The Art Seminar and Thereafter By: Kaffy

Chapter 6: The Separation

The next 2 months were hard for both Richard and Caroline. But, while it fed Richard's art, it stifled Caroline's sense of humor, an essential for a cartoonist, and her grades suffered. They talked every night and he was really starting to worry about her. She was acting depressed and cynical. He missed the old Caroline who babbled a mile a minute and challenged his pessimism. Luckily, she was flying to New York to see him for a few days tomorrow. Maybe he could cheer her up.

He dialed her number. "Hello?" she answered sadly.

"Hey Caroline, it's me."

She perked up a bit. "Hey you."

"How are you doing? How were your classes today?"

"Ok…I got that project back, I got a D."

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok, how were yours?"

"They were good. My teacher really likes the stuff I've been doing."

"Good, I'm glad one of us is doing well in class."

"Are you really doing that bad?"

"Yeah. I just don't find anything in Wisconsin funny like used to."

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok, really. At least I get to see you tomorrow."

He smiled. "What time does your flight get in?"

"Eleven thirty."

"Ok, I'll be there."

"I'm so happy I get to see you. I miss you so much."

"I miss you too, but we'll see each other in less than 24 hours."

"I know, I'm glad."

"Me too."

"I better go, I still have to pack."

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. I love you."

"I love you too."

*~*~*~*~*

Richard looked down at his watch. 11:32. She would be in any minute now. He couldn't wait. Suddenly, a voice came over the speaker. "Flight 122 from Madison is now unloading at Gate G." He quickly made his way over to Gate G and watched for her. After about 5 minutes, she came out looking wide-eyed and afraid.

He smiled and yelled her name. "Caroline! Over here!" She looked over and caught his gaze. Her face lit up and she ran to him. He caught her in his arms and held her tight, smiling bigger than he ever remembered smiling before. "Oh god, I missed you…" He pulled back and brushed his lips against hers.

She laughed, "I missed you too."

They held each other tight for a few moments before letting go and leaving to go back to his place to get settled in.

*~*~*~*~*

"You don't have to live in the dorms?" she asked as the entered his apartment building.

"No, New York is big enough that I just moved here and said I was commuting."

"Man, we have to live in the dorms for 2 years. It isn't fair."

"Well, this is it." He opened the door for her.

She looked around. It was a small, one-room flat. There was really just enough room for a double bed, a mini-fridge, a stove, a bathroom, a closet, and a small dresser. "It's nice," she said as she looked around, obviously trying to be nice.

He laughed. "No, it's not, but it's cozy, cheap, and close to campus, so…"

She smiled. "Yeah."

"I, um, cleaned out a drawer for you to use. You can put your stuff in there, it's the top one."

"Thanks."

She unpacked her things, with his help, and they lay down in his bed, cuddling. He cradled her in his left arm and slowly rubbed her arm with his right as she rested her head on his chest.

"I've never seen something so big in my life."

"What? The city?"

"Yeah, it's scary."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "You want me to show you around?"

"Sure."

"Ok, we'll do it tomorrow. I kind of had other plans for tonight," he grinned mischievously.

"Oh really." She raised her head and climbed on top of him, her lips just inches from his.

He grinned and reached up to kiss her. "Oh yeah."

*~*~*~*~*

"Don't you have to go to class, Richard?" she asked the next morning.

"Nah…my teachers are pretty cool, I told them I had someone coming in from out of town and they told me not to worry about it."

"Oh."

"Ok, time to get dressed. We're going out…"

"Where are we going?"

"I promised to take you on a tour of the city, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

The got dressed and he led her around the city, showing her the typical tourist attractions: The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, The Statue of Liberty, Radio City…needless to say, by the end of the day, they were exhausted. When they got home, they just collapsed into bed and fell asleep.

*~*~*~*~*

They spent the next couple of days in bed, not just making love, although there was plenty of that, but also talking, cuddling, and making up for lost time. Caroline sighed, "I wish this could last forever."

"What?"

"This…us…I wish I never had to leave."

He kissed her shoulder, "Me too."

They laid quietly for a few minutes, until Caroline jumped up, "Oh my God!" She grabbed one of his sketchpads and began drawing furiously.

"What is it?"

"I just thought of something really funny and I wanted to get it down on paper, maybe I could turn it in to pull up my grades."

"Oh," he said, grinning at her, "What's it about?"

"Me…in the city, and all the funny stuff that someone like me sees when they go to New York for the first time."

"Can I see when you're done?"

"Yeah." She worked feverishly for the next couple of minutes, chuckling softly to herself. Richard smiled, glad to see that gleam in her eyes, that spark. She seemed really happy and he was glad that she was finally back to her old self. "Ok, I'm done…here." She handed the panel to him to read. His lips moved slightly as he read the words. It was about a crazy cab driver scaring her.

He laughed, "This is good."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, "it is. Do you have anymore ideas along these lines?"

"Oh yeah, I mean they're just popping out of my head…" She was already doing another one. He grinned and watched her work, excited to see her so happy. It was 2 hours and 6 strips later that she put her pen down with a cramp in her hand. She had shown Richard each strip as soon as she finished them. Even though comics weren't exactly his forte, he chuckled at each of them in succession. When she was done, she crawled into bed with him and rested her head on his chest. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry, sorry for what?"

"I have to leave tomorrow and I just spent half the day ignoring you and…"

He cut her off by putting a finger to her lips. "It's ok…I know what it's like to have sudden inspiration," he kissed her softly, "Trust me, I don't care. I'm just glad to see you smile again."

She grinned up at him, "You make me smile?"

"Oh yeah?" he teased.

"Yeah." She teased him back, brushing her lips against his, but never letting him taste her fully.

"Come on, Caroline…you're driving me crazy…" He couldn't stand it anymore, he pulled her as close as possible, tasting her and letting her taste him. "I love you…"

"I love you too…"

The made love, hard, intense, and fulfilling. When they were finished, they lay in bed, holding hands and letting it sink in. Richard looked over at her. "What if we made some copies of your strip and sent them out to some newspapers…we might be able to get one of them to use it…"

"Richard," she sighed, "It doesn't work that way, and besides, I'm leaving tomorrow…"

"Well, at least let me make some copies and take them around…"

"I guess, but it really doesn't work that way…"

"How does it work?"

"You have to get an agent and work on small papers and build up a fan base until you're ready for syndication."

"But this is really good, you'll never get it published if you don't try…"

"I know," she said unsurely, "I just don't want to seem unprofessional about this…."

"It can't hurt to try, can it? I mean, it's not like anyone who sees it as unprofessional is going to remember who did the cartoons anyway…just let me try a few papers."

"I guess it couldn't hurt."

*~*~*~*~*

The next day, Richard took Caroline to the airport, but not before stopping at Kinko's to make copies of her work. For the next 2 months, when he had free time, he went around the city to several different newspapers and magazines, showing them Caroline's cartoons. They continued to talk on the phone every night, even when Caroline went home for Christmas break. Her parents made her stay for Christmas, but decided to let her fly to New York for New Year's Eve. They knew she knew someone there and that she would hate them forever if they kept her from Richard any longer than absolutely necessary.

It was Christmas, she would be flying out to New York the next day. She picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Richard."

She could tell he was smiling on the other end. "Hey."

"I just wanted to check on everything for tomorrow…"

"You're flight gets in at 2:30, right?"

"Yep." She replied cheerfully.

"I'll be there."

"Good."

"How was your Christmas?"

"Good, but I'll be glad to get out of my house…too many relatives here. What about you?"

"Mine was ok, I guess…I didn't really do anything, but-"

She interrupted, appalled, "You didn't do anything to celebrate Christmas?"

"No, I never do."

"Wow."

"What?"

"I'm just…I don't know. Christmas is such a big deal for my family. I've never met anyone who didn't do anything to celebrate it."

"Well, I don't." She was silent. "I stayed home and painted."

"Oh."

"You don't have to feel sad for me, I liked it."

"I know, I don't feel sad for you. I was just saying 'oh.'"

"Ok." He suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, I took those strips you did to one of the newspapers, and they said they wanted to talk to you."

"What?"

"They want to meet with you."

"Oh my god." She whispered.

"What? Is that not good?"

"I don't know, I mean, I didn't think it would work."

"Do you want me to set up a meeting?"

"Yeah…I guess."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

They talked for the next hour, wishing they were in bed cuddling, rather than hundreds of mile apart. They hung up, anxious to get to sleep so that tomorrow would come even quicker.

(to be continued)