Ava felt a margin of relief hearing Joey validate her own thoughts, the whole ordeal had been leaving her feeling moody and exhausted since she began. “That’s exactly my point, I would appreciate if they respected my work. Yes, you may give a subject or direction you wish for the outcome to have but in the end, it’s my freedom of expression, my artistic freedom. I can paint what I want. They can’t say I’ll buy your painting but accentuate the line or make it blurrier here or use this or that color” she paused to let out a frustrated breath, shaking her head. “I’m always open to criticism but there is a limit”. She took an appreciative sip of her own drink, attempting to let her struggles wash away. She hated being in a bad mood. By the time she looked back up, she was smiling once more and lifting her shoulder. “It appeared I needed to vent a little,” she laughed, hopping up onto the ledge beside her and laughing louder. “I’m already the coolest person at the party” she teased, winking gently. “Enough about me, je me promène, what interesting things have transpired since last we spoke?”
“Vent all you want, that’s what I’m here for. If it helps, I get how much it sucks having people like, try to force you to make decisions the same way you would when the whole point is that you have different skill sets and make decisions differently. Some people just think knowing a few things means they know everything.” Shrugging, she swirled her drink, glad at least that if nothing else frustration hadn’t dented Ava’s confidence. “Interesting is certainly one way to put it. I ran into this guy I used to be friends with in college, and then like the next day met his- I don’t think she’s a replacement for me, that’s not fair, but they’re clearly really good friends, so that was weird.” Making herself breathe deeply, Joey fiddled with the buttons on her cup, “It’s all weird. I feel like an ass because we stopped talking, but if we’d tried to stay close I would’ve just screwed myself over career-wise, and I had kind of expected to have a few more years before the whole ‘regretting every life choice’ phase started, y’know?”