Page 14 of Rivals

The cleaner I used still lingers in the air as Revna steps over the threshold. My chest twinges, and my mouth goes dry. She stands in the middle of the entry and lifts her head, looking at the exposed beams and artless walls everywhere but at me. I drop my bag and go into the kitchen to make some coffee and find something to eat. I didn’t have time to run to the store and I’m not sure what I have sitting in the fridge.

I look up, and Revna is still standing there, only she’s looking at the area where I have all of my art supplies. There are half-painted and blank canvases with some odds-and-ends pottery I’ve made. My final, the black vase with the metallic blue glaze that only shimmers when the light hits it just right, makes my heart beat twice in my chest. It’s exactly like her hair. I look at the vase and her hair a few times and want to slap myself. Even my subconscious likes her.

“Are you hungry? I don’t have much, but maybe we can order a pizza?” I suggest hoping to break the ice because the tension hasn’t dissipated. It’s only increased.

She shrugs. I sigh grabbing the menu on the side of the fridge and dial the phone number. They put me on hold for a minute, and I look at Revna. “We need food in our stomachs if we’re going to take this shit seriously, so I’m ordering pizza.”

“Ok.” Her voice is raspy, and her dark eyes stare me down.

Once I order the pizza, I finish with the coffee maker and turn it on. “This is a nice place,” she finally says.

I chuckle sarcastically, and she throws me a look. “It is, thank you.”

She frowns. “Am I missing something?” she asks.

I rub my chin, not sure how to answer that question. There are things I don’t tell people because they wouldn’t understand, but I knew she would have questions, and I opened the door for her to ask because I invited her here.

“Um, my dad bought it for me. Let’s call it a parting gift.” She frowns again and drops her bag down by mine next to the sofa. I stare at her and hope she leaves my cryptic answer. She purses her lips, accepting the answer, and goes over to my art supplies, flipping through them and a few canvases. I watch her stop and pick up the black vase carefully. I cringe inwardly, hoping she doesn’t connect the dots.

“So, have you come up with anything we can work with?” she asks.

I grab two glasses and fill them, each with water, carrying one over to her. She takes it reluctantly. I don’t know why I’m being nice now. I’ll chalk it up to manners that were beat into my head. I can’t help it. I take a sip of my water and look at the few blank canvases I have leaning against the wall.

“I haven’t. I am usually inspired by High Renaissance sculpture, classicism, and fifteenth and sixteenth-century art. I looked, but nothing came to me.”

She stares at me for far too long, and I look away, downing more of my water because I can’t seem to quench my thirst. “Did you come up with anything?” I ask her because I don’t believe she did. My body tenses, and I squeeze the glass. I want to yell at her. She put us in this position. This is her fault. The least she could do was come up with an idea.

“No,” she says in a dead-tone voice.

Yep, I’m going to scream. I turn around to face her. “So then, what are we going to do, Revna?”

“You’re the one with the master plan, Michelangelo. You tell me.” I roll my eyes and get the lavender-colored pills I set on the counter.

“Then let’s hope these help us. I don’t particularly care for this, but desperate times call for desperate measures.” I fish the baggie out of my pocket and wave it in the air.

A knock on my door draws my attention from Revna’s strange behavior. I toss the baggie on the counter before I answer the door. I pay for the pizza and lock it behind me. The lock-in has officially begun.

I get us plates and grab a slice, folding it before I take a bite. Revna does the same and practically inhales two pieces in five minutes. “When’s the last time you ate?”

She shrugs. “I don’t remember.”

“Really?” I ask her, confounded. She sighs and takes a bite of another slice.

“Things have been tight, so I haven’t had anything all day,” she says and takes another bite.

I finish my food and leave it at that. We aren’t here for heart-to-hearts. We are here to work. I throw the OBA back and down some water. Revna grabs one from the little baggie and does the same.

“Do you mind if I use your bathroom?” I gesture to the only door it could be since everything else is open. She grabs her bag and shuts the door behind her.

I get a canvas set up and line up the primary color paints next to the palette, a couple of jars of water, and a jar full of brushes. Maybe music will help with the trip. It did last time, but look how that turned out.

Revna comes back from the bathroom in leggings, bare feet, and her big sweatshirt. “Let’s hope this kicks in quickly. Oh, and…” she pauses and grabs her bag again.

“I brought some of my paints, by the way,” she says with her eyebrow ticked up. I swallow the smile building on my face.

“Ok.”

“Unbelievable,” she huffs.