was it ever real?

11. fine art of lying

vinnie sets his car in park and we sit silently for a moment. light from the street light above us reflects and radiates on his face when he glances at me through his silly glasses. "ready?" he asks, tilting his head.

i nod my head.

he steps out of the car, and walks to the passenger side of it, opening the door for me with a grin on his face. "look at you acting like such a gentleman." i tease him.

"yeah yeah." he rolls his eyes, offering me his hand to hold.

i step out of the car, grasping vinnie's hand tighter to pull me forward. we walk to the building door hand in hand, grinning. but before i let him even touch the knob, i pull back and my stomach's fallen to my ass.

through the tall glass windows of the exhibition building, i see a crowd of people looking at a single painting. however, i also notice someone that looks like...

chris.

if chris sees me...he'll think i'm a whore. already "moving on" so fast from our "affair". and since the crowd is near the door, vinnie and i will have to walk past them with everyone's eyes on us.

including him.

my stomach drops again and harder this time

"wait vinnie," i tug at his shirt.

"do i look good? like my dress and hair? is my lip liner messed up?"

"you look fine." he shrugs his shoulders and reaches for the door again.

"wait," i pull him back again.

"what now?" he sucks his teeth, annoyed at my attempts to stop him from entering the building.

"are you sure? i look just okay?"

"no you look terrible," he says so blandly as if he could care less.

"really?! is it my dress or lipliner?" which one?" can we go back to the car for a second!?"

" noo i was being sarcastic jenae..but what's goin' on? every time i reach for the door you stop me."

"i'm... i'm just nervous that's all." i stiffly chuckle. "there's a lot of people and i just want to make sure i look right."

vinnie smiles, "you look beautiful jen. just hold my hand and keep your eyes straight. when we get past the crowd you'll be fine. okay?"

"okay." i grasp his hand tighter and finally let him open the door. most of the people don't even look in our direction but when we have to walk pass them, he walks in front of me, blocking their gaze from mine. as we stroll past the group, i can't help but glance again at chris for just a second and we meet each other's gaze.

wait.

i take another glimpse but longer this time.

..this guy isn't even chris!!

he has the same locs and skin tone as chris, but such a different face...

i exhale in relief, relaxing the tension in my stomach and vinnie's hand, all while trying to keep up. once we reach one of the other paintings included in the exhibition with no gatherings, vinnie turns to face me. "you good?" his eyes scan my face, examining me.

"yeah, i feel way better now." i half-smile to assure him i'm good.

vinnie smiles back, but in an instant, he looks behind me and quickly ducks to my level to whisper to me. "jenae, she's coming! just act normal." he says, before getting interrupted.

"is this the famous lady i heard about before?"

i turn around and there i am. face-to-face with vinnie's agent. she's gorgeous. she has dark skin like mine and smells of sweet cocoa butter. her dominican accent is angelic and so..smooth. her long honey blond hair has loose curls reaching her collarbone.

her looks and enthusiasm already made me feel insecure and so miniature...

"right, dahiana this is jenae. jenae this is dahiana." vinnie moves me in front of him by my waist and wraps his arms around me. he's hugging me and resting his head on top of mine, in a loving way. at first, i'm flattered and my heart stops, but then i'm hit with the sudden reminder and realize that i'm supposed to be giving 100% of my acting skills.

"hi..." i slowly raise my hand and wave, quietly greeting her.

wtf jenae? where's your charisma gone?

"she's a shy one, but very beautiful." dahiana giggles, observing me with her piercing eyes.

"thank you so much," i blush. "you're beautiful too."

"thank you!" she smiles. "at first, i thought vinnie was just making excuses and probably overslept or forgot, but now i see why he'd drop everything and care for you."

"i'd never lie." he snickers, but i can already sense him asking himself "wtf?"

but she sure did know him well...

"do you at least feel better jenae? was it a fever or cold?" she questions.

"it was a cold, but i feel much better now. vinnie was an outstanding nurse!" i smile but cringe at the fact that he probably was enjoying this.

"well it was nice to meet you jenae, and i'm happy you feel better and had vinnie to assist you. i'll let both of you enjoy the exhibition and talk to you about your art later, vinegar. don't wanna bother you love birds any longer."

vinegar? oh...i'm using that.

"nice meeting you too." i wave.

dahiana smiles at both of us one last time then walks away and gets caught in a conversation by another group of people. still wrapping his arms around me, i hear vinnie sharply exhale in relief. "she seems so nice?" i whisper to him.

"ehh..that's because you get to see only this side of her. if i didn't bring my "girlfriend" here she would chew me out for wasting her time."

"no-no the crazy part was when she knew you overslept." i snicker.

"yeah yeah," he rolls his eyes.

─ ⋆✩⋆ ─

the group of people shifts to other paintings, and vinnie and i enjoy ourselves. we look at paintings and talk about them. he still wraps his hands around me, but i kinda enjoy it. the building's pretty chilly and i have no jacket, so he warms me up. we're standing in front of the last painting in the building, the only one we haven't seen.

vinnie releases his arms from around me and stands beside me, analyzing the artwork in front of us. goosebumps raise on my skin, and i'm cold again. but instead of focusing on that, i peek at his eyes which are fixated on the artwork. "what do you think of this painting?" he doesn't look at me but keeps his gaze in front of him.

"well," i shift my gaze to the painting.

it's a pond of two koi fish; gold, white, and red. the water illustrates swirls and ripples between the water, and it seems so hushed. "it's beautiful." i say. "koi fish are so stunning and always seem so unrestrained to me."

his head shifts and now i can feel him glancing at me. but he's not just looking at me, he's studying me as well. "y'know," vinnie leans down, to my ear and gently whispers, "koi is a homophone for another word that means affection or love in japanese."

"they're also symbols of love and friendship in japan."

his warm breath and lips slightly glide on my ear, giving me goosebumps. i stand very still, careful to keep my breath steady, and turn it from manual to automatic again. "and how would you know this?" i refused to turn my head and look at him. instead, i keep my focus on the koi fish.

"because it's my painting," he says, chuckling and finally standing up straight. his hands remain in his pockets and he stares at the painting with me. "well, that makes sense why everyone was so drawn to it." i snicker, cringing that i complimented him again.

"say...since you did so well do you wanna get something to eat? my treat of course," he smirks at me.