Art Is Dead

My eyes widened in horror as I realized what I had just said. "Damn it, Joanna. Why does she tell me these things? I didn't mean that. You have really pretty eyes. And not like pretty for a mutant, or anything like that. Because, I mean, a good chunk of the population has blue eyes, so it's pretty stupid to call it a mutation. That's like saying blonde hair is a mutation. And I really hope that it's not, because I'm a natural blonde. So that would really suck for the both of us. And you would just get a double dose of mutation then because of your hair and eyes, and-" I stopped abruptly. "That got out of hand way too fast. I'm sorry for rambling. I'm just a little nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" Bo's eyes were alight with his amusement.

"Because I've been having so much fun with you, and I just don't want to ruin it. Of course, prattling on about nothing isn't exactly helping me. I don't know how to shut up."

Bo laughed aloud, clearly enjoying the situation. "Calm down, Nat. It'll be fine. We can still have fun without Joanna around. We did earlier, didn't we?"

"It's not that I'm worried about not having fun. Never mind. Forget I said anything. I just need to stop talking for a little while. That would be helpful."

He looked as if he wanted to persist, but the car slowed to a stop as we arrived at the hotel. I followed Bo from the car, and I felt a thrill race up my spine. I had always wanted to see the inside of this place. It was a posh hotel that was perched upon a hill overlooking the river valley. The building itself looked more like a castle than a hotel, and my inner nerd often compared it to how I had always imagined that Hogwarts would look. Bo led me gently by the arm, reminding me of the fact that I had been standing on the sidewalk gaping for an inappropriate amount of time.

I wanted to explore the stone-walled lobby, which was carpeted in rich purple, but I felt obligated to follow Bo and prevent him from suffering embarrassment due to my small town curiosity. We took an elevator up to a secure floor and Bo opened the door to his room. The suite was more like an apartment than a hotel room. It had a kitchenette, a bedroom separated from the rest of the room by double glass doors, and a balcony with a breathtaking view of the river that divided the city in half.

"Wow," I murmured in awe. "If this is the life you lead, I should really consider becoming famous."

Bo opened the door to the balcony. Though the night was still frigid, we stepped outside and stared at the lights reflecting upon the water. "It's not always this nice, you know. But I'm glad that it's nice tonight though. So tell me, what do you go to school for?"

I pulled the hoodie sleeves down over my hands to keep them warm. "I'm and English major. I want to write books someday. Plus I'm a nerd and this was a good way to be able to read Shakespeare and Homer and other things that the other kids in my high school hated."

"Really? I can't believe that you love Shakespeare. What's your favourite play?"

"I swear that I'm not just saying this because you used it in your act tonight, but I adore Hamlet. I took a university course on Shakespeare just so I could hear more opinions on that play. I wrote a paper on drawing parallels between Hamlet and Ophelia. They had so many similar experiences and behaviours, and they were so in love but nobody really understood it... I don't know, there's a kind of mad beauty in it."

"I've never known someone that actually wants to discuss Hamlet outside of a school setting. This is amazing," he smiled warmly.

"I could say the same to you. For once I'm not the weird geeky kid that reads books in their spare time instead of playing video games. Seriously, the only gaming system that I have is a Super Nintendo that my parents bought for us for Christmas one year."

"Super Nintendo? Like the one with the Duck Hunter game?" he sounded a little too excited by the idea.

"Sadly, no. That one was on the original Nintendo. My brother had one, then sold it. I just played a lot of Super Mario Brothers. Not that I'm complaining; that game was amazing," I added.

Bo nodded, then inched closer and tentatively slid his arms around me. "It's cold," he said, as if I required an explanation.

This time, I nuzzled in close. Someone in the next room began playing some loud rock music, and the sound filtered out to reach us. We stayed there until I could feel Bo shivering against me.

I grabbed him by the hand and pulled him back inside the room. "Come on. You're going to catch a cold if you keep going outside without a jacket."

"Do you always act like such a mom?"

"I am not acting like a mom," I scowled. "It's one thing to be cute and sweet and show me that amazing view, but it's completely different to do it while you're freezing to death."

He smirked playfully. "You think I'm cute?"

"Maybe," I tried not to smile, but my attempt was futile.

"To be fair, Nathalie, I think that you are positively adorable."

I blushed furiously. I wasn't used to guys being like this around me. I was shy around guys, unless they were my friends. Dates were rare, and I usually blamed it on the few extra pounds that I carried. In reality it was only my own insecurities that held me back.

"You need to get warm," I told him, shifting topics like an expert. "Do you want the hoodie back? Or maybe some blankets?"

"Let's see what there is for blankets in the other room," he proposed. He waved me over and opened up the glass doors to the bedroom. I followed a few steps behind, feeling wary over the whole situation. Bo pulled back the thick, blue comforter and crawled into the bed, still fully clothed. He patted the space beside him invitingly.

I joined him, following his example and keeping all of my clothes on. It was quiet for a moment, and a tension seemed to be building as we lay together. I looked over at Bo, and he was watching me carefully.

"Nat?" he whispered when I caught his eye.

"Yeah?"

"Please don't leave me alone tonight."

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "What?"

His eyes took on a glazed, distant look. "She left me two months ago. Well, technically she just dumped me. I'm the one that left. I've stayed on the road ever since. I couldn't be there knowing that she didn't want me anymore. I mean, we were together for almost five years. She was my first real girlfriend."

I felt an intense pang of sympathy for him. I knew what he was feeling. He was wounded, and he hadn't had the time to heal. I cuddled in close and pushed his hair off of his face. "I'm not going anywhere, Bo. I'll stay as long as you need me. You'll be okay, you know. We all face these things. You're still young. All of those cliches that you hear at times like this... they apply here."

He smiled just a bit. "Thanks for only using a few of those cliches."

I shrugged. "I'm not the greatest motivational speaker. Keep your chin up, there's plenty of other fish in the sea, and so on and so forth."

"Okay," he chuckled at my lame attempt at helping. "I get it. And I was wrong to think that she would stay with me forever. I knew that we were having issues, but I thought we would get past them. It's kind of hard to do that when I'm gone so much, I guess."

"Sometimes it's no easier when you're side by side. My last boyfriend cheated on me. A lot, apparently. That's not really something that you can just sweep under the carpet and forget."

"What an asshole," Bo muttered. "He clearly didn't know what he had."

I felt a small grin creeping onto my face. "You've known me for, like, eight hours. You don't exactly know what he had, either."

"I can just tell. You're something special."

"I was thinking the same thing about you." I felt like someone other than myself in that moment. Things like this didn't happen to me. It was like I was in an alternate universe. I had to admit that I liked this skewed reality a lot better than the one that I lived in the rest of the time. I decided to test the limits of my imaginary world.

I leaned in even closer and tested my own boundaries. I pressed my lips against Bo's, and to my delight he reacted positively. His arms snaked around my waist and tightened his grip, pressing our bodies against one another. I brought my hands up and wrapped then around his neck, threading my fingers into his golden hair.

Time seemed to stand still and fly by all at once. At some point, we fell asleep, still thoroughly entangled in one another's embrace. If I had actually needed a reminder that I wasn't dreaming, it came the next morning.

There was a horrendous banging on the door to the bedroom. I leapt up in alarm and fell from the high mattress to the hardwood floor beneath.

"Bo! Wake up, you've got to get packed up and have something to eat. We have to get going to Calgary in a couple of hours."

I watched as the figure, clearly visible through the frosted glass doors, receded and disappeared. The main door to the hotel room closed behind him with a faint click. Bo leaned over the top of the bed and looked down at me.

"Nat? Are you okay?"

I climbed to my feet and dusted myself off. "I'm fine. I should probably go and do the walk of shame now. You're busy."

"The walk of shame? Don't you have to have sex in order to have a walk of shame?"

I gestured down at my clothing. "Generally when people see someone in their clothes from the night before, they don't take the time to differentiate before they judge."

Bo hopped off of the bed and picked up the hoodie that I had spent the better part of the previous night wearing. "Here, wear this."

I waved off his offer. "No, that's yours. Wear it all the time and remember the weird girl who was your personal shopper for a day."

He gently placed the garment on the foot of the bed. "Come with me," he said.

"What?"

Suddenly, Bo looked excited. "Come with me today. I could get you a flight home tomorrow. Or you could come along for a few tour dates. It would be so much fun with you there!"

I chewed my bottom lip. "I want to. You have no idea how much. But it's Sunday, Bo. I'm in my last year of university, I can't just skip a week or two. I have a job, I have things to do. I'm sorry, but I just can't come along."

Bo appeared disappointed by my response. He began digging through his suitcase. "Here," he held out a light blue zippered sweatshirt. "Take this. You can avoid the walk of shame. And then you can wear it all the time and remember the weird guy who needed a personal shopper."

This time, I accepted his offering. I slipped into the sweater and zipped it up. It smelled just like Bo did.

"Don't lose my number," I directed. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'll make time."

"Same to you," he said as he reached out for me. I stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

"I wish it didn't have to end like this," I whispered longingly. "Unless you do this with a different girl in every city. If that's the case, I'm going to choose to keep my last remaining shred of dignity and just leave now."

Bo laughed in a somber tone. "Trust me, this is the first time that I've ever done anything like this. You're different, Nat."

"Good."

We shared a quick kiss, and I left before I could change my mind and go jet setting with Bo across the country. I caught a cab outside the front entrance to the hotel, and spent the ride home feeling blue. I should have known better than to let someone in when I knew that he was leaving so soon. Still, that knowledge didn't make it suck any less.

I unlocked the front door to the townhouse that I shared with Joanna. I found her sitting on the couch in her pajamas, eating a bowl of cereal and watching cartoons. Upon my entrance, she squealed excitedly and leapt to her slipper-clad feet.

"How was he?" she demanded.

I sighed. "I spent a night in a fairy tale, but now I have to come back to real life. I should go and start on my homework." I turned to head up the stairs when my cell phone started ringing. I pulled it from the pocket of Bo's hoodie, feeling perplexed when it was his name on my caller ID. "Bo?" I asked as I answered the phone.

"What's your address?"

"What?"

"I'm asking the questions here, missy. Now what is your address?" he asked pointedly.

I rattled off the information. "Why?" I persisted.

"Didn't I just say that I'm the one asking the questions? I only have one more, I swear. How do you like your eggs?"