Page 28 of The Art of Professing Love

“Oh, Irving, I’m so glad you called. I was beginning to give up hope that we would talk again today. It’s important to talk things through while the thoughts are still fresh. That applies to painting too, and I’m sure you experience that in your own work in short bursts of inspiration sometimes–“

“Lachlan came by my apartment this evening.”

My breath caught in my throat. “Is he…is he there now?”

“No, thank heaven. I got him to leave, but not before he deduced that you and I talked after he left the college earlier.”

“Was he pleased or upset?”

“It was hard to tell. I told him neither of us cared about the photos, but I don’t think he believed me.”

“That doesn’t matter. He’s not going to win this battle, Irving. You won’t let him.” Irving was silent a little too long for my comfort. “It’s more than that now, Sylvan. He’s opened up quite the can of worms, I’m afraid.”

His voice was dreary and detached. I wanted to hug him over the phone, but my arms were too short to reach from my cabin to his apartment.

“Come over,” I begged him. “We can talk properly at my cabin.”

“I don’t think I should,” he replied hesitantly. “You and I both know where the night will lead and I think it’s best if we spend some time apart.”

“I won’t initiate anything if you’re not comfortable with it. I just want to talk.”

“Well, all right. I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I’ll see you soon.”

I hung up with a sliver of hope taking hold in my heart. Irving and I were always better at communicating in person. We would figure out a way to move forward, even if it meant making some changes. We had to. I couldn’t live without him, and though he wouldn’t admit it, I didn’t think he could live without me either.

22

IRVING

Idreaded every second that I spent walking down the long dirt path to Sylvan’s cabin. It wasn’t the dark and overcast sky, or the eerie sounds emanating from the trees every few minutes, or the shadows perched in the willowy branches that put me on edge: it was the prospect of having to greet Sylvan and act like nothing was wrong and that our lives hadn’t completely changed in the span of an afternoon.

I stopped on his doorstep and took a deep breath. A massive spider stretched over part of the door, preventing me from reaching out and knocking. I knew Sylvan attracted some strange creatures, but this had gone too far.

“Sylvan,” I called out, cupping my hands over my mouth. “Open the door.”

The door swung open a moment later and Sylvan greeted me, book in hand. “It was unlocked,” he told me gently. “You could have just opened it and walked in.”

“Not with that thing in my way.” I pointed to the spider, which had moved a few inches since I last looked at it.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that little guy. Don’t worry, he’s not poisonous.”

“I wasn’t worried about that. I’m more concerned about it leaping onto my face when I’m not looking.”

“He won’t do that either. Come on inside, Irving. It’s awfully dark out here.” Sylvan looked up at the sky, his eyes sadder than usual, and I slunk past the spider and into the warm safety of the cabin.

I’d grown to love this room so much, from the overstuffed bookshelf to the stacks of canvases against the walls to clutter taking up every bit of useable surface space. Everything about this cabin was the opposite of me, yet there was no other place that felt more like home.

“Did you get to the breakup yet?” I asked, gesturing at the book.

“Not yet.” He shook his head. “I’m not looking forward to it either. That’s my least favorite part of these kinds of stories.”

He sat down on the couch and patted the empty cushion next to him. Before I joined him, I took the quilt off the bed and sat down beside Sylvan, snapping the blanket and letting it float over both our laps.

“I hate to change the subject,” he continued, his voice a little shaky, “but I need to know what you and Lachlan talked about when he visited you again earlier.”

I took a deep breath. “Not much. He drove home how different you and I are, and how much alike he and I were. I reminded him about the cheating that broke us apart in the first place, which he brushed off.”

“So, he wants you back.” Sylvan folded his hands in his lap.

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