by Vivian Wood
She paused before the mirror, the shirt caught at her breasts, and pressed her palm into her concave stomach. It was almost unbelievable that there was a life in there. Harper turned to the side to see her figure in profile. That’s when it was always the most striking, with no bones splayed wide. The ant-sized waist was still there. Once, a designer had asked her how long she’d waist trained. It was before Harper even knew what that was.
What would it be like to grow something inside of your body? she thought. Obviously, it would include getting fat. She knew that, had read about the relaxin that flooded the body and urged the pelvic bones to spread apart. No matter what, even if she lost the exact amount of weight she put on after the baby, there was no piecing the bones back together.
But wouldn’t it be worth it? Worth it to have Sean’s baby? Harper’s breath caught at the idea of it. This wasn’t just a baby, or even just her baby. It was her and Sean’s baby. And it might be the last chance you get.
The fact that she could even get pregnant was a miracle. She could count how many times she’d had a period in the past ten years. “You have to tell him,” she told her reflection. He might be angry, but he’d be rightfully enraged if he found out she’d waited to tell him. Unless it’ll just be a miscarriage, she thought. That was a stark reality she had to consider. Harper had known countless girls in the industry who miscarried regularly. Of course, they’d been trying to get pregnant.
On the other hand, if she miscarried relatively early, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting fat. She hadn’t even Googled yet how many calories she was supposed to have as a pregnant woman who didn’t want to gain excess weight. Some models did it, she told herself. Hell, look at Heidi Klum. Some of them were back on Sports Illustrated covers three months after giving birth.
But Harper knew that came from surgeries she couldn’t afford and genes she didn’t have. Genetically, she wasn’t supposed to be this thin. Every woman in her family had an hourglass shape, but they carried their curves well. She’d had to shed every ounce she could spare to look like this, and it hadn’t been easy.
Harper shook her head and pulled down the shirt. She grabbed a pair of jeans so worn-in that they felt like flannel. Pleased that they still fit, that the jeans she’d bought at fifteen still hugged her like a second skin, she took one last admiring look in the mirror. The thigh gap was prominent even in the denim. Can I really give that up?
In the living room, she curled up on the couch and opened her laptop. It was full of responses from employers, but she could tell from the subject lines and snippets of opening text that they were all rejections. “Thank you for your application. Unfortunately the position has been filed …” and “we will keep your resume on file for the next six months …”
“Fuck you,” she said under her breath.
“You’re chipper this morning.” She jumped at Sean’s voice behind her.
“Jesus, you’re like a cat,” she said.
“More like you’re addicted to that thing,” he said.
She sighed. “I’ve been job hunting,” she said. “Unsuccessfully.”
“You are? What kind of jobs?”
“At this point, anything anywhere they’ll take me,” she said.
Sean settled onto the couch beside her. “What about modeling?” he asked. “I know the last thing you had fell apart, but I figured—”
“I got fired. Permanently. Basically blacklisted from the industry.”
“What? You didn’t tell me that.”
Her face burned. I was on my way to tell you that when you got arrested! “It’s complicated,” she finally said.
“Try me.”
“Okay,” she said as she let out a breath. “I’m not thin enough anymore. I’m not young enough. Alright? I’m fat, I’m old, and I was never famous enough for anyone to overlook that.”
“That’s insane,” he said. It was simple, and she could tell that for him it was true.
“Yeah, well. Tell my former bosses that,” she said. “Tell the designers. The agents.”
“Well … what are you thinking of doing instead? Besides anything anywhere, of course.”
“I don’t actually know,” she said. “If it wasn’t for this … arrangement … I don’t even know where I’d be right now. I’m running out of money and there are even fewer options. I can’t even get a job as a waitress, can you believe that? Actually, never mind. I have zero experience and this town is full of professional waitstaff.”
“I have an idea.”
“Yeah?” She was doubtful, but at this point desperation overrode just about anything.
“Yeah. There’s a bottle of sparkling juice in the fridge. Why don’t I set us up two glasses on the patio, and we can talk about it.”
Harper felt a half smile on her face. Sparkling apple juice. At least I don’t have to come up with an excuse for not drinking. We can be teetotalers together. “Okay,” she said.
“You go on out to the balcony. I’ll be there in a minute.”
The warm California sunshine quickly dissipated any chill that lingered in her. Harper slid the Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses onto her nose as she tucked her legs beneath her on the wicker patio furniture. You can say goodbye to designer sunglasses from here on out, she thought to herself.
Sean appeared with two crystal flutes and a bottle of sparkling apple juice that sweated in his hands. “Fancy,” she said.
“I aim to please,” he said. He popped the bottle and the familiar echo made her remember all those nights in clubs after shows. Everything she’d taken for granted.
Sean handed her one of the glasses, one-quarter full of bubbles and froth. “Cheers,” he said as he clinked glasses with her. “Look at me,” he said suddenly.
“What?” she paused with the delicate flute against her lips.
“It’s bad luck not to make eye contact when you say cheers,” he said.
“Well, then,” she held his gaze. “I’m not in a position to test the waters of luck.”
“You and me both,” he said. “So, tell me. What kind of jobs have you been drawn toward?”
She hesitated. “Well … I’ve been thinking about an art gallery.”
“Doing what?” he asked. She was surprised that he didn’t seem taken aback. Maybe it didn’t sound so stupid after all.
“Selling art,” she said. “An administrator, they call it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I like art, especially contemporary art. And I like connecting people with something they didn’t know they needed.”
“You are nothing if not a surprise,” he said as he took a swallow of the sweet juice.
Harper laughed. “I aim to please,” she said with a wink.
“Alright. Well, an art gallery it is. I’ll start putting out some feelers. I know a lot of people in the art gallery world here. There’s plenty of overlap with the tattoo industry.”
“I never thought about that,” she said. Although of course it made sense. Art was art, whether it was on a canvas or a body. “But you don’t have to do that,” she said quickly. “I can figure it out.”
“You told me that you love me,” Sean said pointedly. “And I told you the same. We’re living together, even if the circumstances that brought us here aren’t that great. Or orthodox. As far as I’m concerned, we’re a team. When you’re happy, when your life’s a little easier, I feel the same. So, you’re right. I don’t have to do anything. But I want to.”
A warmth spread through her. Harper leaned across the table and pressed her lips to his. She could taste the sweetness of the juice on his tongue as it mingled with her own. Is this what it’s supposed to feel like? she asked herself as he pulled her onto his lap. Real love?
Sean cradled her in his arms and for once she didn’t flinch or suck in her stomach when his hand moved across her abdomen. Briefly, she wondered if he knew. If the offer of juice wasn’t just because he was sober, but because of what they’d created.
<
br /> You need to tell him, she reminded herself. But not now. Not when everything was so perfect and it was like every possibility was an option spread out before them.
15
Sean
The soothing sound of the charcoal on thick paper put Sean into a nearly meditative state. He’d started his first drawing of her. Harper was curled up on the couch. She painted her nails, lost in her own thoughts. She looked up just as he’d finished the rough outline. “Stop,” she said as she wrinkled her nose.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “You agreed. As long as you don’t have to ‘pose like one of those French girls’ I get to draw you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t being serious,” she said.
“Doesn’t matter. A deal’s a deal.”
“You already made a bunch of drawings of me,” she said. “They’re still covering the walls in your room I believe.”
“Those are different,” he said. “Those were from memory. Having a live model—and a real model at that—is an elevated experience. Didn’t you ever model for a class before?”
“No,” she said. Harper blew on her nails, which she’d lacquered in a cherry red. “Holding still and naked in front of a bunch of people wasn’t really my idea of a solid career move.”
“You mean you could be naked right now?” he asked with a smile.
“Don’t press your luck,” she said as she playfully shook the little brush at him.
Harper was perfect in this light. Silhouetted against the window as the sun set behind her. Magic hour, that’s what directors called it. Her hair was loosely plaited and fell down her back. She looked like something out of a vintage world, a better world. If he could get it right, it would be the kind of drawing that made everyone who saw it think they’d stumbled into an intimate, secret moment.
“Can I ask you something while you draw?” she asked as she screwed the lid onto the bottle.
“Sure,” he said as he replicated the shadows that danced at her collarbone.
“Have you ever thought about the future?”
“That’s a loaded question,” he said. Briefly, he looked her in the eye. “In what regard?”
“Like, as it applies to you and me.”
Sean raised his brow and continued sketching. “A little,” he finally admitted. “Honestly, when we first met, I was intoxicated by you. I was more than happy to live in the moment, especially when I wasn’t sure you’d have me once you knew … well, you know.”
“What do you see for us, then?” she asked. “Now, I mean. After everything.”
Sean paused. “What do you mean?” he asked, though his question was directed at the sketch pad.
“I mean, do you see like a white picket fence? A house, dog, two and a half kids? What?”
“If you’re asking me to move to the suburbs, this is a weird way to do it,” he said.
“I’m asking how you see things going for us! That’s all,” she said. There was a touch of impatience in her voice, but Sean had needed to buy that time to think. He knew this conversation was coming, but hadn’t expected it to happen so bluntly. However, with the safety of the sketch pad between them, it gave him permission. Permission to be open, honest and let transparency unfold between them. “I don’t know,” he said. It was true. “I’m not a white picket fence kind of guy,” he added. “And, really, I don’t think we’re a white picket fence type of couple.”
“Oh,” she said. Harper looked crestfallen, like he’d shattered everything all over again.
“Hey,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. I definitely see us together.”
“You do?” she asked, hopeful.
“Of course. For the rest of our lives. But … do you really see us as the typical suburban couple?”
“For the rest of our lives?” she repeated. Her eyes were wide.
“Well, yeah,” he said. “Don’t you? I kind of thought we were on the same page with that. Now, at least.”
“I … I’d hoped so, I guess,” she said. “But you have to admit, we haven’t really had the most traditional of beginnings.”
“Exactly. So why should we have a traditional ending? Is that what you really want—a mortgage, an SUV, some dog with a paisley handkerchief collar? I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like dogs, and I like some SUVs. I just never saw myself living out some clichéd American dream. And if I’m honest, I don’t see you in that role either. At least not happily.”
She blushed. “You’re right,” she said. “And that’s not what I had in mind. The whole suburban dream. It’s just the best way I knew how to explain what I was talking about.”
“So we don’t need to move to the suburbs to be happy?” he asked. “Because I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a fan of Pasadena.”
Harper laughed. “This city might have chewed me up good, but I do love it,” she said. “So I guess my answer is no. We don’t have to move to the suburbs. I don’t even want to.”
“And the dog?” he asked. “Is that a dealbreaker?”
“I don’t particularly have strong feelings about pets one way or the other,” she said.
Sean began to fill in the details of the drawing with snippets of glimpses at her. They both knew they danced around the serious subject, those two and a half kids. But it was also a delicious way to tease out the situation.
“I didn’t have any pets growing up,” he said. “My dad didn’t like them, and my mom hated the idea of animal hair, even though we had a daily housekeeper. I always thought it would be kind of cool to have a pet.”
“What kind,” she asked.
“When I was younger, an English bulldog,” he thought. “But now, a pit rescue. You know pitbulls used to be considered nanny dogs by wealthy families? They were so loyal to their families, especially the kids, they’d die for them.”
“That’s sad,” Harper said.
“I don’t think so. To be willing to die for your family, for the people you love, I think that’s kind of beautiful.”
Harper smiled. It radiated the room even in the fading light of the day. “I can see that,” she said. “But I thought pitbulls were illegal in California.”
“A lot of things are illegal in California,” he said. “Sodomy’s a crime in California. Doesn’t mean it’s bad, or that people don’t do it anyway.”
He smirked when he saw Harper’s face go pink. Even after all this time, and after everything they’d done, it was still so easy to make her blush. “Can you keep that color in your face?” he asked. “It’s really inspiring.”
“Shut up!” she said with a laugh. “Or I’m moving.”
“You know, you’re right. You really would have made a terrible figure model.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “Thanks.”
“Are you going to tell me more about this SUV?” he asked. “Is that your way of saying you don’t like my old muscle car? What did Debbie ever do to you?”
“Debbie?”
“That’s her name.”
“You named your car?”
“I think every guy names his car.”
“Why Debbie? Is that like an ex or something?”
“No,” he said slowly. “How old do you think I am? Do you know any Debbies in their twenties or thirties? Debbie was one of the most popular names the year the car was made. I picture a Debbie as a video vixen from the early eighties. The kind who would be riding in one of Whitesnake’s cars.”
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But now all the Debbies are middle-aged and middle management.”
“Is that what this is all about? Are you trying to get rid of Debbie and replace her with some gas-guzzling SUV?” he teased.
“No,” she laughed. “I actually don’t care that much about cars. I mean, you’ve seen mine.”
“Your little sedan is cute,” he said. “Like you.”
“Yeah. And like me it has a few too many miles on it.”
“Nothing’s sexier than experience,” he said. “But Harper? Seriously,
whatever you need to be happy, I’ll do it. And not because I feel like I should or it’s my responsibility or something. It’s because I want to.”
“Really?” she asked. Harper looked at him, her eyes full of questions.
“Really. You want to get married? Let’s get married,” he said.
“Don’t tease me.”
“I’m not. You want to have a huge wedding? Let’s do it. Sam specialized in wedding planning before she got pregnant. She’d be thrilled to help you figure it out. A huge cathedral, three hundred people, an eight-tier cake, whatever you want.”
“That seems a bit excessive,” she said. Still, she’d perked up on the couch. Sean felt a stirring in his jeans as his button-up shirt slipped off one of her shoulders.
“You want to elope?” he asked. “I’m good with that, too. We can book a slot at some little chapel in Las Vegas and let Elvis marry us.”
“I have to admit, that’s always been kind of a fantasy,” she said. Harper began to unbutton the white shirt to reveal the tantalizing creamy flesh beneath. Sean’s charcoal flew across the paper.
“You want to have five kids and buy a farmhouse in Vermont? I’m down with that,” he said.
“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to churn my own butter,” she said. Harper released the last button and shrugged off the shirt.
“If you want to move to a hut in Tibet, I can do that, too,” he said. “I’ll go wherever you want to go. Do whatever you want.”
Harper stood up and tossed the shirt onto the floor. He could barely make out anything beyond the unbelievable curves of her body’s outline. The last of the day’s sun hugged her silhouette like a halo.
“What are you doing?” he asked as he swallowed his desire.
“After what you just said, I’m going to fuck you like never before,” she purred. “I’m going to fuck you all the way until dawn.”
16
Harper