Page 78 of Only Lovers in the Building

“You mean you haven’t gotten stuck in the elevator yet?”

“I can’t say I have.”

He pressed a big red button. A robotic voice assured them that the matter would be resolved shortly. Lily was not at all assured.

“I’m not claustrophobic,” she said, “but God, I hate this. Once, I was stuck in an elevator for two hours.”

“That’s rough,” he said.

“If you live in a city long enough, it’s bound to happen.”

“I grew up in a small town. This is all new to me.”

She considered Jeremy more closely. He was much younger than she’d thought. Twenty-two or twenty-three, maybe.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

“New York.”

“Oh, come on!”

“Cold Spring, New York,” he specified. “Trust me. It’s Small Town, USA.”

“Well, you seem to be getting along just fine in the big city.”

“You’re Lily, right? Ben’s new girlfriend.”

“Yes and no,” she said. “I’m Lily, but not Ben’s girlfriend. We’re neighbors and friends and, well, you get it.”

He nodded, knowingly. “Yep.”

“And you’re an artist,” Lily said, steering the conversation away from Ben.

“Yeah, I paint murals and do some digital stuff.”

“Kylie mentioned you might need a lawyer to look over a contract.”

At the mention of their friend, Jeremy’s whole demeanor changed. He was suddenly brighter and taller. “Kylie . . . She’s a real one.”

“I’m available to help as much as I can.”

Jeremy reached for his phone and, with a few taps, pulled up an email. “It’s not a contract,” he said. “Just an offer.”

Lily skimmed it. From what she could gather, it was a solicitation for original artwork, what he’d described as digital stuff. The client was a privately owned art museum. The winning artist would be awarded two thousand dollars. However, the museum reserved the right to use any submitted art in any format, on any platform, in perpetuity.

“What do you think?” he asked. “The deadline is coming up soon.”

“Whenever you see the word perpetuity, you should back away slowly,” Lily replied.

“That means forever, right?”

“Forever and ever, amen.”

“Gotcha.”

“Mostly, this is a clever way to collect original art for free. Maybe you’ll win and walk away two grand richer. If you lose, you also lose the rights to your work. Obviously, I can’t tell you what to do. We’ve all got to start somewhere. Going forward, though, it’s a good idea to vet your business partners, make sure they’re operating in good faith.”

“I had a gut feeling,” he said, pocketing the phone. “Is this the type of law that you do?”