Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(15)

“Yeah, I guess he always goes. Has to schmooze. Find a girl to take home then dump. You know the story.”

“Wow, Bitter Betty, did he shit in your coffee this morning or something?” Kate asked with a smirk.

Kate, unlike Jasmine, wasn’t all that thrilled Krista still talked to a man wanting nothing more than a roll in the hay. Kate and Jasmine were always two sides about everything. They were the devil and angel on Krista’s shoulders, except they usually took turns wearing the different hats of good and evil.

“I walked in on him feeling up some chick from Accounting.”

Kate’s look turned serious. “You didn’t fall for him did you? Because you know you can’t do that, Kris. You know—“

“No, I didn’t fall for him,” Krista said defensively, shifting in her seat. “I’m not quite that stupid. I just…he’s just…it’s just nice talking to him. I couldn’t find anything that made me believe all the rumors. Until today.”

“Besides always trying to f**k you?” Kate got slightly more dirty-mouthed when she was riled up, which was saying something, because she was plenty filthy in the normal course of her day.

“Who is this?” Ben asked quietly.

Krista rolled her eyes. “A guy I work with. He’s always after—“

“Her pu**y,” Kate interjected.

“Kate, you know I hate that word!” Krista said with spite.

“That’s why I used it. I can see you losing sight of yourself with him. As I sit here, I can see it as you talk about him. He’s no good. Do I have to remind you that Jim was exactly the same way in the beginning? Attractive and clever and dashing?”

“No—“

“Because he was Krista. Jim could charm a woman out of her house if he wanted to. He was sweet and chatty and was completely focused on you and only you. Remember?”

“Yes,” Krista said sullenly, sinking into herself.

“And what happened when you finally gave in? When you decided that this time, this time, he was actually what he seemed?”

“But, in my defense, he had been into me.”

“He started abusing you, Krista! That’s what happened then! Cheating on you, hitting you, messing with your head—”

“What?” Ben sat forward, alarmed.

“Yes, Ben,” Kate said, not taking her eyes off Krista shrinking in her chair. “Krista, against her own better judgment, gave in to her ex-boyfriend Jim because he was so delightful. So handsome—“

“You thought he was, too,” Jasmine threw in. “You’re being harsh.”

“Yes, Jaz, I did. We all did. I’m not blaming Krista for Jim. We were all fooled with him. No one saw that coming. We were all young and inexperienced.

“But I’m not fooled with Sean. I’m not a Bambi-eyed jackass anymore. I’ve seen through the rabbit hole with guys like him, and yes, very few are Jim’s caliber of f**ked up, but still, I know what waits for Krista with a guy like Sean. She is only getting her life back together. She is only now, after nearly a year, starting to poke her head out of her turtle shell and realizing how strong of a woman she is. She is only now starting to joke again, for f**k’s sake! I-will-not-let-another-womanizing-f*ck-head-*-mess-that-up-for-her!”

“Well, despite my moment of insanity, Kate,” Krista said, wiping a tear from her eye. “Sean is a floozy, I got proof today, and I am back on course.”

“So there,” Jasmine said with a nod.

“I knew a man was your ocean,” Ben said pensively.

“What?” Kate and Jasmine asked together, thinking, quite rightly, that Ben was half cracked.

“Shall we?” Krista stood and turned toward the painting.

“Yes.” Ben got up, too. “I did guess on a few things, but it looks like I guessed right. I embellished a little, but it appears I really didn’t, so all-in-all, I think I just about hit the mark. I’d like to meet the Ocean, of course. I could do a couple touch-ups to really bring it three-dimensional.”

“No.”

“I’d like to meet the Ocean myself,” Jasmine said with a wicked grin. “I don’t mind using him for a night. I never have to see him again.”

“Take one down, pass it around…” Kate sang.

“Yes, okay,” Ben said, trying to tune out the feminine brigade behind him.

In the living room, amid the painting and all the plastic sheets, the crew of four gathered around the painting, currently covered with a faded black sheet.

“You need new sheets, Ben. Not that I’m commenting,” Jasmine observed dryly.

“Ah…okay. So, what I need from all of you are your thoughts. More aptly speaking, your emotions when it comes to looking at the piece. If there are any, of course. Okay.”

Ben carefully removed the sheet off of a fury of color.

“Oh!” Kate said, staring wide-eyed.

Krista had thought there would be primarily reds and blues, and technically it probably was, but to the eye, it was so much more. While it was every bit the abstract painting Ben had set out for, she saw the shapes he’d envisioned. There were the swirls of yellow and orange—hope. There was the anger and uncertainty and whatever else he’d said was red. The waves and currents and undertow in blues. In the middle, where the most yellow and orange could be found zinging through the canvas, was a clash of the blue and red, turning the colors violet, indigo, magenta and pink.