“Cassidy. She’s probably already at my place by now.”
“Your place?”
“Yeah. You coming?”
Martin hesitated. Seb must have seen his discomfort, because he offered a kinder smile than he normally did. There was less superior amusement, more sympathy.
“Come on,” he said. “This is still part of the apology. Cass is coming over to work on her portfolio. You didn’t get to see it last time. Come for a minute and check it out. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Martin had a long list starting with his own experience and ending with the limitless worst-case scenarios his brain could conjure up, but he followed Seb to the bookstore and up the creaking staircase to the apartment.
“I let myself in,” Cassidy said as they came through the door. She took the third coffee from Seb. “You’re out of soy milk again.”
“I only keep it around for you,” Seb said. “Tell me again exactly how one milks soy? Last I checked, it’s not a mammal.”
Cassidy laughed. Her smile grew as she spotted Martin. “Hi! Seb didn’t tell me you were coming over!”
“We ran into each other.” Seb set the tray of drinks down on a little table. Martin hesitated by the door until Seb lifted one of the paper cups and held it out to him.
Stalking back out into the cold was still an option. He could go home. Jess had probably left, but Brian would still be there. Martin didn’t feel like talking to him.
“You okay?” Seb’s question snapped Martin out of his brooding.
“Fine. Thanks for the coffee.” He held the cool blue of Seb’s gaze and shivered. Seb looked away for a change.
“Martin wants to see your portfolio,” Seb said as he passed Cassidy.
She straightened again and grinned. “It’s pretty awesome. Come see!”
Itwaspretty awesome. She pulled out the long tube of heavy paper and unrolled it across the living room floor. The papers were thick and longer than he was tall. The ends kept trying to roll back, but Martin let her choose books from the shelf to hold them down.
“What do you think?”
What did he think? He could barely take in what he was seeing. Each page featured a monochromatic landscape, long shadows stretching from spindly trees, and roads that extended into a horizon that looked miles away.
The depth was staggering. A pale moon seemed to shimmer in one, as a figure in a field danced in the moonlight. Martin wanted to get down on his hands and knees, press his face to the floor, and see if anything else was on the page, some addition that created the third dimension. “You did this?”
“Girl’s got skills,” Seb said behind them. He sat at the desk beneath the window, hunched over a book with a small utility knife in his hands.
“Is it chalk?” Martin asked.
“Charcoal,” Cassidy said.
“It’s amazing.” He didn’t know how to tell her what it made him feel, especially the one lonely figure, its back to them as it trudged up the long endless road in the middle of the page.
“She has an eye for shadows,” Seb said.
“Do you really like it?” Cassidy asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
Martin could barely tear his eyes away from it as he nodded vigorously. “I don’t know a lot about these kinds of things, but this is really good.”
“I hope so.”
“Cass is going to art school next year. New York or Rhode Island. The big time!” Seb didn’t look up as he spoke.
“If they take me.” Cassidy didn’t sound confident.
“They’ll take you.”
