Chapter 28

I have the key to Aimée's heart and its name is coffee. This is our unspoken rule. If I come over with her coffee, she must love me for the rest of our time together.

It's 9:55 and I'm waiting for Aimée. My painting is leaning on the wall next to me.

Not only do I love being the first thing she sees when she gets here, because it gets her irritated, this time I had no choice. I really want to head back home as soon as possible, do some cleaning - if my body manages - and paint.

Also, considering she made me come over while I'm in pain, the idea of irritating her is very appealing.

And there she is, hustling through the weight of the world, on her way to start another day. I smirk at her, she sees me and freezes.

"Bonjour, mon Aimée." It's a little thing we do.

"Oh no! Paije! Why so early?! You did this on purpose!"

"If you won't seem more happy to see me, I'll do that thing where I talk a lot when it's way early for you."

"It's way early for me *now*, and you're already talking."

"But I can talk way, way more," I say as I hand her the coffee.

"You're stupid and I don't wanna talk to you."

"Come on! I brought you coffee!"

She gives me a very annoyed glance as she's reminded of our unspoken rule. Knowing that victory is mine, I smile at her as she unlocks the door and we walk into her office.

"Alright, Paije. But if I accidentally bump into you and you're in pain, just know it was by mistake."

I immediately open a bigger gap between us and she sweetly smiles at that.

"Lovely, Ams," I say, "as Always."

She doesn't respond.

"Hmm… are you gonna help me with the painting? I already had to carry it all the way here for you. In my poor poor state and…"

"Stop talking, Paije! It's already way too many words, and that's *before* I finished my coffee."

To say that she's not a morning person would be an understatement. Sadly for her, I *am* a morning person. When I'm in the mood.

We sit in silence for a few minutes. Sometimes you just need to give time for Aimée's brain to wake up. Don't get me wrong, she's brilliant, but in the morning she's a freaking zombie. She *will* eat you alive.

I fight the urge to tap on her table, because I know this scenario will end with my death. I stare at her, while she drinks the coffee, and I can see that sip by sip, she gets sedated.

You gotta understand that when she asked for coffee, she didn't mean for me to bring her a morning coffee. She consumes like 15 cups of coffee a day. Not exaggerating. So when she said "bring me coffee," she probably meant "bring me coffee in the afternoon and don't you dare to come before it's noon, you bastard." Sucks for her, I'm here *now*.

I sit quietly for a few more minutes, give her the time she needs.

I don't envy the first client of the day who calls her. She only gains full functionality around 10.30-10.45. After that though, she's charming.

"So…" she says.

"Oh, sorry, are you talking to me?"

"Very funny. Shut up."

"Then it'll be a very one sided conversation."

"Stop it. You know how this works. I say a word and then you wait quietly for five more minutes before I say the next one!"

"You just said a whole sentence, Ams."

"I hate you!"

"Coffee." I point at my gift to her.

She stares at me angrily and we're both quiet again.

I get up and unwrap the paper from the painting, to reveal it to her, and sit back quietly. I know she's examining it. Might as well let her do that while I wait for her to speak again.

I'm kinda frightened she won't like it. *I* like it a lot, but she needs to be able to sell this. I don't wanna let people down, but also, I want them to like something that means so much to me.

Aimée's eyes widen and her jaw drops a bit.

"Paije…"

"Shit. You completely hate it, don't you? I'm sorry but the sharks have a personal meaning and…"

"Shut up. What is it with you and talking? I… It's breathtaking. It's really striking."

She takes another few moments. I think she realizes her time of silence has come to an end. But, it wasn't *my* doing, directly, so I'm off the hook.

She starts to speak again.

"I… it's like I can see by looking at it that something incredibly important is happening inside of that snow globe. Like it's capturing a moment of real importance. I don't know how you do it."

I just smile at her. A real, cheek to cheek smile. Her words couldn't have been truer. To *me*. I'm just happy that I manage to convey that feeling.

"Walk with me," she says, and I know the drill, we've done it before. She's taking me to the safe.

"Are you gonna help me carry it this time around?"

"Nope."

I love my "visits" to the safe. I feel like I'm seeing something raw, even though the paintings themselves are done. This is a transition home. So many beautiful things are gathered there. I get to see the work of some of my colleagues, not ready for exhibition yet. Some already framed, some are not. It's fascinating. And every time there's something new in there, I leave a compliment for the artist with Aimée, and more than once, I've gotten them too.

We put the painting in one of the free areas made especially for this, and we head back to her office to look at the frames' catalogue. This is a really important step, because for me, it's part of the piece. A frame can either distract you from the work, or put an emphasis on a specific element in it, in addition to many other functions the frame has.

This piece has borders within it already, because of the globe and, since there are water and glass, I want something light. We choose a frame together, a process that takes us about 10 minutes. Not our worst time ever. This one was easy. It took us 2 hours once.

Few more days and this baby will be ready to be sold/exhibited. Let's hope someone wants it.

"Alright, Amsi, this has been fun, as always but…"

"Wait a second, Paije. I wanted to talk to you."

"Now what? This mystery girl again?"

"Don't be snappy at me!"

"I have no other joys left in my life!"

"That's your fault, now shut up and listen to me."

I do shut up. She asked so nicely, after all.

"Are you gonna be in your lockdown all week?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Your birthday is in 3 days."

"I'm well aware of that, thank you."

"Are you gonna do anything?"

"I'm gonna be home painting."

"Well… don't you *wanna* do anything?"

"Nope. Painting makes me happy."

Truth is, I've lost my festive birthday mood. The only thing I really wanna do is spend my birthday with Em. But, that's not gonna happen so... next best thing is to paint something that will probably be related to her somehow.

She looks at me for a few moments, then smiles and open one of her drawers and takes out an envelope. She hands it to me.

"What is this?"

"Well, since I find no point in arguing with you, you stupid stubborn girl, I know I won't be seeing you on your birthday. So this is an early birthday present."

"Aww… Ams…"

I smile at her. We really do love one another. I reach for the envelope and open it. It's a plane ticket. Paris to Philly.

"Hmm… Aimée… What is this?"

"Paije, you haven't been home for ages. You've been working so hard lately. I think you should go home for Christmas."

Not a chance. And she probably sees that thought through my eyes because she says, "or any other time. It's valid for a year. I just think you deserve some home time."

I really don't want her to feel bad. This is a sweet gesture, even if a bit misguided.

"Thank you, Aimée. It's a really sweet present. I love you for that."

It worked.

"Now now, don't get too emotional with me. It's not what we do. Happy birthday, cherie."

"Thanks," I say and get up to go.

"Now, about that girl from the gallery…"

"Aimée!"

"Paije, you know I want what's best for you!"

I almost whisper as I say ,"I already know what's best for me."

I can feel her stare at me, like I'm a lost cause.

"Fine. I can't *always* tell you what to do."

"No woman, you can't, remember that." I smile at her so she knows we're cool, and she smiles back. She'll let me be. For now.

"You're stupid," she says.

"So are you. And you won't do things I wouldn't want you to do, right?"

"Oh, absolutely not."

I don't believe her for a second, but with that, I give her a smile and leave.

I look at my watch.

Great, it's only 10:50. I'll go get the recipe from Marie, and then a day of efficiency it is!