Page 103 of More Than I Can Bear

Freya

Three weeks later

“So where did you want these?” Adam asked, rushing in with a massive armful of shoe boxes.

“I’m not—” I started to reply.

“How about these, Freya?” Kaine was dragging in a massive flatbed trolley he’d brought in from work and there was all my art stacked up on top of it. “I was thinking we’d sort these all out first, in shoe size or perhaps in terms of value. Did you have a price list anywhere?”

“So I—”

“People are coming, Frey!” Jack marched in with her phone on her ear, listening to a message, then tapping a button to end the replay. “Some people from the Advertiser, that cool streetwear company a friend is representing—”

“Cool, so—”

“Stop.” River was always so quiet, when he did speak, people listened, even if they were surprised by it. Right now he had all eyes on him. “Stack all the pieces over on the far wall.” He pointed to a space near the storeroom. “We’ll sort through them and anything we don’t end up using can go in the storeroom afterwards. If pieces are sold and taken tonight, it’ll be easy to replace them.”

“But what about all the boxes?” Kaine asked.

“We’ll put them on the plinths. Freya and I went and looked at some of the sneaker shops and they use the original boxes to help display the product.” He nodded at me. “We’ll do the same. Artworks can be lined up against the wall and when Freya’s ready, she can work out where they need to go.”

“And we can put in any extra hooks if needed.” Adam brandished his drill and pressed the button to make it whirr.

“In my walls?” Cress appeared, clicking over at a rapid rate. “Over my dead body.”

“Dead?” Jack hooked her arm around the other woman’s waist. “Now that would be a waste. How’s your day going?”

“Better now that you’re here.”

When they leaned in to kiss, I jerked my eyes down, not wanting to intrude. Things between the two of them seemed to be moving at a breakneck speed, but then she reminded me of my own relationship arc, so I shut my damn mouth. I worried for her though, having seen the devastation of her breakups first hand.

“You can’t love someone as if they’re about to walk out the door,” she told me over a wine one night. “That’s not how it works. In some ways blondey bear here…”

“Hey!” Adam said as he cut up the pizzas he’d just prepared.

“...has it right. At some point or another, you’ve gotta make that jump and the only time you’ve got the courage to do that is when it feels right.”

I’d stared at Adam then and he’d stared back, his grin fading down into a much smaller, almost sad smile. As I blinked, back in the here and now, my image of him was replaced by Jack and Cress pulling apart.

“Sounds like we have a plan,” Jack said, clapping her hands. “So let’s get this party started.”

And what a party it was.

There is a special kind of anxiety that comes from trying to organise an event. Even if you did everything right, what if no one comes? Or just a few people, there to witness the shame of your failure. My heart was in my throat, my heart pounding, the need to wee becoming insistent when the first people arrived.

“Holy shit…!” a young guy led the way, his friends in tow, as he rushed towards the sneakers. He picked a pair up, inspecting the designs for about 2.5 seconds before looking up and locking eyes with me. “Do you have these in size 10?”

I sucked in a breath, ready to say something, but Kaine beat me to it.

“I’ll look after that for ya, mate.” He stepped in smoothly. “We’ve got a whole range of designs and sizes in the backroom. Size 10 is what you’re after? In any particular colour?”

And so it went.

“The gallery’s filling up fast.” Bjorn, the massive bear shifter who owned the place appeared at my side with a wild grin. “This is amazing, Freya.”

“Yeah,” I said, grinning so hard my cheeks hurt. “It is.”

“Some of my boys are gonna have to stand on the door.” He nodded to the rest of his sleuth who were already making a beeline towards the doorway. Each one of them was so tall, so big, the crowds would’ve parted for them automatically. But when faced with giants wearing denim and black leather biker jackets? People just moved faster. “We can only have so many people in here without it being a fire hazard. They’ll keep the numbers constant, let people in when others leave.” He winked at me. “Also makes an event seem exclusive.”

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