Page 5 of Forever Mine
Chapter 3
“Hey, Shev.” Joey grabbed my arm to get my attention and pointed deeper into the room. “I see somebody I know from Vision. Talk to you later.”
Pete followed his lead, and I watched them until Joey clasped another guy by the hand. Theyclapped each other on the back while talking loudly. Apparently, we were not the only ones attending from Jamaica.
Imovedtoward a display on the other side of the ballroom. A row of framed,animated charactersdominatedone wall. They were only vaguely familiar to be, but I expected that the two budding geniuses with me would be in the know about who, or which studios, they represented. The characters ran the gamut from cuddly to cutting-edge.
I was standing in front of a muscle-bound figure that personified a Sci-Fi superhero, when the energy around me shifted.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” A man’s low voice,that was slightly familiar,hit my ear.
He smelled good. His scent was reminiscent of cinnamon and nutmeg, lavender and peach. The blend of spicy and sweet reminded me that I’d eaten too many hours ago.
Blue Eyes stood next to me, feet spread wide, and hands folded behind him.
I cast a glance at him and turned back to the artwork on the wall. “I like the energy and the clean lines in some of them. The others, not so much.”
He chuckled. “What’s wrong with the ones you don’t like?”
“Too lifelike for my taste.”
“But isn’t that what great animationisall about? Imitating reality, but creatively?” he said, raising both eyebrows.
“I’m not a graphic artist or animator, so I wouldn’t know.”
Under the light, his eyes were intense, a deeper shade than in the daytime. Almost hypnotic. “So why are you here?” he asked.
I pointed to where my charges stood. “I’m babysitting. My GAsareover there.”
He turned to look where I indicated and smiled when he faced me. “Ah, I see. Which studio are you representing?”
I didn’t see why he’d want to know, but I told him.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
Arching one brow, I asked, “Why?”
He laughed, a mellow sound that was at odds with his youthful appearance. “Your suspicion is unwarranted. I just thought you sounded like someone from the islands.”
“Jamaica.”
His eyes took on a speculative gleam. “Now you understand why I asked.”
“Mmm.”
He shifted to allow a young man to get past us and focused on meagain.“So,you’ll be staying for the entire conference?”
One side of my mouth tipped up.“Is that a pickup line?”
He chuckled while studying me as if he didn’t care that I knew what he was doing.
I stared back, hoping the open curiosity in his gaze wasn’t reflected in mine.
His cobalt-blue shirt and jeans clashed with the way most of the other people in the room were dressed. Still, he managed to look decent. He didn’t seem uncomfortable, which made me think he was probably a small-time independent animator, who didn't care about social graces, or a brilliant one who’d struck it rich early.
My lips twitched as a picture of a cramped apartment, overrun with empty beer cans and pizza boxes settled in my mind. I was making assumptions, but given the way he was dressed and how laid back he seemed, I didn’t think I was far off the mark.
When I looked at myself earlier, I was atadworried about being overdressed, but my black dress struck the perfect balance between casual and elegant and my high heels added a touch of sophistication. The other women in the room were nicely dressed, which validated the choice I’d made.