Page 52 of Love on the Waiver Wire

“That’s insane,” Owen says, and I’m not sure if he’s actually interested or just pretending to keep me happy. “That was years ago, right?”

I nod. “It was, but the feud is still going, Owen. Still. As in, just this year Liam has been saying he wants a reunion. But want to know something? His brother just befriended some guy that said something horrible about Liam. The guy is a comedian I think. It’s insane. I desperately want to know what went down that day.”

Owen chuckles, wiggling in closer to me. “Okay I’ll admit thatisinteresting. I’d be curious too.”

We settle into a comfortable silence before his arm brushes mine, his finger absentmindedly resting on my thigh. His thumb starts rubbing circles on my skin, and for a moment, I forget to breathe.

And I miss what he says.

“What?” I shake the fog off.

“Do you have any other Roman empire things?”

I think for a moment, realizing that I actually have a lot.

“Yeah. You know Edgar Degas?” I ask. He nods. “Okay, you know his Little Dancer statue?”

I watch him as he tries to recall it before I just pull it up on my phone, showing him. “Oh yeah, I’ve seen that around before I think.”

“Well, long story short that’s actually a cast of the original. Degas and a couple of other artists were actually viewed as insane by the art community for a long time. There was this huge shift in the art world in the late eighteen hundreds. Mostly in Paris.”

“I feel like that makes sense,”

“So there were these painters who wanted to embrace more modern forms of art, but then the others wouldn’t consider that art. At the time most artists only really respected sculptures made in marble, and Degas created her out of beeswax and just, well, things he found around his home. Her hair was human hair. No, I don’t know where he foundthat.But anyways, he got so much hate for it that he ended up keeping it in a closet for years upon years. It was his first and last sculpture to be shown to the public.

“But the guy ended up having a studio with impressionist legend and overall badass Mary Cassatt—one of my heroes—and was asked by a guy if he could buy it. Even though he had it in a closet he refused to part with it. When he died his family decided to get it casted in bronze. A lot of other sculptures were found, too. He just never showed them publicly. They’re gorgeous.

“But anyways, back to the Roman Empire part of this, right. The skirts change! They replace it every once in awhile to update it, which I personally think is beautiful. They could keep it how it was, or they could update it every couple decades to update it. To modernize it a bit, almost. I think that’s beautiful and so true to him, you know?”

I’ve been rambling for far too long, but whereas most people tell me to shut up or get to the point by now, Owen has been watching me intently, actively listening. No phone in sight, not looking elsewhere. Watching me with fascination. Even if he doesn’t personally fine it that interesting, he’s interested in it because I’m talking about it.

My chest tightens when I look into his beautiful brown eyes, and I can’t help but melt.

“I never thought about art that way,” he says, his lips quirking up. “But I’d like to know more sometime.”

I return the smile. “I promise you I can talk about art all day. I was really inspired by the impressionist movement and use a lot of what I learned about those artists in my own art. But those artists are as badass as they come, let me tell you. Well, there’s been more intense art movement of course, but the impressionist movement really made waves in Paris, which was huge. My favorite artist, Jean Clemment, he does some of the most beautiful art I’ve ever seen.”

“Is he alive?” Owen asks.

“Yeah, he’s only about ten years older than me.”

He nods.

“Do you have any Roman Empire facts?”

He thinks for a minute. “I’m not sure. I think about a lot of things often but not that frequently. I used to be super into the Egyptian gods actually. I still think about them pretty often.”

“Oh yeah? Which one is your favorite?”

“I feel like Anubis is pretty cool.”

“That’s such a dude answer.”

“It’s true! He’s deeper than what people think.” Owen places his hand on his chest.

“Yeah, sure.” I smile.

“He is!”

---