The Shark of SoHo

Chapter 5: Aquatic Fission

Neal took a break from adjusting his paintings to survey the gallery at Schermerhorn Hall. It was bustling with grad students setting up their works. Although graduation was still three weeks off, there was a finality about the exhibition opening that was bittersweet. It was the end of an era.

In a couple of weeks, Richard, Aidan, and Keiko would no longer be at Columbia. Richard wasn't moving away, at least not permanently, but he'd work at the Los Angeles branch of Scima over the summer. Aidan would move with Keiko to Los Angeles immediately after graduation. An art glass studio in Orange County had hired Keiko, and Aidan had secured a position with Scima's sound department. For now, Aidan planned to continue consulting for the cybersecurity firm where he'd been working for the past two years, but how long would he want to moonlight at a second job?

Neal's friends were all pursuing their chosen careers while he still struggled to find his. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wasn't leaving New York. Would the Bureau hold much appeal if Peter were in D.C.? Could he survive on the stipend he was receiving from Columbia? Henry would probably hire him for occasional jobs.

"Pre-Raphaelite Expressionism." Keiko gazed thoughtfully at the banner over their alcove and turned to Aidan. "Will the world look back at us as the avant-garde of a new movement?"

Aidan smiled as he arranged chairs in front of the large wall monitor. "Why not? This is the time to dream big."

"Travis will be here later," Richard said, polishing any hint of a fingerprint from his bronze. "He said he'd come by before the start of the telescope workshop. He'll take videos of the four of us by our pieces. We should get some still shots for our future pages in Wikipedia."

"When this year started, none of us imagined we'd have a common theme," Neal said. "Now we're a movement. I like the trajectory." His moment of gloom quickly dissipated under the barrage of their enthusiastic daydreaming.

Neal had toyed with the concept of a Pre-Raphaelite-inspired work during his first semester at Colombia—back when he hoped to date Sara. When their early romance fizzled, so did the painting. He picked it up when they started seeing each other and Myra encouraged him to exhibit it. The painting depicted a sleeping knight being awakened by Morgan le Fay. Myra had requested a second work, and Neal had chosen Guinevere at the banks of the Avon River. In both cases, Sara was the model. He liked thinking of her as Morgan le Fay, the enchantress. In some tales, she was evil, but Neal much preferred the earlier depictions when she was a benevolent spirit and protector.

Keiko had been inspired by a series of Pre-Raphaelite stained-glass angels to make glass panels of Prince Genji and Lady Murasaki. Aidan's short feature of the angels was also being shown in their alcove. Richard had decided at the last moment to include a contribution. He'd sculpted a bronze of one of the angels transforming into a keres, a Greek death-spirit. The fact that Aidan's feature Glass Angels and Richard's angel were based on real events was a closely guarded secret.

"Will Mozzie be at the opening reception?" Richard asked.

"He better," Aidan declared. "As one of our fellow Musketeers, his attendance is mandatory. I expect him to take his rightful place beside my short feature Pirates from Beyond."

"As the scriptwriter, he wouldn't miss it," Neal assured him. "Don't be surprised if he comes equipped with posters to autograph."

Aidan chuckled. "I'm going to miss Athos. Los Angeles will be a dull place without him around."

"I bet we can coax him into visiting us," Keiko said. "How can he resist the lure of Hollywood? Now that he's sold a script to Doctor Who, won't he want to work with American TV producers as well?"