(Carlos)
"Who?" My Shinning one asked
"The guys"
"Please tell me you mean that awesome new boy band that's scheduled to perform tonight"
"Nope."
"What are they doing here?" She groaned
"I don't know they looked like they came separately"
"All three of them"
"No Jay and Sophie were together"
After hearing that, My Shinning one lit up the street with her smile
"About time they got to their senses," My Shinning one said
"You sure that's what happening?"
"Of course, it was only a matter of time now that Nick's out of the picture"
"Then let's go congratulate them," I said, walking off but, she grabbed my arm and pulled me back
"No, they probably came so far because they want to be alone"
"But Carl's inside"
"It's a big place. They probably won't see each other. Now let's go enjoy the last party," she said, pulling me past the gates unto the beach
I simply sighed before smiling
(James)
"Can't you loosen up a little, Taylor," Sophie said
"Sorry, I'm just thinking about you know who," I said
"Well stop. This is supposed to be the night we forget our ex-significant other or in your case potential significant other"
"Alright. Alright," I smiled before we saw the first portrait with five people staring at it.
It was a green dot labeled truth surrounded by red dots
"Wonderful"
"Absolutely marvelous"
"Absolutely breathtaking" another gawked
"What do you think?" A guy asked Sophie
"I think she is trying to say that in every ocean of lies there is always a little island of truth," Sophie said.
The five spectators all smiled at her answer before going elsewhere
"Wow. Couldn't have thought of a better answer. It sounds like something Lady Ann would say" I said smiling
"Yeah, I'm a huge fan of her works. I follow her blog and everything she does"
"Me too. When did you start following her?" I asked
"Shortly after she exploded in popularity... so around three years ago. Nick brought me for one of our dates" she said, smiling at her memory
"I actually got into her around that time as well. That's why I really wanted to come to this exhibit I wanted to introduce Betty-Ann to her work like how my mom introduced me. Everything here is supposed to be a Lady Ann original piece" I said
"No, an M.J original should be here. I read it in an article on their website, but there wasn't a photo of it" Sophie said
"MJ has a very different art style from Lady Ann so I'm sure it'd stick out"
"How about a game?" she smirked
"What kind of game?" I asked curiously
"We're looking for the M.J painting. The person who finds it can order the other to do whatever they want" she said
"You sure about this?"
"Yeah. It will definitely keep our mind off of they who shall not be named"
"Fine," I said we shook hands before she walked off
She wasn't playing fair. She knew I was watching so she made an attempt at a seductive walk. It was really awkward and clumsily done so I couldn't keep myself from chuckling as she made her way up the stairs
"Focus Taylor," I said snapping out of it and walking around the exhibit. Going through floors until I noticed it.
A naked statue. A man and woman. The woman was in the man's embrace. It seemed he was lifting her up, his mouth on her neck. Her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and her head flung back
The title of the statue was 'The Greatest Beasts of Lust'. This was definitely MJ's work. It was more direct than Lady Ann's subtle art style
The more I looked at the statue the more it reminded me of the nights I spent with Betty-Ann. Especially the evening we spent in the janitor closet and then the memory of Carl catching us popped up.
"Stop it, Taylor, you're not supposed to be thinking about Betty-Ann," I said before turning to see Carl checking out a picture
I was shocked to see him but it was even more surprising when a woman walked over to him. She was in a beautiful red dress with a large hat over her head and a red scarf concealing her face. It was quite obvious they had come together which threw me for a loop. Not to insult Carl but who would have thought he would have got another woman so soon after his breakup. Wonder how long it will last. I'd like to think it'd be fairly long with the new body but with his personality, I doubt they'll date for long
"Hey" Sophie called sounding rather irritated
"Sophie, when did you get here?"
"I've been trying to get your attention for three minutes" she glared
"Sorry, I was lost in thought"
"Tell me you weren't thinking about her again" she sighed
"No," I said before the manager walked up to us
"Well if it isn't James Issac Taylor"
"Mister Gordon," I said
"Oh please call me Jamie"
"You know him, Taylor?"
"Oh Sophie, this is Jamie Gordon he owns the exhibit"
"James you know that I simply manage it" Jamie denied my claim
"Yeah but this place wouldn't run without you," I said
"Anyways who is this gorgeous young lady"
"This is Sophia Vortex. She's my friend" I said
"You guys seem to be a little more than friends," he said. It irritated me a bit. It was the first time seeing us together yet he assumed we were a couple. Were Sophie and I really that compatible? Looking at Sophie I tried to see what made everyone think we were more than we say
"You don't need to look at her like that. You're embarrassed because it's your first date"
"It's really nothing like that," I said
"No need to lie I mean you did bring her all the way here, didn't you?" he said before I sighed
Now that I think about it if Betty found out about this she'd definitely not want to be my girlfriend. Not that she wants to now. Well I guess it couldn't get worse
"I'm glad you moved on from that heartless shrew that broke your heart"
"Jamie she's not my girlfriend she's my ex"
"As in..."
"The heartless shrew, nice to meet you" she smiled reaching for a handshake
"Ahem" he faked an embarrassed cough
"Same here," he said shaking her hand
"You know when I said heartless shrew I meant it with the best of intentions," he said and I could only chuckle
"I'm sure. So how did you guys meet?" Sophie asked
"Oh, James here helped us set up a new V.R. section of the exhibit. Come let me show you" he said before he walked off and we followed to the open space room with V.R. headsets spread out allowing people with them to move freely
"Wow Taylor did this," she said surprised. She wasn't that surprised that I could do it but more that I did it for them
"Indeed. As for your question, I met James by accident one day when I was in his town and actually hit it off and when my boss asked for a new wing I thought no one else other than James here and neither me nor my boss were disappointed"
"So I'm guessing you're the one who gave him those tickets"
"Guilty as charged," he said before he noticed Sophie looking at one of the headsets
"Lady Ann agreed to let us use some of her works so would you like to try it on?"
"Yes please," Sophie said before he brought us to the headsets,
"These are haptic gloves and a haptic vest. If you put them in you'll be able to interact with things in this virtual world. This is a multidirectional treadmill so you can walk as far as you want" he said
"Okay, so how does this work exactly?" Sophie asked putting on the vest and tracking sensor
"I don't know the technical aspects," he said
"The Haptic Glove is a wearable device that simulates tactile sensations of virtual objects! …When activated, it provides real feedback about the tactile sensation of holding a virtual object. So you can feel the texture of objects" I explained
"That sounds so cool," She said putting them on.
"Let me help you with the headset" I offered
"Thanks," I said as I helped her tighten the headset on her head before putting it on my own. In a second we were transferred into a hall of white tiles
"So where are we?" Sophie asked as she looked around the room
"This is the gallery mode of the system," I told her as she walked over to the wall of paintings that was before us
"So this is just another art gallery? Honestly, I'm disappointed" she sighed
"This is only one of the modes. The special thing about VR is that we can experience things in a new way. Let's do introspective mode now" I smirked
"Introspective mode? What's that?"
"Pick one of the paintings," I told her. Looking around the room her eyes stopped on the painting titled 'Afternoon Breeze'
"Alright, let's go," I said
"Go?"
"Huh-uh" I nodded taking her hand
"Alright," she said as I placed my head on the painting. After ten seconds a load screen appeared and started loading. Quickly reaching one hundred percent the room soon started to change. The pristine white tiles started to change in a holodeck style fashion. After the room changed we were hit by the warm sensation of the warm sun and a warm summer breeze
"Wow is this?" she asked
"Yep, we're in the painting"
"This is so cool" she sad
"When did you have time to program this?" she asked as she ran around the room
"Don't go too far. Remember we're actually still in a room" I chuckled as she stopped
"Wow, this is so impressive. I can actually feel the blades of grass on my fingers and the texture of the wood feels so lifelike. That and the warm breeze makes this feel so lifelike" she said her hand still caressing the wood
"Thanks for the compliment"
"You know what this reminds me of?" she asked
"What? I asked
"That time we left school early and laid under the tree. It was nice" she reminisced
"Yeah it was until the teacher told my Mom"
"Yeah Mrs. Taylor was not happy about that" she giggled
"She cursed us all the way home" I joined in
"You think that's bad. She called my Mom and told her what happened. Luckily she was out of town like always"
"Yeah my dad was the one who saved me from too drastic a punishments," I said
They were really close weren't they?" Sophie said the smile on her face started to fade
"Yeah, they were each other since college. Mom and your mom were even friends in high school" I said
"That's why it's so sad" she sighed
"What is?" I asked
"It's nothing" she sighed before I felt something in my phone in my pocket vibrate
"I think I'm getting a call, Let's log off these," I said
"Okay," I said before we all took off the headset
"Why did you guys log off? Did something happen?" Jamie asked
"No, I just need to answer my phone" I said before I walked out. Heading to the balcony then I saw a Carl again and this time making my way over to him
"Hey Carl" I said going up to him
"J-J-James," he said. I noticed he seemed to be nervous
"Is something wrong?" I asked
"NO!" he yelled
Um?"
"I am just wondering what are you doing here. Not that you can't be here. I just mean I didn't expect to see you out of town so soon. Did something happen? How long are you staying? " he started rambling
"Carl breathe, I just came here to take my mind off things. Sophie came with me to do the same thing"
"Oh, you and Sophie came. It must be nice to have someone here with you seeing that I came by myself and am completely by myself here. Yep just me by my lonesome unless you count my shadow. Then it's the two of us and" he continued to ramble still sweating profusely
"Carl stop it," I said
"Okay," he said
"So why are you here? I thought you'd be back tomorrow"
"Um, camp ended early."
"I thought you went to a Pet convention"
"Yeah, it was a Pet convention slash camp. You know they had to make the two of them on the same day because the day of the original convention was cancelled" he rambled
"Well since you're here you can hang out with us. Sophie's in the new V.R. room. I'm just going out for some fresh air" I said
"Okay...sure," he said
"Alright see you" I said finally making out to the balcony. The cold night air was refreshing. Taking out my phone I looked out across the street at a blazing bonfire that people were dancing around it under the night sky. It looked fun. I wanted to continue watching but then my phone rang
"Hey Rebecca, I was just about to call you" I said
"James, where are you?"
"I'm at the Saint Terra Beth Art exhibit, Why?"
"Betty-Ann just came by asking if you were here. She sounded really worried"
"Oh," I said with an exhausted sigh
"Oh? What's with that oh. Isn't this improvement?"
"Yeah. I'm just not sure if she's your looking for me or for another call boy session"
"James, you don't sound so worried if you're just looking for a call boy"
"You think" I said smiling
"Yeah by the way you wouldn't happen to know where Sophie is. Her mother's looking for her along with your dad"
"Um about that"
"No way! You're with Sophie at some fancy art exhibit" she laughed
"It's not what it sounds like"
"Really because it sounds like you're on a date"
"It's not we just needed cheering up. We're just cheering each other up"
"Cheering each other up huh"
"Not like that"
"Whatever you say." she sung
Quickly needing to change the topic I remembered she wanted to tell me something this evening so I said
"Hey you were trying to tell me something earlier, weren't you?"
"Oh yeah. Um, I don't know how to say this. I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news but"
"Rebecca you're making me tense. It's kind of freaking me out, what is it?"
"James I think your mom's having an affair"
"What?"
"I think"
"Do you have any proof of this claim?" I cut her off gripping my phone tighter
"I found a condom in the store"
"And?"
"She was acting strange. She seriously couldn't try to get me out of the store faster and after I left I saw an Uber driving away from the back door"
I stayed quiet for a minute but then pushed the thought out of my head. That's impossible. The thought of my mom having an affair was absolutely ludicrous
"Rebecca I'm sure it's all just a misunderstanding," I said
"I don't know but maybe you're right. I mean it's not like I actually saw her. Just a condom"
"What brand was it?"
"I don't know I only got a glimpse I didn't see the letters," she said before I sighed
"I should head back inside," I said
"Alright by," she said before I hung up and went back inside
(Sophie)
I was in the V.R. room. I had just used the headset for the fifth time. It was really really amazing
"So what do you think?" Jamie asked
"This is amazing Jamie"
"Thank you"
"Are you sure I'm allowed to try it so many times?"
"Of course, any close friends of James are welcomed here. Especially really close 'friends' like yourself"
"It's not like that really"
"No need to convince me. I can see it in the way you look at each other. It seems it won't be long before you guys are back together"
I sighed knowing it was pointless to deny. Thankfully the door opened and Taylor walked back in. He looked lost in thought. I don't know what he was thinking but it was clear he was upset about it
"Hey Taylor" I called out to him snapping out of his daze
"Sophie? Where's Carl?" I asked
"Carl? I haven't seen him. Didn't he go on that pet convention thing?"
"Yeah but he said it finished early or something"
"So you saw him here"
"Yeah," I said, "But looks like he went home"
"So that can't be what got you so deep in thought"
"Actually I want to ask you something. What would you do if someone told you that one of your parents is having an affair"
'Oh shit. Did he find out? Wait maybe this is a good thing. I mean I can't tell him but I couldn't help it if he found out on his own
"Taylor honestly I would at least try to see if that person is telling the truth"
"I thought so" he sighed
'Those two are so busted' I thought smiling like a crazy person
"I'll deal with that later. Let's just enjoy the exhibit"
(James)
We wrapped up the exhibit tour about an hour or two after I took my call and during that time only two paintings reminded in my mind helping me to push away the thought of my Mom having an affair. One was titled 'Lies Become The Truth' and the other was 'Forgotten Brother'
I debated whether or not I should buy them with Sophie and unfortunately I decided not to buy them at her request
"So ready to go?" She asked
"Yeah, we have to go back to school tomorrow," I said before she yawned
"Are you tired?"
"Yeah but I'll just sleep in the car"
"You guys aren't planning on leaving tonight are you?"
"Yeah, something wrong?" I asked
"Not really it's just the roads closed. There was an accident with some boy band named The Guys' tour bus"
"Yeah I know them. Libby's a huge fan"
"Well, they got in an accident. They say they'll be able to fix it by tomorrow so you guys should probably just find a place to stay for the night. I would hurry if I were you. Those festival goers probably booked out most of the good hotels"
"Thanks."
"We'll see you around Jamie"
After that, we left. The closest and nicest hotel was three (3) blocks away. I walked up to the receptionist
"Hey is it possible to get two rooms?"
"Sorry we're all booked out"
"Please. Even a one-bedroom would be fine"
"Well, there is a vacancy. On the third floor. Are you sure you can afford it"
"Yes we'll take it. Thank you" I said before Sophie and I paid and went to the room. It was pretty nice.
"Looks like we'll be sharing a bed" I teased
"If by we you mean me and my shadow yeah. You on the other hand will find the couch really comfortable" she said smiling back at me before jumping on the bed
She must have been really tired because she went to sleep almost immediately.
I couldn't help but smile as I looked at her beautiful face and horrible sleeping posture. Soon I tucked her in before going towards the couch but as soon as I sat down I couldn't keep my mind from straying to what Rebecca told me. In an attempt to ease my anxiety I checked the GPS on her phone. Coincidentally the last place she came to was this very hotel.
I wanted to immediately ask the receptionist if someone named Trudy Taylor checked in but I knew she wouldn't tell me so I hacked into the system and tried to find her. Though I didn't find her name the name Judy Cavanagh caught my eye. Cavanagh was my mother's maiden name and Judy was grandpa's used nickname for her. The room beside this one was the one she had booked
I knew it was a long shot but I decided to check it out anyway if only to prove to myself that Mom would never do something like that. As I opened the door a creaky sound was heard. It got louder as I went inside. What I saw when I was inside was somwthing straight out of my nightmares. Anger overtook me and the only thing I could see was red