The Unveiling (Work of Art #2) by Ruth Clampett Read Free Book Online Page B

pulled away, he told me he wanted to kiss me more than anything, but he couldn’t because of Mitchell.
    “After that, I avoided the student store. But when Mitchell saw the prints after I brought my graded boards home, he was jealous. We had a huge fight about it, even though I hadn’t done anything with Adam that crossed a line. But Mitchell must’ve operated on instincts—like an animal sensing the presence of another male—and he was threatened. There was always a lot of drama, not just with us, but with all our friends.”
    I nodded, eager to hear more.
    “Anyway, Mitchell was never one to be upstaged, so he slept with our neighbor. After I found out, he begged me to forgive him, but I was done. And since I couldn’t stop thinking about Adam, I wondered how committed I was to Mitchell in my heart.
    “After the dust had settled a couple of weeks later, I went to the student store and took Adam his prints from the shoot. He took a break, and we went to the cafeteria, got coffee and looked at the work. He loved the images, and we talked like not a moment had passed since we’d been together. I didn’t tell him about Mitchell then, but he asked me if I was ready to pose for him, and we agreed I would come the following Saturday.
    She looks at her watch. “Oh, this story’s going on way too long, isn’t it?”
    “No! I want to hear the rest!”
    Her eyes light up as she continues. “That whole week, I was a bundle of anticipation, and when Saturday arrived, I could barely drive my car to his place. There was no way he could miss how nervous I was, and he gave me some wine while he prepared his easel and paints. Of course he wasn’t wearing his shirt, making the wine even more of a necessity.”
    I laugh and feel all the nervous tension they must’ve gone through.
    “We’d agreed ahead of time that I’d be nude, but only if I could hide my breasts. He arranged it so I could stretch across some pillows with only my derrière showing. He turned away when I took off my robe and positioned myself, but when he came over to arrange my hair fanning across the pillow, I almost passed out.”
    “Wait, that’s the painting hanging in your bedroom, isn’t it?”
    She gives me a big smile. “Yes, that’s the one. When he worked, he was completely into it. He didn’t speak for a long time, but as we both grew more comfortable, we started to talk and share stories about school. Finally, he asked about Mitchell, and I told him about our break-up.”
    “What’d he say?”
    “Nothing, he was silent, but when I looked up, he was gripping the sides of the canvas. I asked him what was wrong. And you know what he said? ‘Nothing’s wrong.’ Then he lifted his chin, gave me the biggest smile and said, ‘For the first time in a long time, everything feels completely right.’”
    “I held my breath as he walked over, sat on the floor next to my pillows and stroked my cheek. And that was it…that was the moment my entire life changed. I sat up, not even caring that I was naked, and he pulled me into his lap and gave me the kiss I’d dreamed of.”
    I hold my breath because her description’s so vivid that I can feel their passion running through me. They had each found their soul mate.
    “That was it. I stayed over that night and never left. Here it is, thirty years later, and I’m still by his side.”
    “That’s the best story…the perfect love.”
    “Oh no, not perfect, Ava. Nothing’s perfect. We’ve had plenty of fights and near breakups over the years. We’re both passionate people, and we fight as passionately as we make love.”
    “Did you ever really almost break up?”
    “Well, the closest we probably came was when Adam finally gave up trying to make it as an artist and decided go into the gallery-publisher side of things. He was tormented about that, but he wanted us to be together and have a family, and we weren’t surviving financially by selling his art. He was miserable all the time. I