“At least give Jack a chance to show you his new bone.”

I’m not normally this pushy, but now I just have to convince her to at least have one coffee with me. I need to talk to her for a few minutes, I need to see who she is, even if only for the slightest bit. 

She looks down at her lap where her hands are resting. The breeze kicks up some leaves, as if it is urging her to accept my invitation. She now throws her head in her neck and I involuntarily utter a sigh as the sunlight caresses her creamy neck. Her cheeks are still wet from the tears, she’s pursing her lips – probably trying to keep back another set of tears.

“Okay. If you really don’t mind,” is her final answer.

I get up, summon Jack and lead the way. The walk through the park and over the streets is a silent one, but neither one of us really minds. At least, I don’t think she does. I don’t try to make conversation, scared that she will run away or change her mind, think I am too talkative, too curious, too nosy.

When we arrive at my place, I take her coat and bring her to the living room. I hurry to the kitchen to make us some coffee and when I return, she is standing in front of the painting I am most proud of possessing. I literally spent a fortune on it.

“That’s an original Kiki Smith.”

She turns around, surprised and caught off guard. “I am so sorry – I was just curious. This painting… it’s intriguing. Very much so.”

The name obviously doesn’t ring any bells and normally, I would be extremely annoyed at that. I would have been annoyed before I met Jodi and when I was with her. But now, it just seems to be a relief to meet someone who doesn’t know anything about art. She isn’t aware of that world, of the politics it involves. 

“If you want to, I’ll tell you all about it. But now, it’s about you. I mean – you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but -”

I am interrupted rudely by Jack throwing his front pawns against Tina’s legs, his bone in his mouth. He obviously is very proud and now expects someone talking to him animatedly to let him know he’s great. Tina seems to know instictively what she has to do.

“Is that your new bone, Jack?” she asks in a voice you would use with a baby. She scratches him behind the ear. “Has Jackie got a new bone? A new bone for Jack? Good boy!”

She looks up, suddenly aware of my presence and blushes heavily. I release her from her obvious embarassment with an encouraging smile.

“I think the coffee is ready.”

I pour the coffee, get out some chocolates, milk and sugar and place everything on a tray. We first make a bit of seemingly obligatory small talk. I tell her about my Yale education in Art History and my additional business degree, how I ended up in New York and opened my own gallery after having worked at the Whitney, how everyone declared me to be crazy to leave that position but that I just had to pursue my dream. 

I learn that she’s from Chapel Hill, NC and came to LA five years ago with a scholarship. She studied film at UCLA, where she met her boyfriend when she was 20. He got an offer in New York and she followed him one month ago. This is the point where she bursts out in tears.

Before I realise what I am doing, I throw my arm around her and pull her closer.