Blood And Guitars

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Aurora gestured for me to follow her and I walked behind, watching as she practically floated around the corner smoothly. I wasn’t even aware of her shoes making a noise against the hard floors. Maybe I was starting to hallucinate. How long had I been at the studio? If my brain was already starting to fry this early into the recording process, we were in trouble. Aurora paused in the center of the gallery and turned to face me again. For reasons I can’t explain, I suddenly felt vulnerable standing there with her in the shadows of the gallery as a single light from an unseen source glowed from above. My heartbeat quickened under her unfaltering gaze and I cleared my throat. She turned and walked over to the wall where she flipped a light switch, illuminating the showroom.

“I … I hope I’m not interrupting something,” I said. Aurora opened her mouth to speak but the voice I heard came from behind and belonged to a man.

“Aurora, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

I spun around to find a man peering over the edge of a partial wall at the top of the stairway. He was resting on his elbows and studying me through a pair of black rimmed glasses. He reminded me of a record label executive scrutinizing me and trying to decide whether I was worth paying any attention to.

“Trey Decker this is Mark Conry,” Aurora said.

“Dr. Mark Conry,” the man corrected. I didn’t miss the eye roll Aurora shot his way at the inclusion of his title.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said coolly, but in the back of my mind I was sizing the Doctor up.

Who was he?

A friend? A relative? A boyfriend?

I pushed that last thought out of my mind, unwilling to accept it as a possibility just yet. I needed to do a little investigating before I decided to panic.

Aurora’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “You just couldn’t live without Pier 60, is that it?”

She was testing me; that much was obvious. She wanted to know whether I had actually liked the painting or if I had purchased it to win her favor. The problem was both were true.

“Yeah.” I wracked my brain for the right words to make her understand.

“So you’re the lucky new owner of the Pier.” Mark was only a few feet away now. I hadn’t even noticed him approaching. I tried not to appear as threatened by his sudden appearance at my side as I felt. “I saw that it wasn’t hanging on the wall when I came in tonight.”

“I’m a bit biased,” I admitted. “I spent a lot of weekends on that pier growing up. The only thing cooler than being on Pier 60 at night is the ethereal twist Aurora put on it.” I stuck my hands in the front pockets of my jeans and shrugged. “I just had to have it.”

“I’m glad you liked it so much,” she added. Then I thought I saw her raise an eyebrow in Mark’s direction, but I couldn’t be certain. I wondered again what their relationship was, but I still wasn’t sure how to find out. She hadn’t introduced him as her boyfriend, or fiancé, or anything like that. Maybe they were just friends after all.

“Is this where the magic happens?” I asked her.

She nodded and gestured upstairs with a casual wave of her hand. “It’s a bit of a mess right now, but I do my work up there.”

“I’ve never attempted anything more complicated than finger paint,” I admitted. “But I’d love to try sometime.”

I was vaguely aware of Mark scoffing at my side as Aurora’s gaze met mine. The sensation was strange and wonderful, like she was seeing right through me. Then came the déjà vu. The trance was broken only when Aurora looked away to stare after Mark who was making his way back up the stairs. She bit her lip, smiling like a woman with a plan as she turned back to me. “I’ll show you sometime,” she said.

“I … uh, really?” I said brilliantly. “I mean, that would be great.”

Mark’s footsteps paused only briefly before he hurried up the stairs and out of sight.

“How about tomorrow night?” Aurora asked, taking a step closer to me. At that point, her intense green eyes were all I could see. I swallowed, hoping that when I tried to speak actual words would come out.

“Tomorrow works for me. Same time?” She nodded. That was my cue to get out before I could make an idiot of myself. “Cool. I guess I’ll see you then.”

“I’ll leave the back unlocked for you.”

I smiled and nodded at her before turning to leave.

“Trey,” Aurora called out behind me. I paused and turned to face her again. “Don’t wear anything you don’t want ruined.”

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