by M. L. Ray
Anouk grinned over at him. “Are you kidding? She’ll want to know details.”
“Well, remember to tell her, five times. Five times.” Knox wiggled his eyebrows at her as Anouk laughed.
“First, eww, you counted?”
“Didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah, okay, but still.” They both laughed. “And she’ll want to know about you…” Anouk stuck her tongue in her cheek and cut her eyes to his groin, and Knox snorted.
“How many ways to say ‘expert lover’ can there be?”
Anouk groaned and stuck her tongue out at him. “Oh, she’ll want to know… length, girth…”
Knox looked appalled as Anouk cackled. “What?”
“What can I tell you? Girls are dirty,” she winked at him, then took pity on him. “I’m kidding, Knox. Anyway, she’ll only have to see my face to know how special last night was.”
He glanced over at her. Her dark hair was blowing around her face, and without make-up, she looked much younger than her twenty-eight. She is lovely, he thought, utterly lovely…
“Nook?”
“Yes?”
“Can I see you again, later?” Knox felt weirdly nervous about her answer, despite what they had just done together.
Anouk smiled at him, sliding her hand onto his thigh. “I would like that. Come to my place. I’ll cook.”
Jeremiah called him as they reached Anouk’s apartment, and told Knox he had arranged a business meeting in an hour. Knox looked at Anouk regretfully. “I have to go. Miah’s been at me about this new investment for a while.”
“Of course.” Anouk leaned over and kissed him. “You know, we should double date with Miah and Iris maybe.”
“Trying to fix them up?”
“Um… kinda. Call me later?”
“I promise.”
He watched her walk inside, turn, and wave at him before she disappeared. Yeah, he thought to himself, I’m crazy about you, Anouk Devi. He started the car and pulled away from the sidewalk, not noticing the car parked across the street, whose driver didn’t take his eyes off of Knox as he drove away.
Iris was already at work and had left a note on the kitchen table for Anouk, as she went into their apartment.
Huzzah! Someone got laid. I want all the deets later, Nook. No excuses. See you later, I x
Anouk grinned to herself, tapping the note with her finger. And I have so much to tell you. She went to check her emails, letting Ruby know she would be working from home today. Soon afterward, she got a message from Tom, asking her to call him.
“Hey, Tom, everything okay?”
“Absolutely fine, Nook, just checking in. Three days to go.”
“Do you want me to come in? I was just going through the final arrangements here, but I can come in.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine. I’m just checking in. Call it me being a fusspot. I’ve never left the gallery in another person’s hands for as long as I’m about to, and it’s just nerves.”
Anouk smiled to herself. “You know I won’t let you down, right?”
“I trust you entirely, Nook. Like I said, just last-minute nerves.”
Anouk hesitated. “Are you okay, Tom? I mean, is everything…”
“Absolutely fine,” Tom said firmly. “You’ll be in tomorrow?”
“I will. First thing.”
Tom chuckled. “Then I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Listen, we need to go through the shows after Knox Zapata’s, when I see you.”
“Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Anouk worked steadily throughout the morning, head bent over her computer. She knew she had been laser-focused on producing Knox’s show, and felt, a little guiltily, that she’d neglected her other artists. Checking her email, she found one from her old friend, Ophelia Harris, telling Anouk she was coming to Seattle in the next month and asked if Anouk would be free for lunch?
She called Ophelia back immediately. “Hey, Opi.”
“Oh, Nook, how wonderful.”
Anouk felt a surge of warmth. She had deliberately not called anyone from her old life, but now, hearing Ophelia’s soft voice, she knew she had missed her friends. She and Opi caught up for a minute or two, arranged when they would meet for lunch, then Opi hesitated. “Have you spoken to him?”
Dismay settled in Anouk’s stomach, even though she had half-expected the question. “Shawn? No.” Although he might have broken in to my apartment…but she didn’t say that to Ophelia.
“Don’t get me wrong, Nook, I hate him for what he did to you. Hate. And I don’t use that word lightly. He came to the gallery a week after you left for America, and he was a mess. Jennifer was not impressed by it, though. She didn’t tell him anything.”
“Thankfully.”
“He didn’t get very far with anyone, I can tell you. I read in the papers that he’d been arrested for drunk-and-disorderly. The woman… his… wife, I suppose, I saw her, too. She was outside the gallery a couple of days later, but I didn’t see him with her. She’s an odd little thing.”
“I think she knew about me,” Anouk admitted, “she was at your show, too. She left just as Shawn arrived. I think she was there to check me out.”
“Christ.” Ophelia sighed. “What a fucking mess. He’s such an arsehole, I can’t even begin… you’re better off without him. There was a newspaper story. I don’t know how true it was.”
“About Shawn?”
“Well, they didn’t name him explicitly, but it sounded an awful lot like him. Whoever it was had gotten an injunction so he couldn’t be named, but some journalist had caught wind of the bigamy story. Thought it was human interest. Jesus.. vultures.”
“What was the story about?”
“Exactly what happened to you, and yet there was more stuff about him. Back in college. Someone reported him for stalking, I think.”
Anouk felt cold. Had she ever known the man she had married? “Are you sure it was Shawn?”
“Like I said, I can’t be sure. But I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Anouk said goodbye, telling Ophelia she couldn’t wait to see her, and afterward, she surfed the web, trying to find the article her friend had told her about. She found it on a site for one of the major fashion magazines. She skimmed through the article, which had various stories of relationship mishaps, the tone light and reflective, until it came to the section Ophelia had been talking out.
The darker tone was obvious from the start, as it detailed the story of ‘Simon’ (Big leap for the name there, Anouk thought with a snort), painting him as a master manipulator, a classic example of toxic masculinity. The reporter had talked to his college cohorts, mostly women who’d had reason to keep him at arm’s length, because of his predatory behavior. Anouk shook her head. It didn’t sound like Shawn, not the Shawn she had known and loved. He was charming, to be sure, but always respectful of women.
She read the testimony of the woman he allegedly stalked. “He made it clear that he wanted me,” she said, “and that I had very little choice in the matter, but he would always phrase it in terms that made it hard to come back at him for. He was ‘always there’ for me, he was a ‘friend to lean on’. The fact that I barely knew him didn’t seem to affect how he acted. He behaved as if he were my confidante, and the way he made it seem to even my closest friends, as if I were overreacting to his presence. He made me look crazy. I gave in for a while, and that was my mistake. He inveigled his way into my life, my bed. My family and friends adored him. He was the sweetest person to them. Why wouldn’t I want him? For a while, even I began to believe it. Then I found out he was doing the same thing to another girl.”
Anouk felt sick to her stomach, but she read on. “In the end, I had to move away. For a couple of years, I felt numb, but one day, he tracked me down. I can honestly say, although he made no overt threat, that I have never been more terrified. He’s unbalanced. For a few months I saw him around town and then, in the Fall of that year, he was
gone. I suspect he found someone else to fixate on. I feel sorry for whoever she is or was.”
Anouk slowly pushed back her chair from the desk and went to the bathroom, sweeping her hair back behind her and throwing up into the toilet. The date in the article was the Fall she had met Shawn. Anouk flushed the toilet and put the seat down, sitting down on it, trying to get her breath back. All she could think of was that night someone had broken in. It had to be Shawn, didn’t it? That weight on the edge of her bed… Jesus. The article painted him out to be nothing more than an obsessed prick who could fool anyone. And she had been fooled.
“God damn it.” She stood, rinsing out her mouth, then, grabbing her toothbrush, she scrubbed at her mouth until it was sore, spitting out the toothpaste and water. “Fuck you, Shawn. You are in my past.”
Anger made her fierce, and she cleared away her work stuff and set about cooking. It always calmed her these days, even if, like tonight, she was just making a fiery hot chili. She made way too much food, loading up side dishes with shredded lettuce, sliced and grilled peppers and onions, mounds of sharp cheddar, pica de gallo, and a huge bowl of salad. She was making soft flour tortillas when Iris came in the front door, yelling her hellos. “And look who I found lurking outside.”
Anouk hid a wince. Iris was unaware of her poor choice of words. She smiled at both Iris and a grinning Knox. “Hello, double trouble. I hope you’re hungry.”
Iris looked at the amount of food on the kitchen counter. “Are we having St. Angie and the child army for dinner?” She said weakly, as Anouk grinned wryly.
“Sorry, I went a little crazy. But we do have the human garbage disposal here…” She kissed Knox hello as he laughed.
“True story. Hello, baby.” He wrapped his arms around her, and Iris, grinning slyly, slipped from the kitchen.
“Be right back. Don’t fuck on the food, that’s gross.” She disappeared as Anouk, flushing scarlet, and Knox, who didn’t, laughed.
“Hey, you,” he said again, his eyes soft on hers. “Missed you.”
“You too. How was the meeting?”
He made a face. “Deathly boring, but Miah seems excited about it, so…”
Anouk smiled, touching his face briefly. “It’s a pain in the ass to have to be an adult sometimes.”
“Isn’t it?” Knox took a pinch of cheese and dropped it into his mouth. “The meeting was about opening an arts center here in the city.”
Anouk’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? That’s incredible.”
“Don’t get too excited, and also, don’t worry, it’s not going to be in competition with your gallery. It’s more like somewhere for people just starting out, to get a hold in the industry. It’s way too elitist.”
Anouk wasn’t fazed. “I agree.”
“She says, working for the Granger Gallery.”
She grinned. “They need something to aim for, right? We don’t exhibit newbies, you know that. It’s why even established artists crave Tom’s endorsement. It gives you artistic types something to aim for. But it would be great for you to work with new and emerging artists. You could even extend your reach into schools.” She was getting into the idea now. “Arts are being cut throughout the education system. It’s a tragedy.”
Knox was chewing a stick of celery now, his eyes amused, and he pointed the stick at her. “I knew you’d see it. I’ll be picking your brain for ideas, if it goes ahead, of course,” he added as Iris returned to the kitchen, “we’ll need facilities. Good ones.”
“Speaking of which,” Iris hoisted herself onto a clear countertop, “I’ve finally found a studio space I think you’ll love. Guess where it is?”
“Surprise me?”
She grinned. “Three blocks away from the Granger Gallery. I’m just saying… plenty of opportunity for afternoon delight.”
Anouk flicked a piece of cheese at her friend, who looked unrepentant. “Stop.”
“Seriously, though, it’s a really good space, Knox,” Iris went on. “I think you’ll be pleased. We could go see it after dinner, if you’d like?”
And so, after they’d eaten most of the food, and were groaning about their full bellies, they set off in Knox’s car to go see the studio space Iris had found for Knox.
Knox fell in love with the place at first sight. Tucked down an alleyway, the studio was airy and spacious, but best of all, it had an unusual glass domed ceiling, which spread light through the whole space. One wall, too, was floor-to-ceiling glass, a sliding door which led out onto a balcony overlooking the city.
“Jeez, Iris… you hit pay dirt.”
Iris looked smugly satisfied. “It’s not cheap, but then, how could it be?”
“Rent or purchase?”
Iris regarded him. “A bit of both. The owner wants to sell, but he says he’d take you renting it. Apparently, he’s a fan.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
Knox ran his hand down the red brick walls. They were rough to the touch, tactile. The doors that separated the few outer rooms were wooden, reclaimed stuff which gave the place a rustic, authentic feel he loved. Iris smiled at him. “And that’s not all. Come with me.”
She led them up a wrought iron staircase to a second floor, which circled the base of the glass dome. “It comes with an apartment. It’s not huge, by any means, one bed, one bath, kitchen, and open living area, and it’s all… well, round. You’d have to have your bookcases custom made,” she grinned at him. “But something tells me that wouldn’t bother you.”
She looked at him seriously. “Knox, I’ve seen dozens of places on this search. None of them comes close to reflecting who you are, as an artist or a person.” She grinned a little slyly at Anouk. “Now, I know I don’t know you as well as some people do…”
Anouk grinned back, whispering ‘girth’ to Knox, who snorted and nodded, and Iris laughed. “But I think this place could be more than just a space for you to work. I think it could be somewhere for you to thrive.”
Knox stared at her for a long minute, as if contemplating her words, then he nudged Anouk. “Her commission must be really good on this one.”
“Oh, huge.” Anouk agreed, grinning at her friend. “She’s pulling out the big guns.”
“Oh, ha, ha, assholes.” Iris grinned begrudgingly, giving them the finger as they chuckled at her.
“I’m sorry, Iris. You know what? Tell the owner I’ll pay him whatever he wants. It is perfect.” Knox looked at Anouk. “Don’t you think?”
“I do,” Anouk said, serious now. “I’ve never seen a place so fitting for someone.” She smiled shyly. “Not that I’m an expert in all things Knox Zapata.”
“Oh, I think you’re pretty close,” he said softy, meeting her gaze and taking her hand.
“Eww, if you two are going to get mushy…”
Anouk and Knox laughed at Iris’s disgruntlement. “Sorry. Look, let’s go find a bar and drink to your new home.”
“You’ve got it.”
They found a bar downtown which had loud, but not obnoxious, music and sat down together. Knox ordered champagne for them, and they spent the evening talking and laughing.
At one point, Iris went outside to call the owner of the studio, and tell him Knox wanted to buy the place and would pay over the asking price, for escrow to be expedited. “I want to move in as soon as possible. With the show in three days, and possibly the new arts center to work on, I need to have a base.”
As Iris went to make the call, Anouk kissed Knox. “You’re so excited about this.”
“I’m excited about my life, and believe me, that hasn’t been the case for the last few years.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Nook… you, my family, work… okay, so the cynical part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop, but life’s pendulum is on my side right now. I am excited.” He smiled wryly at her. “I guess I always want to project a don’t-give-a-shit attitude, but the truth is far from that.”
An
ouk stroked a hand down his back. “You don’t need to tell me that.”
“I know. You’ve seen me from the start, Anouk. I think intuition must be your superpower.”
Anouk felt a sting and looked away. If only he knew… “Listen, I have to pee.”
She moved through the bar to the bathroom. The bar had filled up as the evening wore on, and she had to squeeze past a few drunks before she reached the bathroom. When she was washing her hands, the lights in the club suddenly went out. Other women in the restroom, drunker than Anouk, shrieked. “Blackout!”
Anouk sighed and readied herself for the fight back to Knox. As expected, there was giggling and pawing as she pushed her way in his direction, and more than one sharp jab into her torso from wild elbows. Someone dug the edge of a purse into her arm, and as she turned to shove the offending bag away, she felt the sharp sting of something in her side.
“Sorry,” someone mumbled, and Anouk shook her head. She heard Knox calling her name. He was close.
“I’m here.”
Thankfully, she felt his hand take hers. “Hey, bub,” he said, and in the dim light, she could see him smiling down at her. Cell phones were being held up now to light the room, which gave the place a weird, oddly romantic fire-flies-in-the-dusk look to the room. Anouk smiled up at Knox.
“Dudes? Are you here?”
Iris broke the mood, and they followed her back outside. “Clearly, they haven’t paid their utility bill,” she said, as they walked down the street, “no other place on this block is out.”
Knox shrugged. “Who knows? Listen, we need to take a cab home, I think. I’ve had too much alcohol.”
“Cool,” Iris said, but Anouk, who was suddenly feeling lightheaded, shook her head.
“Can we walk? I need the air.”
“Sure.” Knox squeezed her hand. “You okay?”
She nodded, but as they strolled, her head began to whirl, and Knox and Iris’s voices seemed to get further away. Her body felt like it would stop dead and she wouldn’t be able to move.