Amour Books Spotlight: Greg and the Jill of All Trades

Dr. Greg Kaczmarek stumbled and caught himself after almost tripping over a young woman sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Excuse me,” he muttered, half annoyed and half embarrassed. “I didn’t see you there.” The near mishap interrupted his leisurely Sunday stroll through the Carnegie Museum of Art.

His kids were at their mother’s for the week, so he took the opportunity to take in some culture at his own tempo. He glanced at the vellum sketch pad stretched across the young woman’s thighs and knees. On the paper, she had outlined an accurate representation of the main figures in the painting across from her – a standing girl, a seated girl, and the gigantically proportioned bouquet of flowers between them. His eyes moved from the paper to the elegant artist.

Slender fingers held charcoal pencils with a delicate pinch. She wore ripped jeans and a suede jacket that draped her slight build. Her youthful skin looked smooth and rich, like a swirl of an expensive light-tan paint. A bright, printed headband held back a poof of ash-brown frizz. Her fragrance of lilac and vanilla teased Greg’s nose. With the telltale backpack next to her, Greg guessed she studied art, but she appeared to be more sophisticated than the average undergrad.

Even seated, she carried herself with poise and presence, like a grad student or young professor in her late 20s or early 30s, somewhere on the cusp between young adult and adult. She looked up and chirped her friendly warning. “Look out for artists below. They’ll be where you least expect them.” She shifted her feminine hips, and her pink lip gloss glistened as she smiled.

Greg’s fluster from his near spill faded. He tipped his head. “That’s very beautiful.”

“Thank you.” The woman continued to sketch.

“Flowers are my thing.” Greg nodded in acknowledgement, but she kept on with her work. He gave a fleeting glance to the painting on the wall and then to her sketch pad again. In his mind, he deemed it an excellent rendering before moving on through the gallery.

“Greg and the Jill of All Trades” is the short story prequel to “Twitter Crush,” which will be available on Kindle and KU on 2.1.23! You’ll see Greg again in this story of new starts and all the Gen X feels.