“Are you kidding?” she said. “They’re absolutely beautiful. You’re a phenomenal artist. I was kind of wondering why you’d want to give up firefighting and now I know why. Creating images like this is what you’re meant to do.”
I felt a warm feeling spread through my chest. I had never received that kind of encouragement before. There were naïve moments when I was a much younger man when I had dreamt of presenting my parents with my work had having them turn to me with pride and tell me those same words. I had long since given up on that dream. They would never think that what I did was worthwhile… but at least Zoey did.
“Thank you,” I said. “Now all that’s left is for you to put on a private concert for me.”
Zoey laughed. “And I will,” she nodded. “Just not today… I have to head over to campus now, and then I start my new job right after.”
“You got the job!” I said. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Zoey said. “It’s all thanks to one of my professors. I can breathe a little easier now that I have a little money coming in.”
“Good for you.”
Zoey smiled. “I might be back a little late today,” she said. “I might have to stop by my mother’s place to pick up a few more things. I was moving between mom’s place and my brother’s place so much the last few weeks that I have things all over.”
“Ok, no problem.”
We headed back to the living room and Zoey paused for a moment and looked at me awkwardly. “Oh… one more thing,” she said. “I have a favor to ask you.”
“Oh sure,” I nodded. “What is it?”
“Can you not mention to Seth that you’re my new roommate?” she asked.
I paused for a second. “Um… Seth?”
“Surely you’ve met Seth?” Zoey asked, with a frown. “He works at the same station.”
Seth, I reminded myself. He was the one guy at that damn station who was actually decent to me. He was the one I spoke to almost every day when I signed in and then signed out. Zoey knew Seth… I realized that I had never asked her why she had brought those cupcakes to the station or why most of the men there seemed to know her. I had just assumed that she was one of those people who brought food over for the fireman when she could… like a gesture of thanks for the public service they p
rovided.
“Seth is… your brother?” I asked, putting two and two together.
“Yup,” Zoey nodded. “You… didn’t know that?”
“Not until just now.”
“Really?” Zoey asked, frowning. “It never came up? The guys talk all the time when they’re in the lounge between calls.”
How on earth could I admit to her that I wasn’t actually a fireman now? I had taken it too far, and I hadn’t ever corrected her assumption. It would look like a bald-faced lie as opposed to an innocent omission. Even worse, I would be forced to admit to her what I was really doing there at the station, and that meant revealing to her that she was now living with a pot dealer… an ex-pot dealer, a distinction I wasn’t sure she would appreciate.
I swore in my head, but the fact that she was asking me to keep our living situation from Seth worked in my favor. I knew in the back of my head that this couldn’t possibly last indefinitely. Something was bound to come out sooner or later, but if I played this just right maybe, I could contain it. I decided that once she got to know me a little better, one she trusted me then I would come clean to her and explain the reasons I had turned to dealing in the first place.
She would understand, wouldn’t she? I mean… she was an artist too. And she loved what she did. Surely, she could understand the lengths one would go to make sure they could live their truth and do what they were passionate about.
“I… well I do a lot of the grunt work,” I said. I knew the ship had sailed, but I was still trying to avoid an outright lie. “And Seth’s a lot senior to me, and we don’t really… talk a lot.”
“It’s still odd that none of the other guys mentioned it to you even in passing.”
“I tend to keep my head down over there,” I said.
Zoey looked a little curious, but then she shrugged. “Ok, well… I suppose it’s for the best. Seth’s not going to be asking you a lot of questions that might get me caught.”
I frowned. “And you’re scared of being caught because…?”
“Oh,” Zoey smiled. “It’s silly really. He’s just being an overprotective big brother. He doesn’t like the idea of me moving in with a strange man. Not that I can really blame him… I haven’t had the best track record with roommates.”
“No?”