Just a Sketch (3 page)

“Which business card did he give you?”

“Which one?” Leo hadn’t known anyone who had multiple business cards. He pulled out his wallet, where he’d put the card when he’d gotten home the previous night. He handed the card to Heather.

She glanced at it and grinned. “The number on here is his cell phone. You can get hold of him at any time.”

Leo took the card back and looked at it again. It didn’t say “cell phone number” on it. He took one of the cards sitting on the glass counter between him and Heather. The numbers
were
different. He put the regular card back in its holder and returned the personal one to his wallet. “Okay. Maybe if nothing comes up, I’ll try and call him tonight.”

“I know he’d really like that. I’ll let him know you stopped by.”

Leo swallowed again. “Thanks.” He turned and hurried out of the gallery, not even waiting to see if Felix was following him.

He couldn’t go far; they were in Felix’s car, so he had to wait for him to come out and join him.
He’s been talking to his assistant about me? I don’t know if that’s cool or creepy. But he is really hot.

AUD’S COMPUTER
gave its customary starting beep as he walked from his kitchen with a bowl brimming with salad. The older machine booted slowly enough he had time to fix a quick dinner while it started up. He settled into his desk chair and pulled up his e-mail. Even though he’d only been away from the gallery for a few hours, he always made sure to check and see if anything needed his attention. His customers spent loads of money with him every day and if something came up, he did his best to be reachable, except when he was at the gym or driving.

The first e-mail that caught his attention was from Heather and went on about how Leo had come in and was going to call to pose for him. Aud stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth as he read the message twice.
He came in. Cool. Now, can we actually make time for a sitting? What happens when I make a complete fool of myself with the sketch?

Shaking himself, he closed the message without replying.
I’ll see her tomorrow.
He went on to check the rest of his mail. There was nothing else he needed to address, so he finished his salad while he checked social media.

After scanning a blog post that claimed Cubism was going to be making a comeback in the next five years, he decided there wasn’t anything interesting. He hadn’t really been seeing anything he’d been looking at. Leo’s cute face with his wire-rimmed glasses kept popping into his mind.

He stood and carried his empty salad bowl to the sink. With only the briefest rinsing of the dressing so it wouldn’t be difficult to get out, he finally decided to wash his minimal dishes.
What do I want to do? I don’t have anyone I need to call. Plus I want to be available in case Leo calls…. Now I’m being pathetic. I don’t even know if Leo’s gay, although his friend Felix most likely is, and Leo didn’t seem romantically attached to either of his friends. But I don’t know if he’d be interested in me. But if he’s gay, would he have come by the gallery if he wasn’t interested?

Aud’s phone rang and he jumped slightly. He didn’t even remember sitting down on the couch. He glanced at the screen and didn’t recognize the number. With a swipe of his finger, he answered the call anyway.

“This is Aud.”
God, I must sound like a professional prick.

“Hi, Aud.” He recognized Leo’s voice. “This is Leo, from the drawing class last night.”

“Hey, Leo. I just got a message from Heather at the gallery, and she said you stopped by.”

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about you wanting to draw me… sketch me… whatever.” He sounded nervous.

It made Aud smile. “Sketch you. Yes, I would still like to do that.”

“Cool. ’Cause I would like you to do that to me.” Leo sighed. “I mean, I’d like to do that with you…. Aah, what’s the proper term here?”

“You’d like to sit for me.” Aud bit back a chuckle. With every word, he was drawn to Leo more and more.

“I guess so. We need to work out a time for that. How long do you think it will take?”

“I can do a preliminary sketch in a few minutes, but to truly capture the real you, it could take a little while. If possible, I’d like to set aside an afternoon or evening.”

“A whole evening?” There was a slight hesitation in Leo’s voice.

“Or we could do it over several sessions.” Aud wanted to get off the couch and pace but made himself sit still as his excitement grew.

“So it would be better on one of my days off. I’m only off on the weekends. Would that interfere with your gallery?”

“Not at all. But what about a Friday evening? We could go for some dinner and talk a bit. That will let me get to know you better and have a good idea how I want to capture you… on paper.”
Yeah, now you sound like some kind of S&M guy. Don’t scare him off.

“That would be good. When would you like to do that? Right now, my Fridays are open.”

“It’s Wednesday, so why not this week?”

“This week?” The hesitation returned.

“We can put it off a week…. Oh wait, we’d have to put it off two weeks since next Friday is First Friday Art Walk. We’re open late that night.”

“First Friday Art Walk? What’s that? Sorry, but the drawing class last night was the first really creative thing I’ve done in ages.”

“It happens the first Friday of every month, and all the galleries along Colorado Avenue stay open and serve hors d’oeuvres and wine while we entertain clients. It’s fun. You should come and expose yourself to more art.”

“Might be fun. Sounds like something Julie would enjoy. But back to my sitting. I got it correct that time, right?”

A warm smile spread across Aud’s face and into his heart. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Good. So back to my sitting. I guess I can do that this Friday.”

“Excellent. Would you like to meet me at my place or the restaurant?”

There was a heavy pause. “I guess since I know where you work and have met you before, I can meet you at your place.”

“Should I text you the address or just give it to you?”

“A text would be fine. So do I need to bring or wear anything in particular?”

“Not really. Wear what makes you comfortable and bring your smile.” Aud was sure his own smile was broad enough to be heard in his voice.

“I think that will be easy enough. We can decide where to eat when I get there.”

“Sounds good.” Aud almost offered to cook but decided to put that off until they had a second date. If they had a second date.

“What time, then? I normally get out at five, but sometimes get trapped on a… by a customer.” For a moment it sounded like he was embarrassed by his job.

“So will six thirty give you enough time?”

“Yeah. If nothing else, I can text you if I’m going to be a few minutes late.”

“That’d be fine.”

“Okay. Well, I guess I should be going. You’re probably busy.”

“Not really.”
Maybe we can keep talking and I can get to know him a little bit more.

“Oh.” Leo sounded confused. “Well, I still need to go get something to eat. But I’ll see you Friday. Don’t forget to text me the address.”

“I won’t. Thanks for calling, Leo. I think we’re going to have fun.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right. Felix keeps telling me I need to try new things.”

“New things can be very interesting.”

“Yeah. I think you’re interesting. Okay. I’m going to go eat now. See you Friday.”

“Friday. Good night, Leo.”

“Good night, Aud.”

Aud stared at the phone for a moment as the call ended and the screen eventually went black.
He sounded so cute and insecure. There were a few clues in there that say he’s probably gay and interested. I hope so.
With a heavy sigh, Aud got off the couch and began cleaning, first the dishes and then the rest of his apartment in preparation for Leo’s visit.

LEO COMBED
his hair and forced himself out of the bathroom. His phone jingled with Julie’s ringtone. He answered it. “What? I’m trying to get out the door.”

“You know, you only get snippy when you’re nervous. Just relax. Everything’s going to go great. I have lots of confidence in you.”

“Thanks.” He turned off the lights as he headed out of his apartment. Sofi, his brown tabby cat, jumped up on the back of the couch and demanded attention. She pushed against him, and when he didn’t immediately respond, patted his arm with a soft paw. Leo petted her for a second while he waited for Julie to get to the point of her call.

“I just wanted to tell you to relax and let the evening happen as it will. Aud’s sexy and all, but if he’s an ass, don’t worry about just walking out.”

“Is this supposed to be a pep talk?” Leo rubbed Sofi’s ear.

“You know me. I pep where I can.”

“I need to get going. I’m just thankful I got out of work on time so I won’t be late. It’s just a sitting and not a date, but I want to make a good impression.”

She snickered on the other end of the connection. “Yeah. Call it what you want. Dinner and entertainment. It’s a date.”

“Whatever. Is there anything else?”

“Nope. Just go have fun.”

“I will.”

“Felix and I will be over in the morning at eleven for brunch. You even get to pick the location. See you then.”

Before he could respond, she was gone. He stared at the phone for a second before setting it on vibrate. After giving Sofi a final pet, Leo headed out for his sitting with Aud.

THE HU
Hot was busy, but they only had to wait a few minutes before a table opened up. Aud looked casual and sexy in his tight black jeans and blue button-up shirt that was nearly the same color as his eyes. The shirt was open at the collar and showed a hint of blond hair on Aud’s broad chest. Leo kept wanting to stare into Aud’s rugged face but forced himself to look at other things, including his Mongolian meal.

“I hope this is enough,” Aud said. “I figured laid-back was better, and I love this place.”

“Yeah, we come here from time to time.” Leo swallowed. He didn’t bother saying it was for special occasions since it was a little more than he could normally afford for a meal, but if Aud had picked anything more, it would’ve made him feel uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to extravagant eating. Village Inn was normally a good night out for him and his friends.

“So help me get a feeling of what I want to do with you,” Aud said, then blushed slightly. “Sorry. That didn’t come out the way I planned it to.”

“I guess you mean with the sketching,” Leo replied as he speared a piece of broccoli with his fork. So far Aud had acted as nervous as he was. Overall it helped him relax a bit more.

“Exactly. Like I said on the phone the other night, the better I know you, the better I can draw you. I want to capture the real you.”

“What kinds of things do you want to know?”

“All sorts of things. What are you passionate about? Where do you work?”

Leo thought for a moment as he chewed a piece of chicken. “That first one is a hard question. Passionate about? I’m not sure there’s anything. I love my cat, Sofi, but I wouldn’t say I’m passionate about her. I guess that would be kinda creepy and perverted, wouldn’t it?”

“Not really. A lot of people are passionate about their pets in a totally nonsexual way. What do you like to do?” Then Aud blushed again.

The look and awkwardness brought a soft smile to Leo. “I’m going to go with the idea of in day-to-day life.”

“Probably best while we’re sitting in a restaurant full of people.”

“I like reading and going to movies. Sometimes Felix drags me and Julie out to go hiking, and that’s not bad.”

“Are you and Felix a couple?”

“God, no. Felix is a great friend, but I couldn’t put up with him full-time. We all took a vacation to Hawaii together a couple of years ago. By the time we got on the plane to come home, I was ready to kill him.” Leo didn’t want to explain that the catty queen persona Felix kept up most of the time tended to rub him raw every so often.

“I’ve got friends like that.” Aud took a long sip of his soda. “But you like hiking. That’s good.”

“I wish I had more time for it.”

“I know that feeling. Being self-employed actually translates to having two or three jobs in terms of the amount of time you spend on work.”

“I guess you rarely have time to yourself.”

Aud nodded. “I often go weeks without more than just an hour at the gym three or four times a week for downtime. But I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m really passionate about art and love running the gallery. It took me almost five years of doing portrait painting before I could afford to open up the place.”

Leo paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. “People still pay for portrait paintings?”

“Yeah. It’s normally the wealthier folks, and they don’t mind chunking out a good piece of change for the right painter to do them.” He blushed again. “That didn’t come out right either.”

“Understood. I didn’t know there was still a market for that kind of stuff. I guess I’m too used to flea-market art, where a big painting sells for five to ten bucks and you hang it over the couch.”

Aud laughed. “It’s been forever since I went to a flea market. I guess you’re right. That’s what most people think of when they think of art. But there’s a lot more to it than that.”

Leo relaxed as Aud started explaining the ins and outs of the gallery business, and his passion for art really sparkled. It was also easier than talking about himself. He’d never liked discussing his own life, even after he got to know someone. On a first date it was particularly awkward.
This really is more of a date than anything, isn’t it? I doubt he’d be this nervous if it was just a sketch sitting.

When Leo came back with his second plate of food, Aud grinned at him. “Okay, you managed to get me talking all about art. Now I want to learn more about Leo. You like hiking and your friend Felix can get on your nerves. You have a cat named Sofi and go to flea markets. There has to be more. Everyone has things they like to do when they have downtime.”