He really hadn’t connected the dots, so as he led us toward much more traditional-looking artwork, I finally decided subtle was a terrible option when it came to Knox.
“You know.” Pointing to a painting of the ocean on a stormy day, I waited until he was paying attention to continue. “That one might look good in your office. I know how the white walls are driving you crazy.”
And the light bulb went off.
“We’re...” Looking around, his eyes widened. “We’re going to get something for my office?”
Refusing to mentally walk through how he was so confused since I knew it wouldn’t make sense, I nodded. “Yes, the blank walls are traumatic and we can’t have that.”
I didn’t need a wrapping paper room anyway.
“The walls are very distracting.” Perking up now that he realized I wasn’t simply torturing him because it was fun, he grabbed my hand and dragged me toward another wall in the surprisingly large gallery. “Look at that one. It’s almost like an old map.”
The painting was clearly designed to look like an antique map of the downtown area and I could see why Knox liked it. “I think that’s the area where your house should be. What time period is this supposed to be?”
Knox started reading off the description on the small plaque, answering most of my questions as he got more and more wrapped up in the painting. “Look at the water over there.”
And we looked at the rivers and we looked at the trees and we tried to guess where the major roads would eventually go...yep, this was definitely Knox’s kind of artwork. “Do you think this would look good on the wall behind your desk?”
He didn’t even hesitate before nodding. “Yes, it’s perfect.”
I still got a giggle out of it becoming his office so quickly, and he had no idea why it was so cute. In his mind, it was his space and had been since he’d first walked into it. But to make him truly happy in his office, we needed more decorations for it and a few more practical items.
“Alright, how about we look for something else for the opposite wall? I think that will be a great start on making the room feel less distracting.” And it wouldn’t spoil the surprise I’d already arranged. “Dogs playing poker or something with a different feel?”
He was the cutest nut ever and took the whole thing absolutely seriously. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything that traditional here but I’m sure we can find something. I like that it has local artists.”
The gallery was a lot nicer than I’d expected and I wanted to point out that they needed to update their website, but it wasn’t my business, so I stayed focused on the art. “Me too.”
Once he was shopping with a purpose and not just randomly trying to make me happy by wandering stores, he was much more enthusiastic. Well, in a Knox kind of way. Before, he seemed to have been studying it from ahow do I make Rohan happyviewpoint.
It was odd.
He’d started taking notes that seemed to be about what I liked to do and had even written down what I’d said about my favorite ice cream flavors.
I felt kind of like a new character in one of his books and I couldn’t wait to see what else his brain came up with.
But first, we had to shop for artwork for his blank walls.
His distractingly blank walls in his nearly empty office.
Nothing weird about that...or the way he seemed to have forgotten the other house actually existed.
Walking through the gallery and making the appropriate noises as he talked to himself about the art, I had time to start wondering what he was thinking about the other house.
“They deliver, right?” Cocking his head and studying a landscape painting that would take up most of the wall in question, he frowned. “I don’t think we can get something like this home safely.”
Yep.
Home.
“I agree. Delivery is going to be a requirement as well as someone to help me hang it.” I gave my adorably nutty author a curious glance. “Unless you’re going to help me?”
“There aren’t enough blow jobs in the world to make me do a home improvement project of any kind.” Knox was perfectly serious and jumped a foot when someone behind us giggled.
Oops.
“Well, luckily for you, we can arrange for delivery and for someone to help hang it up.” The ancient woman who’d scared the pants off Knox could’ve been anywhere between eighty and a hundred and twenty but seemed to have the sense of humor of an eight-year-old boy because she was nearly snickering.
