When Grace arrived at the gallery she made a b-line for the champagne, she was going to need it to get through tonight. Ever since her first event Seth and the whole group was always here cheering her on. She knew that even if they showed up tonight which she had a feeling they might that she would not talk to them. She was mad. She was hurt. She deserved to stay that way for a little while before she was willing to talk to them.
"Alone tonight?" The waiter asked her as she downed a glass before sighing feeling it hit her empty stomach. She should have ate something beforehand.
"Yeah," that's all that would come out of Graces mouth. She was tired already from interacting with people. She walked to see the other artists walls before her own, scope out who she was always selling with. She looked at Terry Smiths art first. His art was always abstract and wild, it was something a rich person would buy and hung in their dining room or hallway. Terry Smith was a short man with dreadlocks down to his butt, he was handsome though with a jawline that looked like it could cut glass. He was over talking to an older woman who wore pearls and a black velvet dress that looked a size too big for her. Next up was Skylar Hill. Her paintings were landscapes and seemed like they could have been actual photographs by how real they looked. Skylar has traveled a lot it seemed or at least did a lot of research on these places. She had six paintings with landscapes from Hawaii, New York, England, Thailand, Japan, and Texas. Skylar was a tall woman, she had to be over 6 foot with a short blonde pixie cut and a smile that never left her face. Grace never talked to either.
Grace finally made her way towards her paintings. She wasn't proud of these like she was the others but these told what she felt at this moment. They were all angry looking and dark. One was a dark looking forest with a lost child walking through it. Another was of a girl with no face who was nothing but a puppet with multiple hands above her pulling the strings. There was one of a girl sleeping with strangers standing around her in masks. The other three were just paint splatters of reds and blacks across happy portraits of herself and her family. She had started the portraits awhile ago, they were going to be a gift to her parents but right now all she felt like giving them was silence. Even her brother which she felt bad for because maybe he didn't know about anything. Maybe he was the innocent one in this whole thing and she's just been ignoring him. Graces stomach began to turn so she started making her way to the bathroom. As soon as she made it through the doors though she threw up champagne and stomach acid into the trash can. Once she was done she went to the sink and cleaned up her face, getting rid of all the lipstick she had left on. She stared at herself and could only see parts of Bella and Edward. The eyes, the face, the hair. It was all theirs.
"Grace?" Esme spoke quietly as she opened the bathroom door. She saw the girl leaned on the counter staring herself down with flames in her eyes. Grace said nothing though. She wasn't sure what to say. She sure as hell wasnt expecting Esme.
"You don't have to say anything. The others aren't here, I made sure of that. I just wanted to say that we all understand why you're so mad that it's okay, that we just want you to take your time and when you're ready to talk to us, you know where to find us," Esme tapped the counter once before turning on her heel.
"Why?" Grace choked out from her sore throat. She knew Esme was a safe place.
"Why what?" Esme turned around slowly, she was surprised that the girl even spoke to her. She was sure that she would just say what she had to say and be on her way.
"Why did they give me up? Why keep one and not the other? Why does Seth care so much? Why does Jacob care so much? Why lie? Why keep hiding this from me? Didn't anyone think I deserved to know the truth?" Grace didn't even have the strength to yell at the woman like she probably would have done to the others. Esme was gentle and kind. She had an air about her that just expelled compassion. Esme reached over and locked the door, she wanted to make sure no one heard anything she was about to say.
"Oh sweetheart, it wasn't an easy decision. Trust me when I say that, it was hard for everyone. They had to send you away because some very bad people were about to come and challenge all of us for you and your sister except they were only aware of one baby. Nessie was aging quicker, she was looking older and older by the day where you just aged like a normal baby. Carlisle had old friends that he once saved that were willing to take you in and keep you safe, the couple you call parents. They finally made the decision that it was safest for you to be hidden but we all knew you'd come back somehow to us and you did. Seth cares because of something only he can explain to you. You are aware of what he is, just like what you are and what we are but he has more to explain to you that I'm not allowed. It deals with his tribes legends. Jacob cares because I think he feels guilty. He had to watch Seth be miserable knowing you were out there in the world while he got to stay with Nessie. He also looks at you like a little sister," Esme paused and took a step close to Grace. She placed a gentle hand on top of Graces offering some sort of peace sign that she didn't mean any harm.
"We didn't want to lie but we wanted to get to know you. We missed so many things in your life. We didn't know you as a person and we wanted to learn about you as much as we could. We feared you would hate us so we decided to lie. Seth didn't want to though, neither did Nessie. Both put up a fight to tell you but we trumped them. We are sorry we lied to you but we are not sorry for wanting to get to know you," Esme sighed when she was finished. She saw the tears fall from her granddaughters eyes and wanted nothing more but to hug her.
"I don't want to talk to any of them yet. I'm not ready, I'm sorry," Grace finally wiped her face and marched past Esme without even looking at her. She unlocked the door and went out into the crowded room once again. She went and checked on her paintings, some were staring along with whispering and four had gotten bids. She was having a good night still without the Cullens here.
"You doing okay? These aren't like your usual," Terry and Skylar both stood behind her with concerned looks on their faces. They both have been concerned with her paintings the moment they saw them. It wasn't her normal stuff and they knew something was wrong. They knew she was her competitor but she was still a person with emotions.
"Oh, yeah. I'm doing fine. Great work like always guys," Grace smiled a little too big to make them believe she was fine. They both looked at each other before nodding.
"Why don't you come out for a drink with us after this? We can go to this bar and they'll serve you no issue," Skylar waved her hand in the air like serving minors was no big deal.
"Don't say no, just don't even think about it, just say yes," Terry grabbed her shoulder with a smile on his face. She noticed for the first time the septum piercing he had flipped up into his nose. Grace sighed and looked at the ground shaking her head. She wished now Seth was with her then this wouldn't be happening.
"Yes," Grace simply said though like she was told to do. Both smiled in return and gave her small hugs.
"This is over in an hour then we'll head out from there," Skylar told her before they all went back to their sections and waited for their bids to be done.
An hour later they were all walking out of the gallery with their checks in their pockets or purses. Terry has sold all of his where Skylar only sold two this time and Grace sold five total. Grace hung back and listened to the other two talked. She was just wishing she wore a heavier jacket, it was chilly tonight.
"Here we are," Skylar sung as they stopped in front of a brick building. The building smelt of nothing but smoke and booze which made Grace second guess her answer of saying she'd come.
"Oh come on, you'll have fun," Terry said he grabbed her hand and pulled he behind them inside. His touch felt different. Friendly but not protective like Seth's. Not warm. Not soft.
"Three beers and three shots Andy," Skylar shouted at the bartender behind the bar that was slinging drinks. They all walked over to an empty but sticky booth in the corner. Grace just wanted to go home.
"Where's that boyfriend of yours? He wasn't there tonight right?" Skylar asked while pulling out her phone and checking missed texts. She didn't even bother to look up when Grace answered.
"Oh, just busy," Grace didn't want to get into details. She didn't even know how to explain the details. She found out that he among her friends were all lying about who they were and who she was? No. That wasn't acceptable.
"He's definitely a looker," Terry told her as he passed out the drinks that was just delivered. Grace stared at both not sure what to do. She never really had anything but cheap wine she had at home or champagne at the events.
"Cheers to us still being allowed to make our art and sell it. Another event down, so many more to go," Skylar raised her shot which made the other two raise theirs. Skylar had not been asked back to sell more paintings since her numbers had been dropping more and more. Skylar was pretending everything was okay though and Grace couldn't judge. She was also pretending everything was okay.
