Page 93 of The Keeper and I

He took it. A collage of classic art made up the glossy cover. The title wasArt Through the Ages: History as Told by the Brush. He recognized a few pieces from the cover, but when he opened it and flipped through the first few pages, he saw a couple that were new to him.

“Holy fucking shit, this is cool,” he said.

“You think so?”

He looked at her to find she was chewing her bottom lip, uncertainty furrowing her brow. “Fuck yeah, I love it!”

She grinned. “I was so impressed with all the art you knew at the estate, so I thought you might like something like this. It’s a great coffee table book.”

“It’s perfect, thank you.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Jordan.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

They kissed again. When they parted, he tucked her hair behind her ear, and the diamond in her lobe caught the light with a sparkle.

“How was your shoot today?” he asked.

“It was good. Average day, really,” she said, cutting her eyes to the couch for a fleeting second before meeting his gaze again. “What do you wanna do for dinner? I’m thinking takeaway since neither of us is up for cooking.”

His brow knit together at how fast she changed the subject. Normally, Laci gave him some details like how Amy did her makeup or if the other girls shared any gossip. One of the other models was a woman Laci had done a few shoots with, and she was trying to discover if her boyfriend was cheating or planning a proposal, and Jordan was anxious to know if they’d figured out which.

Laci picked up her phone and pulled up the number for their favorite sushi place. He hoped she was simply hungry and not keeping something from him.

Chapter 24

“Tellmeagainwhatyou like so much about this wee movie,” Jordan said, taking a seat beside Laci on the couch.

“First of all, it’s a solid three hours, so I’m not sure ‘wee’ is the best descriptor,” she replied with an amused smirk. “Second of all, I love it because it’s deceptively profound. On the surface, it seems like a romance, but it isn’t. There is a love story in it, but what it’s really about is a young woman finding her agency. Through that love, and through one of the most famous disasters in history, she finds herself.”

Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes! I know it’s basically a meme these days, but it’s a beautiful film if you watch it closely.”

“You feel quite strongly about this, don’t you?”

“I do.”

Her fingers found the replica necklace and her eyes set on the screen as Jordan pulled upTitanic. They decided the best day to watch it was on the anniversary of the ship’s sinking. Jordan wasn’t sure how seriously he could take the movie since all he knew were the memes, but he’d promised Laci he’d give it a shot.

The famous shot of Kate and Leo in their embrace on the bow filled the screen. Perhaps with her beside him, he’d be able to see it through her eyes a bit. He pressed play.

The first part of the film took place in what was then the present day. It surprised and intrigued him. Before too long, he found himself invested. He liked Jack as a character, mainly his survival instinct and his artwork. He found Rose compelling and tragic, in her own way, but knew based on Laci’s earlier statement she would make it out.

“I love Rose,” Laci said as they watched. “I’ve always sort of related to her.”

“Why?” Jordan joked. “You once took a third-class lover too?”

She swatted his arm. “No, nothing like that. I just…” She took a deep breath. “Rose has all these expectations on her, right? To be a certain kind of woman in order to keep the people around her comfortable.”

“How do you relate to that?”

“When you’re the big girl, there’s certain expectations as well,” she said. Jordan blinked and looked at her, but her eyes were on her lap. “There are only so many roles for the fat girl—comedic sidekick or insecure counterpart to a confident main character. That was so clear in my life. When I talked about fashion and beauty, no one took me seriously. But I took myself seriously, and that made people uncomfortable.”

He’d never heard her talk about her body with such reservation before. He paused the movie and waited for her to go on.

“I never told self-deprecating jokes. I held myself in the same regard my thin friends did. I forced myself to see me as a complete person, deserving of love and respect and dignity. I refused to fit into the roles that made other people comfortable with my size. It took a lot of work to get to the place I am today. But I’m really glad I did.”