Film Star

Eliza watched as Alessandra walked from the back of the gallery, still tightly holding Leon’s hand. They looked at each other, and for the first time in a long time, there was no animosity in how they looked at each other. Eliza wondered if finally the war was over and they would be able, if not to be friends, that they would at least be able to be at these events and not feel awkward.

But that would be determined later, maybe at the after-party. For now, Alessandra was the movie star of the art world. Everyone wanted a piece of her. Her new pieces were dark and then filled with light. It was such an intimate view of her emotional world, much of which Eliza had already witnessed when she semi-stalked her on Instagram.

The lighter pictures were coming to light now, pictures of parts of her body and Leon’s body in the sunlight. There were so many sunlit photos, and the lights in the gallery perfectly complemented her photographs.

Her PDA with Leon was also compelling. People were asking about him. Leon was so classy that he still demured and made sure that people were paying attention to Alessa.

She deserved it. The work and the evolution of the work were staggering. Eliza wanted to tell her, but she did not feel that she wanted to rock the boat. She did not want to assume anything.

Later, she froze when she was in the ladies’ room and saw Alessa walk in behind her. Alessa smiled, and she smiled in return. Alessa walked to the sink to pull her lipstick out of her purse, which Eliza was doing as well. She remembered the time that Alessandra had made herself up so well because she was trying to seduce her, and she still felt guilty about that because she had never wanted to hurt Alessandra.

“I never meant to hurt you,” Eliza said and smeared lipstick on her face when she did.

“I know now,” Alessandra said. “I know. When I was away with Leon, I learned so much about myself and things that I thought. Let go of a lot.”

“He is an amazing man.”

“He is. I never realized that we loved each other as much as we did. But he was always there, and this time…” she looked at Eliza deeply. “I am not with someone to make me feel better about not being with someone else.”

“I would hope not,” Eliza said. “He doesn’t deserve that.”

“I would never hurt him,” she said and smacked her lips. “He wants me to make nice with you, and for him, I will.”

“I will always be your friend.”
Alessa looked at her with a poker face that was not off-putting but still did not let her know what she felt about her. But it was nice not to think that Alessa wanted to remove her like a chess piece off of the board at last.

She had been as nice as she could to her for Oscar and Rafe.

The things they did for the men in their lives.  

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