“So what are you gonna do, man?” Anthony asked over drinks with Craig.
Craig stared into his glass. “Been trying to figure it out.” He angled his head toward Anthony. “I can’t ask her to run around the world with me. She has her father to think about. And I can’t very well stay behind. We have projects lined up for the next two years.”
“Yeah, and so where does that leave you?”
“Screwed.”
“Listen, plenty of folks have done the long-distance thing. If it’s meant to work out, it will. What is she saying?”
“Not much. It was me that told her I’d find a way.”
“Humph.” Anthony took a swallow of his drink. “Well, then, my brother, I suggest you get to finding a way.”
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically.
“Hey, I’m really glad to hear about you and your pops, man.” He clapped Craig on the back. “I know how much that thing between you ate you up, even if you didn’t admit it. Good that y’all made peace. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been to hear all that, and even harder for your pop to tell it to you.”
“Yeah, it’s gonna take some time to get past it. But I’m planning to take Jewel’s advice and not shift my animosity from my dad to my mom. It’s a no-win situation.”
“I hear that. Smart lady.”
Craig half grinned. “Yeah.”
“You know, if you need to, you can hang back a couple more days. I can take care of the crew and get started on the editing back in LA.”
“Thanks, man. I might take you up on that. I’ll let you know in the morning.” He lifted his cell from the table and checked the time. “I’m going to cut out. Stop by and see Jewel.”
“Cool.”
They gripped hands and shoulder hugged.
“See you in the morning,” Craig said and walked out.
* * *
On the drive over to Jewel’s place, he went through a dozen scenarios. None of them was going to solve their problem, and he wasn’t sure what would. When he rolled up to the front of the property, he called. She answered on the second ring.
“Hey, baby. I’m out front.”
“I’m at the cottage.”
“Be there in a few.”
At least she didn’t sound as upset as she’d looked this morning. If anything she sounded happy.
Jewel met him at the door with open arms and a welcoming smile. “Hey,” she whispered and stepped into his arms.
“Hey, yourself.” He squeezed her close.
“Come on in. How did it go today?”
“Good. It’s a wrap,” he joked.
“I want to talk to you, and there’s something I need to show you.”
She led him inside. On the evenings they spent at the cottage, Jewel made it a point to keep the canvases covered, insisting that she never showed anyone her work while it was in progress. It was partly true, but in this case she was more concerned about how Craig would feel about the work. If he felt that the art truly depicted his vision.
They walked around to the front of the canvases, and one by one Jewel removed the cloths that covered them until all four were revealed.
For several moments Craig was completely speechless. Slowly he walked back and forth in front of them. Then he spun toward her. His face looked as if it was lit from within. His eyes actually glowed.
“Jewel, these pictures...they’re...”
“Do you like them?”
“Like them? I love them. They’re amazing, even more stunning than watching it on film. The way you captured the nuances of their expressions, the body language—they look as if any minute they’re going to walk off the canvas and into the room.”
He looked at her with awe. “You are incredible. This is what you’ve been working on and hiding from me?”
She grinned. “Yes. I didn’t know how they would turn out or how you would feel about them.”
“You don’t plan to hide them in here forever, do you? You are planning to show them?”
“That’s the part I wanted to talk with you about...”
* * *
Craig listened intently to what Jewel and her friend Mai had envisioned, and his own mind was on overdrive thinking of the collaborative potential.
“We can do this,” he cut in before she’d finished. “I love the idea. We use your art as publicity for the movie and the movie as publicity for your art. It’s crazy brilliant, and I know it’ll work.”
Jewel breathed a deep sigh of relief. “I wasn’t sure if you would go for it.”
“Whatever can keep us and bring us closer together, then I’m all for it, baby. This may open up the doors to a whole new way of cross advertising, not to mention the business it will bring you.”
Jewel plopped down on a chair and looked at him. “I hadn’t even thought about that,” she said with wonder in her voice.
“Yeah, well, think about it, ’cause I believe that you have taken your art to a whole new level. This is just the beginning.”
She leaped up and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. “I love you, love you.” She kissed him solidly on the mouth.
“Love you right back, baby. Why don’t you let me show you how much?”
“I’m liking the sound of that.”
* * *
“I was supposed to leave tomorrow, but I can stay on a couple more days,” Craig said against Jewel’s neck.
She draped a leg across his body. “It’s okay. We’ll be okay. I was thinking that maybe I could come out to LA in a few weeks for a long weekend.”
“You’d do that?”
“Yes. Of course.”
He hugged her tighter. “You just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll take care of everything.”
“No arguments from me,” she joked.
“And I’ll come to you before I head back to London, and when I get there I’ll send for you. You can come and see me work on my next project, maybe get some inspiration,” he added and slid his hand down between her legs.
“I’m inspired already,” she said against his mouth.
“We’re going to make this work, baby,” he said, rolling on top of her. “Whatever it takes.”
“Show me just how invested you are in our success.”
“With pleasure.”
* * *
“You sure you don’t want me to ride with you to the airport?” Jewel asked the following morning.
“No, that’s only going to make it harder.”
“We’ll see each other in two weeks.”
Jewel heaved a sigh.
Craig hesitated a moment, but he knew what was on his mind had to be said. “There is one thing that was bugging me about your work.”
“What?”
“If we’re going to do this together, then you can’t have a show of the work this far in advance of the release of the film.”
Her body tensed. “Why? It’s my work.”
“I understand that, but it’s based on my film.”
“So what are you saying? I thought you loved the concept. You were all for it a minute ago, now it’s your film.”
Craig pushed out a breath. He’d been stung in the past, in his early days of screenwriting, when a woman he was dating took full credit for a project that they’d worked on together based on his idea. He looked at the hurt that masked Jewel’s face. That was then—this was now.
“What I mean is if you show it too far in advance, it will dilute their value in relation to the movie and they won’t do the movie any good at all. This whole thing has to be timed.”
The only thing she’d been focused on was that she’d finished a set of work that she was proud of, work that was gallery ready. Gallery ready meant income—an income that she sorely needed.
Craig walked up to her and held her upper arms. She looked in his eyes.
“If we’re going to do this, we need to plan it right, that’s all I’m saying. I want this to work. Talk with your friend Mai and see what she says. But as far as I see it, too early is too soon.” He pecked her on the lips then hung on for a real kiss. “I’ll call you when I land,” he said. “Love you.” He pecked her lips again, turned and hurried out.
Jewel paced the room. This was her work. She’d come to him with the idea. Sure, the inspiration came from the film, but the work was hers. She’d stayed in the shadows and sat on the sidelines long enough. It was her time again.
* * *
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Mai said thoughtfully as she sat opposite Jewel at the kitchen table. “When is the film being released?”
“At least six months from now. I’m pretty sure he’ll take it to film festivals before it’s released in theaters.”
“That may work.” She put down her coffee cup. “Look, this is a stumbling block, not the end of the journey. I know you had it in your head to jump feetfirst. But this may be a blessing in disguise.” Her eyes lit. She leaned forward. “You will still need at least five to seven more pieces to complete the series.”
“Right.”
“The film has to do what it has to do in the next few months, but in the meantime, I start building your brand. Leaking information of your comeback. Hinting at a major collaboration that’s a game changer for the industry. We get you ready. You get your work ready, and launch the film and your art at the earliest film festival.”
Jewel got excited again. “That might work.”
“Not might, will!”
They lifted their coffee cups in salute.
* * *
As promised, the moment Craig landed in LA he called Jewel while he waited for his bags. Although they did the hug and kiss thing and said the I love yous, he’d still left not feeling good about things between them. He was thrilled that Jewel had gotten her inspiration back, and having gotten it from the film made the connection between them even tighter. It was like two creative minds thinking as one. That itself was a turn-on. The very idea that she was able to see beyond what he presented and translate that into art blew him away.
If only it was that simple. Two creative minds were bound to clash. They each had their vision, their purpose. That was the crossroads where he and Jewel now stood.
When they’d faced each other in the cottage, he knew the instant the words were out of his mouth that she didn’t agree. It wasn’t what she wanted. And he understood why, but he also had to consider what he wanted and what would best serve him and the film.
He’d run the concept past Anthony on the plane ride and he was totally on board but agreed that too soon would blow a hole in the entire project.
Somehow they had to come to a compromise.
“Hey, baby,” he said when she picked up. “I know it’s late.”
“I was waiting for your call,” she said sleepily. “How was the flight?”
“No problems.” He paused, cleared his throat. “Hey, listen, about his whole art meets film. I don’t want to get in your way. I know how important your work is to you, just like mine is to me. I can’t let what I want stop you. I’ve lived through that with my father. I know what it did to me, what it did to him, and I would never put that on you. You deserve your moment. So if you want to put a show together, whatever you want to do, I’m behind you.”
He didn’t know at what point he’d changed his mind. Maybe it was when her heard her voice, or remembered the look in her eyes, or maybe he was finally seeing that to love someone was more than just a feeling—it was doing. Whatever the reason, he was glad that he did.
“That’s why I love you,” she said softly. “But neither of us has to put our work on hold. Mai and I talked about it today, and we think this will work.” She went on to tell them what they’d discussed and how they would gradually release the work.
“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. That’ll work. The first showing is the Independent Film Festival, then Sundance in January and Cannes in May. Distribution is key, but I don’t see a problem. We can plan on a release after Labor Day but definitely before Christmas to even be considered for a Golden Globe or SAG. I’ll have to press my people, but I know we can get the film ready in time.”
Jewel breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m so happy.”
“I miss you already,” he said in response. “Let me know when you want to come out. I’ll make all of the arrangements.”
“I will.” She yawned.
“Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She yawned again.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
“Good night, baby.”
“Night.”
Craig slid the phone in his pocket and strode out of the airport baggage area and into the waiting car. Electric energy pumped through his veins. He could see an amazing future spread out in front of him, and Jewel was right at his side.