Drew and Jesús
Drew and Jesús 6/8
Picture Perfect
Sequel to Jesús and Lola. Jesús and Drew work on their developing relationship.
Drew and Jesús
Chapter 6
I don't know how Drew made it through his childhood with Louise Grey as his mother. I've known her for less than twenty-four hours and already I can't stand the woman. She actually had the nerve to start an argument over which car Drew would ride to the gallery in. Drew's twenty-four years old. He lives halfway across the country from her, and she's still trying to make decisions for him. He isn't a kid anymore, and I don't think she's realized that yet.
Drew ended up riding to the gallery with me. He had a few last-minute details to take care of with Paul before the show and needed to be early. When we arrived he headed straight for Paul's office, and I started to look around. Almont Gallery is in what used to be a small apartment building downtown. It was bought about three years ago and remodeled. The first two floors each have two small rooms with seating, and the top floor was turned into a loft-like space. The entire effect is like walking through someone's house.
On the walls of the front room hang pictures of Drew's apartment building and neighborhood. Drew lives in a bad neighborhood in the midst of gentrification. There are photographs of boarded up buildings next to luxury condos. The second room is filled with images of the people from his neighborhood. There are artists, drug dealers and middle-aged women walking their dogs.
I take the stairs to the second floor. These two rooms have pictures of Drew's friends and family. I knew he had gone down south to visit his family a few months ago. There are several photographs of Caroline and his father, in addition to photos of the house and the land they own. His mother is only in one photo. He had snapped a photo of the entire family giving grace at the dinner table. I'm sure she was pissed.
I walk into the last room and discover that Drew doesn't have a subtle bone in his body. He wanted to come out to his family, and I can't think of a more...visual way to do it. This room is filled with pictures of me, of us. Well, none of them are complete portraits, but if you know us, then you'd know these were photographs of us. Drew always has his camera with him. If it's not around his neck, then it's in his hand. He's always snapping pictures. I never thought anything of it. That's just...Drew. I had no idea that half those pictures would end up on display in some gallery.
"Hey there, cowboy." Drew's family must have arrived. I turn around and watch Caroline's reaction to the room.
"Holy..." She blinks and looks back to me. "You two make a nice couple." She tears her eyes from the walls again, "Drew's freaking out about something downstairs. You might want to go down and try to calm him down." She looks back at the artwork. "I'll go down with you. I think I'm gonna try to keep mom from coming up here."
"That might be for the best." I know Drew's ready to come out to his parents and everything, but even Drew's mom deserves to hear it from him rather than thrown in her face in public.
I walk downstairs and can see what Caroline was talking about. Drew's standing near the doors, and I can see the tension running through his body.
"Hey." I want to touch him, but a glance to my right tells me that his mother is watching us like a hawk.
"Hey." He gives me an awkward half-wave that's kind of adorable.
"Let's go to the bar, get a couple of drinks, and go to the second floor and relax a bit before the first few people start coming in."
"That sounds like a pretty good idea, especially the part about drinking."
Drew and I settle on the sofa in the first room on the second floor. He rests his head on my shoulder for a second, and I take hold of his hand. "This is going to be good, Drew." I pull away a bit to place a kiss on his temple.
"Maybe."
"It will be. You did good. Just relax." Below us we can hear the first few people entering the gallery. Within a half hour there's a decent crowd, and Paul is ushering Drew around to meet people.
Truthfully the whole gallery thing just isn't my scene. People spend hours at these things. But really, it only takes a half hour tops to look at everything, and once you've looked at everything what is there left to do? Nothing. Drew's father must have the same opinion because 30 minutes into the opening, we're both at the bar, and an hour into the opening, he's slurring his words.
"You seem like a nice young man, Jesús."
"Thank you, sir."
"You and Drew are good friends?"
"Yes, sir."
"I think I need some fresh air. I'm going for a walk. If Louise asks, I'm in the bathroom."
"Yes, sir." Just as Mr. Grey leaves the bar, Paul comes up. Not a real improvement on company if you ask me. "Shouldn't you be hovering around Drew?"
"I've been with him for the last three nights. I think he could use a little break. He's got a hot little body, doesn't he?" The guy is a serious creep. I know what he's implying and I want to punch him in the face, but I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket and pull it out. I walk away from Paul and his insinuations.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mr. Gonzalez. This is Sara Brown from Straight Arrow Publishing. We loved the stories you sent us, and we were hoping you could meet us tomorrow about a possible contract.” What the fuck is this lady talking about?
“You want to meet me...in Chicago?”
She laughs a little bit before replying. “Yes, in Chicago. Traveling expenses would be on us of course.”
Obviously this lady has lost her mind. But, I'm not going to give her time to find it. “Tomorrow's good.”
“I’ll email you your ticket information tonight then.”
“Alright. Thanks, lady..." I remember my manners, "Ms. Brown."
"See you tomorrow, Mr. Gonzalez." I flip my phone close and consider leaving to get some fresh air, but instead I head to the top floor of gallery. I sit on the couch across from Drew's pictures of us and take a few deep breaths. I know what Paul was implying down at the bar. But there's no way Drew would cheat on me. He loves me, and the proof is on the wall.
"Hey, I was looking for you." I turn around to see Drew standing in the doorway. He sits down next to me.
"We were all going to head to dinner soon." He doesn't sound to excited about it.
"You're not staying for the whole thing?"
"No, I don't need to be here. And I kind of want to get this dinner over with."
"You don't have to do this, Drew."
"I know. But I want to. You're the most important part of my life right now, and if I can't share that with my family…"
“Whatever you want, Drew. I’m behind you.”
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Author's Notes: Gotta thank vanna12 for the beta job.