Roman approaches the canvases and regards each one for a few moments until he stops in front of the newest one. “Is that... Igor?” He points the tip of the crutch toward the painting.
“Yes.”
“Why does he have a megaphone instead of his head? And is that... a dead chicken under his arm?”
“You are extremely perceptive,Pakhan.”
He looks at me over his shoulder and smirks. “And where is my painting? You promised me your self-portrait.”
“Naked one. I remember. It’ll have to wait; I need to finish the remaining exhibition pieces. Or I could do my self-portrait as one of those, I’m sure the critics will love it.” I shrug. “We might need to add an ”eighteen plus” label on the—”
“No.”
“Then you’ll have to wait.”
“I’ll wait.” He turns and looks me over. “Are you hungry?”
His change of subject catches me unprepared. “A little.”
“Let’s go out for a lunch.”
I take Nina to a posh restaurant downtown, and we spend almost two hours there. She describes what she has planned for the exhibition, and I let her talk while watching her—her smiling eyes, the way she waves her hands in front of her face when she’s excited, or how she leans forward, whispering in a low voice when she gossips about her colleagues who share the gallery. She must be aware that no one could hear her, the place is only half full, and none of the tables close to us are taken. Still, she keeps her tiny hand over her mouth, chatting about walking in on one of the other artists as she was groping the guy from finance behind the gallery floor.
There have been a lot of women in my life, but with Nina in front of me, they all just fade away. We never even kissed properly, other than for the sake of the show, but I don’t remember ever being this drawn to someone. It’s like she bewitched me.
“What’s the deal with the dog?”
“I borrowed him from my aunt.” She grins and takes a sip of her wine.
“You borrowed a dog?” I stare at her.
“Technically, I offered to watch him for a few weeks. That should be enough time for him to do his part.”
“And that would be?”
“Well, you know how dogs are always running around the house, getting into rooms, and hiding there. Brando loves that, so I guess I will be chasing him around the house quite a lot in the following days. Who knows where he’ll end up?” She grins at me. “Maybe even in Leonid’s room at some point.”
I laugh and shake my head at her idea. “You are a dangerous woman,malysh.”
“What does that mean?”
“Malysh? It’s an endearment. It means little one.”
She tilts her head to the side and the corners of her lips curl upward in a small smirk. “Well, as I already said, most people are little compared to you, Roman.”
The waiter comes to fill our drinks. When Nina takes her glass, I notice that her wedding ring is rather loose, reach out, take her hand in mine, and inspect the ring. “We should get this resized.”
“Don’t bother. The engagement ring is keeping it in place. It’s durable by the way. I spilled some paint over my hand the other day and had to scrub it, it didn’t even get scratched.”
“It’s rather hard to scratch a diamond.”
Nina looks at me, blinks, then looks down at the ring like it’s going to bite her. “This thing is real?”
“Of course, it’s real.”
“Shit!” She flattens her hand and stares disbelievingly at the two-carat princess-cut diamond. Her mouth opens and closes without words. Then she covers the ring protectively with her other hand and leans toward me. “Can I swap it with one that has glass instead?”
“No.”