Page 85 of Their Courtesan
It took all the discipline he learned in med school to not kiss her right there. Plenty of time. After dinner.I’m going to explode.Preferably all over the bedroom, but he was fine with the living room couch too. Been a long time since he was on top of a woman on the couch…
The first thing Judith said after their meal started was, “I didn’t know you cooked, let alone this well.” She drank his expensive wine for effect.
“I’m not a chef by any means, but I like to cook for myself when I can. Simple things. I saw too much horror in med school. The things people put into their bodies…” Said the guy who would eat a whole box of Ho-Hos without thinking. Every artist had his crutch when he was on a tear in the studio. Chocolatey, creamy supermarket donuts were his. (He often regretted it later.)
“You talk about being a doctor a lot, but you always sound so… I dunno what word to use. Not bitter. Not angry. So unimpressed.”
“Suppose you could say that. I never really wanted to be a doctor. It was a family thing.”
“I’ve heard that. Lawyers, too.” Judith spoke without thinking. “There’s a lot of pressure to fall in line with the family trade, right?”
“Right. It’s different from being born into a business-oriented family, because you don’t necessarily have to go to school for that. You can be trained and then take over when it’s time.” He thought of Zack when he said that, not that Zack was going to join his family’s company anytime soon. He was the youngest of three boys. “Being a doctor or a lawyer requires a lot of studying and training… in an academic field. You need to be licensed. You need to apprentice for a long time. I had to do residency, which I don’t think lawyers have to do. I was trained for that kind of life since I was born. It’s what my father wanted.”
“You didn’t hate it, right?”
“Not really. It wasn’t what I was meant to do with my life. I had realized my passion for drawing and painting in high school. I had to take a creative arts class as a requirement, and it was either painting or writing. They had metal and wood sculpting too. I think most high schools call that shop class.”
“Music didn’t count?”
“No, because it was a separate requirement.” Seth continued with the original topic. “Anyway, I picked art because I always liked going to museums and appreciating my father’s humble print collection. But it wasn’t until I had to actually do it myself that I discovered my real passion in life. I spent every spare moment – which wasn’t many – honing my craft and looking for more still-life projects. I loved interpreting the real world to canvas. I don’t care if it’s an object, a scene, or a person. I want to convey them all in my own way. It’s the wayIsee the world, and I guess some people appreciate that.”
Judith twirled noodles on her fork. “I’m guessing your father was not impressed.”
“He ignored it until I retired from the med field. He didn’t care what I did in my spare time. My parents didn’t hate the arts. They didn’t wantmedoing it.”
“I see.”
“We’ve been a bit estranged these past few years. Nothing family-breaking, but we don’t talk much. The funeral was the first time I talked to them since Christmas.”
“When you become a world famous artist with my image, they’ll understand.”
Seth almost snorted his wine. “I hope to God they never see that!” His super conservative father and dainty mother would collapse on the train tracks to discover what their son really painted.
“If they give you shit, tell them that you’ve seen plenty of vagina delivering babies. It was sort of your thing for a while. You even went to med school to do it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Was this the time to tell her that his father was a proctologist? “I guess in a way I am the sexuality doctor of the family. Wow. Almost makes me sound like a psychiatrist.”
“Dr. Christens,” Judith said with a fake and airy Southern accent. “Would you mind taking a look at my cootie-coo?” She fanned herself with her napkin. “I need to make sure it’s ready for thebabies!”
So much for not snorting his wine.
Judith helped him clean up and do the dishes. She admitted she hadn’t done any dishes since moving to the Château, and found the whole thingquaint.Sure. That was the word Seth would use. He had grown up with servants in his family home, but since moving out on his own, he had a once a week cleaner and that was it. He preferred to take care of his space by himself. Minus the bathroom, anyway.
Some days he would rather leave the dishes for the housekeeper, but with Judith spinning around his kitchen, running china beneath the faucet and loading glasses into the dishwasher, he didn’t mind doing the big chore tonight.
“Thanks for the help,” Seth said, leaning against the counter and drying his hands on a soft towel. He glanced at the clock. Was it eight already? Soon he would be taking her back home to the Château, and this dreamy date would be over. “What should we do now?”
Judith yanked the towel from his hands, and with a sultry look to blow up the ages, she hooked her fingers around his zipper and dropped to her knees – but not before giving him a quick kiss to the cheek.
I should have guessed.
