Bring Me Fire (8 page)

"
Sure," Josh said. "I’d be happy to do that for you."

"
Why don’t you go to the bathroom first," Sky said. "And I’ll find my phone. I think you’d probably not want to have your absolute best moment be at a time when you'd wet yourself."

"
Shut up!" Robin hissed as she scurried into the apartment and into the bathroom. The door slammed and Sky looked at Josh and they both laughed.

"
Thanks for doing this," Sky said quietly as she looked over the cluttered surfaces for her phone, which she found on the floor by the computer desk.

Robin came out of the bathroom a minute later, smoothing her hair down. Her eyes were wide and there was an almost maniacal grin on her face. Sky understood, suddenly and completely, why someone like Josh might want to go into hiding. Would it be like this for him all the time if he went out, even though he no longer made movies? His reclusiveness, his desire for privacy, now made perfect sense to her.

Robin sidled right up next to him and unabashedly looped her arm around his waist.

"
This is the best day of my life!" she squealed as Sky snapped the photo. "Take another."

Before Josh managed to leave, Robin had him sign a folded up piece of computer paper. She gave him both a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"I can die happy now," she said dreamily.

"
I’ll see you tomorrow, Sky," he said, winking at her as he stood in the threshold, about to pull the door closed behind him.

"
Sounds good," she said.

The moment the door was closed, Robin started jumping up and down, clapping her hands.
"Did that really just happen? Did I really have a conversation with Josh Davis about GOING TO THE BATHROOM???"

"
Shhh," Sky said. "Calm down."

"
Oh my god, Sky!
I’ll see you tomorrow
. That’s what he said to you before he left."

"
I know. I heard."

"
Do you know how lucky you are that he says that to you? I would cut off my left arm for Josh Davis to say that to me. To hear those words coming out of his mouth. Directed at me. Ahhhh, I can’t believe it! Does he come over here a lot? What were you guys doing?"

"
He stopped by because he wanted to talk about something. That’s all. And you just happened to stop by, too."

"
So it was meant to be, then. It was totally meant to be. Oh my god, I have to go tell Kelsey. She is going to
die
. Are you going to come to the movies with us?"

"
No, I better not." Sky surveyed the mess in her apartment, the mountain of dirty laundry. "I’ve got to go to work tomorrow and I need to pick up around here and get some clean clothes."

Robin was already halfway out the door, clutching her autographed piece of paper.
"Text me those pictures now," she said. "Please, before something happens to your phone and they disappear forever."

"
Okay, I will. But Robin? Maybe you should try to keep them off the internet. You know, not go all crazy on Facebook and Instagram."

"
But..."

"
I think Josh would be far more likely to get his picture taken with you again if you didn’t post it everywhere. It’s okay to keep some things from the entire world wide web."

"
But no one is going to believe me."

"
Does it really matter? I’m not saying you can’t show your friends, but maybe just keep the pictures for yourself, you know? You don’t have to broadcast everything."

"
If I say yes, will you text the pictures to me right now so they’ll be there when I get out to the car? So I can show Kelsey? I won’t put them on the internet."

Sky picked her phone up.
"Sending them to you right now," she said.

Robin started to leave but then stopped and went over and gave Sky a hug.
"You have the best job ever," she said.

Sky hugged her back.
"You know, I think you’re right," she said.

Chapter 15

"Tell me everything."

These were the first words out of Conner’s mouth when Sky slid into the passenger side seat the next morning. He had pushed his Gucci sunglasses up onto the top of his head and was looking at her intently.

"Good morning to you, too," she said with a smile.

"
I’m serious, Sky," he said. "You can imagine that Josh only gave me the bare minimum details.
What is going on
? I get back from the city and you’re gone, he says he told you to leave. And then he walks away. Of course I can’t chase him down and beg him for all the juicy details, and then you’re not waiting out here the next day and I try to call and your phone’s off and I call Josh and he says he has no idea what’s going on but not to feel like I have to sit outside of your apartment all day. So would you
please
, in very specific and minute details, tell me what is happening? I just can’t stand being out of the loop like this." He craned his neck around the other direction and looked out the driver’s side window as he pulled the car back out onto Pine Street.

"
I’m sorry you were waiting outside like that," Sky said. "I’m glad you weren’t out there all day. There is actually not a ton to tell..."

Conner raised his eyebrows.
"I truly doubt that," he said, clearing his throat.

"
I went into the room."

"
You what? What room?"

"
You know.
The room
."

He slowed the car down at a red light.
"Let me get this straight," he said slowly. "You’re telling me that you went into the forbidden room, the room I
told
you never to go into?"
"Um, yes, yes I am. I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t get you into trouble."

He was quiet for a moment, and Sky studied his face, trying to tell if he was angry.

"I don’t know what to say," he finally said. He grinned. "Actually, I do. What was
in
there?"
It was Sky’s turn to be quiet now. She didn’t want to betray Josh’s trust by telling Conner what was in there, although, she reasoned, she wouldn’t even know what was in there if she hadn’t betrayed his trust in the first place. But one time was enough. She wasn’t going to do it again.

"
Just more art," she said, knowing if she told Conner she couldn’t tell him anything, it would only raise his curiosity exponentially. "I really don’t even know why he’s got to keep it locked up like that, anyway. Except that maybe he wants to have one place that’s totally his own."

"
Like a sanctuary," Conner said. "Which you totally violated."

"
Which I totally violated."

"
How the hell did you get in there? Did you steal a key? I don’t even know where he keeps the key."

"
No. I picked the lock."

He whistled.
"Damn, girl, damn. I’m impressed."

"
And then he caught me and told me to leave. I guess it was left kind of open-ended, but I just assumed that I wasn’t supposed to go back."

"
Clearly."

"
Until he showed up here."

"
Josh
? Showed up at your apartment?"
"Yes."

"
Ahh. He had asked me where you lived. That makes sense now. It’s kind of a big deal, you know."

"
It was definitely an unexpected visit. But, it went well, considering. And now here I am, back on the job."

"
He likes you, you know."

Sky shrugged, though she couldn’t help but think how they’d stood so close to each other before he left her apartment, the way she was almost certain she could feel the energy radiating off of him. She couldn’t ever recall being so aware of someone’s energy like that; as though it were something tangible she could reach out and touch. Even with Aidan, who she felt had understood her in a way that no one else really had.

Chapter 16

The next afternoon, Sky went to get some lunch at
Turntable
, one of the popular cafes for art students to hang out at. It was one of her favorite places when she was in school and sometimes she liked to go and sit at one of the tables and pretend she was still a student.

It was Stephanie Greely, a girl that Sky had gone to school with.
"Hey, Stephanie," Sky said. The girl looked away but then looked back and gave a little wave.

"
Hi," she said.

Sky paused, but then kept walking toward the table. Though she and Stephanie hadn’t really kept in touch after school, they’d always gotten along and had sometimes studied together at the library when they ran into each other there. Sky stopped when she got to the table and looked down at the girl, scrutinizing her face. Yes, it was Stephanie, and for some reason, it seemed that Stephanie was having a very hard time meeting her eye.

"How’s it going?" Sky said.

"
I’m good." Stephanie lowered her head. "Things are good."

"
Are you still working at that gallery in North Beach?"

"
Yes."

For a moment, neither girl said anything. The silence stretched. Sky cleared her throat.
"Is everything okay, Stephanie?" she finally asked.

Finally, Stephanie looked her in the eye.
"
I’m
fine," she hissed. "But I don’t know how
you
are able to show your face! Especially around here."

"
What? What are you talking about?"

"
You know what I’m talking about!"

Sky frowned.
"No, I don’t."

Stephanie looked around; as though she were nervous someone might see her talking with Sky.
"Sit down," she said. Sky sat, trying to figure out what on earth Stephanie was referring to.

"
People are saying things about you," Stephanie said, her voice low. She raised her eyebrows. "About what you
did.
"

Sky gave her a blank look.
"Which would be...?"
"Are you really going to make me say it?"

"
Yes, because I still have no clue what you’re talking about!"

"
That you sleep with people to get ahead! That you’re a whore!"

Sky laughed.
"Seriously? Who’s saying that?"

"
I’ve heard it from more than one person. It’s pretty much common knowledge now that you’re working for Josh Davis. Do you know how many people would kill for that job? And that you slept with several of your professors."

"
You don’t really believe that, do you?"

Stephanie shrugged.
"It’s hard not to when you hear it from a bunch of people. I mean, I didn’t think that you were like that, but I heard it from Amy at
Beachgrass
Gallery
, and Liz from
Studio C
, and..."

"
Wait a second." Sky shook her head. "You’re telling me that all these people I barely know are going around saying that I’ve had sex with all these people just so I can get ahead?"

"
Yes! And that’s how you got the job with Josh Davis. Did you really sleep with him?"

"
No!" Sky exploded. "I haven’t had sex in months!" Several people from nearby tables stopped what they were doing and looked at her curiously. "The last person I slept with," she said, lowering her voice, "was my ex-boyfriend. Who I had been with for a while. Who I was faithful to. And Stephanie, I am telling you the truth: I have
never
slept with a professor. Never. I’d like to know who the hell is telling everyone this, because it’s not true!"

"
Liz said she heard it from Talia."

"
Talia Murphy?"

"
Yes."

Sky nodded.
"I see," she said, the pieces suddenly falling together. "You do know that Talia is best friends with Ashley from
Prelude
? Where I used to work?"

"
Right. And she fired you because she caught you trying to sleep with her husband!"

"
That is not true." But she said it without much conviction, because she knew, that, while she would never have slept with Aidan, her feelings toward him had run away with her and gone beyond that of employee/boss, or even that of friends.

"
It’s just kind of a shitty way to go about doing things, Sky. Really low class."

Sky rolled her eyes.
"Okay, then. I see that you’ve made up your mind. There’s no point in trying to convince you otherwise, even if what you believe is complete bullshit."

Sky didn’t wait to hear any more of what Stephanie had to say. She stomped out of the café, ignoring the looks she got as she went. She walked with her head down, shoulders hunched, unsure, at first, of where she was headed. People saw her coming and stepped out of the way. It wasn’t until she passed
Café Del Mar
that she knew she was going to
Prelude
, and she hoped more than anything that Ashley was there.

She threw the door open with such force that it flew back and slammed into the wall, making the whole building seem to reverberate. Aidan jumped.

"Sky!" he said. "Is everything okay?"

The sight of him in his cardigan sweater and dark-rimmed glasses made the rage she was feeling ebb a bit.

"I’m sorry," she said. "I didn’t mean to slam the door like that. But no, actually, everything is not okay."

He hurried over.
"What is it?"

"
I was actually hoping to talk to Ashley."

"
Oh. She’s in Tiburon right now. She should be back some time this afternoon, around four, I think. Did she call you or something?"

"
No, I just..." Sky paused. There was no point in telling Aidan. If anything, it would just upset him, and she didn’t want to put him in the middle of it. "Never mind. It’s nothing."

He looked at her uncertainly.
"Are you sure?"

"
Yeah, I’m sure."

"
Well, okay. But I’m glad you stopped in. How are things going? How’s the new job?"

"
It’s good, Aidan. Thanks. Thanks for helping me get it."

"
I didn’t really do much of anything."

"
Yeah, you did. I definitely wouldn’t have the job if it wasn’t for you."

"
You like it?"

"
I do. He’s got an amazing art collection."

"
That’s what I’ve heard. I’ve seen him once or twice at different art auctions, but never really had the chance to talk with the guy. But I’m glad you like it. I really am."

"
How is everything here?"

"
Decent. Ashley’s really been chomping at the bit to get some new work in here, as I’m sure you can tell. She wants to basically empty the place out and put all new work in. She wants to specialize in works from hard-to-source artists is what she was telling me the other night. I like doing the new artist showcases, but I guess there’s no harm in trying something new."

"
No, there’s not," Sky agreed. She took a deep breath. "Anyway, I better get going. You actually don’t even need to tell Ashley I stopped by, if you don’t want to. I’m sure I’ll run into her at some point. It was nothing important."

"
No, no, I’m glad you stopped by. I thought that things were a little strained between you guys, so I’m glad you were coming by to say hello. That makes me happy." He gave her a big smile. "It was nice to see you."

"
You too, Aidan," she said. "I’ll see you later." She left and walked away, anger starting to flare again with each step she took. She didn’t want to put Aidan in the middle of it, but why did Ashley feel the need to be saying things like that? Wasn’t it enough that she fired her and never had to see her again? Sky walked for a while and then finally went home. There was no point in dwelling on it and she tried to push the whole thing from her mind.