“You have a visitor, po.”
A few minutes later, both women walked down the stairs, and to their surprise, they saw Harmon and Baron seated in the café.Nervousness raked through Sal, but she steeled herself enough to walk over.
“Hi, what are you guys doing here?”Willow asked.
“We’re here to look at the place you’ve chosen,” Harmon replied, taking a sip of what looked to be tsokolate de batirol, or Filipino hot chocolate made from native cocoa beans.“This is delicious,” Harmon said, smacking his lips.
“Harmon?”Sal said, gazing at him.
“Yes?”He looked up at her while taking another sip.
“I want a word, please,” she said, tilting her head and urging him to walk with her.
Harmon took another sip of his tsokolate and set it down to follow Sal.Sal led him out of the café and gestured that they should take a walk.Harmon obliged, striding next to her with his hands in his pockets.
“What are you doing here?”She said, looking up at him.
“Aside from checking out the site you chose, a little birdie told me you have something substantial to exhibit.”
“And so?”
“You can’t be serious about exhibiting it.Not without the provenance papers.”His voice was calm, but Sal detected an undercurrent of worry in his tone.
“Technically, I can.It’s properly appraised and has customs clearance.Why are you worried?”
Harmon stopped in his tracks.“Do I really need to explain to you why I’m worried?”he said, brows furrowed under his black bangs.“Apart from the fact that this could ruin your reputation as an art curator?”
“You’re being overdramatic, Harmon,” she said, trying to sound unaffected.
“No, I am not.You need the provenance documents to prove the legitimacy of the item you’re debuting.If you don’t have them, you risk people in the industry calling you a scammer or a hack.This will make your art show a circus.I’ve seen it happen before,” he said in a serious tone.“I care about you a lot.”
She walked closer to him and craned her neck so she could look into his dark eyes.“I have someone else to worry for me…” she whispered.“Please stop acting like you care.And forget that we ever kissed, for both our sakes.”
Harmon’s eyes softened, half-hurting, half-yearning, and her heart felt like it was going to crack.This is for the best.Please, just go,she silently pleaded.The world stretched and expanded again when they looked into each other’s eyes, and Sal once forgot she was standing on the sidewalk challenging him.
“Do you really mean that?Tell me you don’t feel an ounce of this spark I feel and I’ll never bring it up again,” he said, his pain clear on his face.
Sal balled her hands into fists and willed herself to speak, but just as she was going to respond, she saw Rafa from the corner of her eye with a confused expression on his face.She took a step back.“R-Rafa…” she breathed out.
Harmon looked over his shoulder and scowled.
A silent, pregnant minute passed before anyone spoke.
“Mr.Tovar, we were just talking about the art show,” Harmon said, breaking the silence.
Sal walked past Harmon and approached Rafa.“Rafa, let’s go back to the café,” she whispered.
Rafa’s gaze never wavered from Harmon.His jaw was clenched.But he placed a gentle hand on the small of Sal’s back.“You go ahead without me,” he said, still glaring at Harmon.“I think it’s time Harmon and I got to know each other.”
Chapter Thirty
A Life That is Mine
RAFA
Rafa’sglareremainedfixedon Harmon as he squeezed Sal’s hand.“I love you.I’ll speak with you later,” he assured her, his eyes still facing forward.Sal walked away without saying another word, and as soon as she was out of sight, he paced toward Harmon.He clenched his jaw and glowered at him.Harmon stood his ground and didn’t cower.Good, because neither would he.
“I just wanted to talk to Sal about—” Harmon started.
