"The usual?" the waitress asked as she stopped at her table, "Yes, please, and some soup would be lovely, thanks Ella!" Harper smiled at her while struggling to unwrap her scarf from around her neck, "coming right up, sweetie" the waitress winked as she wrote down her order and walked back to the counter. Harper waited until she was gone and then nervously dug through her bag, fishing out the phone which she put in front of her, why was she so nervous? Her trembling fingers unlocked the phone, a mail from 'stranger', YES! Wait..what? She shook her head and read it again, clasping her hand over her mouth, she was reading it right, he wanted to buy a painting! Her first! OMFG! Her fingers started whizzing over the screen, she was actually getting good at this whole digital shizzle!
From: HCDeRobiano
To: BJLCubbins
Subject: Re: What?
Hey Joe! (I admit I just sang those two words Jimi Hendrix-style in my head typing them, sorry!)
Joe is a good name, simple, straightforward..and definitely an LA-kind of name, kind of rustic too, don't you think? Are you as rustic as your name? :) Kidding of course! Of course you're not because some rustic would never BUY MY FIRST PAINTING!!! THANK YOU!!
I'll send you the financial details and you tell me where you want it shipped. Is this real? Wait, let me re-read it..yes it is! You can actually call yourself the first owner of a real De Robiano, which isn't something everybody can say!
I'm working on something out of my comfort zone right now, (read that as hyper-realism) but I'll send you a picture when I get home and if I can figure out how to upload it, try not to judge because it really is the hardest thing I've done so far.
Oh Joe, sometimes this world can be such a rough struggle, but today is not one of those days, today is a fine day I'll remember forever!
But we're always talking about my work, what does Joe Cubbins do when he's not buying art?
Anyway, *raises her favorite sandwich and a spoon full of hot soup* here's to you, 'stranger' Joe!
An immensely grateful and overwhelmed (and that doesn't happen often)
Coco
Putting the phone down again, she leaned back in her seat taking a big bite of her sandwich while she looked out of the window and revelled in the fuzzy warmth of her first success, didn't matter if it was only one person who had seen and loved her work, at least it was one person who totally understood what she was trying to say with it.
"Shannon!" Jared's voice thundered around his brother's house as he walked inside, where the hell was he? "Shannon?!" he shouted again without success, walking inside the spacious living room he noticed the long drapes waving in the wind and heard the giggling and the splashing of water. There he was, fooling around in his pool with that same girl everyone had been warning him about, she was really bad news for his brother, given her drug abuse history everyone seemed to know about except for Shannon himself, who just ignored every red flag where she was concerned. "Hey Jay!" he said all surprised as he noticed his brother, "what the hell are you doing? Everyone's waiting for you" Jared tried to keep calm which wasn't easy as the girl just draped herself a little tighter around his brother. A little light popped on in Shannon's head "the tour.."he whispered, "yes the tour, you idiot! Get out of that pool, get dressed! I'll go put your bags in the car" Jared hissed and turned on his heels before he really lost his last ounce of patience. Ten minutes later, Shannon rushed out the door, waving at her as he got in the car "sorry, bro, I completely lost track of time" he hastened to say, still with that lovey dovey smile on his face, "is she actually staying at your house while you're gone?" Jared frowned. "Yeah! She's fucking amazing, man!" Shannon rolled his eyes as he pulled the seatbelt over him, Jared pushed down on the gas "a fucking amazing junkie" he hissed between his clenched teeth. "She's not a junkie" Shannon mumbled, shaking his head as his fingers nervously drummed on the leather of the passenger's door, "no she's not, she's just a woman who loves to use her credit card for cutting a line of cocaine several times a day, and the spoons in her kitchen are not for soup, but for warming up her heroin" Jared sarcastically huffed. "Shut the fuck up! That's not true, you don't know anything about her" Shannon shouted at him and banged his fist on the door, "whatever Shannon, I just don't want her around on the tour, is that clear?" Jared tried not to let this problem escalate, not now that this tour was about to start, this tour was their most innovative and ambitious ever, so much had happened since they last came off the road a few years ago, this tour needed to be a signature, a stepping tone for this band, and trouble was the last thing any of them needed.
Harper walked home after her little solo-celebration, digging her hands deep into her pockets when the icy wind blew right through her, her thoughts started drifting off to the stranger who was in LA right now and who was probably laying on some warm beach somewhere. She stopped in her tracks as she walked past a bookshop and a certain book caught her eye 'Love Letters of Great Men and Great Women', yeah right..love..a waste of time, that's what it was..love was just another excuse for people who didn't have the guts to be alone, love was ice cream that melted way too quickly, leaving nothing but a mess in your glass. Half an hour later she walked back inside her studio, threw the paper bag with the book on the kitchen counter, together with her handbag, hissing a few profanities as her painfully frozen fingers tugged at the zipper of her jacket. Right..photos, she needed to take photos, she let her jacket fall on the floor and took the phone out of her bag, no new e-mail..she immediately felt her mood change, and she knew exactly the reason for that, she was letting this phone take up way too much of her time already. Just a couple of photos, she would send them in an e-mail and then she was gonna switch this damn thing off for a couple of days, and catch her breath again, but first things first, she slowly tapped on the phone symbol and then on Sean's name before she put it against her ear. "Sean? Hi, it's Harper, how's things?" he heard her voice tremble in his ear, "hey Harp, I'm fine, what's wrong?" he quickly said, he had never heard her like this before, "Nothing, everything's just fine..I was just calling to see how you were doing?" she lied. "Really? Could've fooled me, Harp" god she hated how he called her Harp every single time, she bit her tongue wanting to set him straight, no, right now she needed to eat some humble pie, he needed to explain to her how this whole up- or downloading thing worked, "come on, out with it, what is it? You missing me already?". Ughhh, he was on a mission to irritate the hell out of her, "you wish! No, I just wanted to say that I've sold my first painting and I..well, I wanted to thank you for putting up that webpage". On the other side of the line there was a whistle and a hearty laugh "what? Really? You actually sold a piece? That's fantastic, Harper! How much?", she lit up another cigarette and pushed the smoke out of her lungs "500" she said with a cough. "500? sweetheart, that's way under the asking price, I told you, even the smaller ones start at 2000! you might have well given it away" he huffed, his answer shocked her. "Shit..well whose fault is that then? You were supposed to send me the price list" she said all annoyed, fuck this, no wonder Joe had been so eager to snap it up, how stupid could she be? Joe probably had been laughing his head off at her stupidity. "I've been busy, alright?!" he spat back at her and a silence dropped on her side of the line "look, I'll send you the list in a few minutes, listen, I've gotta go again but I can quickly tell you how to download the list" she heard him say, "you really do know how to make someone feel like the biggest nitwit alive, don't you? I can work this phone just fine, hey I even know how to switch it off which is exactly what I'm gonna do right now! Goodbye, Sean!" she barked and disconnected the call, the nerve of that fucker!. Frustrated with herself, she pushed the button on the side of the phone until the screen blacked over and threw it on the counter all disgusted with him and the rest of the world. Dumbass! Retarded, technologically disabled piece of shit, that's what she was, fucking up her own first sale.
Still no e-mail..how long had it been since they had to postpone their opening show? 2 days? 3? he was jetlagged and frustrated, all these cross continental flights were doing his head in. He had sent her a reply on the plane to Germany, all excited about the pics she was going to send him which never came, then he had sent her another mail and another this morning, something was wrong, he could feel it.
From: BJLCubbins
To: HCDeRobiano
Subject: ???
Coco,
What's going on? Why the sudden silence? Are you ok? Did I do or say something to upset you? Has something happened?
I miss our 'chats'..
I would appreciate it if you dropped me a line, a word, doesn't matter, just a sign of life because to tell you the truth, I'm starting to worry..
I really need 'a friend' to talk to..so, in your absence I'm looking at your webpage again and admiring your work, it gives me comfort.
Joe (who's getting more and more worried)
