Page 33 of Rivals

“I was thinking something within the concept of that, but the architecture side of things.”

She nods and considers what I said. “Let’s split the difference,” she offers.

“Deal.” She nods.

“Do you want to see the rest of what’s on display?” I ask her. Revna shakes her head.

“I’m finally ready to get to work.” I can’t help the smile that grows on my face. And in turn, a small one grows on hers. I nod, and she leads the way out of the museum and back to the subway.

“Do you want to get something to eat first?” I ask her, and she nibbles her lip. “It’s on me, Revna.”

“No, I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Well, the offer still stands. Where would you like to go?” I look at her, and she looks in the direction over my shoulder.

“There’s a good old-school delicatessen up the street that makes sandwiches so big, I can eat on it for two or three days.”

“Sounds good to me,” I say. Revna nods and seems happy for the first time since I’ve known her. I can sense the excitement in her body language, and I don’t think it’s supported by the drugs.

“Ok,” she says, leading the way to the sandwich shop. We walk a few blocks and come up to a hole-in-the-wall storefront. Though those aren’t uncommon, this one looks highly questionable.

“I know it looks ridiculous, but I promise it’s good.” I step through. It’s clean, just old. She looks at the case with many meat choices. I stare at her and take a second. We aren’t friends, per se, so it’s possible she’s trying to give me food poisoning. I’m not picky, but I also know I can’t put it past her that she would try something like this.

“You’re not going to get food poisoning. You’ll crave it instead. I wish they were over in Brooklyn because I’d always eat here and never buy groceries.”

“If you say so,” I mumble, still not sure.

“I do,” she says and almost rolls her eyes, then stops herself and glances at me. I smirk at her, and then she gives me another eye roll.

“Revna,” I say, chastising under my breath. She flips around to look at the cold case again.

A man comes out from the back and asks us what we would like. She ordered a Reuben, and I decided to do the same to play it safe.

Before she can pay, I swoop in and hand the guy a twenty. “I can pay for my own food, Lachlan. I don’t need you to do that,” she grumbles.

“Ok.” I look at her over my shoulder, and she’s glaring at me. I’ve added fiercely independent to the list of things I have learned about Revna. I figured she was, but this confirms it.

My pulse races under my skin while I stare at her. She always squirms under my scrutiny, and I like that. I know I probably shouldn’t, but it’s a response. It’s something when I don’t get much from her.

The guy brings us our gigantic sandwiches, and Revna takes a large bite. She looks at me while she’s chewing. “See, not poisoned.” I shoot her a look and take a bite. She’s right, this is a damn good sandwich.

“I was right, wasn’t I?” Revna states.

The corner of my mouth tips up, and I try to smother it with another bite. “Yeah, little bird. You were.”

***

We get back to my place, and I’m buzzing, ready to get going. We stopped at the art supply store and bought three large canvases. We decided to go with consistent sizing for the pieces. It reminds me of one of the triptych alter pieces that I saw in the photos at the exhibit.

I got the same paints that I destroyed what feels like months ago when it’s only been a few weeks. Revna carried the bag of paints, and I carried the large canvases, trying not to bump into other walkers. We definitely pissed a few people off on our way home.

I have a tattoo session scheduled for later today, but I may have to cancel it because I don’t want to mess with whatever we have going here. The money I spent today makes me think I probably shouldn’t cancel.

I hunt for some charcoal so we can plan out each piece before we start painting. Revna guzzles a bottle of water and then plops down on the couch. “I think we need to go less abstract and more specific.”

“You already said that.”

“Well, I’m saying it again. When I was looking at the High Renaissance exhibit, I thought it could be cool if we do some version of our modernized naturalistic style with a romantic boldness in a fresco.”