The Artist
Lexa was well aware that her personal life was falling apart as her professional one stated to knit itself back together. Family had kept her from touring for a few years, but now they were the ones pushing her back into the life she had readily left behind to focus on her family.
Family first. That was what she was taught. Her mother Becca had preached that into her and her sister. Then she died. Her father didn’t even bother to come back from duty. He shipped her and her sister off to her aunt Indra’s and she grew up with Lincoln, and Anya. Then Gaia came along, and things started to feel better.
Some people might call them a family band. Most famous bands had some kind of nepotism, or family relations. Lincoln played drums. Anya played guitar on their first and second album but couldn’t tour so she switched to being the bands manager, and then her manager. Echo took her place, and they brought in Nyko on bass guitar.
While she took time off to focus on her wife, and the family they built, other members went different ways. Nyko went back to practicing medicine, Lincoln travelled the world exploring eastern medicine, and Echo joined the marines.
Somehow Anya had got them all back together. All for her. To try and pull her out of the depressive funk her wife… Well soon to be ex wife had left her in.
Her daughter wasn’t her daughter. Sometime while she was on tour her wife had mistaken her sister for her… An excuse she didn’t buy. And the worst part. She only found out when Tris became deathly ill.
Lexa forgave Costia for everything in order to put her family first. Tris was her niece, but she would always be her daughter. She told herself that Costia wouldn’t cheat on her again. That she would give her the benefit of the doubt.
Tris got better, but her relationship with her wife never did. When Costia told her she was pregnant and that it was hers, she wasn’t thrilled about it. She may have gotten black out drunk, smoked a lot of weed, but she hadn’t had sex with Costia in years. High end escorts yes. Costia no. She couldn’t perform the act, and slowly her mating mark disappeared.
It was the second pregnancy and the fading of a mark that was supposed to be permanent that told her that her marriage was over. Music started to pour out of her, as the pain came in. Alone was written in 2 months, and it only solidified her decision to forget what her mother had told her. She had put her family first for years, but they had never done the same. Now she was putting herself first.
“Artwork has been pouring in. It’s time to take a scroll through some of it. Lincoln, Echo, and Nyko are coming over to mine to go through it,” Anya said.
Great…. Which meant she couldn’t spend her night drinking herself into oblivion. She had been crashing on Anya’s couch. She didn’t want to spend another night in the home she built. Not only was Costia there, but Luna had come and was trying to get them back together. The bitch.
“Sure sounds good,” Lexa lied before stepping into her first interview in months. So far no one knew she was getting a divorce, but soon she would likely have to talk about that instead of focusing on her music.
After the interview Anya drove them back to her place. Lexa went upstairs to get changed, and take off her makeup. She wore it on stage and in interviews. It helped keep her real face out of the limelight, and made it easier to be herself in public.
Echo was the first to arrive. Always punctual. Then Lincoln arrived with Nyko and they started the conversation of western vs eastern medicine for the hundredth time. Lexa found herself brought into the topic, and Anya joined as well.
“Stop it,” Echo said. “Save the only person in the room who is better at killing than saving people's lives from ending all of yours,” Echo growled.
Anya straightened and smoothed out her clothing. Something had happened between herself and Echo. It was unspoken, but there was sometimes chemistry, and then scathing looks between the female Omega and female Alpha.
“Well you could have got a degree during our gap years,” Lincoln said crossing his arms.
Nyko started a wellness centre after getting his degree in naturopathic medicine. Lincoln became a monk, and finished his degree in psychology. Anya was the only one to finish her medical degree and could practice in an actual clinic, but she couldn’t hold a scalpel just like she could no longer perform at concerts.
They finished theirs together, but she couldn’t stand the sight of blood. They all had their quirks. Some were a little wackier than others, but they had all practiced medicine together at Harvard. The band was supposed to be for fun, but after the accident it became their outlet.
“Yeah never going to happen,” Echo said before cracking open a beer.
The Alpha handed her one, but Lincoln and Nyko refused. Anya set up the images and then took her seat on the couch beside her. She practically forced her against Echo, so that they could all fit on her long couch and watch the reel she had set up.
Image after image came on the screen. Some were instant no’s. They just didn’t fit with the songs. The album was titled Alone because that was how she felt. It was by far their most emotionally raw album. She wanted that raw emotion to come through in the album cover.
“How many more of these do we have to look at?” Lincoln asked. “I am trying to limit my screen time,” he said.
Anya went over to her laptop and then started to go through them quicker. Lincoln was just being Lincoln. He would stay until they found one. But maybe he was right about screen time. She found herself on Tinder more nights than she wanted to recall.
After a couple hours Nyko wanted to head out. He had a date that he was late for. Lincoln and Echo also left. Which left her with the option of looking at Tinder and feeling empty, or feeling even worse by having an empty hookup that she would never fully enjoy. Or… Scroll through the thousands more submissions Anya had compiled.
“It should really be your choice anyway. You put in all the work,” Anya hit play after they left and brought her drinks, and snacks. They didn’t talk as Lexa watched image after image take up the giant TV.
Sometime after midnight and thousands of pictures later, she nearly broke Anya’s laptop trying to stop the roll of photos. Her cousin and best friend had to go back a few photos to find it, but it was perfect.
A lone figure on a park bench. A tree to the right overlooking the water. It was still. Shadows of the person on the bench went into the water, and behind the single person were rows of graves. A single one in the bottom left corner had flowers beside it, not roses but peonies. She loved peonies.
“This one,” Lexa said.
“Are you sure?” Anya asked.
Lexa could only nod as she stared at the picture. Anya was rather annoyed at having to leave it up on her tv, while she went off to email the artist. She went to sleep thinking about the piece of art and woke up sure of her decision. This was the album cover.
It even inspired her to write another track… The artist had clearly felt how she had felt. Maybe under different circumstances. Clearly the artist was depicting someone who lost someone. As she wrote she thought of the person that was lost to her. Tris…
Where are you now? was quickly recorded after she wrote the track. Anya was having her fly out to New York with the band to do the final episode of SNL season 63. It was a dream and she was looking forward to playing one of her new tracks on live TV. Anya was trying to build up the hype for the summer tour.
“So… Where to first?” Lexa asked when she got off the tarmac.
It had been awhile since she had been anywhere outside of Washington. She had a ranch that she liked to visit in the summer, but her aunt was living there. Another person who nagged her about her decision to divorce. New York wasn’t really her scene. She didn’t like all the people, and the traffic was terrible.
“First we head to the studio. Mckinnon and Fey want you to meet with the cast. Do a chemistry read for a skit. Then we have a chill night at the hotel before going back to the studio to play our setlist. Then on Wednesday night we have to attend a gallery opening.” Anya said.
“Why a gallery opening?” Echo asked, clearly uninterested. She couldn’t lie either. She had better things she wanted to do with her time.
Anya scowled. “The artist we chose for the album art. They have an exhibit for their final exam at New York's Academy of Art. You can dress down. But I expect you to talk about it during your next interview. It looks good on us, and it will help boost the artist's profile.”
Okay… She could do that. She was curious about the artist, and really wanted to ask them about the piece they submitted. It was so raw and emotional. Something that made her curious about the rest of their pieces.
“I’ll be there,” Lexa said.
Echo laughed. “I’ll do a lap and then I will be at the nearest bar…. How many tickets do we get to the show on saturday?” Echo asked.
Her cousin growled. “6… But they are all spoken for. So you can’t invite whatever hooker you find,” Anya added.
“Who’s coming?” Echo asked, challenging Anya.
Anya smiled at the Alpha. “Gaia, Indra, Nyko’s wife, and I gave the other 3 to the album artist,” Anya said.
“She better be hot,” Echo said.
“I don’t know about her, but her friend certainly is,” Anya smiled, and then pointed and waved to a Limo coming their way. “Oh look, our ride is here,” the Omega smiled and Echo frowned.
Well at least things wouldn’t be boring on tour. She didn’t mind other people fighting; she just hated when she fought with Costia. When she went to say goodbye to Tris and grab a few of her things, the Omega threw a vase at her, and scared the shit out of her daughter. Lexa had called the cops, and they had found drugs in the house. Which was her house, so her lawyer was super busy while she escaped the carnage.
Since Costia was arrested and Tris needed constant care her Nanny was driving her into DC where she would enjoy round the clock care. She had donated a lot of money to the children's hospital, and called in a favour to get Tris into the facility for the extent of their tour. Costia was likely out of jail, but Lexa had emptied the joint accounts. She left a note about Tris, and one about an allowance. The Police report was currently with her lawyer and would help her get a divorce.
Anya snapped her fingers in front of her when she zoned out. She shook her head and tried not to think about Tris or Costia. She was doing what was best for both of them. If anything happened to Tris she would be somewhere safe, and Costia wouldn’t have a shit ton of money to party and buy drugs.
“Sorry,” Lexa responded.
“Check in, Studio 8H. Hotel. Studio, hotel, Art Gallery. No drinking, no partying until the episode is done,” Anya warned all of them once she had her attention.
They did everything as Anya commanded. Lexa abstained from the minibar in the penthouse. She was part of the final sketch. Her makeup couldn’t be ruined beforehand, but it would certainly be ruined with what the writers wrote for her.
Getting ready for the gallery she felt nervous. She went back and forth in deciding what she wanted to wear. She was getting older. Leather was out of the question. It would draw too much attention to herself. Especially the pants. So she decided on jeans, and a band tee.
Echo wore tight pants and a crop top. Lincoln wore some robes he purchased while in Tibet. Nyko looked casual in jeans. His wife was flying down early, and would be meeting them at the gallery. Anya looked dressed to kill in a tight red dress with red lipstick. It was clear that she wanted to turn heads, and she would. She looked like a bum compared to all of them, but there was no time to change. She had wasted so much time trying to pick out an outfit.
When the driver finally got the 5 of them to the event Lexa was sweating. She felt more nervous speaking to the artist than she had felt in a long time. Anya said that the woman's friend was hot. Lexa didn’t even get a name and neither did Anya. Apparently the friend submitted the work. Anyways… Raven was hot according to Anya and in her experience hot girls had hot friends.
Anya knew she wanted to speak to the artist. Lincoln and Ryder got with her in line while Echo smoked off to the side of the building. What she liked about her friends and bandmates was that they didn’t need to talk. Lincoln took in the architecture of the building, while Nyko watched the birds in a nearby tree.
What interviewers loved most about their band was that their personalities were so unique. Whatever those people who watched birds were called, that was Nyko. He took excursions whenever they did foreign tours. Lincoln loved buildings, and history, and liked to sketch things he saw that caught his eye. Echo was well… An expert marksman and has been on nearly every dating show in existence.
She got her pilot's license and in her time before moving to Indra’s and even presenting she excelled in showmanship. It was either learn to ride horses which her sister was afraid of or learn how to sail with her. They may not be identical twins, but if they participated in the same thing, and had matching clothing and hair like their mother liked them having then she was mistaken for Luna and vice versa.
Another woman in an orange dress with her hair half up and down made their way towards them. Echo walked towards them and put out her butt. Lincoln picked it up from the ground, while Nyko scolded her about the environment. Echo was rough around the edges, but she still deserved their friendship and was an amazing friend in return.
“Alright. You can all follow me. Octavia is at the back entrance. That way you can skip the line. It’s pretty crowded, and they are only letting a few people in at a time. The students attracted a lot of donors, and buyers this year. My friend Monty and I created a program and let’s just say you will soon be seeing some of this art everywhere.” Raven smiled as she paused to look at them. “Well aside from your album cover.”
There was a female standing in the doorway. There was a step to climb up and the woman was clearly not paying attention. Seeing them had somehow frightened her, and Lexa watched as the woman fell, and Lincoln rushed up to try and catch her.
“Octavia when I asked you to keep the door open this wasn’t what I imagined,” the woman named Raven teased.
Octavia was laughing but injured. Her ankle was swelling. Lincoln scooped her up. “Let’s get a good look at your ankle.”
“Are you a doctor or something?” Octavia asked, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
Lincoln smiled. “All of us but Echo are,” Lincoln smiled as he carried her into the building leaving them with Raven.
“Well you will fit right in with the rest of the degree heads in there,” Raven said. “Not that they are necessary. I hacked into the pentagon when I was 11. Self taught,” she said proudly.
Anya laughed. “That was you?” That was all we talked about in my first year of university,” Anya smiled, and then frowned slightly but covered it up.
That’s right… They were old. “And how many more years of school do you have left gorgeous?” Raven said smoothly and then she was pulling Anya along to see the art. Echo hurried after them and herself and Nyko shrugged.
“I’m going to see if Lissa is here yet,” he said.
This place was a lot busier than she expected it to be. She had been invited to a few gallery openings. More when she was a college student doing gigs just to get by. Unplugged… Her first solo album before Trigeda formed was all acoustic covers of classic songs.
She rubbed her hands on her jeans. She was nervous. Places like this always had a bar. A quick drink to take with her while she looked at art sounded good. Eventually she would find the artist or Anya would find the woman for her.
Lexa took a quick look around the gallery, and made her way towards the bar she located. The place had suppressants. She hated the systems in public places, but it had saved them a couple lawsuits at a few concerts. Having them here wasn’t exactly necessary, but after a while it made sense.
When she walked by a picture she smelled salt, and looked and noticed a large painting of a beach. Footprints could be seen in the sand and they were going to be swallowed up by a wave. Then if she listened closely she could hear the soft sound of waves crashing and gulls calling.
She admired it for a little while and looked for a signature. There was a little bio card, and she read it, but noticed nothing about an artist or a signature. Which was interesting. Then she decided a drink was needed and ordered a whisky neat. Which she promptly spilt on herself the moment she tried to bring it to her lips.
“I’m so sorry,” a woman said as she turned around. She wasn’t angry. Accidents happen. She just caught a whiff of something that she could only describe as sunshine.
As she took in the woman in front of her, she got up to her eyes, and noticed the woman doing the same. Lexa smiled and laughed, and the woman chuckled as well. “Can I buy you a drink?” Lexa asked. She smiled and stared hopefully at one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. Totally distracted about why she wanted to come to the opening so badly. She now wanted to speak to the blonde in front of her, and didn’t want to be interrupted for the entire night.