It needed more, so much more, she took a step back on the dodgy scaffolding that she had put up in front of the gigantic canvas and sat down, here she was, all by herself, chasing her dream of becoming a succesful painter. A dream that was slowly turning into a nightmare, so far she had pumped practically all her savings in the rent of this studio where she worked and lived, and funds were running dangerously low. A hard knock on the door startled her, "Harper?!", god no, not him again, she knew he meant well, but his constant visits were really starting to irritate her, ever since she had moved into the building, her neighbour from two floors down had been over at least twice a day. Groaning and cursing under her breath she got up and crawled down the scaffolding to open the door "Sean, what is it? I'm kinda busy and the paint is still wet..so.." she quickly said, trying to keep him at the door, but he gently pushed her aside and walked inside anyway. "Sean..I really don't have time.." she followed him all annoyed but he just spun on his heels and looked at her "Harper, I've got really good news, I've got a job!" the biggest smile plastered on his face, "that's great, Sean" she folded her arms across her chest, did he really have to come bursting in here and blow her creative bubble just to tell her that he had found a job??. "I know, right? We should go and celebrate, so come on, put your jacket on and let's go" he grabbed her leather bikerjacket and her old scarf, "Sean, no, I can't go! I was in the middle of.." she protested but he was already pushing her out the door, " yeah yeah, you were in the middle of watching paint dry, come on, out you go". Sure she loved to party, as long as there was a dancefloor and the drink flowed abundantly she was the first in line, but tonight she just couldn't afford to splash out on another drunken night, money became tighter every day, if only she could get one piece of her work sold..,"Oh I forgot to tell you, me and Matt made that webpage for you, nothing too spectacular yet, but there are some pictures of your work on there and your e-mail address, although I don't understand why you keep refusing to use social media, more people will see your work and it'll sell much quicker" he casually said, reaching for his seatbelt while she got in next to him. "Because it wouldn't leave me any time to work, I would have to check those things constantly, No, na-ah, no way" she rolled her eyes dramatically, "that and the fact you don't know how to really use a smartphone" Sean raised his eyebrows sarcastically as she shrugged and put on her own seatbelt "there's that too, yeah". Sean shook his head with a grin "I could teach you in five minutes" but she rolled her eyes even more "just drive, will ya!".
"So are you gonna tell me what this big job is about?" she sipped her wine while his friends ordered another round of drinks, "I'm gonna be a roadie, one of those guys there" he pointed his beerbottle in the direction of the bar "has scored himself a contract with a couple of bands, so I'm gonna be touring the world" he proudly said. "Really? Touring the world? Parties, music, private jets? Whoaaa you really hit the jackpot, Sean, congrats!" she stomped his arm, "thanks..so are you gonna miss me?" he licked his lips, it was worth a shot, he had grown really fond of her from the moment she had moved into his building a few months ago. She wasn't your average girlie girl, not like the string of girls he had dated incessantly over the last few years, no, she was a real tomboy with the low riding, scruffy jeans, the checkered shirts, in fact the only thing girlie about her was her long raven hair even though he had only ever seen it tied up in a bun or in a beautiful, bouncy, thick ponytail, but she oozed this spontaneity, this mindblowing charm that made you forget about her strongwilled, independent streak, because he knew the warmth and the tenderness that bubbled underneath that cool surface. "Miss you? Oh honey, I was thinking just the opposite, I'm finally going to get some work done without you barging in every five seconds and distracting me" she rolled her eyes and took another swig of her wine that nearly sloshed over the rim of her glass when he bumped her arm in shock. "Alright, alright, I'll miss you because now I won't have a personal secretary to answer my e-mails, I'll just have to wait until you're back to answer them all" she sighed, feeling a little stupid for refusing to own a smartphone or knowing how to work one of those or even a computer. Sean wiggled his eyebrows as he dug into his pocket "No, you won't, because I've brought you this" he placed the shiny phone on the table "it's my old iPhone, I've always kept it as replacement phone if the one I'm using now should break down, but I'll be getting a new one for my job so I don't need this anymore". She looked at it and shook her head "I don't need it either" as she pushed it back at him, "yes you do! You need to start selling your work, it's a ruthless city out there and even more ruthless for beginning artists, so put that damn prejudice aside for a minute and use it, alright?! I've already put my number in there so we can stay in touch" Sean took the phone and pushed it in the pocket of her jacket.
Hours later, she arrived back home, the alcohol still buzzing in her system she pushed off her jacket and crawled back on her scaffolding, on the way home she had been itching to continue working on her painting. "Oops" she giggled as she stumbled and kicked a half empty can of paint that clattered from her working platform down to the ground, "olala" she burst out laughing with her own clumsiness and crawled down the scaffolding again. A strange beeping startled her as she picked up the can, and immediately she headed for the kitchen where she stared at the oven and the microwave, opening it, closing it again, no that was a 'ping' and not a 'beep', oh whatever she was just too drunk and her mind was probably playing tricks on her. Shame about the inspiration but a cigarette and then bed was all she was still capable of, so she grabbed her cigarettes and headed back into the living area, where she sat down at the huge dining table that mostly served as her working table with all of her materials spread out over it. Pushing out the smoke that twirled around her head, she looked up at the enormous canvas, 'beep' there it was again, that annoying beep and this time it seemed to come from her jacket so she picked it up and pulled out the phone she got from Sean, the screen lit up with a square box on it saying she got an e-mail. Slowly she typed in the digits that would open the phone and hey there it was:
From: BJLCubbins
To: HCDeRobiano
Subject: Paintings
Hi,
I came across your work just now and I have to say I'm blown away, sadly there isn't a price list attached, are they for sale? I'm particularly interested in the 'Baroque Cubism' paintings.
Do you have social media accounts or somewhere I can see more of your work?
Regards
BJL.
Her heart jumped in her throat, the first real interest in her work since she moved to the States, but prices? God yeah, prices..ok, she could start with thanking him or her for the kind words but how the hell did she answer one of these? Think, Harper, think, she ordered herself to remember what Sean had shown her tonight. Little arrow pointing to the left, yes, ok, answer, right ok, this was easy
From: HCDeRobiano
To: BJLCubbins
Subject: Re:Paintings
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to visit my webpage, of course my paintings are for sale, I still have to sort out the prices but I'll get back to you on that, the 'Baroque Cubism' ones are part of an entire collection. And no, I don't have social media accounts, but I'll ask my assistant to update my webpage with more work as soon as he's back in town.
Thank you for the warm compliments, can I just ask one thing? What drew you to my paintings?
Regards!
HC.
Press 'send', and the cute wooshy sound that followed told her the reply was sent, slowly she put the phone down again and stared at it for a few minutes while she smoked her cigarette. On the other side of the country, Jared pulled off his shirt walking inside his bedroom when he felt his phone vibrate in his backpocket. Throwing his shirt on the comfy chair, he unlocked his phone and read the e-mail, no prices yet? This had to be an artist starting out, hopefully that meant prices would be accordingly..no social media? Why the hell not? Having no instagram was seen as commercial suicide for starting artists these days! He quickly hit the answer button but then he was distracted by the silky smooth voice "now, you ready to play, big boy?" of his date for the night that leaned against the doorpost of the bathroomdoor stripped down to a bra and a pair of lace panties that could barely be called panties anymore. Ready? More than ready! He threw the phone on his nightstand as she walked over to him and pushed him down on the bed. Sighing she put her cigarette out, she only got one e-mail and already she was waiting for this stranger to reply immediately, this was exactly why she had always refused to join the digital era, it was always action-reaction until it consumed most of your time, the work she could have done while waiting for a reply..Slowly she got up, just a quick shower and then her warm, welcoming bed, tomorrow was a new day, with a lot of work to be done, but at least she wouldn't have any distraction now that Sean was gone.
