So Damn Beautiful (A New Adult Romance) (26 page)

“Hey,” I said, announcing my presence.
“Anything new on TMZ?”

All of them looked up at me simultaneously.
Elsie was the only one who seemed flustered, while the other three
had enormous grins on their faces.

“Way to go, Annie!” Shawn hooted. “Thinking
about publicity already, eh?” He winked.

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Hayden came up to me, flapping her hands in
excitement. “You have to tell me what he’s like, Annie! I mean,
being that up close and personal with the creative process must’ve
felt so incredible! Are you his muse or something? Do you guys
collaborate regularly on his other work?”

I was thoroughly confused. I looked at
Claudia, and she gestured for me to come over.

“This is incredible, Annie. You have no idea
how much this has helped our cause!” She turned her screen so that
I could see she was looking at
New York Minute
, the hottest
gossip blog in the city. Much to my amazement, there was a
photograph of Chase . . . and
me
! We were looking not at the
camera, but rather at each other. I was wearing the same
sapphire-blue sweater dress and black boots I’d been wearing the
night I’d met up with him in the Bronx for our subway adventure.
Chase had his arm casually slung around my waist, and he seemed to
be saying something remarkably interesting, given my wide-eyed gaze
in the photograph.

My heart just about stopped. I clutched the
edge of the table to keep myself upright. I knew Chase had a
following, but I’d had no idea that some paparazzo had been
following us around, snapping pictures. I shuddered to think of how
far we’d been followed.

“I, uh, I had no idea someone took this
picture,” I said.

“Yeah, right,” Elsie snarled, as she walked
back to her seat at the table.

Claudia ignored her and replied, “Well,
regardless, this is really good news for us. Check it out.”

I read the brief article below the picture
and cringed.

“Resident bad boy and graffiti connoisseur
Chase Adams was recently seen at the Silver Edge, one of his
regular stomping grounds (when he’s not too busy breaking rules and
hearts, that is). This time, he was with a friend. Word has it he’s
been spending quite a bit of time with this sultry blonde, Annie
Green, a New York University student who’s one of four people
hand-picked by Quentin Pierce to jettison the current malaise of
the art scene in favor of hotter, more cutting-edge pieces by an
exclusive group of local creatives. The upcoming show is rumored to
be the biggest our city’s seen to date. Despite the recent
crackdown on graffiti art and Adams’s widely reported aversion to
authorities, at the very least, these two offer up some yummy eye
candy. Seems like a match made in heaven, if you ask us.”

Claudia read along with me. “A match made in
heaven! They’ve pretty much turned you into a household name,
Annie. Do you know how many hits this site gets?”

“It’s a cheap publicity stunt,” Elsie
complained. “This isn’t supposed to be about Annie’s latest
adventures in dating.”

“I’m not
dating
Chase,” I shot back
through gritted teeth, embarrassed at all the pairs of eyes in the
room (and outside it, apparently) now on me.

“Elsie, lighten up,” Claudia said. “The rumor
mill isn’t very discerning, but this is most definitely something
we can use to our advantage. Youth, sex, and beauty always draw
flocks of people. Stuffy droves of old people with cloying
opinions? No way! Quentin will love this. We have the public right
where we want them.” She clacked furiously away on her keyboard,
presumably to ply Quentin (ever absent) with the good news.

I felt queasy as Elsie slunk down in her
chair and my other teammates sized me up with a mixture of
admiration and curiosity. Awesome—now all of them thought that
Chase and I were screwing, and that was
definitely
not how I
wanted to be remembered in the long run as far as my part in the
show was concerned. Not to mention I was technically Harrison’s
girlfriend (at least until I could figure out a way to break up
with him as painlessly as possible), and I definitely didn’t want
anyone, especially Elsie, to think I was playing him.

“Chase and I are just friends,” I said. “That
story is completely exaggerated. We, uh, met up by accident and
started talking about the piece he’s going to do. Nothing
happened!”

“Relax, Annie. You don’t have to explain
anything, and frankly, we don’t care,” Claudia said. “But all the
same, I congratulate you on a job well done. It takes a certain
kind of genius to inadvertently find yourself on the most popular
blog in New York City. I don’t care how you managed it—all that
matters is that you did!”

I tried to smile. “Um, thanks . . . I
guess.”

For the remainder of the meeting, we hashed
out more logistics, which quickly erased all thoughts of Chase. At
one point, Claudia suggested we get into pairs to discuss
installation specifics in the sculpture garden that had recently
been built in the courtyard of the Barney Building, which wasn’t
too far from the gallery where Quentin would feature the works
acquired by him for the show. As Claudia mentioned some of the
names—Willem de Kooning, Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, Diane Arbus,
Georgia O’Keeffe, and even Marc Chagall—I couldn’t help but be
excited. Unfortunately, I was asked to pair up with Elsie to think
about some of the spatial details of our work. Given that I didn’t
exactly know Chase’s plans for the mural, Elsie did most of the
talking, suggesting that Todd Butcher’s film be featured alongside,
or even projected onto, his sculpture. I nodded, doing my best not
to rouse Elsie’s anger or any prying questions from her. Naturally,
she beat me to the punch.

“So, Blondie, what the hell are you doing
hanging out with Chase at dive bars in the Bronx when you’re
supposedly dating my cousin?” she said abruptly.

Her words felt like a slap across my face. “I
think I explained myself sufficiently already,” I said, trying to
keep my voice steady. “Chase and I were just talking
business—that’s all.” I honestly didn’t know what I could add about
Harrison, so I offered, “As for your cousin, I’ll be meeting his
parents in a couple weeks, so I don’t think you need to look out
for him, given that he thinks I’m good enough to take home to Mom
and Dad.”

She was genuinely surprised. “Harrison’s
introducing
you
to Sharon and Rick?” She brushed her bangs
off her face, which looked as hard as alabaster. “Whatever—I don’t
really care about any of that.”

I sighed and crossed my arms. “Then why the
hell are you getting your panties into a knot, Elsie? Can’t we just
be civil to each other and discuss our projects like teammates? I’m
on your side here—you don’t have to fight with me anymore.
Seriously. There’s room for both of us.”

That seemed to enrage her even more. She
leaned in a little too close, gnashing her teeth. For a moment,
Elsie’s beautiful face transformed into an ugly, contorted
grimace.

“Don’t give me any of that Pollyanna crap. We
both know you have no idea what it takes to cut it in this world,
and I’m not going to stop until either you readily step down or I
embarrass you so fucking irreversibly that you don’t have a choice.
I eat mousy little nobodies like you for breakfast, and I am not
about to let you pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. I swear, I
will seriously ruin you.”

I stared at her. She’d always been mean, but
I’d never taken her to be menacing—at least, not intentionally. But
her words were unmistakably baleful, even bullying.

She simpered when she saw me turn pale. “And
that boy toy of yours? Chase Adams? I’m pretty sure he isn’t the
most discriminating type, if you know what I mean, so I wouldn’t
flatter yourself too much. . . . Besides, he hasn’t met
me
yet.” She gave me a suggestive smile.

I wanted to slug Elsie in the face, and I
almost summoned the right balance of rage and recklessness to do
so, but that was when Claudia came over. “We all good here?” she
asked.

Elsie nodded. “Yup. Todd already requested
the west corner of the sculpture garden, because it’s the first and
last thing people see as they enter the space, and it’s definitely
the kind of signature piece we want to make a lasting impression on
the spectators.”

“And how about you, Annie? Did you figure out
where Chase’s piece is going?”

Distracted by the ugly conversation I’d just
had with Elsie, I said, “Um, not yet. But I’m sure we’ll think of
something. It’s not a sculptural piece, and there aren’t any
stretches of wall he can use, so I’m guessing we might try to cover
the ground instead.”

Claudia cocked her head in thought. “Not a
bad idea, Annie. Making economic use of the space without adding
any obtrusive elements is definitely a consideration.” She nodded
approvingly before moving on to Hayden and Shawn.

I turned back to Elsie, who was perched
coolly on her chair with that insolent look of self-assurance on
her face.

“Am I supposed to be scared?” I felt like
throwing up in my mouth at the idea of Elsie’s threat to steal
Chase away from me.

“Oh, Annie, it’s not a threat—it’s a
promise,” she said. “I’ve never had a guy turn me down, and since
this is
me
we’re talking about, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able
to give you a run for your money. Besides, I can show a guy like
Chase the world. What can
you
show him, aside from a little
tits and ass?”

I felt tears of anger prick my eyelids, but I
wasn’t going to give Elsie the satisfaction. “You are
disgusting
, you know that?” I mumbled.

“You have no idea,” she purred. “And after
he’s had me, I’m not sure he’ll be quite so sweet on helping you
out. It’s like going from McDonald’s to Per Se. No need to slum it
when you can afford to eat at fancy places.”

That was when Claudia decided to reconvene us
as a group. Elsie ignored me for the rest of the meeting, choosing
instead to dominate the conversation about the installation. I was
more silent than usual. I knew Chase was crazy about me (at least,
that was certainly how he acted) and that worrying about Elsie
would just add a whole lot of undeserved stress to my life, but the
idea of competing with her, not just with respect to the Quentin
Pierce show but in my love and sex life, too, was downright
nauseating.

I looked at Elsie, who was speaking
animatedly. She was rich, connected, and painfully gorgeous. I
couldn’t see Chase buying into her pretentiousness, but I was
pretty sure Elsie wasn’t exaggerating when she mentioned she’d
never been turned down by a guy before. I felt silly for not
trusting Chase, especially since he was technically free to do
whatever (or whomever) he wanted, seeing as I still hadn’t broken
up with Harrison. But the idea of Chase and Elsie together made my
heart hurt in an almost physical way.

“Annie? Annie? Are you on board with that?”
Claudia and the rest of them looked at me. I had completely spaced
on the conversation.

“Um, I’m sorry—can you say that again?”

“Quentin wants all the curators to speak at
the reception to introduce their artists, and you’ll be going
first.”

If there was one thing I hated more than mean
girls like Elsie, it was public speaking. I hesitated a bit. “Well,
I . . . I’m not sure. Doesn’t anyone else want to go first?”

Elsie snorted. “They’re giving it to you,
Blondie, because Chase is a hot commodity now and, apparently, the
primary draw in this opening.” I smiled a little to myself, noting
how miserable Elsie looked when she made that pronouncement.

I was ready for the challenge. If that was
what Elsie wanted to bring, so be it. “How can I say no, then?” I
said, staring straight into her eyes to let her know I wasn’t going
to be toppled from the throne I’d apparently found myself sitting
atop. At least, not without a fight.

It was a day or so after my run-in with
Elsie, and I found myself missing Chase like crazy. It had been
only a few days since we’d last been together, but they’d felt like
an eternity. I texted Chase casually to say hello, and his response
back to me was, “What are you wearing?”

I shook my head with a smile but still found
my stomach doing little somersaults. I was lying on my bed with a
book, wearing cotton flannel pajamas, but I figured a little bit of
fantasy wouldn’t hurt. “Nothing at all,” I typed back.

“I wanna see,” he wrote.

“Well, you could come always come over.”
Kendra was at Yannis’s place tonight, so I had the dorm room all to
myself. I knew it was probably a really bad idea to invite Chase
over, especially considering that Harrison could drop in
unannounced at any time, but its forbidden quality excited me.

“I don’t do college dorms, Goldilocks. Might
wake up your neighbors. You come over instead?”

I frowned. It was always fun to take a walk
on the wild side whenever I found myself in Chase’s world, but
taking the subway late at night wasn’t exactly my idea of a good
time. Before I could text back, Chase wrote, “Get a cab and meet me
at Tuff City Tattoos on Fordham Street. Text when you’re close, and
I’ll meet you outside and pay for the cab. You can crash at my
place.”

My heart started to pitter-patter all over
again at the idea of spending the night with Chase. If I went for
it, it was sure to be another sleepless one. But how could I
possibly resist? He was like a drug I couldn’t get enough of. As I
threw some clothes into an overnight bag, feeling heady and high,
an image of Harrison flashed through my brain. But it wasn’t a
night for guilt. I’d worry about Harrison down the line. I wanted
tonight to be only about Chase and me.

About an hour later, my cab rolled up to Tuff
City Tattoos, an establishment that shared space with street-corner
bodegas where small clumps of people (mainly guys sporting lots of
tattoos) were gathered. My heart caught in my throat, but when the
door to the cab flew open, there was Chase, as beatifically
gorgeous as ever. He was clean-shaven this time, wearing a simple
white T-shirt and black pants. He smiled at me like I was the only
light on this godforsaken street, and I melted into his arms easily
as he pulled me out of the car. After shoving a wad of cash into
the cabbie’s hand, Chase grabbed my overnight bag and gave me a
kiss that reminded me of deep forests and night-blooming flowers.
It was eye-popping.