Page 39 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

She frowns for a second before plastering me with the fakest of the fakest plastic smiles that were worthy of Barbies. “Nice to meet you, Briar. I’m Barbara!”

Barbara.

I slowly turn to Rurik and give him a subtle What the fuck?

Of course, her fucking name is Barbara. Why wouldn’t it be?

I can already picture the social media posts from her other plastic friends praising her authenticity and crying about how it's unfair that she left this world so early.

“How do you know Rurik?” My voice is as high and overly cheerful as hers.

Rurik clears his throat, “We’re actually —”

“Oh, we met online!” Walking Plastic exclaims, interrupting him. “This is actually our first date.”

Chapter 6

Rurik

I'm a guy who cherishes his solitude.

Ever since I was younger, I have been that child who craved to have a group of friends, but somehow, I always found myself on the sidelines, watching everyone else play together. I was always picked last when we were asked to choose partners. At school, I had my little corner in the quad, nicely tucked away, where I could enjoy my lunch alone. It’s not that people didn't like me; I just never put myself out there.

To this day, I consider myself an introvert.

I don’t hate people… I just prefer my me time.

But I have quite a few friends with whom I’ve become close. Oscar and Natalie are two of them. I met them when I accidentally stumbled upon Oscar’s art gallery while returning home from a failed work interview. It worked out because Oscar was looking for help at the time. Then, once during lunch, he caught me doodling on my tablet.

Nearly a few years later, I had my first successful art showcase.

But that was also the day I developed the most painful migraine I’ve ever experienced. This migraine wasn't merely a severe headache; it had taken the form of a woman named Briar Reyes.

Since that day, she has kept appearing everywhere I go.

There have been days when I could have sworn I saw her out of the corner of my eye, but when I looked again, she was nowhere to be found. I've been tempted to ask Oscar why she's so fixated on getting to me. But I didn't want to put him in an awkward position, considering his fiancée is best friends with that crazy woman.

I should warn my dad that she has me in her sights, just so his team can get rid of her for me. But I haven't yet. I don't know why. Probably because I know I can handle her myself.

Seriously, why me?

Why is she so interested in me?

No matter how much I try to push her away, she’s like a fucking boomerang who keeps coming right back to me.

I don’t know what to make of it. No one has ever paid attention to me that way.

But there she is, giving me that manic, crazed look with her caramel-colored eyes as she bombards Barbara with questions about who knows what.

“Your first date?” Briar asks slowly, with her brows raised as she glances at me.

Yes, crazy woman. I go on dates.

I’ve gone on plenty of dates.

Okay, one date.

Okay, this was the first date in years.

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