“It is. This is a nice surprise.” He walked over and gave her a quick hug. “Sorry, am I sweaty?”
“No. Well, yes, but you’re fine.”
He held his hand up toward the wall. “I think it’s a lot prettier than the crumbling, painted brick. What do you think?”
“So much better. I think I’m going to enjoy walking this way a lot more often now.”
“That’s good. You know I live in this direction.”
“I’ve heard.” She held a bag in her left hand. She looked hesitant. “It occurred to me you invited me to lunch, and I never really answered you, so I brought enough for two… in case you haven’t eaten yet.”
“I’m famished.” He looked at the bed of his truck loaded to the hilt. “I was going to run this to storage at my place. You wouldn’t have time to ride with me, and we could eat there, would you?”
“I have a little over an hour at my disposal. Is that enough time?”
“Plenty. I’m just going to pull this in the storage bay loaded, so it’ll be ready for the next job.” He walked around to thepassenger side and moved his laptop and a stack of papers from the seat. “It’s usually neater than this.”
He helped her into the truck. “Actually, maybe it’s never neater.” He shook his head, lowering his eyes. “It’s a work truck. Don’t know why I said that.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “A cluttered truck is perfectly acceptable.”
He got in and drove down a few blocks, pulling around to the back of his building. Three garage doors and a loading dock lined the back wall of the building.
Matthew pressed a clicker clipped to his sun visor and one door slowly lifted.
“I didn’t even know this was back here.”
“You can find hidden secrets all over this city. I personally think a garage is a real treasure, especially for someone like me who needs some warehouse space. The key is to know where to search.”
The lights flickered inside the garage, exposing diamond-plated chrome cabinets on the walls and metal shelving holding as many cans, maybe more, than the local mom-and-pop hardware store. One-gallon and five-gallon pails in a rainbow of colors from paint drips down the sides crowded the shelves. He pulled the truck inside and pushed the button to lower the garage door.
She climbed out of the cab. “Do you need any of this stuff?”
“Just my laptop.” He met her in front of the truck and took the lunch bag and the computer. “After you.”
They walked down the hall and then he moved ahead to catch the elevator door before it closed. They got in, and he held a fob up to the elevator panel, then pressed the button to the top floor.
He glanced over at her and smiled.
“The penthouse?”
“Not that fancy,” he said. “Just on the top.”
“Location is everything,” she reminded him. The elevator came to a stop with a chugging lurch, and the doors opened. “Wow. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.” She didn’t wait for him, walking straight into the middle of his studio. Several paintings were in various stages of completion. White boards on an interior wall held sketches and clipboards with what looked like work orders on them. Most of the space was windows. She stopped at a beautiful painting in an awkward state of completion. One whole side was empty, the rest a breathtaking landscape that seemed perfect.
“You like that?”
“Is it done?”
He shook his head. “Don’t know that it ever will be finished. Or maybe it is.” He stared at it, as if looking for answers that weren’t there. “I started this painting years ago. I just can’t finish it for some reason. No idea why.”
“I never really considered that could happen. It’s either your perception of something you see, or something you’re making up. Seems so straightforward, but it’s not like that, is it?”
“Is anything?” He didn’t wait for a response. “It’s emotion. It’s something inside that you can’t explain. Maybe not for every artist, but for me, that’s how it is. There are a variety of intangibles within that painting the person looking at it may enjoy, but never understand.”
“That’s really special.” She stood there quietly for an awkwardly long moment, then turned and caught the beauty of the city. “The view here is breathtaking, and it’s so bright.”
“The view is my favorite part too.” He walked toward the windows. “You can’t beat the light up here.”
