May 2040
Dom couldn’t help but chuckle as Candice admitted to having fun watching him be nervous. “I was only that confident because of you.” He admitted, giving credit where it was due. Candice didn’t need to hear any more about how his upbringing had decimated his self-confidence but he was telling the truth. She used to have this way of bringing out a confidence in him that he hadn’t known existed. One that defied his mother’s scrutiny.
“Unfortunately, that might have been my peak. I don’t think I can ever outdo myself.” He responded as his drink arrived.
Dom couldn’t remember the last time he had been able to have a conversation like this. Colin knew things about art and they could have base-level discussions about it but Candice understood his work in a way that no one else did. Her responses to his explanations only reaffirmed that as she added her insight. He smiled when she said that Colin must be special.
"He is.” He agreed before she turned her attention to the third piece. She commented on the haunting nature of it before remarking that she could relate to the piece. “My other pieces like that are potentially unique to my experiences but this one I think is the most universal. It draws out a feeling most people can relate to in one way or another.”
He paused for a moment to consider how to answer her when she asked what changed. “It didn’t go away until I fell in love. Before that, I found ways to cope. Put on more art shows around the country because the planning distracted me. Learned how to do my one daughter’s hair for her dance recitals so I could spend more time with her and spent time with the other playing soccer. It helped if I didn’t give myself time to think about it."
He straightened his posture when she directed the conversation back to the art show, explaining her vision to him. As she spoke, he could perfectly picture the arrangement as she explained it, already filling in which of his other pieces would best suit it. He nodded as she explained, acknowledging that he was following. He smiled nervously when she began to imagine him standing in the middle of a room speaking to people.
"Well, maybe not in the middle of the room.” He interjected sheepishly. Dom usually preferred observing his shows from the sidelines. He still made his rounds and talked to people about the pieces they were looking at but he didn’t draw attention to the fact that he was the artist. Why? Because people’s opinions of a work can be tainted if they know they are speaking to the creator. In a less philosophical sense, he had spent enough of his life in the centre of unwanted attention and hated drawing it to himself.
“I’m sure I will.” He laughed when she told him he would get used to her bossing him around again.
He raised an eyebrow when she asked if he wanted to hear how her husband asked her out, his curiosity piqued by her asking, but she continued before he had a chance to respond. As she told him the story, he smiled. It was the kind of story that reminded you of the magic that is finding the one.
“That sounds so romantic. Like something out of a movie.” He commented after she had finished. “I can see why you married him.”
“I may need another drink.” He admitted with a nervous laugh, responding to the last of her questions after a silence had attempted to settle in between them.
@benitz786 - Candice