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working?”
    Laughter exploded again,
but this time, I joined in. I still felt annoyed, and embarrassed,
as though I was standing there myself. The absurdity of the moment
held in it some humor, and so I laughed.
    “My turn,” said a person
that had been standing in a corner of the room.
    It was my cue to
leave.

Chapter 12
    “I can’t believe you did
that…” I said, once all our interesting visitors had
left.
    “Did what?” she answered,
opening the balcony door to let in some air.
    “Get naked like that in
front of a bunch of strangers…”
    “You sound annoyed.” She
said.
    “No, I just think it’s a
little odd… that you’d want to do that.”
    “There’s nothing odd about
being a model for artists. The body is a natural thing.”
    “Do you have any more
clichés to share with me or can we have a real conversation here?”
I asked.
    “There’s no reason to be
jealous.”
    “Now, you’re just being
ridiculous.”
    She laughed and
snorted.
    “If you say so…,” she
said.
    “I just wonder if there
wouldn’t be something more productive for you to do, than stand
around naked all day.”
    She shook her head, and
exhaled loudly.
    “I pay pretty much all the
bills, juggle work and school, while you have hounds marking their
territory all over the place here.”
    “It was just one dog,
Ben…”
    “I’m talking about the
so-called artists.”
    She grinned. The amusement
she took out of my repartees made it hard to get a good fight out
of her, but not impossible.
    “When are you going to get
over this whole Artist thing, and just get a job? Go back to
school! Do something…”
    “Okay, now you sound just
like my parents” she had finally stopped laughing.
    “Maybe they’re right…
Maybe you need to take life a little more seriously! Maybe you need
to take responsibility seriously… You can’t just spend your whole
life posing naked for a bunch of strangers!”
    “If you want us to
actually be together, why don’t you just do something about
it?”
    I stared at her in
disbelief.
    “This has nothing to do
with my feelings for you… This has everything to do with common
sense! Who goes around showing themselves off in the middle of the
day, while their boyfriend’s out at work?”
    “Are you asking me to be
your girlfriend?” she asked.
    “Maybe” I managed to say,
heat creeping up my face.
    She laughed.
    “Well…?” I pressed
on.
    “We’ve been dating for
over a year and we’re living together. Why do you think I put up
with you, Ben? I love you too.”
    She leaned in, and kissed
me softly for the very first time.

Chapter 13
    Joy smiled. Her eyes
sparkled in the sunlight. She was happy to get part of her studio
back, now that I moved into her room. My desk and her easel
cohabitated peacefully in the small space, ready for what awaited
them: innumerable sleepless nights.
    Since I had opened up
about my feelings towards her, in my very awkward way, Joy had
ceased to prance around the house naked – well, not in front of
strangers anyway. This, to me, was a big improvement.
    Summer had arrived again,
and I was off. At this rate, I would graduate University by the age
of 30. I kept my thoughts positive, realizing that I was
nonetheless moving forward, and not collecting too many debts along
the way as I did so.
    Surprisingly, Joy was also
now bringing some money in. Her parents had shown remorse for her
quitting school and decided to finance her education again – though
not her living arrangements.
    At 20, they decided, she
needed to learn from her mistakes, build on them, to find her own
life’s direction. They feared that if she kept avoiding
responsibility, whether bills or schooling, she would never amount
to anything. After meeting me, they felt that I was a good
influence on their daughter, and seemed to appreciate me, which was
a lot more than what my parents could say about her.
    Mom and dad still held the
belief that since she had entered my life I had changed for