Graffiti Casanova

As Long as You're Happy

"You guys sounded great today." Bennie flopped back against the bed, arms sprawled out. I shoved her over to make room for me.

"I think we're almost ready." I flopped next to her, face first. My next words were muffled by pillows. "Which is good, because the show is next week."

Bennie let out an ironic chuckle. "I forgot about the show. All the Casanova business."

Me too. But I didn't say it.

"Is he giving you the design to give to Ian?"

"Mark will bring it to the V-bar tomorrow. He's becoming surprisingly accommodating." Still his snarky self, of course. Just not nearly as hostile as he was in the beginning.

"Hmm." We lay in silence for a while, and I was beginning to wonder if Bennie had fallen asleep before she spoke.

"Are you ever going to date?"

I looked up, peering at her from among the pillows. "What?"

She pursed her lips. "You just do so much to make other people happy... Reese, the guys, Cas. You work so hard to help them succeed and to see them happy." She rolled over to face me. "What are you doing towards your own happiness?"

I frowned. "The band makes me happy."

"But you did it for your dad."

"In the beginning. Now..." I played with the fringe on the pillowcase. "Can't it be both?"

"Of course." The corner of Bennie's mouth quirked up. "As long as you're happy."

I lay back. Was I happy? I was certainly terrified. But a thrill fluttered deep down inside, under the layer of terror. Aren't we meant to face our fears? Aren't we happiest when we do? Aren't we most miserable when we cower from them? And so far, I've been conquering them.

I smiled back. "I'm happy."

There was another silence, this one content.

"I think I'm going to ask Mark out," Bennie said suddenly.

My head whipped to face her. "What?"

Bennie grinned. "You heard me."

"Where did this come from?"

She threw up her hands. "Ninety percent of the time he won't look at me, and when he does he glares and growls and grouches, and he always has a stick up his butt. He's clearly in love with me."

I chuckled. "Clearly."

"Well, the man is obviously shy, so I figured I should help him out. At least give him a chance to woo me."

"That's so considerate of you." I reached to turn off the lamp, unable to help the chuckles that bubbled up from inside.

"What?" Bennie sounded exasperated, but I couldn't stop snickering.

"Poor guy won't know what hit him."

I got a pillow in my face for that, but it only muffled the laughter and made me laugh harder. She wanted me to be happy, after all.

Mark and I played messengers between Ian and Cas for the next few days as they perfected the design, and finally, it was ready. A simple, stenciled likeness of Jonas Williamson in black and white, a rendition of his current poster. Beneath him was his name, JONAS WILLIAMSON in clear, easy-to-read font. And all of it was obviously done by hand.

Ian had done a fantastic job in making it crisp and clean, keeping the integrity of the graffiti feel but photoshopping out the gritty background. The letters dripped paint, and the background was emerald green with a white border.

I felt a sense of triumph as I marched past the snide desk-lady at E-TEX and headed straight for Jonas Williamson's office. I had to wait for him to finish a meeting, but finally I was admitted and I got quite a bit of satisfaction out of slapping the finished design onto Williamson's desk.

He was silent as he reached for it, picked it up, studied it. Finally his gaze lifted and he studied me just as carefully over the top of the paper.

"Go put this on Marnie's desk, and send her the original files. One floor down, third office on the right. Tell her to have it printed and circulated." He tossed the papers to his desk and waved me away.

I rolled my eyes. And can I get you anything while I'm at it? Coffee? Tea? A soul? "Fantastic." I grabbed the papers and swept out of the room. Williamson's agreement to the plan was all the compliment I was going to get out of him. But I smiled as I went to find Marnie. He wouldn't have agreed if he didn't think it was good.

Marnie took it with a shrug when I handed it to her. "He's got the money for it, I guess," she said. "We'll get it circulated by this afternoon."

By the time I got home that evening, it had made the news.

"Claire-Bear! Look who's teaming up with Casanova this time!" Dad called from the couch. I grinned. Cas had thrown up a quick stencil of the poster-- in broad daylight-- today, and people had found it not too long after he finished. That his piece and Williamson's poster was released within an hour of each other was clearly no coincidence, people were saying. I expected Williamson's poll numbers to drastically spike by tomorrow.

"He might win this yet," Dad said as I flopped onto the couch next to him. Whether he was talking about Williamson or Casanova, it wasn't clear. Maybe both. But I agreed.

"I think he will."

FIRST OFF: Shoutout to my reader(s) from Slovenia-- because that's where I was when I came up with Graffiti Casanova ;) you and your country rock <3

It's a Monday, so I thought I'd give y'all a chapter even though it's a little one :) Hit that star, and keep your eye out for another LONG chapter on Thursday! <3 

Chapter song is I Don't Know You by From Indian Lakes