Page 16 of Picture Us

Liz lifted her hand, “I never use any real names. But I think the way we fall in love is so meta.”

Taking a sip from their glass, Drew looked into Liz’s eyes. It was a strange project. Of course, Drew knew the deal; when you date an artist, you end up in their work. So it wasn’t the most asinine thought to them.

Hell, that picture of Diana is proof enough.

The waiter returned with the check and set it in the middle. Drew and Liz both put their cards down. With a sigh and a light eye roll at the additional work, the waiter took the cards back to their station.

Drew turned their attention back to Liz, “Well I guess I’ll have to see it when it’s done.”

Liz blushed, as if she was imaging Drew on her arm at the gallery opening. The pair stared into each other's eyes for a moment before the waiter set their cards down. Without another word, the two stood up and headed for the door.

The warm rush of early-summer air slammed into them as they pushed open the restaurant doors. Drew felt a light sweat building on their forehead as they stepped off to the side of the curb.

“So…” Liz looked around, rocking on the ball of her feet. She leaned closer to Drew. Drew looked slightly down at her. It was clear where the night was headed. So Drew dove in, planting a lush kiss on Liz’s lips.

But as they pushed against hers, Drew’s mind wondered what Rose’s would have felt like. What it would have felt like to have her intoxicating eyes luring Drew in for more…

Seriously, that’s fucked up.Drew shook themself out of it as they pulled away from the kiss. Liz was great. She seemed funny and smart.

“Your place or mine?” Liz bit her lip as she looked up at Drew.

Drew laughed and looked down at their feet. “Mine’s a couple blocks from here.”

“Fuck,” Drew grumbled as they scrambled to silence the obnoxiously loud phone call. They squinted in the bright, early morning light of their loft. “Who the fuck calls this early?”

Drew groaned as they finally got the phone in the palm of their hands. Lowering their voice, Drew slid their finger across the screen to accept the call. “Hello?”

“Hey.”

Their forehead wrinkled as they tried to place the low and sultry voice. “I’m sorry, who is this?”

A familiar scoff from the other end. “You haven’t saved my number? I thought we had something.”

“Rose.” Drew rolled their eyes.

With a laugh, Rose continued, “Bingo. Look, I was just calling to see if you had a chance to look at the edits I sent you. I want to send Fin and Ellen more than two pics today so they have some stuff to post.”

Drew fell back into their bed, the plush mattress surrounding them. It wasn’t long before Liz, who had been sleeping peacefully beside them, rolled over and began planting kisses on Drew’s bare chest.

Raising a finger, Drew tried to get Liz to be a little more subtle as they answered, “Uh, no. I didn’t even know you sent them…” Their voice trailed off as they sat up, putting the phone as speaker as they checked their email.

Crap. She sent them yesterday afternoon.

Liz giggled from next to Drew and whispered, “That was quite a night. We should grab breakfast or something.”

Before Drew could say anything, Rose was giggling on the other end of the phone. “A-ha. Sounds like you were busy. Don’t worry about it, I’m just gonna send over the ones I think are best.”

Drew cleared their throat, beginning to get out of the bed. They fumbled around the floor for a t-shirt, finding only the dirty Hozier shirt from the night before. “No. No, don’t do that. I’m looking right now.”

As they pulled the shirt over their head, they stumbled toward their desktop.

“Ya know… for someone who…” Rose trailed off.

Drew almost egged her on, desperate to know what Ms. Pep really had to say. But before they could, Rose sighed. “Nevermind. It’s not worth it. Just let me know what you think..”

“Okay…” Drew started.

But before they could say anything else, the call disconnected. Drew looked at the phone screen to make sure the call hadn’t dropped. Sure enough, Rose had hung up.

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