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“Can we sit?” She gestured to the booth He nodded and she pushed off the wall, sliding into the booth He grabbed one of the chairs across from her

“I was supposed to showcaseto beat her hands folded in front of her The table shook as her leg bounced up and down under the table

“Okay,” he said, encouraging her “What happened?” He reached out and covered her folded hands with his She peered up, a small smile on her face

“I was presenting with my ex, he wasn’t my ex then, but you knohat I mean We’d both been selected and I was ecstatic Then a week before the shoe had a fight A huge fight and he blew up at htened on hers

“He hit you?” he said, nearly shouting Her head whipped up and she shook her head, eyes wide

“No, never Paulo may have been an asshole, but he wasn’t an abusive asshole Anyway,” she said, letting out a sigh “He told me the real reason I’d been selected for the show He said he had the”

“I don’t believe that for one second,” he said, pulling her hands apart and threading his fingers through them

“You don’t?”

“No, I’ve seen your work and while I’m not an art critic, anyone can see that you have talent What happened next?” He squeezed her hand to encourage her to continue She let out a deep breath

“After I kicked hi

“Yeah, after you kicked him out,” he chuckled

“I called up the gallery and told the all of my work from the show”

“What? Why would you do that?”

“I didn’t want to be included in that show just because of who I was sleeping with I didn’t want people to know that the only reason I was there was because of him,” she stared into his eyes and the vulnerability and insecurity shone through He sighed It all et involved with hi they were together

“And you thought that the sa on tour withto do with that I knew you were a Other than you puking onto pull a smile from her