Doing shitty work
Felix's pov
My week was spent completely engulfed in work.
Besides my already laborious task of preparing my lectures, the research paper was proving more challenging than anticipated. On top of that, I was receiving many invitations to attend conferences. It was all a bit too stressful, but I did enjoy it to a certain extent. Even though my job wasn't the most exciting, I was still proud of it and my performance.
Blair had also been incredibly busy that week. We did see each other in passing or in the cafeteria, but of course we never spoke for too long. He never paid me a visit to my office I had had hoped, though. On Thursday afternoon, after his tutoring session, he came back to Durham to finish some work at the art studio, but I didn't even bother or tease him. Even though I was dying to be alone with him, his work came first and foremost. If he was free, he knew where to find me anyway.
When I got home Friday afternoon after this week from hell, instead of relaxing like I wanted, I still had so much shit to get done. I knew that as soon as I responded to the e-mails, contacted auction houses for interviews, re-read Mr Turner's proposition, I'd be free for the weekend. So that's what I did. I worked until seven o'clock, until everything was done.
I was sprawled on the couch, exhausted, when my phone buzzed. My mind went straight to Blair. When I picked up the phone, expecting to see his name on the screen, I was unfortunately greeted by Mr Turner's name. He was a nice old man, but jeez, give me a break.
With Blair already on my mind, I opened up his texts, re-reading our conversations, smiling at our provocative messages. He really wasn't kidding when he said I'd be seeing him less, but I wasn't counting on it weighing so much on my mind.
That was when a very stupid, very impulsive, very irresistible idea popped in my head.
FELIX: Are you at your studio?
I waited for a reply which came shortly.
KENT: Been here for a while. Why?
FELIX: I have something to give you. I'll be there in 15 minutes.
KENT: You don't need to come if it's an inconvenience dude.
FELIX: Not an inconvenience at all. I also want to see how the collection is coming along.
KENT: I see, you want to talk shit about my paintings. Fuck off mate.
FELIX: Always a charm.
I grabbed my wallet and keys while thinking about something to give Kent. Of course I had nothing to give him, I just knew Blair would be there and needed an excuse to show up. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he saw me appear out of the blue.
I picked up two tickets for a conference I'd be a guest speaker at and shoved them in my pocket.
I arrived at Kent's studio at around half past seven. As I went up the elevator, my curiosity as to what Blair had been doing at the studio grew. I was very interested to see in what ways he had contributed towards the collection. After all, this collection would be his first collaboration, it was important he did a good job.
When the doors opened, I was taken aback by what I saw.
Kent and his other assistant, David, were painting a canvas on the floor. They were using a pendulum system to create abstract circles. Blair was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey Felix! Welcome man!" Kent said when he heard me walk towards him. His hands were covered in paint. David, who was a student of mine, looked extremely surprised to see me. He greeted me excitedly, feeling proud of himself.
In true Kent style, he walked me through the piece he was working on enthusiastically. Smoke was practically coming out of his ears with excitement. While he spoke, I looked around discreetly, looking for Blair.
"Hey, before I forget." I got the conference tickets and handed them to Kent. "I'll be a guest speaker, need my best man for support."
He fake smiled. He really hated the academic world of Art. "Sure, I'll be there, Professor Reynolds."
"Speaking of Professor," I said nonchalantly. "I think you had another student of mine as your assistant, Mr De Montmorency. Is he here? Wouldn't want to come by and not say hello." He shrugged his shoulders, "He's over there in the kitchen."
In the kitchen?
I walked into the small room already with a bad feeling.
When I opened the door, Blair was chopping potatoes.
He had an artist's apron on, but it was evident he hadn't used it to paint but rather cook.
His mouth fell to the floor when he saw me.
"Professor Reynolds, what are you doing here?" He asked, putting down his knife. He was so taken aback he even stuttered.
"I just came by to drop something off and saw the opportunity to check on my students." I stated, his cheeks flustered. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, though."
"Oh, I was just making dinner." He said. I could hear Kent's footsteps in our direction.
"Dinner?" I asked, shocked. "But aren't you supposed to be doing actual work?"
His expression changed into a mixture of embarrassment and powerlessness, guilt and disappointment. Most notably, he had the same look on his face when I said he was talented.
Like he wasn't entitled to it, like he didn't deserve it.
Why was he letting himself be treated like this? Why didn't he believe in himself?
Anger rose in my body as I slowly realized what was going on.
"Kent," I turned to face him, my tone cold as ice. "What has Blair been doing as your assistant?"
He looked dumbfounded. "What do you mean, what has Blair been doing? He's my assistant, he's been assisting me—"
"Assisting you in the kitchen is not what he signed up for, Kent." I said, losing my temper. Then, I turned to Blair. "Have you helped Kent in anything related to Art?"
He looked petrified. He looked back and forth between Kent and I, his mouth trying to move but failing.
"And you young man," I called David, who stood shyly away from the epicenter of the scene. "I bet you've been doing all the fun stuff, the things that will make you grow as an artist. Not that it's your fault, obviously."
"Professor Reynolds, please—" I heard Blair say behind me in a low voice. He was gonna thank me later for standing up for him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kent grabbed my arm, his eyes piercing mine. I was making a scene and he wasn't liking it one bit.
"What do you think you're doing? Are you gonna tell me it's a coincidence you're giving him, the boy, all the shitty jobs that he shouldn't be doing in the first place?"
A deafening silence fell over us. Kent stared intently at me, then at Blair. I could practically see the wheels turning inside his head.
"I think we should talk outside." He said sternly, making his way to the elevator.