She sits up taller, and the warmest smile graces her lips as she says, “Well, I’m twenty-two. I absolutely love to paint more than anything else. I actually teach classes at The Bristle a few days a week. I met Nic when I was eighteen, and we got married not that long after.” She hesitates, and I can see that she is debating on saying something or not. “I don’t have any family outside of Nic. I was raised in foster care, bouncing between different families my entire childhood. When I turned eighteen, I left the foster care system and was all alone, until Nic found me. He gave me a place to stay, and the rest is history.”
Nic sounds like a real saint.
Dammit. Guilt seizes my chest at my coming over when he’s away to put the moves on his wife when he seems like a great guy.
“I’m sorry. That must have been so hard and lonely,” I say, genuinely moved by her story. “I grew up with my parents and brother. I’ve never known any other way. I can’t imagine my life without all of them. I’m sorry, Kat.”
I have lived a very privileged life, a fact I am well aware of. Which is why a majority of my free time is dedicated to The Evergreen Foundation, donating to nonprofits in need.
Her eyes soften, and she whispers, “Thank you. But I’ve also never known anything different.” She shrugs. “Tell me about you.”
Setting my now-empty glass on her coffee table, I share a glimpse of my life. “I’m a lawyer with a private practice. I have an office that I rarely work at because I’d rather work in PJs at my house, outside of when I’m meeting with clients and in court. I grew up in Saranac Lake with my brother, Ben, and my mom and my dad. My parents are both lawyers, and my brother is the fun member of the family. He is a gym teacher, and his wife is a nurse. I have a Tibetan spaniel. She is cream-colored and the light of my damn life. Her name is Muffin.”
Kat is looking so intensely at me. I’ve never felt more listened to. She’s not just listening with her ears; she is listening with her entire body.
“What do you do for fun?” She asks.
“I love to read. Rom-coms, sports romance, traumances. Romance of any kind really. I love forgetting that I’m reading, like I’m in the story, in the book, so intently in the moment that I forget who I really am. No other feeling relates to being completely lost in a book,” I say.
“That’s amazing. Painting is the same for me. It’s like it takes me over. The brush is just an extension, and the paint on the canvas are my thoughts, my feelings. It’s the only time I feel free and unapologetically me.” Her words flow from her lips with such passion, and it’s music to my ears.
“What kind of painting do you do?” I ask, wanting to hear her talk about painting forever. It’s sexy watching her get excited about it.
She sets her empty glass down, and I have a feeling Kat is a lightweight by the way she has drastically relaxed since finishing that glass.
She looks to the side, her eyes glazing over as she imagines her work as she says, “I work with all different mediums. But my favorites are acrylic and watercolor. I paint abstract, flowers, portraits, and a bunch of other stuff.”
The most beautiful thing in the world is to watch someone light up from the inside as they talk about what they love.
“I’d love to see your art sometime.” I coo.
She smiles bigger than I’ve yet to see tonight. “I think I could arrange that.”
“So, what are your plans for Christmas?” I ask, pulling the blanket tighter around me.
Tension runs through her body like a strike of lightning. “Well, Nic will be with his parents in Alaska, and I will be here.”
“What?” I scoff. “You can’t be alone on Christmas. Did you not want to go with him?” I ask with no filter before saying, “I’m sorry. That is definitely not my business.”
She shushes me with a wave of her hand. “It’s totally okay. No, I didn’t want to go. Nic can be great at times. But I don’t think he really gets me. He made these plans without even asking me. So, I didn’t take any time off of work. On top of that, I offered to take tomorrow’s afternoon classes for a girl at work who wanted to spend time with her mom, so of course, I said yes. I couldn’t bail on her and force her to go in.” She sighs. “And Nic made a big deal about it, completely bashing on my job, and I had enough of him belittling my painting. So, I put my foot down. To be honest, I don’t know if we can go back from it. It felt like a wake-up call, and I finally pinched myself hard enough to realize that I’ve been living in a golden bubble. Being ignored and disrespected was somehow outweighed by fancy dinners, a big house, and money.”
Stunned at her honesty, and angry at the news of Nic’s behavior, I stare at her in awe. She is sweet, passionate, and amazing.
Her eyes widen slightly. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have unloaded all of that on you.”
Smiling, I shake my head. “Please don’t be. You needed to get it out. I’m sorry he doesn’t value your work, Kat. Your work is just as important as his, no matter what the jobs might be. You are an equal, and he needs to show that.”
Her eyes well up with tears, and a tight smile stretches across her lips as she whispers, “Thank you. I think this is the first real conversation I’ve had with someone in a long time.”
My heart aches. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry.”
She chuckles as a tear runs down her face. “You have no idea how badly I needed to hear that. So that I knew I wasn’t crazy for how I was feeling. It also doesn’t help that I barely ate today, and I’m tipsy from that wine.”
I laugh with her and hold her gaze. Her hazel eyes seem to brighten with the wetness of her tears, making them even more stunning than before.
Wishing I could stay here the whole night, I dread needing to go home. But Muffin needs to eat dinner, and I’m sure she is going to be a sass-hole when I get back for pushing her meal time later.
“Kat, thank you for tonight. But I have to get home to feed Muffin, my dog. We should really do this again. Do you want to exchange numbers, and we can get together again soon?” I wait impatiently for her answer.
