He's a gallery curator with a fetish for perfection. No one's ever gotten close to him; how could they? They're never as perfect as the portraits, the sculptures, the art that never changes. Trust did not come easy for him.
Then one day, an intern...
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As Javier sat on the park bench waiting he felt like a kid on Christmas morning. He twisted his phone in his hands and his left foot bounced up and down in a nervous excited way.
When Jessica had agreed to meet up with him he had been so over the moon with happiness it took everything not to scream into the phone in excitement.
The weather hadn't cleared up much so the picnic he had originally hoped for would now be lunch in one of her favorite restaurants after the day he planned for her. First they were going to have breakfast.
His face lit up when he saw her walking towards him. Her hands were buried in her sweater pockets as she came and stood in front of him.
"Hi. " she said
All he could think was how much he missed her smile. He could just sit there drinking her all in.
"Are you alright? " she asked when he didn't respond.
"Yeah, I just can't believe you're here. I missed you. "
He noticed she only smiled at him but for now that was enough.
"So how have you been?" he asked her as they walked along side each other.
"I've been OK I guess. Bored now that I'm not at the gallery. "
"You miss it there? " he asked
"How could I not. How are things there? "
"Um... I don't know. " he said
"What do you mean?"
He avoided her eyes as he replied.
"I lost the gallery." he told her
It still left a sad taste in his mouth but he knew he couldn't live his life according to a will, especially if that meant loosing Jessica. He would tell her that though. He didn't want her feeling guilty.
"That means you didn't choose... Her." Jessica said quietly as she stopped to look at him.
"How could I?" he replied looking into her eyes.
He saw her gaze waver then she looked away.
"Don't do this because of me." she told him quietly.
"I'm doing this for me too. I'm alright with this." he told her
"Are you really?" she asked searching his eyes.
"I will be. Let's go have breakfast."
As they sat across from each other in the quiet cafe, their knees touch causing each of them to hold their breaths before glancing up at each other. Javier couldn't help the smile when he looked up and caught her staring.
"How's the bagel?" he asked
"It's perfect. It's homemade which makes it even better. And the creme cheese taste different than the ones in the store."
