Edge of the Ravine

35

Chapter Thirty-Five

     "You've been thinking about him again," Tess stated. I could feel her eyes boring into my back as I stared out at the street below.

      "Your apartment is so much bigger than mine," I sighed, leaning out as far as I could over the wrought-iron guard.

      Though the statement was meant as only a distraction, it could not be more true. On the third story of a decently middle-class building, the two bedroom apartment was filled with all the style and luxury my friends could manage. From a low-back feather leather sofa with gray throw pillows to the elegantly set dining table that hardly saw a use. It was like being inside of a home decor magazine, with only a plain coffee table sitting inside the door to ruin the vibrancy of their living quarters.

      "Now, now Hummingbird. You know better. Stop trying to change the subject," Tess ordered teasingly.

      Even when trying to dodge their questions, I couldn't help but smile at the pet name given to me six months ago. They'd called me Hummingbird from the moment they first heard my story. According to the three of them, I was just like that tiny fluttering creature. There and gone before barely a glimpse was captured.

     "Thinking about who?" Jace asked from the kitchen.

      My head bowed a little lower. Of course he had to ask. He didn't know. Because, of the three of them, Jace was the only one I hadn't told about Alec. I never wanted him to know. Never wanted him to look at me as if I was some forlorn puppy, like Tess and Viviane often did.

      Too late now.

      Tess told him everything, with piping additives from Viviane. For twenty minutes, I had to hear the stale rebelling of my love life from over four years ago. I couldn't even look at them, my face was so red. At last, I heard Jace's pity response.

     "Yes," I finally snapped. "I've been thinking about him again. That's because our anniversary was yesterday. Forgive me for enjoying a happy private moment for a change."

      Turning around, I watched as Tess and Viviane shared a shameful expression. Jace, on the other hand, came around the couch and stood before me. Placing a hand on my shoulder, he smiled endearingly at me. "It was a good memory?"

      I nodded.

     "Then that is all that matters. Our memories don't all exist to haunt us. And it is best to feel whatever joy you can in them, for as long as you can. I would know."

      He did know. Like me, Jace had a mother who enjoyed her wine too much and a father who was increasingly unfaithful. Unlike me, however, his parents divorced when he was a teenager. Between them, they used their only son as a pawn piece on a chess board, fighting back and forth over him almost until he reached eighteen. When things were finally appearing to settle down, his father was killed in a street mugging. His mother suffered a hollow victory.

     "So do I. Far too well," I added solemnly. Jace smiled at me and pulled me into a tight embrace. I prayed fervently that he couldn't feel my racing heart as it pounded against my ribs.

     "Sorry for upsetting you, Humming bird. Forgive us?" Tess pleaded, her brown eyes growing wider in her attempted endearment. Sucker that I was, it took only seconds for that face to work on me.

     "How could I not?" I sighed, a smile ruining my eye roll.

     "Good," she announced. Grinning broadly, Tess bounded lightly to her feet and looked again to Viviane. "We've got that photo shoot in an hour. We better get going."

     "Oh yes!" Viv exclaimed as she headed quickly towards the bedroom she and Tess shared. My eyes automatically rolled since I knew she never forgot a thing. Nor was she ever late. For her to pretend it was a wasted and failed attempt at dramatics.

     "Tagging along, Hummingbird?" Jace asked.

      Everyone paused mid-motion; including me. Staring unblinkingly at the tall man, I couldn't help but think I'd misheard. That my three new friends were professional models on the rise, I'd learned ages ago. Yet never in our time together had I been invited to one of their daily parades of clothes and makeup, cameras and lights. Truthfully, part of me didn't know if I even wanted to go.

      A decision quickly taken out of my hands.

     "Of course you'll come. Right, Oliver?" Had it been anyone other than Jace...

     "Sure," I heard myself say, "sounds like fun."

      Only a second later, my arms were being hauled upon and the trio spurred me out of the apartment post haste. As we trampled down the stairs, I was getting the full, excited blast from all three. They were discussing different clothes and styles. Tess went on and on about the hair and makeup people. And, for some reason, Jace wouldn't stop commenting on the astounding work of the photographer.

      I would say 'if I didn't know him any better...' but I do. He was dropping hints left and right about the abilities of a great photographer. How the crew was so efficient and methodical. Even spouting a ridiculous line at me about rather being behind the camera than in front of it. Subtlety... not something either one of them could master.

     "Photography is my solution to a problem. Not my career," I sighed again. To no avail.

     "But it could be so much more, Oliver. If only you'd take this opportunity to heart. Even if this is nothing more than a fun afternoon for you, at least you'll learn something a little valuable." Jace could wear the paint off of an Air Force jet.

     "Opportunity? Hardly. I'm just tagging along for the ride. I get to see you in your element for a change. That's far more exciting than meeting some photographer I've never heard of before."

      He had to yield at that. At least, he pretended to with very ill grace but no less commitment. By now, they were all finally convinced that neither passion nor art may in my daily habits. Merely a will to survive that required preying on the novelty ideas of my own countrymen. My skill with my own dismal camera was far beneath amateur that I wouldn't dare approach a real photographer with my meager collection of negatives.

      At last, any further argument was dissuaded with our arrival. And my ridiculous impression of their daily lives was cast to the wind on the wings of a hummingbird.