Who Am I (A Jai Courtney Fanfic) Book 2

Chapter 72-Meg

Meg

I kiss Jai goodbye and watch him walk away. I won't stand in his way. I want him to be able to make the connections he wants to make here. I'll stay out where everyone is and I'll continually check my drinks. I also feel a bit safer since everyone here has tickets to the award ceremony tonight so they're all tracked.
I walk over toward the bar where I'd seen empty seats earlier but they're taken now. I continue down a ways and find one vacated, someone carrying off two drinks. I sit down and order a soda. I paint my nails again while I wait and realize I'm getting better. It just takes practice. I think painting on canvas has helped. My hands are steadier today, too. I think I was more nervous the other day—for the other event—but I'm feeling more at ease now. I'm honestly shocked how well my paintings are turning out as I think about it. I wonder if people will see the similarities. I was actually intending on an homage to Van Gogh. I guess time will tell. I lightly touch my nails to see if they're dry and then check my drink when they are. I sigh that it's fine and take a sip.
"Is that the nail polish to check for spiked drinks?" someone asks sitting beside me.
"It is," I nod meeting her eyes.
I can't remember her name but she was in Dune... which won several awards tonight.
"Congratulations. Your movie won so many awards," I tell her.
"Thanks," she smiles. "It was a blast being in it."
"I bet. I've always been a fan of Dune," I smile. "The books are on my to read list."
"Yeah, they're pretty epic," she agrees. "Zendaya," she says reaching out to shake my hand.
"Megan," I smile meeting hers. "That's a lovely bracelet you have," I compliment her.
"Thanks. I actually picked it out first and had them make the skirt to match," she grins.
"You have good taste," I smile.
"Thanks," she smiles in return. "Who made your dress?"
"Umm," I say biting my lip. "I did," I tell her.
"Oh, are you a designer?" she questions.
"I'm kind of an artist," I admit. "I've only made gowns for myself, though."
"You definitely should be making some for these events. You certainly have an eye for it," she tells me.
"Thank you," I say accepting the compliment.
"Who are you here with?" she asks intrigued.
"Jai Courtney," I tell her.
"Oh, so you're the fiancée I've been hearing about," she says excitedly.
I laugh lightly. "That's me," I grin.
We chat a bit and she asks me to paint her nails. I do so warning her that I'm not the best. "Better than me," she laughs.
"You should've seen the bad job on did on Friday. But at least it worked," I tell her.
"Did someone put something in your drink?" she asks.
I nod.
"Wow, keep painting," she teases.
Andrew Garfield comes and joins us and I stop mid stroke. "I'm sorry. I thought you were my brother for a second there," I laugh.
He grins and I finish with her nails and shake his hand introducing myself. Then, I'm asked to fish out my phone so they can see a picture of Mikey.
"He could totally be my little brother," he laughs.
"Oh, we should take a picture. He'll be so jealous," I laugh.
He agrees and Zendaya photobombs us. I chuckle in surprise and I'm so grateful my dad upgraded my phone. This camera is so much better than the last one.
I meet some of her friends and I honestly can't remember all their names but we have a little party of nail painting and chatting. I get to meet Kirsten Dunst and I compliment her on her lovely dress. She smiles and thanks me. I meet her partner—I think she means boyfriend... or wait, he said she's his wife during the ceremony—and shake his hand.
I see Jai talking with some people and I smile at him and wave. I give him an encouraging look that he's fine and so am I.
We all talk a bit more for a while. Someone approaches me—the same man that spoke with Jai earlier—and asks if I wouldn't mind speaking with them.
"Take it," Zendaya whispers in my ear. She reminds me so much of Gale in this moment.
I thank everyone for chatting with me and go back with the gentleman to the room Jai was in previously. There are several people in the room so I feel fine entering in. I shake everyone's hands and I realize that some of them have awards from tonight on the table in front of them.
"It's nice to meet you... Megan Wright, is it?" a gentleman inquires.
"It is," I smile.
They ask me a few questions about the incident tonight and I tell them how we spoke to Will and his wife, how I had Jai encourage him to apologize. I explain all that happened and they nod in understanding. Then they continue to ask about my heritage... particularly my mother's side. I tell them about my grandfather and how he passed away a few years back and I tell them about my Bubbie. They seem happy to discuss her.
"So what does she think about you marrying Jai?" one of them asks.
"She actually likes him better than my previous boyfriend," I laugh lightly.
"But he's not Jewish," they comment.
"In all honesty, neither am I. I am from heredity but I'm a practicing Christian. My Bubbie's response was—nobody's perfect," I tell them.
They laugh but they seem pleased with me.
"Have you ever done any modeling or acting?" they ask.
"I've sold some of my artwork. A series consisted of sixteen self-portraits. It was a cyanotype medium that sold for... I can't remember the total. Jai's drawings were $200,000. Mine were second in price... maybe $100-150,000. I'd have to check my records to be sure," I tell them.
A couple of them look surprised.
"Was this your first art show?" a woman asks.
"I had a photograph on display at the gallery in my school. It was the best of the classes, but yes, this was my first real show. I filled the entire gallery," I explain.
"Are you continuing with that?" the same woman asks.
"I am. I've got tons of pictures I just have to print but I could probably take a break for a couple years and still keep printing from my most recent trips with Jai. That's just the photographs, though. I have a series of paintings I'm currently in progress with that I'm working on in my hotel room. It's an homage to Van Gogh. There's a painting of his at my local museum that I love. I find the Manhattan Beach incredibly beautiful and inspirational," I explain. I continue to explain that I have ideas for sculptures and already have the medium prepared, I just need the time to work on them.
"Do you have any pictures of your paintings?" one man asks curiously.
I pull out my phone and show him the painting. "You've done this recently?" he asks.
"Yesterday," I tell him.
They all pass around my phone and look impressed.
"It sounds like you're keeping yourself quite busy," the woman comments.
"Sometimes," I grin. "I do have time for other things. My schedule is fairly flexible and can work around anything that may come up."
"We've heard you can sing as well," one of the men mentions.
"I can. Jai and I are actually singing at a concert in Anaheim this week," I nod.
"Jai also sings?" they ask surprised.
"He does," I grin happily.
Several of them whisper between themselves for a moment. They all thank me for my time and the same gentleman as earlier walks me to the door. He steps outside and gives me his card. I thank him and offer him one of mine that I had reprinted with my new number. He compliments me on my card and I thank him still holding onto his and looking it over. I try to be as polite as possible since I'm familiar with how important business cards are in Japan. I figure the same is true here. I thank him again as he walks back into the room. He nods and smiles at me. I examine his card once more before tucking it away in my metal cigarette case and searching for Jai.  I see him coming right toward me and I smile.  He reaches out for me and holds me for a minute.  Then he kisses me gently.  I sigh happily at him. 
"I've missed you," I whisper in his ear. 
He tells me the same.  I smile at him and we try to stay together for the rest of the night.