Chapter 22 Daniel
Daniel
With Derek away on a business trip for a few days, I find myself with plenty of time on my hands.
I finally caved and put in my notice at the shipping center, which means I also needed to use the days off I’ve accumulated.
The decision wasn’t an easy one to make, but in the end, Molly was right—sticking to one job means I have more time to work on my art.
I’ve upped my game. If I want to earn enough from what I do, I need to take the reins and do my best to make it happen. Which is why I’ve been spending a lot of time in Jesse’s studio.
“Maybe you should tone the orange down a bit? Should make the eyes pop,” Jesse suggests, peeking up from his sketchbook. “Like, along the cheekbone where the highlight is. Add a couple leaves to the hanging branch, and it should do it.”
I take a step back from my canvas and stare at my samurai painting. He’s right—the contrast could be better in that area.
Once I’ve done the adjustments, I tuck my painting in the back room. “Show me your sketch!”
Jesse looks up at me, smiling impishly. “Mmm, not sure I want to.”
“No way! That’s not allowed. C’mon.” I make to grab his sketchbook, but he’s faster and tucks it under his ass. “Next time. Also, I forgot to say earlier, but I love what you did with the waterfall. The details are exquisite.”
I roll my eyes, laughing. “Thank you very much, but I’m not letting you off!”
He sighs and surrenders his sketchbook. “Fine, fine. Here. Look and let’s start getting the space ready.”
Excited, I flip through the pages until I get to the right one.
The block-in is rough—he’s trying a new style—but I can tell that the figure is me painting.
He’s captured the shapes that make me me so well, the lines and curves, too, and he wasn’t even using a photo reference.
He’s really got a good eye for these things.
“It’s really good, Jesse. You are amazing.”
He nudges my shoulder with his and starts rearranging the easels. “Look who’s talking.”
“Are you going to paint it?”
He pauses as he takes the art supplies from the drawers. “I think so. I want to. I’ll show it to you when it’s ready.”
“I’m looking forward to that!”
The bell hanging above his studio’s door rings, announcing the first students have started arriving. Today we are holding a beginner class, and I will be helping teach.
“Nervous?” Jesse asks, waving the three teenagers to come over. His ginger curls bob from the motion.
“A bit.”
He squeezes my arm. “You’ll do great.”
“It’s one thing to practice with no audience, and a whole different beast to actually pull it off!
” I argue, crossing my arms and pursing my lips as I place blank canvases on each easel.
We have seven people coming today, which is seven times more than the students I had to instruct during my practice run.
“You’ll be fine. Believe in yourself. If I didn’t think you could do this, I’d have never offered.”
His encouragement lessens my anxiety a notch. We’ve become fast friends, but that doesn’t mean he has the money to take on a charity case. Meaning he does believe I can be decent at this.
The idea came to me a while ago. One night, Molly was nagging me to cut down on my work hours so I can focus on my passion, but I kept coming up short with a justification.
After all, I manage just fine for the most part.
In the midst of it, Jesse texted that there was some issue with his website and he got overbooked for the art class.
He asked me to help set up the studio, and keep an eye out for any students that might need help during the class.
I had a blast. After we closed up for the day, he casually tossed that maybe we could partner up and expand his lessons’ business.
It seemed like the best idea ever at the time. But look at me now—I’m a nervous mess.
“You got this,” Jesse says again, handing me the remote for the interactive whiteboard. The two of us prepared some theory to kick off the lesson before we jumped into the fun part. It’s nothing too dry, just enough to provide some structure and guidance to our aspiring artists.
I take a deep breath, nod at Jesse and aim a big smile at the arriving students. “Hi, welcome. Please, find a spot. We’ll be starting the class soon.”
Despite my initial reservations, I have so much fun I can’t wait for the next class. Jesse and I grab some burgers afterwards, going over our impressions of the students. They were all very eager to learn.
“You know, I had a lot more interest in the class, but the studio just doesn’t have the space…” Jesse tells me, slurping his milkshake. His is chocolate, and while I like my strawberry one, maybe I should’ve also gotten a chocolate. “Want a sip?”
I grin. He must’ve caught me staring. “Yes, please!”
The gooey goodness even has bits of chocolate chips and biscuits inside.
It’s god-tier. “This is so good. I’m definitely getting it next time!
” Another sip and I return his shake to him, offering him to try mine.
He does. “And as for the interest… maybe we can have an online version? Or you’d need a bigger studio. ”
I didn’t realize it until today, but Jesse isn’t exactly a nobody. He’s especially popular with teenagers, and we even had some coming from out of town.
“I’ve thought about it, but I just can’t justify a higher rent when it’s no guarantee my classes will take off.
So I guess that leaves doing some of them online.
” He puts his empty milkshake glass on the table and scoops the last of the ketchup with the remaining fries.
“Would you be interested? I don’t think I’ll have the time or resources to do it on my own. ”
My heart skips a beat. This sounds a bit scary but like a lot of fun. “I’m in!”
He ruffles my hair. “Great. Then from tomorrow on, we need to start putting together a curriculum, exercises, what format might work well online…”
Ideas flood my head, making me buzz. “Leave that to me. I’ll put something together, and we can go over it. But you focus on the marketing. I suck at that.”
He laughs. “I should probably deny this, but you really do suck. I’m so glad that Cassandra took you under her wing. And I can’t wait for your exhibition.”
We chat for a bit more, mostly trying to agree on the order of concepts for our online classes.
I spend the rest of the evening scribbling down an example curriculum on a piece of paper.
My art corner currently sits mostly empty as I’ve been painting in Jesse’s studio, so I take the opportunity to clean it up.
By the time I am done, it’s passing midnight, so I take a quick shower and go to bed.
I try to fall asleep, but it’s a difficult task when my body decides to pick this moment to miss Derek’s touch. We haven’t seen each other in a week, and while we do sort of text, our busy schedules have kept that to a minimum.
Agitated, I slip my hand under the covers and grasp my dick. It’s already half-hard, but even as I start stroking it, something is missing.
“C’mon, Daniel. You gotta get up early tomorrow.”
I roll sideways and reach for the bottle of lube I keep in my nightstand. With a stifled moan, I rub some of it around my hole, then push two fingers inside. My eyes flutter closed, but even though this finally gets my cock fully erect, it’s still not quite as good as it could be.
“Derek…” I whisper, imagining him next to me.
My body catches fire, onboard with the fantasy. My fingers become his, the hand stroking me, too. I bite on my lip as I up my pace, needing to come.
Still, it takes me a while. It’s not the same, not good enough. I miss my training, the way being with him makes me feel raw and vulnerable and free.
Just a couple more days.
And in the meantime, I better focus back on the upcoming exhibition and the art classes or I might miss him too much.
Today we are recording our first online class.
We’ve set up my apartment for it since there is a live-drawing class at Jesse’s studio later today.
The PowerPoint is ready, the exercises, too.
I’m excited. As I start my part in front of the camera, I realize Derek hasn’t been on my mind today.
My cock gives a disapproving twitch. Still, good job me.
“Okay! This was great. I’ll put the lesson together and schedule the release. We’ve got”—Jesse glances at the dashboard of our online classroom app—“twenty sign-ups. I’d say that’s a good start considering we’re practically nobodies.”
I bump him with my arm. “You aren’t a nobody, Jesse. I’ve seen the crowds.”
He laughs. “Maybe. But this is a new venture for me as well. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
As part of our online classes, we also offer consultations and one-on-one time. Depending on their profiles and backgrounds, each student is assigned either to me or him. We aim to help them as much as we can, so taking into consideration our strengths makes sense.
We double-check everything, and Jesse hits upload. We end up finalizing the second and third lessons too since we recorded them anyway, which means we have two weeks to do the fourth, fifth, and sixth lessons if we want to keep ahead of schedule.
“You hungry?” Jesse asks, glancing at his watch. “I’ve got an hour to kill before I need to be at the studio.”
I’m not going today because I’ve got a late shift at the supermarket. “As a matter of fact, I am. Shall we order something?”
“Will it get here on time?”
Good point. “Not sure. How about the bakery by the bus stop then? It’s always busy. I’ve been meaning to try it for ages.”
He nods and hops up from the couch. “Let’s go there then.”
I grab my keys and open the door. “I heard they have an amazing hazelnut—”
“Hi.”
I freeze, eyes going wide. Derek is standing in front of me, his hand reaching for the doorbell as if he was about to ring it. “Hi… What are you doing here? I thought you were in Helsinki for a couple more days…”
He scowls, looking behind me. “I wrapped up the deal early. They don’t need me for the rest.”
His voice is stern. His eyes are cold but also excited, like he’s both happy to see me but also annoyed by it. Did something happen?
I lean against the door frame, crossing my arms. “Well, congratulations on another successful deal.”
He starts to nod, but doesn’t quite finish doing it as Jesse comes up to stand next to me. “Hi, Mr. Salinger. Congratulations from me, too. I’m Jesse, if you don’t remember me. I did one of the murals in your gallery, like Dan.”
A storm crosses Derek’s face. “Thanks. What are you doing?” he turns to me, the intensity in his gaze growing to shivers-inducing levels.
My body soaks up the attention like a sponge. Little shocks travel down my spine, bringing with them heat and anticipation. “Art stuff,” I say, trying to keep my breathing leveled. “And we were going to grab something to eat. Want to join?”
Derek’s eyebrows slant even more. “I have to… go. They need me at the office. I’ll stop by later.” He looks straight into my eyes, leaving no doubt that what he’s about to say is not optional. “Make sure you are in.”
Then he turns around and leaves. I stare after him, not quite sure what just happened, but pulsating with desire at the order he gave me.
“You okay?” Jesse asks, concern in his voice.
“Yeah…” I snap out of the shock and remember what the two of us were up to. “Let’s go to the bakery.”
On the way there, I can’t get Derek out of my mind.
Desire still flows in my veins, but I can tell he was off.
I don’t know how or why, he just was. And what was with the curt and bossy interaction we had?
I love that attitude when we mess around or fuck, but this was neither. Did something happen in Helsinki?
I shake off the crazy scenarios that come to mind. I’ll just ask him tonight. Whatever might be bothering him, we can figure it out together.