait. No, seriously, he's cute but I really was askin' him what he liked about bein' a cop. You know I've been takin' criminology courses. At first I thought maybe I'd become a lawyer but...dat's not what I want to do.”
“What do you want to do?” She had a bad feeling she already knew.
“I'm gonna apply for da police academy as soon as we graduate.”
Her heart squeezed with fear for her twin's safety. “Are you sure about dis? Is dis what you really want to do?”
“Yeah. It is.”
“Okay, den. You have my full support.” What else could she do but support him when he'd always supported her?
“Thanks, sis.” Julius spotted Gage and frowned. “What's he doin' here?”
Mia turned to see who he was talking about and her heart skipped a beat. Just seeing Gage made her pulse race. It also made it hurt a little because she remembered the last time she saw him. “Be nice, Jules,” she hissed under her breath as Gage made his way to them.
