I love the buzz of New York City. It's the kind of place that anything can happen and is most likely happening at this very moment. Not everyone loves the grit, grim, and hustle of this city, but I do. It's the contrast of power you can find in every square inch of this place that draws me in.
I flew here for a gallery show tonight. The artist's way of capturing the light and dark of this place captivates me. I make my way into the SoHo building, passing the socialites as they stop for pictures, and to say their practiced hellos to one another. And though I am recognized, I am left alone.
I am always so grateful for the champagne to find its way to me at these events. I've never felt like I belonged to this world, though I could. It gives me the same feeling that my designer shoes do- it's beautiful, but never quite fits right. I wonder if that's really why I come here- for the discomfort.
Weaving through the maze of the art pieces and I find my way to one towards the back that has caught my eye. It's captivating. Partly a photo printed on canvas, and partly an abstract painting. I am lost in the contrast of this piece. Blacks, whites, and greys with a shock of red. It's the marks on the painting that pull my eyes in. No brush could have made those marks. A fork? A knife? There's a current of anger and rage mixed in this piece that I can't quite put my finger on, but I can relate to. What emotion is it...? Then I almost choke on the champagne as I realize what it is.
A voice behind me says, "I have never seen someone almost start laughing at my work."
I stiffen. Thoughts race as I process that there is someone behind me and that someone is the artist. I continue to face the painting as I allow my eyes to glance towards him as he moves to my side. The heat of him being so close sends a chill over my exposed skin left from my strapless dress. "It's desire isn't it?" I ask.
"And you find that funny...?" he replies.
"No. Not at all. My word for the year is passion," I explain. "And I had been debating with myself whether or not desire was a better choice until I was getting ready tonight." I share.
"What kept you from changing your mind?" he asks.
"Desire is about longing. And as your work conveys, it leaves me, more than anything else, angry." I share.
"Interesting. Why is that?" He presses.
"I am done not getting what I want," I say and look over at him with a wry smile and excuse myself to continue exploring his work.
I set the empty champagne glass down and allow my eyes to wander over each piece, seeing the story that he is telling: heartbreak. It is always so curious why pain is the perfect contrast to pleasure, why they mix together so well, and how muddy they can get, to the point that you can't make out a distinction between the two.
I turn the corner and see him across from me, watching me as he makes small talk and conversation with his admirers. I smile and continue to wander, feeling his eyes on me. I stop, looking at a piece that is raw and carnal, and I see him out of the corner of my eye pulling away from the group and grabbing two glasses of champagne as he makes his way back to me.
Handing me a glass he comments, "This is my personal favorite."
I sip the champagne and echo his words from earlier with a coy expression, "Interesting, why is that?"
I can feel him smirk as I drink in the bubbles of the champagne and the spread legs in the artwork before me. He moves closer to me again, standing slightly behind me, so we almost touch. He leans in, and in a hushed tone answers, "It's more than simply vulnerability. It's reckless abandon. To be that free... To say 'fuck it' and 'consequences be damned.'"
I breathe out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. "That is quite a line..." I say smiling.
"Did it work?" he asks with a grin.
And I can't help but to throw my head back and laugh. I turn to him, smiling. Stepping around behind him, to his other side, I look over to him and whisper, "Runaway with me into the night, with reckless abandon."
He immediately grabs my hand and starts to pull me to the back of the gallery. We don't look around, though we can feel the eyes on us. We both set our glasses of champagne on the waiter's tray as we pass him. We move through the backdoor, out into the alley, and down the few steps into the night. We both start laughing and running. We are free. We circle the corner, and I am pushed up against the brick wall. We are all lips and hands and tongues. We are without a care in this moment.
"Come with me," he says, "There's something I want you to see."
He pulls my hand, and we are running again down the allies that vein through the city. He pulls me into a backdoor of a building and we are in a construction site. Tarps are flapping with the breeze that runs cyclones through the building. And the glow of the city matches my mood- cool and dark, with heat from an unknown source.
"Do you trust me?" He asks, grazing his lips over mine, and then taking my lower lip in his mouth, for a quick, sharp, bite.
"No..." I smirk at him.
"Good girl..." He croons.
His dress shoes and my heels click and echo, as we make our way through the tarped off rooms. Plastic and warped light offers an arousing and eerie tone to the uncertainty that is electric in the air between us. We turn a final corner and in the warm, flickering light, I can see the open service elevator. An accordion-style gate open to a thick, fabric-slatted, net that you can see-through to the cityscape on the other side.