I jolt back, looking at him as if he’s lost his mind. “What? No, I didn’t.”
Matt shakes his head. “No, you’re right. I guess I just assumed. How did I not know you were Alex? Dude, Ria sent you a chick. No wonder you knew it was over for good.”
“Mmm…” I slump my body, the truth in his words weighing me down.
Alex keeps looking between Matt and me. “Wow! It’s astounding,” she says, and I roll my eyes as Matt looks at her and raises an eyebrow.
“What?” he asks.
“Well, you look so alike at first glance. But really, you’re nothing alike. There are so many subtle differences,” she says, and Matt and I both tilt our heads in unison.
“Really? People always have such a hard time telling us apart,” Matt says.
“Pfft, nah. I’d be able to tell you two apart easily. The first sign is that little bit of gold you have in your eyes, which differs from Nate’s. His are just blue, whereas yours turn more to a golden green. Plus, you have more of a subtle freckle pattern just under your right eye. Nate doesn’t have that.”
“Wow! Your attention to detail is quite, um… scary,” Matt says as I chuckle.
“That’s what makes me good at art. I see the beauty in everything.”
“Even a dipshit like Nate.” Matt chuckles to himself, and I roll my eyes, shaking my head.
“Well, come in, have a look around. I think you’ll see Nate is actually pretty damn good.”
Matt raises his eyebrow again, looking at Alex as she defends me. He nods and walks in. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here before.”
“It’s not like you knew about it, though. You know… in your defense.”
“True. Now I know where you used to disappear to.” He smiles over at me. “I’m proud of you, bro. Learning to read, Funging your Shui, opening a gallery, you’re really stepping it up. I like this new you.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Ria. She pushed me to be better. I wish she could see this.” I sigh. “I miss her, you know?”
Alex winces and then looks to the street. “Shit! People are actually coming. Quickly go away… like now,” she murmurs, gesturing for us to shoo. I laugh along with Matt, and we walk off to another wall. We look at one of my paintings as if we areinterested in buying it, while a group walks in. Alex gets right to work, but I tense and chew on my bottom lip.
“Stop looking around. You’re being obvious,” Matt says.
“I’m nervous. What if they hate everything? What if they’re critics, and they review really badly?”
“Dude, you’ve been open five minutes. You need to calm the fuck down. Do I need to get Whisper in here to calm down your ass?”
“No, I don’t need him in here…” I pause, “… rearranging. Let’s go out back. I can’t handle watching.”
Matt chuckles. “Pussy.”
We walk out to the studio, and Matt looks around, taking in all my half-finished pieces of work. “Dude, this is really amazing.”
“Nah, it’s just something I needed when we weren’t touring or rehearsing.”
We sit for what seems like hours, discussing life in general and how I miss Ria. I show him the unfinished dove, and he tells me I should finish it and send it as a ‘thank you’ for Alex. I stew on that thought for a while and figure it’s probably a good idea, and that I might actually do it.
Eventually, Alex comes in and smiles so beamingly that I take a second to admire her features.
“Okay, you want the good news or the bad news?”
I sit up a little taller. “Um… in that order, I suppose.”
“Okay, the good news is we sold your first painting.”
I look to Matt, my eyes wide open, and let out an excited “whoop whoop” before he high-fives me. “Yes! Good going, bro. I knew you could do it.”
