Chapter 5
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Kilian
With a glass of orange juice in my hand, I stood in front of a massive painting that reminded me of Goya’s Witches’ Sabbath, except instead of witches around the goat, there were angels, lizards, and insects.
Lucien definitely had a knack for bizarre art.
But what I loved most was the night sky, which had a silver-blue hue over the mountains, turning to a muted stone blue in the center and deepening to black at the top, where countless stars twinkled.
The atmosphere was dark, while the angels’ white robes gleamed like silk, reflecting a hint of blue.
“Do you like the painting?” Lucien asked me.
I tore my gaze away from a chameleon and turned my head toward him. His honey-blond hair was tousled, and dark circles hung under his eyes. Holding a glass of white wine, he beamed at me with satisfaction.
“I’m guessing you do,” he continued. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been staring at the canvas for ten minutes.”
“Oh,” I said, turning back to the painting with a smile. “I like the blue.”
Lucien laughed and raised his glass. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” I answered absentmindedly. “I think so. Hopefully, the tech will cooperate. At least everything worked this afternoon.”
“I can’t wait to see what you’re showing us. When Greta said she brought you on board, I couldn’t believe it.”
I raised my eyebrows slightly, confused. “Have you seen anything of mine before?”
“Oh, yeah! I think it was about two years ago. You did that installation at the art school.”
“The graduation show. Yes.”
“That was genius!”
“Thanks,” I said, trying to stay humble. Unfortunately, I was a bad actor, and compliments made me uncomfortable.
Just then, a young man with brown hair approached us. Lucien hastily placed his hand on the guy’s back and brought him into our small circle. “This is Jonah. Jonah, meet the best lighting designer around: Kilian da Silva.”
“Lighting designer?” Jonah shook my hand, looking intrigued. “I didn’t know that was a thing.”
I smiled, as it wasn’t the first time I’d heard that line.
“Hold on a second,” Jonah said, still holding my hand. “Kilian. Wasn’t your name on the flyer?”
“Yeah,” I answered, pulling my hand back.
Greeting gestures weren’t my thing, and I usually tried to avoid shaking hands with people.
Jonah retrieved a flyer from his back pocket and unfolded it. HIDINGS – Photography, Painting, and Light by Alex Winter, Lucien Gilliéron, and Kilian da Silva was printed on it. “I thought ‘light’ meant pictures or something.”
The guy was cute—so innocent yet so open-minded. The way he looked at me with his doe eyes was somehow heartwarming. Lucien grinned widely, and his expression told me that he absolutely adored the guy.
“There’s a light show,” Lucien explained, sliding his arm around Jonah’s waist.
“Lu,” Jonah muttered.
“Oh, right, sorry.”
Lucien released him and flashed an even wider grin. It was clear that he’d love nothing more than to pounce on Jonah right there and then.
“When’s your light show?” Jonah asked. “The flyer doesn’t list a time.”
“Not until about eight,” I replied. “Alex couldn’t be here earlier, so we pushed it back.”
It was only seven, and I was already wondering how to pass time. I wasn’t the type to chat about art with people, but with Lucien or Alex, it was a different story.
I’d known Alex for a long time, and when Greta asked me if I wanted to contribute something to the exhibition, I was in right away.
For things like this, I was even willing to give up a day off to set everything up during the day.
Sebastian had helped me but had to leave for the theater since there was a performance that night.
The gallery was gradually filling up, and at half past seven, Greta was going to give a speech. She’d asked me earlier for my resume, but I’d just directed her to the theater’s website and didn’t think much of it after that.
Wasn’t it enough to just introduce myself as a lighting designer?
An older couple approached us, clearly impressed by Lucien’s painting. The fact that the artist was standing right there made it even more intriguing, and Lucien was soon surrounded by their admiration.
I gave Jonah a nod, signaling that I was done here.
On my way to the back room, I finished my drink, set the glass on an empty tray, and disappeared into the restroom, where I took my time.
I wasn’t in a rush to get back. I just wanted to do the light show and take the gallery’s lighting to the next level.
As I stepped out of the restroom, I stopped in the doorway to glance at a text. Yael, my sister, was apologizing for the 56th time for not being able to make it tonight and asking if we could meet up on Monday.
As a cellist, she had similar hours to mine, so we often got the chance to grab lunch together. I agreed to meet on Monday, and she responded with a kiss emoji.
“I want to see a picture!” she texted.
I opened the camera app, snapped a quick shot of the gallery, and sent it to her. Yael wasn’t particularly picky about pictures—she just wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere. Once the photo was sent, I opened it in the photo app for a closer look because something in it had caught my attention.
The picture wasn’t great, but it showed two of Alex’s photographs and a crowd of people. I didn’t know any of them, but … there was Dominic in the picture.
My gaze shifted from the screen to the crowd. And yes, there he was. In the flesh.
What the hell is he doing here?
He was wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, and his slicked-back hair suited him perfectly. I also thought the three-day beard was attractive. He stood alongside a guy with blond hair tied up in a bun and a man in a suit, who was holding a glass of water in front of one of Lucien’s paintings.
The way he was interacting with the two surprised me.
I had never seen Dominic so loose and relaxed.
Usually, it looked like he had a stick up his ass, as if he was governed by some kind of pressure.
He had a confidence that he completely kept hidden from me, because as sexy as the gruff guy was, it felt like he was always playing a role.
And he was a really good actor.
I would’ve loved to know what made him so strict with himself.
But above all … who were the two guys he was smiling at so effortlessly and irresistibly?
Torn between whether I should approach him and risk upsetting his mood, I stood in the safe back room, watching him for what felt like five minutes, until Alex appeared in my line of sight, greeting me with a hearty laugh.
“Kilian! Hey!” he said, giving me a high-five. “How’s it going? Ready for the big show?”
“Good, thanks,” I replied, watching as he set his camera bag on the table and adjusted his glasses. “How about you? Have you been working up until now?”
“Almost,” he said.
“Hi,” someone said behind me. Before I could turn around, a guy passed by me and placed a guitar case and a heavy backpack on the floor beside the table. He had long hair, which he swiftly tied into a thick knot.
“This is Noé,” Alex introduced. “Noé, this is Kilian.”
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Noé said, lifting his hand in greeting.
At first, the guy came off as a bit standoffish, but when he walked past Alex to the coffee machine and caressed Alex’s back, I could see he was just tired. I also appreciated that he wasn’t one of those types who shook everyone’s hand.
Alex flashed a slightly apologetic look and seemed to feel the need to explain. “I just picked him up from the airport,” he said, his voice rising slightly as the coffee machine began to rumble in the background.
“Do you want one?” Noé asked.
Alex declined, but I wasn’t opposed to an espresso.
“How do you two know each other?” Noé asked, downing his espresso in one gulp.
“From the theater,” Alex answered, finishing the water bottle he’d pulled from his bag. “I took photos for the website last year, and since Kilian was in charge of the lighting, we spent a whole day working together.”
“Cool.”
The coffee worked wonders, and I felt my energy returning. I had drifted off a bit while lost in Lucien’s painting, caught up in the shades of blue.
“Has Greta given her speech yet?”
“No, she’s waiting for you.”
“I just need to talk to her for a minute,” Alex said, turning to Noé.
Noé waved him off to go ahead, and Alex disappeared into the crowd. I stayed put, with the perfect view of Dominic.
That bastard was obviously having a great time. As much as it annoyed me, I couldn’t help but enjoy watching him.
“Are you going to mingle?” Noé asked from behind me.
“I don’t know,” I replied casually. “I haven’t decided.”
Noé laughed, suddenly standing beside me, gazing at the people gathered around.
“Who’s making it hard for you to decide?”
I paused for a moment, then turned my head. For a second, I almost wanted to knock the charming smile off Noé’s face, but I wasn’t in a manic enough mood for that.
“I’ve got eyes,” he said, scanning the gallery visitors. “Is it the brunette over there?”
I followed his gaze to a young woman in a light gray skirt. Her red lips matched her high heels.
“Not my type.”
“Then how about the blond over there?”
“More like the guy next to him with the brown hair,” I sighed quietly. “We work together. And he’s doing everything he can to avoid me.”
“Why is he here then?”
“Probably because he didn’t bother to read the flyer.”
Noé snickered. “Talk to him. He’ll be thrilled. He looks nice.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he’d love it if you talked to him.”
“Just smile. That usually works wonders.” Noé gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.
There were moments when I wished I could be in one of my “moods,” and right now, I wouldn’t mind a bit of exaggerated self-confidence. That was when I felt invincible and knew I could handle anything.
Still, I set my cup aside and walked over to Dominic. On my way to him, I grabbed two glasses of water from a tray since his glass was already empty.
“Hey! Nice to see you here!” I said, offering him one of the glasses.
He gaped at me, completely dumbfounded. His mouth hung open, and he didn’t say a word.
Then he swallowed, and like a switch had been flipped, his expression changed.
I smirked, amused by how easily he fell into a role.
Funny, though, he didn’t seem to know what role to play, because as I handed him the glass and placed my hand on his shoulder, the mask slipped right off.
“Did Karl tell you where to find me today?” I teased with a slightly mocking tone. “Or what brings me the honor?”
“The honor?” he asked, pushing my hand off his shoulder. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m on the list.”
He squinted, slightly irritated. “Anyone can get in here.”
“This list,” I said, pulling a flyer from my jacket pocket.
Dominic stared at the paper, swallowing. He was clearly at a loss for words. I couldn’t tell if it was for good or bad reasons.
“Then you’re Kilian?” asked the brown-haired guy in the suit next to me.
“Yeah, uh …”
“Hector,” the man said, shaking my hand—thankfully just briefly. “Looking forward to what you’ll show us later.”
“Oh, you’ll love it,” I assured him calmly.
Hector laughed, and that’s when I noticed the blond guy was staring at me.
Is that Dominic’s boyfriend? I knew he was into guys, but that one?
The silence between us got Dominic moving again.
“Oh, sorry. This is …” He cleared his throat and took a sip from the water I’d brought him. “My roommate, Nico. And, his boyfriend, Hector, you’ve already met …”
The roommate. I smiled at Nico, pleased. I can live with that.
“Nice to meet you,” Nico said, eyeing me like I was the new guy in the house. “And you two …?”
“We work together,” I said, nudging Dominic with my shoulder. “Right?”
“Yeah,” he answered quietly, taking another sip.
As if just realizing I’d brought him water, he searched around for a catering staff member walking by with a tray of drinks.
When he found one, he traded his glass for some white wine.
I couldn’t help but grin when he took a large gulp.
Nico, though, raised an eyebrow, confused. Or was he worried?
Whatever. I felt relieved when he left us alone and headed over to the blue painting featuring the goat, with Hector in tow.
“I don’t know what your problem is. It’s not such a big deal that we’re meeting here. You’re acting like it’s the worst coincidence ever.”
“Sorry,” he said in such a calm tone that I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
His vibe had shifted. He wasn’t fully relaxed, but some of the tension had left his muscles.
“Whoa!” I stepped back in surprise. “What did you do to Dominic? Where did he go? He would never just smile at me like that.”
That made Dominic laugh even more. “Who knows, maybe it was something in the wine.” He glanced over his shoulder at his roommate, who was still standing with Hector in front of the painting and giving Dominic a concerned look. Dominic rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat.
“Here, you drink it,” he said, handing me the wine glass. In return, he took my water.
“Just so you know, I drank from it,” I reminded him, not commenting on his sudden strange behavior.
“I guess I’ll take that risk.” The shy smile he gave me was totally worth it.
Just as it seemed like nothing would stop a normal conversation with Dominic now, Greta stepped into the middle of the main room, drawing attention by gently tapping a knife against her wine glass.