“Miss?”
“Oh I’m terribly sorry, I’ll accept.”
A huge grin spread across his face now and I instantly realized that I shouldn’t have done it. As the delivery driver seemed to sprint out the door only to return seconds later with more men carrying boxes and one, oh fuck me, one of the men was carrying a tree.
A Christmas tree.
Phyllis was beside me laughing, she didn’t understand my reason for not celebrating Christmas as I didn’t explain to anyone. I had given a lame excuse about wanting nothing but clean lines in the gallery, no muss or fuss. Well, that no longer existed anymore. The men were now all over the room, I watched as the tree was placed in the corner in front of the main window to get the most viewing. Men were yanking assorted decorations from boxes and hanging them up in different spaces as directed to them by some sort of printed manifest they held in their hands.
“It’s beginning to look like Christmas in here,” Phillis muttered and I agreed.
Then I thought it wasn’t so bad, the colors were white and silver. Nothing too gaudy that would detract from the space.
Resigned to the fact that I had now let Sebastian, a man for whom I barely knew, convince me to do this so I felt that I needed to smile through it no matter how hard it is for me.
When Adam came in, I pulled his attention away from the men who were wandering around hanging up the various Christmas decorations. I began to instruct Adam on what I wanted to get done, he started taking notes and even threw in some of his own suggestions that I more than willingly accepted. We set about beginning the changes when Phyllis came in to inform me that the men had completed setting up and they had left.
Leaving Adam in Phyllis’ capable hands I went to see the completion of the transformation for the front of the gallery. To say I was shocked would be an understatement, I was in awe of what had been created in such a short time. The room was decorated in white twinkling lights; little snowflake decorations were placed at random intervals to look like falling snow. It reminded me of a winter wonderland, I had to admit that it looked absolutely gorgeous.
I would have to concede now; I would have to admit to Sebastian that I was quite happy for the little token he gave me. Wishing I had gotten his phone number so I could let him know how I was feeling, the phone rang.
Reaching over the back of the registration desk, I grabbed the phone. “Visualistic Dreamers Gallery, this is Emmeline. How may I help you?”
“I was glad to hear you accepted my gift without complaint.”
“Sebastian,” My voice croaked out at almost a whisper.
Sebastian sighed. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say my name.”
I couldn’t say a word, I just listened to the silence.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes.”
“Then, I’m glad I went against your wishes and gave you back something you loved,” When I didn’t say anything he went on. “You loved it, you know. I used to watch you. You were five and you always expected it to snow for Christmas. You’d sit with your nose pressed against the window for hours, hoping for any inkling that it would snow.”
“And did it?” I questioned.
Sebastian chuckled. “A couple of times it actually did, the other times I’m sad to say it wasn’t even cold out.”
“If only I could go back to being that kid who still believed in miracles.”
“Emmeline, one day you’ll believe in miracles again.”
“Doubtful.”
“Have I lied to you yet?” He questioned and I began to laugh, like full on belly laughed at his question.
“Truth?” I asked.
“Of course I want you to tell me the truth,” He answered.
“Despite everything you’ve said to me I don’t know you. At this point, I don’t know what to believe.”
“Emmeline,” He sighed. “You may not believe me now but trust me that when I tell you everything, you will.”
“Yeah, well I don’t really have any expectations currently about anything.”
“You’ve got to trust me, Linnie. Damn, I’ll never hurt you.”
As soon as he used that name again, my heart began to race and I felt like I was on the verge of having a panic attack. Instead of saying anything in response to his statement I just hung up the phone, took a deep breath and calmed myself to a point where I was ready to go back and help Phyllis and Adam.
By the time I got back to them more than half of the changes had already been made, I was pleased.
“Sorry about my delay, I had an inquiry.”
“No problem, do you like what we’ve done here so far?”
“Yes, I love it. It’s exactly what I had envisioned it to look like.”
Phyllis and Adam both smiled before going back to finish up the changes.
Chapter Four
I hadn’t heard from or seen Sebastian in three days, although I was sure he had seen me. I had a funny feeling come over me in regards to all of this. Even though I didn’t know him, finding out that he knew me and my parents gave me this sort of connection to this man. A connection that I wish I could understand.
It scared me.
No, in actuality it terrified the literal fuck out of me.
Books gave me this type of feeling when characters meet in a situation that isn’t ideal but they seem to find a way to make it work and fall in love. I’ve never experienced anything like it before so it’s a complete shock to me the way that I feel.
Keeping myself pretty much closed off to the outside world hasn’t been hard, I pretty much had the same routine for so many years I’ve become accustomed to it. I did have fun in college, a couple of boyfriends here and there. Nothing too serious as I could never make the commitment to meet someone’s parents or go past a few months.
My sophomore year of college a girl asked me why I never got to that stage with a guy and I explained it the best way I knew how. I was so sick and tired of people asking me about my family only to hear that they were dead and delving into all the follow-up questions, especially how. It really bothered me because no one ever understood, and after hearing my story people felt pity for me which made me uncomfortable and I didn’t need that.
So I buckled down and took classes during the summer so I could graduate a year and a half early. Once I had my degree in art history, I started to pursue my dreams and the gallery became my sole focus. After that, all the drinking and partying which included sex, none of that interested me.
That was until Sebastian came into my life and flipped my world upside down. He made me feel different emotions, even worse now that he wasn’t around. I didn’t know that a stranger could affect me like this so much, this encounter with him has been really eye opening.
Today I couldn’t let that distract me, we had a big showing we were preparing for tonight. One of the local artists I met when I was first starting out had allowed me to put some of his work on display several years ago without any fanfare, it didn’t take long until patrons came in and were in bidding wars over his work. When Wynn found out about this he called me his magic. He hadn’t sold anything before we had met, and now he’s one of the most sought-after artists in the country. Tonight’s showing would be bringing press from overseas, I already had open bids for paintings that hadn’t ever been viewed before.
I stood in the middle of my office, checking my dress one more time. I had been smoothing out the fabric for a good twenty minutes even though there wasn’t a crease or a wrinkle. Phyllis had suggested I go with this gray dress with a hint of shimmer to it that I had treated myself to but had never worn. Her words were that I should stand out from the crowd, not blend in with the sea of little black dresses that would undoubtedly be in attendance. I had taken her advice and gotten out of my comfort zone and I didn’t look half bad.
A knock sounded at my office door.
“Come in.”
Phyllis poked
her head in and smiled. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you.”
“I wanted to let you know that the caterers are setting up and the bartenders are in place. I anticipate our first arrivals to begin in about fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, I’m ready,” I grabbed my keys and we left through the door. I made sure to lock before I tucked the keys safely into the hidden pocket of my skirt.
Phyllis and I made it into the main room and was blown away with the setup, all of the staff in attendance were ready and prepared for the onslaught of people joining us tonight.
We stepped into the middle of the room and Phyllis cleared her throat.
“May I have everyone’s attention please?” Phyllis called out. “If I can get you all here for a few minutes before we unlock the doors, we just want to go over a few things.”
We waited for a few minutes before all the staff had filed in, once Phyllis was satisfied with the group she turned to me.
“Good evening, I’m Emmeline Billings. Please call me Emmeline or Emme, Ms. Billings makes me sound really old,” They all chuckled and so did I.
“The doors will be unlocked at eight, bars should be ready to serve immediately. Food should begin to roll out thirty minutes later. If you run into any issues, you can go to Phyllis, Adam or me and we will take care of the problems. If there are any questions, please feel free to ask at any time and with every event we throw please have a great night,” I said with a smile and a slight bow before everyone dispersed.
Adam’s cell rang and practically sprinted to the front door. I watched as he unlocked the door and a figure step through. Wynn St. John looked awestruck, as he sought me out. The bright camera flashes went off behind him as Adam swiftly shut the door.
“Emmeline.”
“Hello, Wynn,” We hugged in greeting, over the years we had become very good friends.
“You look beautiful as always.”
“Thank you, you’re looking dapper in your three-piece suit. Fancy,” I said with a wink.
“Well, if I’m going to go all out I’m going to do it with elegance and look badass while I’m at it.”
“I like the way you think. Do you want to go see the gallery?”
“Lead the way.”
Linking arms with Wynn, we walked off to the first room so he could see the setup that we had done solely for him. Slowly we moved around the room, each of his paintings seemed to tell a story. One leading to the next with intensity that increased with each painting.
“Tell me, Emme. Which of them do you like the most?”
I fake gasped. “I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to just one of them,” I smiled batting my eyelashes.
“Each time you do this is funnier than the time before.”
“If you didn’t ask silly questions.”
“I know, I know. Now tell me, you’re killing me here.”
“Okay, if you must know,” I said before breaking away and walking to the third picture in the line. “This one is my favorite.”
“Why that one?” He asked with a smile on his face and I’m sure I returned with my signature smirk.
“It has pretty colors,” I chuckled wearing a goofy smile and twirling my hair.
“Without the sarcasm.”
“Yes sir, I was immediately drawn to this painting just for the visual aspect, it caught my eye as soon as I stepped into the room.”
“It was the blue?”
“Yes, it was the blue. It’s very reminiscent of Chagall’s The concert and held my attention. As I focused I could see all the hidden aspects of the painting that you managed to do very well. As always, I’m impressed.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Like I was saying, it was your attention to detail from our last conversation that we had in regards to our dear friend Marc that had me picking up the subtle clues in this painting and I believe this is your sort of homage to our favorite modernist.”
Wynn wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. “I can’t believe that every time I’ve asked you to do this you’ve managed to break down my paintings into ways even a layman would be able to understand. Not to mention you were spot on about everything in it.”
“Well what can I say, I love what I do.”
“Which is why it’s named enigma because that is what you are, Emmeline. You’re an enigma, you’ve come into my life and managed to do something that I couldn’t do. You made me someone.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t make you someone Wynn, you were already an amazing someone. I was just the fortunate one who got to show other people what I had already known.”
“And I’ll be forever grateful.”
“Excuse me, Emmeline,” Phyllis called from behind us and we both turned.
“Yes Phyllis?”
“It’s almost time if Mr. St. John would like to take his place. Adam is about ready to unlock the door.”
“You ready?” I asked looking up at Wynn.
“Let’s do it,” He said with a wink, a nod, and a goofy double thumbs up.
The three of us laughed as we filed out into the lobby area. Wynn stood over to the side with one of his friends and his manager while I stood in front of the desk. Adam and Phyllis stood by the door with one of the door staff for the night ready to hand out pamphlets.
“Okay Adam, we’re ready.”
The doors opened and people started filing in, most of them didn’t even acknowledge what was going on around them they just headed straight for the gallery and the paintings. As the room began to fill, the low murmurs got increasingly louder, I even heard some squeals of excitement before I was being rushed with buys. Four of the sixteen paintings were sold within the first ten minutes of opening, two of them were over double the listed price. I was going back and forth between rooms, answering questions and controlling a very boisterous bidding war for the enigma painting. I thought that Wynn was going to faint when he’d asked what the bid was up to and I said five figures, he swayed slightly before bracing himself.
“Is this real, Emme?”
I nodded with tears in my eyes and he let out a huge breath.
People were milling around in other parts of the gallery, others still hovered over Wynn’s paintings.
“Bidding’s slowing down,” Phyllis said.
“Not slowing down, they’re waiting.”
“Waiting for what?”
“Waiting to see if the others get sold, waiting to see if someone is going to make a move. All the paintings have been sold, we just won’t know to whom until closer to the end.”
“You’re sure?”
“Oh yes, I’ve watched this enough times to know how they work. There are seven that have been circling every few minutes the same paintings. They are all thinking like no one is buying then they can get it for a steal.”
“Well, that’s sounds stupid, what if someone buys the one they want.”
“Then they go for their backup. Those seven want what’s left and they’re just waiting to see what they can get. Wynn’s prices are already forty percent over the price he’d normally charge. So if they decide to bid against someone else for that painting it doesn’t matter.”
“I never understood why people would bid if they just end up paying more when they could just buy it for that price and it’s theirs.”
“Most think they can get it for a deal, then if they sell it they make more. Most of them buy it for more because they know it will be more. All of those people in there now are investors which are why there won’t be a painting left unsold by the rest of the night.”
Around nine the phone calls started to come in, one of the paintings was purchased for almost triple its tagged price and Wynn had to go sit down in a back room and catch his breath. I walked around the gallery and networked with the patrons and met some new buyers who were looking for specific pieces. I even met an artist who had shown me some of his work on h
is phone, I asked him to come in the next day with some of his paintings.
I could see the potential, the same potential I saw in Wynn. The older man was shocked I’d given him a shot, I explained that I think everyone deserves one he thanked me profusely and said he’d see me tomorrow first thing.
Walking back over to the enigma painting, I was caught up in its beauty that all the goings on around me had seemed to be voided. Instead, I felt this warmth, this warm familiar feeling and was in close proximity to me. When a hand touched the small of my back and warm breath tickled over the skin of my exposed neck.
I just knew.
“Sebastian,” I whispered.
“You look beautiful,” He spoke and I thought my legs were going to give.
Chapter Five
Sebastian was here, right here with me. I wasn’t sure why but I wasn’t going to question it either.
“Thank you,” I stepped forward slightly before turning and looking up at him.
I watched as Sebastian’s eyes roamed all over me, before settling back onto my face. “I take it back, you look stunning.”
I couldn’t take it anymore, I wanted to scream but I wasn’t going to ruin this moment for Wynn with my outburst.
“Why are you here?”
“I came to see you.”
“I’m working.”
“I know, I wish I could have been here sooner but my flight was delayed and then I had to go home and shower. Plane smell is gross, you know.”
“Well then, thank you for coming. I hope you enjoy the showing.”
I started to walk away but Sebastian’s hand reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, if you’ll please excuse me I have to get back to it,” I said waving my hands to the room.
“Fine, I’ll let you go to whatever you’re waving your hands at. Then when it’s over we’re going to have a talk.”
“Sorry, I’m busy,” I said before yanking my arm away.
Why the hell was I acting like Sebastian is my boyfriend? Why was I so pissed off? Could it be because he hasn’t been around? So why the fuck am I turning into one of those stupid naïve girls that I detested in high school.
Christmas in the City II Page 8