The Artist & The Q.B.

Ch. 17

"I'm just glad to be off that plane." I mutter, tiredly. Driving back to Truex's from the airport has taken a lot longer that it should, but this time I'm not complaining.

"What are you going to do when we fly to Las Vegas?" Treux asks, absentmindedly as he stares at his phone.

"Las Vegas for what?" I ask, confused.

"The bachelorette and bachelor party." He replies, glancing up.

I turn to Mya who winces in guilt before I even respond. "What the hell? Why don't you tell me anything?" I ask, her.

"Hey, I had nothing to do with it. Truex and Tate planned the whole thing." Mya, answers passing the blame to Truex. "Be mad at them."

"By planning you mean, made hotel reservations." Truex states, not about to accept responsibility.

"What do you care? You're not doing anything." She replies, not maliciously but simply stating the facts.

"Thanks for the reminder." I grumble, unhappily.

"Sorry, that came out harsh." She apologizes.

I wave off her apology. "Its fine. You're right. I hate this waiting game. I just don't think, Independent Artist is in the cards for me." I turn to her seriously. "I think I'm going to head back home. I'm gonna try getting in with that practice that I applied at before I left. They called me about three months ago for an interview. Maybe they'll still give me a shot."

"You can't just leave." She cries in outrage.

"I'd be back before the wedding, to help with anything you need. We took care of the basics, now its time for the wedding planner to take care of everything else." I assure her.

"Just stay." She begs.

"I can't afford to." I say, honestly. "My phone, my meals, everything we do is paid for by him." I reply, pointing to an angry Truex. "Don't you start pouting too." I tell him, before turning back to Mya. "I just need to do this for me, because right now Its feels like I'm a burden on you both. And to be honest, I hate not having the sense of pride that comes with doing things for myself."

"That's a bullshit excuse." Truex, comments. Getting my attention. "Trying to run away. I should've seen this coming." He smirks, while maintaining his scowl.

"Bullshit? Really? I've been here how long and I haven't even sold a single painting? Oh, wait, I haven't sold a painting to anyone but you. I've been evicted, I've had my phone turned off and just spent a shit ton of money on my piece of crap car, that I'm praying gets me back home. All of that is bullshit. Not my reasons for leaving." I state, not really knowing if I'm lying or not. It doesn't feel like a lie, but it's definitely not the whole truth. A part of me knows that Truex is right. I'm leaving because I don't know how do deal with him. I feel myself liking when he touches me, or when holds me at night. How am I supposed to pretend to be indifferent to him if I see him everyday? What if I fall for him? It could be devastating.

"You're not a burden. If anything you should be trying to get your name out there, now that you don't have to worry about money." He argues, still looking at me as if he's reading me like a book.

"I still have to worry about money. Truex, I appreciate everything you're doing and have done for me, but I'm not comfortable with it." I explain, being completely truthful.

"Just stay until after the wedding. If the art thing doesn't work out, leave then, but not now. Truex is right, you don't have bills to worry about, you need to start trying to get your name known. Even if its just one painting in a gallery, you need to start somewhere." Mya, encourages.