Chapter Fourteen
For the second time in two days, Jason left an exhibit, exhausted but creatively fulfilled, Naomi by his side.
It was fun exhibit, and it was even made more so by how the layers of the story Max Parker-Roth told about the different ways light was used were accessible to anybody who attended.
Younger kids at the beginning of the night, art enthusiasts toward the end.
And, Jason noted with a grin, he and Naomi weren’t the only attendees wearing black.
Yet as they left the gallery, exhilaration turned to exhaustion and Jason found himself glad that he’d offered his place for them to stay at that night; it was just the right distance away from the gallery.
And judging from the expression on her face, Naomi was also feeling the signs of exhaustion.
He put his arm around her as they walked the short distance to his building.
The building door opened easily, if not squeakily, the creaky elevator moved them up and dropped them off, and the keys in the door did their job.
He desperately wanted to collapse onto his couch, but he was hosting and he never ever wanted her to think he was a bad host, let alone didn’t want her there, in his space. “You okay? You hungry?”
She smiled, looked up at him. “Surprisingly I am.”
He nodded, and headed to the kitchen, his mind racing to a recipe he’d seen and wanted to try.
“I’ve heard this dish is best eaten after the night is over,” he replied. “You know in that manner of things after you’ve had a great night out, you’re buzzing like the stars…”
She looked up at him. “Yes?”
And then he thought of a better idea. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”
She blinked; he could see the confusion in her eyes. “I thought you were cooking?”
“I forgot I knew an expert,” he replied honestly. “Someone I know just opened a place that specializes in the dish I was going to completely botch for you.”
She nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
They headed back out into the night, and a rideshare car dropped them off in front of an unassuming place called Jimmy’s. The awning was gorgeous, covered in a painting of the midnight sky illuminated by the brightness of the moon.
“This guy,” Jason said as he ushered Naomi into the tiny restaurant, “has had a few different places. One in his hometown, one on the beach. Now he’s come here to try his craft. And I am so glad he did.”
He half staggered into the place, blown away, as he usually was, by the tantalizing smell of the food. Jimmy was a genius.
“Is that Jason being dragged in here?”
Speaking of geniuses, Jason turned to see Jimmy himself: tall, lanky, wearing a shirt that said, ‘Chicken for days.’
“Yes,” Jason said once he’d pulled himself together. “It’s me. Brought someone who needed some really good chicken rice.”
“You’re with her,” Jimmy said, “and you’re thinking about me?”
Jason snorted. “Only your food would bring me out of my cozy apartment at night.”
“He couldn’t stop singing your praises,” Naomi said with a grin. “I figured I had to see what the fuss was about.”
“High praise coming from him.” Jimmy shook his head, and Jason laughed. “I guess I’m going to have to cook for you, huh, even though you didn’t bring me that hybrid chicken soup I asked to try.”
“Fusion possibility,” he said, turning to Naomi. “I told him I’d work out a matzah ball soup recipe with the base of his seasonings for some kind of celebratory dinner sometime. Haven’t figured it out yet.”
Because of course, he’d been completely otherwise occupied.
“But that sounds amazing,” she said. “One of the things I love about Jewish food is how fungible it is, how varied it is and how easily it fuses with other cuisines; the flavors and the principles stay the same but everything else changes.”
Jason nodded. And in one single nugget of an answer, she’d managed to capture everything he loved about preparing singularly Jewish food. Not to mention the adventurous spirit he tried to infuse into his own versions of things.
“As much as I love to sit and chat with you two, I need to go cook some food,” Jimmy said with a laugh of his own. “Go, find a table. I’ll find you.”
Jason took Naomi’s hand and led her deeper into the small restaurant to a table by the back window. “What did you think?”
She poured some water into her glass at first before offering some to him and lifting up her head. “Of…?”
“Tonight.”
She nodded, tapping her fingers on the table as if the motion would push her mental muscles forward.
Because if he’d asked a question that required her to critique something, she never really answered without thinking.
Finally, after a while, and a long, extended sip from her water glass, she looked up at him. “It was interesting.”
He nodded; the show concept and execution was much different than he’d expected for an artist with Max Parker-Roth’s reputation. Which meant that though it was a bit more accessible for the crowd, it wasn’t as accessible as someone who wasn’t familiar with visual art would need.
Then again, Jason wasn’t entirely sure how familiar Naomi actually was with Max Parker-Roth and his art. So, he asked another question. “What do you mean interesting?”
Once again, Naomi took time to answer. “I’ve never been to a show like that one. Usually, things that sit on the highly interpretive end of the art spectrum aren’t my type of art. I love to dive in to see things, but I don’t usually like interpreting them. This one?”
“Yes?”
“This one was fun and really destroyed my preconceived ideas of what this type of art was. If this is a scaled-down version of one of his shows, I’d actually love to see what he does when he’s not scaling down for the benefit of the audience.”
“So, you would go again?”
“I don’t know, honestly,” she said. “I’d have to be fascinated by the concept to get around the need to interpret. He’s really nice, and I’m looking forward to working with him at the wedding. I was lucky that the light wasn’t migraine-inducing.”
“That’s mostly my complaint,” he replied. “The interpretation and the concept, not the migraine. I’ve been to a bunch of his shows though; in search of the one that opens up and shows the elusive perfect pearl, you know?”
Naomi nodded. “He is a nice guy, and I think he’s really talented. I can see why you’re trying to support him.” She paused. “Do you want to debrief?”
Jason nodded. “I think the biggest lesson I learned from Max is very much the whole ‘don’t count out expanding your skills.’ Keep yourself open to the possibilities of using everything you can to do different things.
Like pop-ups and classes, catered events and movie and TV private cheffing and… I can have it all, basically.”
“Right. You can have it all.” And of course, that was when he heard a loud buzz from what had to be Naomi’s phone. “What?”
“Oh. I asked Max for some information. I wonder if it’s him…”
And from the look on her face, it clearly was not Max.
“What?” he asked. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Liv,” she replied. “Do you have dinner plans for tomorrow?”
Jason thought about it, and then realized he knew better. “No?”
The look on her face made it clear that Naomi was about to drop what she considered a bombshell. He mentally prepared himself. Whatever her sister could deliver, they could handle. Together.
“Apparently,” Naomi finally said, sounding as if she had, in fact, processed the bombshell her sister had dropped. “Liv and Artur are inviting us to join Abe and Batya for dinner. I don’t know what that means or what it’s for, but…?”
Immediately, Jason nodded. “Of course I’ll come with you,” he said, answering the unspoken question. “For whatever reason you want me there.”
Naomi smiled, apparently glad for his answer despite the fact that he’d jumped the gun.
But going from a conversation about business plans, to a family conversation, to a conversation that could possibly be about the deeper ways the two of them fit into each other’s lives?
That gave him trouble, where sometimes he didn’t know which end was up, which part of himself was supposed to be at the forefront and how he was supposed to react.
Not that he didn’t enjoy how he was intertwining his life with hers; sometimes it was just harder than he’d expected to remember the role he was playing.
“I appreciate it.” She paused, and once again her expression seemed like she was having trouble navigating territory.
“I’m not sure why they want us there—Liv said she’ll call me tomorrow morning to tell me more details, but in the meanwhile, we have to be careful in terms of wedding things.
Liv knows, as does Artur, but I don’t know if I want the information to cross over. ”
“Well, if we can convince Abe to cater, it might be worth it to look pitiful.”
Naomi laughed. “That makes sense,” she said with a grin. “We can look pitiful and sad and maybe convince him despite his conflict?”
“Maybe we can also see if there’s actually a conflict as opposed to something else?”
Once again, Naomi giggled. “I love that idea,” she said. “Though I wonder if it was just the thought of working an event Ida was involved with.”
“That’s entirely possible,” Jason said. “Ida had a bit of a reputation, and I know that people didn’t like working with her, which sometimes didn’t matter because she had an exclusive list of people she liked. But Abe is a particular case.”
“You mean because he started as a tax accountant?”
Jason didn’t answer immediately. “Partially,” he said. “That plus the contents of his contact list give him a larger degree of freedom than most.”
It took a second, but the light of recognition ran across Naomi’s face. What he’d meant, was that Abe, like Jason himself, was friendly with a bunch of influential people. Which meant people like Ida, who had decided to be in charge of her own fiefdom, didn’t have much sway over him.
“Makes so much sense. I’m hoping that’s the case.”
“You and me both,” he said, thinking for a minute. “I might offer to help if he’s on the fence.”
“Sweeten the pot,” she said, the sound of her voice making him gooey inside. “I love it.”
“And of course,” Jimmy added as he came to deliver the food, “it’s time to enjoy the fruits of my labor.”
The aromatic flavors of the chicken and the rice with its sauce made his night. And watching Naomi’s reaction would be even better.
*
“That was good,” Naomi told Jason as they left the restaurant in the early morning hours. “I was really expecting to go to bed earlier, but I’m glad I didn’t. Thank you.”
There was a grin on Jason’s face, as if the man had expected something else entirely from her.
But she’d always loved his adventures, whether they were trips or whether they were a late-night outing to a restaurant he thought she’d like. It was one thing about knowing him, spending time with him.
“I’m glad you liked it,” he said. “I’ll keep my eyes open for other adventures.”
And then it was her turn to take a risk. “I like the fact that you’re trusting me with your spaces,” she said. “The ones you take comfort from.”
He smiled even brighter, as if she’d correctly answered a question she didn’t know she was being asked.
“I’m glad you picked up on that,” he said as they headed into his building. “I’m doing my best to let you in, like you let me in, you know?”
She nodded. She did.
“I want you in my apartment,” he continued as he pulled her close as they got into the elevator. “I want to know what it’s like when I smell you on my sheets, and my towels. I want to cook for you in my kitchen.”
They way he’d already done in hers, the way it felt to see him in her spaces.
He was telling that he wanted those feelings too, but more specifically, he wanted her.
And when she kissed him just in front of the doorway to his apartment, it felt like coming home in a way that wasn’t so terrifying, unlike so many times with so many others before.
The feel of Jason’s lips, the feel of his hands in her hair, grounded her and brought her back down to earth in a way that made her feel she was in orbit.
What was this?
Was this love? Was this physical attraction and need?
All she knew, for right then, was that she didn’t want to leave, and she definitely didn’t want it to end.