Baby Angel | a poly romance

‣ twenty

Nina finally looks up from the metal plaque and stares at her for a moment before she smiles again. "Oh, he did, but I would rather get to know for myself and not through another person. Especially when that other person is Elijah."

The way she said his name made her wonder if she and Elijah were actually friends. Nina seems nice so far, but when Elijah is mentioned, it's like a tab bit of anger or annoyance is hidden in her tone. It made her more curious about their relationship, but at least it confirmed that Elijah did not sleep with her. Good.

"Are you an art major?" Aurelia asks as she follows Nina to the next painting titled When It Hurts.

Nina turns towards Aurelia, pushing her braids over her shoulder and placing her hand on her hips. "Do I look like an Art major?"

She panicked. She didn't want to offend her if she said no, and she didn't want to offend her if she said yes. Aurelia tries to figure out what to say, but she starts overthinking.

"Relax, hun." Nina laughs softly. "I am only teasing you. Yes. I'm an art major."

Aurelia lets out a sigh of relief, which only causes Nina to laugh again. "What kind of art do you do?"

"I do Live Art." Nina smiles as she moves on to the next piece. "I'm quite popular too, which is why I was asked to do a show later tonight. It's also the reason I told Elijah that I would meet you here."

That makes sense. Live Art is beautiful. Watching artists create art in such beautiful fluid ways. She's tall and pretty, and she is an artist on top of it all? No wonder a lot of people are fond of her.

"Nina?"

Aurelia flinches as she hears Arthur's voice. As he walks up with two glasses of white wine in his hand, all she could think of is him completely shutting her art down, making people hate it. Even worse, causing her to feel insecure about it.

"Oh god," she mumbles quietly, annoyed and discomfort covering her face before she turns around to meet the man who's slightly shorter than her. "Good evening, Arthur."

Arthur completely ignores Aurelia's presence, stepping in between her and Nina. "You look lovely this evening. I heard you're performing later tonight. I was wondering if you would like to accompany me after this for another drink?"

Nina takes both glasses and champagne and hands one to Aurelia before pulling her close. "Unfortunately, my roommate and I are going to be really busy tomorrow, so we can't be out too late. Right, hun?"

Aurelia couldn't look Arthur in the face, she kept her eyes down as she nodded slightly. "Right."

"You see, perhaps you can find some other girl to accompany you to your mother's place. Have a good evening, Mister James." Nina walks around Arthur while tugging Aurelia along gently.

Once they are near the elevator, Nina presses the lower floor bottom, and waits for the doors to open. As they both step inside, the taller woman groans from annoyance. "That man doesn't take no for an answer. I had one drink with him and shared one night, and suddenly he's in love."

"Is that why he approached you?" Aurelia asked a very obvious question, but she hoped Nina would elaborate more.

"A year ago, my junior year at this college," Nina folds her arms as they both wait for the elevator door to open. "I had just finished one of my shows, and Arthur approached me. Just as he did when we were upstairs, he asked me to have a drink with him. Then, I thought he was charming, and he is attractive, so I thought why not? As we had that drink, we talked about art and my live art performance, you know the boring stuff. Then I went back home."