July 19

by Lori Cohen

  Caroline offered to come over to do my makeup and hair. For that, I was eternally grateful. If left to my own, the stress of getting myself ready would have been unbearable. When she got to my place, she looked like the glamour squad had already had their way with her. She was wearing a black tank top and mini skirt, ankle boots, long, straight hair and perfectly applied makeup complete with smoky cat eyes. She looked amazing and I was once again flattered that she was caring about the show enough to look so great. I found a great photo of Nina Dobrev at a premiere, looking like the natural beauty she is. I showed it to Caroline as inspiration for the look that I wanted. Nina and I had similar features and coloring, so I thought if she could make me look even remotely like her, I would be in good shape. Caroline was up for the challenge and kept referring to the picture as she went to work. When she was done, she told me to slip on my dress and shoes before I looked in the mirror. My look was exactly what I wanted — glamorous, but not over the top. She nailed it!

  Dani came over dressed in jeans and nice top and boots. “Oh shit,” she said when I opened the door, “I didn’t know it was dressy! You look unbelievable!”

  “Relax,” I said, “I’m the host. I have to be dressy!”

  “Well, I’ve got to go home and change!” she said when she saw Caroline walking down the stairs.

  “Dani, you’re fine. You don’t need to change!” I said.

  “Ah, yes you do...” said Caroline, checking out Dani head to toe.

  “See!” said Dani. “I’ll go home and change,” she said turning towards the door.

  “No! Come here!” I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the stairs. “Just go raid my closet for something, but don’t leave. I want you here.”

  She shook her head but followed me up the stairs. After a few minutes of frantically going through my closet, she found a cute floral dress that looked great on her with her boots. “Okay, I feel better,” she said, as she relaxed on my bed. “I’m so excited to see your show, Ari!”

  “Me too,” said Caroline. “I can’t believe none of us has seen a single brush stroke!”

  “Not even your parents or Sarah?” Dani asked in disbelief.

  “Nope! Well, my mom saw it this morning after I hung all the pieces. That was the first time I saw her work too!”

  “No way!” they both said in unison.

  “Ya, crazy right?”

  “Did your mom love it?” Dani asked.

  “Totally. I won’t tell you what she said, I will let you have your own opinion.” I said coyly.

  “What about Owen?” Caroline asked.

  “He’ll see it tonight...” I replied, raising my eyebrows, and clenching my teeth, “I guess I’m most nervous for Owen to see it. He’s never seen any of my work. What if he’s disappointed, or doesn’t think I’m very good?”

  “You’re nuts! He’s going to love it! You’re so good!” Dani insisted.

  Just then Sarah knocked and walked in simultaneously.

  “I can’t believe the big day has finally come!” she said, standing in the doorway.

  “I’m so happy you’re here for it,” I replied thinking that there was no way I could get through the day without her here.

  “Come on, let’s head over now! Mom and Dad just left to go set up the refreshments,” Sarah said, ushering us out of my bedroom.

  With a tummy full of butterflies, I walked to the car with Sarah and my friends. The refreshments were set up in the gallery foyer and the gallery exhibit remained draped off. We arrived a few minutes before 6pm. My friends desperately wanted a sneak peek, but I told them they’d have to wait.

  My mom came hopping over when she saw us walk in. “Aria, I don’t believe it! The Boston Globe just called to say the arts editor is en route to the gallery for the show! I emailed them an invitation last week and I hadn’t heard from them, so I assumed there was no uptake...but they’re coming! The Globe is coming!!!”

  “Oh my God!” I coughed out the words. “I don’t believe it!”

  “I know!” my mom said, “I have to go tell your dad!” She touched my arm as she ran off.

  My friends hugged me, knowing that as exciting as it was, that news made me even more nervous. “It’s going to be so great,” Dani reassured me, “You’re going to be famous!”

  “Yeah right,” I said, “if I don’t puke on the editor!”

  We all laughed with that image in our minds. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Owen’s Jeep parking in the lot. I excused myself from my friends and went to greet Owen outside. He got out of the car and walked slowly toward me, burning me with his smile and stare. “Wow you’re gorgeous! You’re right — that dress is beautiful on you,” he said not breaking his gaze.

  “Thanks,” I blushed.

  “How’s my artiste?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head.

  “So nervous! I just found out the Boston Globe arts editor is coming!”

  “That’s amazing, Aria! I’m so happy for you,” he said, taking my hand and walking towards the door. “I can’t wait to see your work!”

  I groaned as we walked in. “The work is still cordoned off until my mom gives her welcome speech, so just grab a drink and something to eat and stand tortured with me for a while.” I looked at him and batted my eyelashes very intentionally.

  “You’re hilarious,” he said and made his way over to the cheese table.

  I saw my mother walk towards the door, so my eye followed her as she greeted someone I did not recognize. Standing in front of her was a tall striking woman, probably in her 40s, in a suit and slicked back dark hair. She was smiling and shaking my mother’s hand. Then my mother looked towards me and waved for me to come over.

  “Aria, this is Sheila Newbury from the Boston Globe.”

  “Nice to meet you. Thank you for coming,” I said, unsure if I meant it.

  “The pleasure is mine,” she said sincerely. “Please carry on as if I’m not here, I’m sure you have many people to greet. When you have a moment later, I’d love to ask you some questions about the exhibition.”

  I looked to my mom. “Yes, Aria, go ahead back to your friends, I will greet our guests,” my mom said while showing Ms. Newbury to the bar.

  “Was that her?” Owen asked when I went back to join him, Caroline, Dani and Sarah.

  “Yep. Gulp.” I said. They laughed at me and kept me distracted until my mother took the microphone a few minutes later.

  “Welcome to our guests. Aria and I are so pleased you could all make it this evening. It means a lot to us to have you here.” She smiled and got choked up. Oh boy, I thought, how is she going to get through this evening? She continued. “Although we entitled tonight’s exhibition ‘Mother and Daughter’, this was far from a collaboration. We were two artists working independently. My daughter, you see, does not need my help to create her work, only my encouragement. So tonight, you will see Aria’s collection of work entitled ‘Unfinished love’ on one side of the gallery, and my work on the other side, entitled ‘Optimism’.” She drew back the curtain and simply said, “Enjoy...”

  Owen had been facing away from the art while my mom was speaking. I grabbed his hand and said, “Okay, time for the big reveal, turn around…”

  He turned, and we walked slowly towards my work, his hand in mine. I watched his eyes moving from one image to the next, slowly. Then he dropped my hand, and walked without me, focusing more closely on each painting. He turned toward me, and his eyes widened. A look of fear came over his face. His whole expression changed, and I didn’t know what was happening.

  “Aria,” he said in a whisper, almost choking on his words, “I have to get some air. Stay here and enjoy your big night. I love you.” And with that, Owen left me and walked quickly out of the gallery. I was standing there in a state of shock.

  Sarah came over and asked, “What the hell just happened?”

  I didn’t know what to say. “I have no idea. As soon as Owen saw my artwork,
he had a bizarre reaction, like fear almost, and he told me he needed some air. He just walked out and told me to stay here.”

  “Okay well I know this is hard,” she said, “but pull yourself together for the show, and you’ll deal with that later. I’ll go out and see if he’s there. Please Aria, focus on your night right now.”

  “What the hell...I’ll try,” I said, watching as Sarah turned and left the gallery.

  Sheila approached me. “Aria, I am so impressed with what I’m seeing. Your style is so compelling, and your story is so striking. I’d love to hear more about your process.”

  “Um, sure,” I said as I focused my thoughts on her question. “I’ve had these very vivid dreams lately, of a time and place that I’m only familiar with in my dreams. These images stay clearly with me as do intense feelings of love. I sketch in pencil on the canvas before I lay down any paint to get the proportions the way I want them. The colors I choose are vibrant, like they are in my dreams. I add the finer details as a second layer, almost an overlay.”

  “Wonderful, just wonderful. And how old are you Aria?” she asked.

  “I’m 16. I’ll be 17 in July,” I said, thinking about Owen and our shared birthday.

  “Wow, that’s unbelievable! Truly. You’re so accomplished for such a young woman! Have you been in art classes?” I explained to her that I was self-taught, aside from art class at school. She seemed blown away. She shook my hand firmly, congratulated me, and told me that she’d let us know when to look out for her editorial in the paper.

  Many accolades followed and as much as I wanted to feel engaged and happy, I was inwardly so distraught about what had happened with Owen. I was confused and couldn’t wait to be able to talk to him. Sarah hadn’t re-appeared, which was even stranger. I was worried, but I was fighting my emotions. I knew that I needed to be present for the sake of the show and, of course, for my mom. My dad came over and gave me a big hug. “Honey, I’m just so proud of you. You look absolutely beautiful tonight. Your art is fantastic, and the response has been amazing!” He said, as he kissed me on the cheek. “Chip off the old block,” he added and winked as he chuckled. My dad had zero artistic ability.

  “Girl, this stuff is unreal,” Dani said. “I knew you were talented but this…Ari what’s wrong?”

  Damn, I had to get a grip. I couldn’t get into it with her now. “I’m fine. I’ve just got some stuff on my mind, but we’ll talk about it later, okay?”

  “Sure, no problem. Where did Owen go?” she asked.

  “Later Dan, I’m a little confused right now,” I said as I turned and walked away.

  My mom had been working the room all night. She came over with several clients of the gallery to introduce me. I chatted with them about my work and I could see my mother’s pride when I looked at her. I was so happy when the last of the guests left. My mom came over and gave me a giant hug and I just burst into tears.

  “Honey, what’s all this? What’s going on?” she asked.

  I stood there, tears streaming, as she got a tissue for me. I explained what had happened. My dad was listening and pulled out his phone to call Sarah and find out what was going on.

  “Sarah and Owen are back at the house. She didn’t get into any details with me. She said we’d discuss everything together when we get home,” my dad relayed.

  “Oh my god. I don’t know what to think! I’m so confused!” I blurted out.

  “We’ll find out soon enough sweetheart. Let’s do a quick clean-up and get going. I do have some great news to share with you Aria. I think this’ll make you a little happier. Five of your paintings sold tonight!” my mom said.

  “What! People already bought them?” I asked.

  “Yes, they did! They want to get in on the ground floor! They think you’re incredibly talented,” she said excitedly.

  “Wow! That’s so cool mom! And what about your stuff?” I asked. “I did well too! I sold six pieces!” she said.

  My dad put his arms around both of us and squeezed us tightly. “Great job girls,” he said and gave us each a kiss.

  “Plus, we’ll be getting some free advertising from the Boston Globe next week and additional clients that couldn’t make it tonight will be coming through in the next little while. It’s not over yet,” my mom added.

  I was so nervous on the ride home. I had a zillion things running through my head. My mom asked me to be calm and rationalized that there would be a good explanation for what had happened. I knew it must be serious because the Owen I knew would never want to ruin an evening like that for me. For him to abruptly leave like that surely meant something big was going on.

  We walked into the family room to find Owen and Sarah sitting on the couch. Owen was leaning over with his head in his hands. Sarah silently mouthed, “Oh my god,” to me.

  Owen looked up at me, his eyes watery.

  “Why don’t you guys go upstairs and talk alone,” my mom suggested.

  Owen got up, said hello to us and apologized for the drama. “Let’s talk Aria,” he said, and I took him by the hand up to my room.

  “Before anything, I just want to apologize to you for my reaction at the gallery, but I honestly couldn’t help it. I think you’ll understand shortly,” he said. He looked into my eyes. Owen got very emotional, his eyes welled up, he squeezed my hands tightly and then he let his tears flow.

  “Owen talk to me. Tell me now!” I insisted.

  He wiped away his tears and tried to compose himself. “Your art, Aria, well, they’re my dreams. Sarah explained that you have painted things you’ve seen in your dreams, and I am telling you now that we are seeing the same things! When I saw your paintings, I recognized everything. The people, the ice cream store, the beach, the golf course...everything! I don’t know how this can possibly be, and you probably don’t believe me, but I assure you, I can prove it to you. I have seen everything that you have seen.”

  I was speechless. Stunned. Scared.

  Chapter 13

  When did your dreams start?” he asked.

  I closed my eyes to think. “This past summer. Right before school started,” I replied.

  “Well that’s when mine did too, and that’s when I moved here from San Fran,” he added.

  “Owen, this is too unbelievable. Are you messing with me, ‘cause it’s not funny?” I was shaking my head in utter disbelief. “It makes no sense, Owen. You are not the boy in my dreams! You don’t look like him!”

  “I realize that, and no I’m not messing with you. I wouldn’t do that,” he said, “but I don’t see exactly what you see in your dreams. I see a girl and it’s not you. But the other people, the places and the activities — I HAVE seen every single thing you have painted! Do you understand?”

  “So, you’re saying that you see through the eyes of the boy in my dream, looking at me but it’s not me?” I was confused.

  “Exactly!” He seemed relieved that I understood. “Aria, this is real, and this is scary.”

  “What did you tell Sarah?” I asked.

  “I told her everything. She would have thought I was totally nuts, except that she knew about your unexplained dreams too and somehow believed that I’d had the same ones. I promised her that I’d be able to describe some details that could confirm they’re the same,” he said.

  “Well then, tell me what we had for lunch at the beach bar when you went up to get our food in the dream?” I asked.

  “Cheeseburgers. Extra ketchup. No onions,” he replied.

  “Oh my God!” I was shaking. “Okay,” I ventured, “What song was playing on the boombox when you were playing frisbee with your friends on the beach.”

  “Everlong, by the Foo Fighters,” he answered without thinking.

  I was shaking.

  After about an hour or so, we emerged from my bedroom and made our way downstairs. I was thankful that Sarah had brought my parents up to date on what she knew, so we didn’t have to start from scratch.

  “Now hang on a minute,” my d
ad said, “Guys, I don’t want to make light of what you must be feeling but, is there any way that these dreams could be from a movie that you’ve both seen? he asked.

  “Dad, maybe you don’t understand but these dreams are all new to me. These are not people I recognize or a story I’ve seen before. I know it’s really hard for all of us to wrap our heads around what’s going on here and to make sense of it,” I said. “This is so much to process. I feel like my head is going to implode.”

  We all agreed — it was getting late and we were emotionally exhausted. It was time to call it a night. Thankfully there was no school the next day.

  Owen wanted to share everything with his aunt and uncle, so we decided that I’d go over to their place after lunch the next day and we would talk with them. “Aria I feel so bad. I haven’t even told you yet how much I loved your art. I want to go back and really look at it all with you. How did it go tonight?” he asked.

  “It went well. I got amazing feedback and my mom said that five pieces got sold. She also sold six of hers!”

  He kissed me and said, “I’m so happy for you. I only wish I could have been there to share it with you. I’m so sorry that things went the way they did tonight.” We held each other for several minutes.

  “I can’t blame you for the way you reacted. I can imagine how freaked out you must have felt,” I touched his face and kissed his lips softly.

  Owen pulled back and looked into my eyes, “I love you Aria. We’re going to figure this out.” I stared back. “I love you too Owen.”

  I stopped in Sarah’s room after saying goodnight to Owen. “Thanks so much for your support tonight with Owen. This is some crazy shit. Owen just gave me details about the dreams that he could not possibly have guessed.” I said.

  She was shocked. “So, it is real. Aria, I’m thinking about stuff I’ve never thought was possible. I guess we all are, but you guys really have so much to think about. You must be dying to figure out what the heck is going on,” she said.

  “Yeah I am. But I’m so tired. I’m going to try and turn my brain off and get some sleep,” I replied, and gave her a big hug.