The Studio Visit

"I'll be okay... thank you," she closed her eyes again, "I think I need to lie here for a moment."

He stroked her cheek affectionately and then took a few steps back to take in the scene: her sweaty, spent body draped across the desk with the fan blowing over her, all the notes for her sculpture and art historical images of supine women arrayed on the wall behind her.

"Voila," he said, holding his fingers out in a horizontal rectangle as if to frame the image. He was smirking again, still hard in his trousers, though now his shirt was almost entirely soaked with sweat with a few dry islands. "Behold, my masterpiece," he grinned.

5.

That comment made her sit up quickly. "Wow," she laughed, "You are so corny."

He strode back to her, gripping both her braids in one hand and pulling on them to tip her face up toward him. "Am I?" He stared down at her with complete self-assurance. She wilted under the intensity of his gaze and the strength of his grip, shifting in her seated position, almost uncomfortably turned on again. She couldn't argue the point further. He released her and shrugged.

"How did you know... to do that to me? That I wanted you to be... bossy... like that. Did you know just by looking at me? It's like you read my mind."

He crossed his arms and looked down, smiling sheepishly. "Maybe it's a little mind reading. I felt something after we met. I guess you could say "a vibe", but I couldn't know for sure... But then we happened to come across your Feeld profile. It looks like you aren't very active, but you listed a few things that confirmed it for me."

She put her face in her hands, shaking her head. "I thought I deleted that."

"Nope," he took out his phone, briefly scrolled, and then handed it to her. She extended one hand, keeping her face firmly buried in the other. She peeked through her fingers. It was a screenshot of the profile she had made when she was drunk.

"C, age 29, sculptor, interested in emotional honesty, humor, trust, playful power dynamics. Curious about 'sex in the expanded field', yielding, giving, feeling all the feelings."

Even to her, this read as rather cryptic. "You deduced all that... from this?" She was incredulous. Her eyes were drawn to a notification that popped up on the screen that made her stomach drop but that she could not understand, a text from Margot: "j'aimerais bien aussi visiter! amuse-toi bien avec elle ;)". She hastily placed the phone on the table, screen down.

"That's where the mind reading comes in," he had started to pace around the room, "But seriously, once I figured out that 'the expanded field' was a reference to some art theory essay from the '70s, which was pretty interesting by the way, I read between the lines. It wasn't that hard, Caroline. As it happens I'm conversant both in art speak and power games."

This was all very overwhelming. She gripped the edge of the desk as realizations flooded her mind. "So...that's the reason why you.. wanted to come here today?" There was hurt and confusion written on her face where there had been bliss only a minute earlier. His smile faded and he stopped moving.

"No- I mean, well, partially. I liked you on the app but didn't get a response- obviously- so I took matters into my own hands. I wanted to see you again. It was duplicitous. I'm really sorry about that. But it also is also one hundred percent true that we love your work and would like to commission something from you, no matter what. It wasn't my intention to make a move on you like that today, but-- ugh, I'm sorry this is going to sound really bad-- you were looking at me like you were begging me to kiss you, so I thought... I'd put myself out there."

There was a tension in the way he held himself, like he was a taut bowstring ready to sling himself at her, wanting to soothe the frown from her face. He didn't though, giving her space instead. She looked down at her bare thighs, and her mind reeled at what had just happened- how thrilling and fun and fucking amazing it had felt- and then the subsequent revelations that made her feel like a complete fool. She felt preyed upon... which was both an unsettling and exciting thought. The silence between them was long, and Arthur shifted uncomfortably but stood his ground, waiting.

Finally Caroline spoke, "I don't appreciate the deception, but thankfully you weren't entirely wrong in your reading of the situation, I guess." She offered him a small smile. "Margot saw me on the app too, huh?"

"Yes, we usually do things together."

"Things like seducing ambitious younger artists?"

His sheepish smile returned. "Only the talented and beautiful ones. When I used my phone earlier I let her know what was happening and, for what it's worth, she gave me her blessing."

"That's... good to hear," she sighed.

"I'm glad you think so. You'd be surprised how many women would prefer to believe that I was cheating rather than engaging in ethical non-monogamy."

She considered that for a moment before speaking again. "And is she also... conversant in art and power games?" Her voice was small, but a playful tone had crept back in.

The bowstring released and he stalked toward her, pinning both her wrists against the table with his hands and nudging her legs apart so he could stand between them and look down at her. A flushed smile bloomed on her face. He fixed his eyes on hers, glittering and wicked, and murmured in that low, quiet voice, "You'll just have to find that out for yourself- won't you, Caroline?"