by Dani Hoots
And then she would say yes. She had to say yes, right?
Five years of being together, there didn’t seem any reason why it would end. I knew she loved me and I loved her. She would see that it wouldn’t be a legal marriage, but a promise to each other. A promise to always be partners in crime. Quite literally.
Then we would celebrate in Greece. It was going to be perfect, I couldn’t wait. I just hoped she wouldn't suspect something in the meanwhile. Although I was good at stealing and lying to a mark, I wasn’t good at lying to her. If she asked me any questions I probably would crack and ask her too soon. No, I had to keep this under wraps. I had to do it right.
I would make it perfect.
Everything was ready. I straightened my bowtie in the mirror, my hair slicked back and my tuxedo coat waiting for me on the hanger. I had to make sure everything was straight and tucked where it was supposed to be tucked or I would look off, as if I wasn’t supposed to be there. I couldn’t let that happen, as I needed this job to go well in order to ask Bridget to marry me.
My adrenaline was pumping, not just because of the job and this being our biggest heist ever, but because I planned on asking her to marry me. My palms felt sweaty and I had to remember to take deep breaths to cool my mind down. I just hoped I wouldn’t screw the job up because my mind was preoccupied. Maybe it was a bad idea to want to propose the same night but I had already made my mind up. I couldn’t back down now.
Bridget stepped out of the bathroom and I tried not to gape. She had picked out a long emerald dress, a color that matched her eyes perfectly. A slit came up the side all the way to her upper left thigh. The neck line dropped down in a “v” lower than I would prefer, but that just meant she could distract the owner more while I went and got the piece of art. She wore green heels to match.
I still stared at her, speechless. She was stunning, her brown hair up with a few curls draped down against her beautiful skin.
“No comment?” she asked, teasing.
“You look gorgeous. Stunning. I don’t know what to say,” I answered.
Bridget simply chuckled. “It’s always interesting how a man can be so impressed with just some cloth and powder when it’s the same person underneath.”
She had a point but I didn’t answer. I knew it was superficial to act like one looked more beautiful under these circumstances, with the right colors and design, even when it was the same person I saw every day. But she did look beautiful and I wanted her to know that.
“But I do have to say, a tuxedo suits you. You look good in black, you always have,” she said as she checked her makeup one more time in the mirror. “Though I guess most men look good in black.”
“I will take that as a compliment.” I smiled. “Are you ready to go?” I felt as if I was shaking, as if this could be the night we promise ourselves to each other forever. I couldn’t wait.
Bridget nodded. “Yeah, we should get going. Don’t want to be late to an art theft.”
I had to keep focusing on the job, not let my mind drift off into wondering what her response would be. It would be a yes, I knew. I didn’t know why I worried so much. Then, after the job was over and we had the money, the cards would be paid off so it wouldn’t leave a trace and we would be happy, or at least for a while. Even if it was enough money to live the rest of our lives on, we would still steal. It was our nature, it was who we were. The adrenaline rush was like no other when the art was in hand.
In this con we had made a replacement painting. It, of course, wasn’t real, but a really well-made replica that Bridget had put together. It was rolled up in my hollow cane, where I would sneak it into the house and cut off the painting that was there, glue this one on, and hope he would never suspect a thing. Meanwhile Bridget would be distracting Jaques and all would be well. We had the layout of the place, the security codes, where the guards usually patrolled. We were set.
We called a nice taxi service, one that was closer to being a limo but not quite as expensive. We couldn’t just appear in a regular taxi after all, it would look to suspicious. It was just two car rides, one there and one back. Simple enough.
The car appeared, black, long, and the driver even got out to open the doors for us. We thanked him and climbed in.
“Got everything you need?” Bridget asked.
I held up my cane. “Yup. And everything else is in my jacket pockets.”
She nodded. “Good. Then everything should go according to plan. And this time next week we will be in Greece, tanning on the beach.”
I leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. “That will be one of the things we will be doing, yes.”
She kissed me again. “I can’t wait.”
I couldn’t stop staring at her. She was so beautiful, I imagined that the tales of Aphrodite and Guinevere were much inspired by women like her, ones whose beauty surpassed what could even be imagined. I was lucky to find her, I knew, as my life had been nothing but one hardship after another. That was, until I found her. We were going to be together forever after this night. I knew I didn’t deserve her, that the world didn’t deserve her. The moment I met her I knew I wanted to steal her away, and that was what I did. I stopped at nothing too, that she will admit, as she tried her hardest to disappear. But I finally caught up to her and the rest was history.
We arrived to the party and damn was it fancy. I had never seen anything like it before, and I had crashed a few nice parties in the past. Limos and black cars were lined up to the home, or mansion was more like it. I had seen pictures and the layout but even then it was a lot more grand in person. I just wanted to stare at it in awe, but knew that would make me appear as a fool and someone who didn’t fit it. And to be honest, I didn’t fit in. I was just a kid from the Eastside of London, poor, abused, and a runaway. Never did I dream that this would be my future, that I would be at such a party.
Bridget, on the other hand, always appeared to fit in to such rich parties. With the dress she wore and the way she held herself, you would think she had been born into royalty. If I could, I would make a life like this for her, for she deserved it, but nevertheless I couldn’t ever give her all of this. But I could give her one thing; the painting that this rich man owned. If I didn’t do it for me, I would do it for her. Even if the risk was pretty great of getting caught. But if all went according to plan, it should be fine in the end.
I stepped out of the car and opened the door for Bridget, lending her a hand as she stepped out. She kept a smile on her face, not one of impressment but of amusement. Just as all the attendees did around us. I wasn’t good at fake smiles like that, I only knew happy smiles and couldn’t figure out how to act like the others, so usually I just kept a neutral face, which did work for men in Europe. A lot of men never seemed amused, but just there because they had to be. I tried to be one of those men.
Yeah I sucked at that.
Bridget elbowed me. “At least look like you fit in, alright?”
“I’m trying,” I responded. It was hard but you would think I would have it down by now. I didn’t but it was always fine in the end. No one ever noticed the awkward boy in the back. It reminded me of prom, when my girl went to prom with me but left with another guy. That happened twice actually. I was sort of unlucky when it came to love, except when it came to Bridget. All that torture had paid off when it came to her. I had finally met my soulmate and I wouldn’t let her go for the world.
We entered the mansion and I was even more impressed than I had been outside. If only we could steal all the priceless paintings that decorated the walls of this ballroom, we would never have to worry about money again. I couldn’t even fathom how much money had been spent just to decorate these walls. Recalling all the hardships I had faced as a kid, as a teen, I couldn’t help but be irritated by men like this, even though I knew it wasn’t their fault where I grew up. But seeing all these paintings did make me feel less bad about stealing just one of them. It appeared he could easily replace it, if he ever found out i
t was gone.
There had to of been at least two hundred people here, which would make it all the more easy to disappear into the mansion without getting caught. Sure there were security guards everywhere, but we had a plan for them. There was definitely a way around them, and acting like a clueless guest seemed to work quite a bit of the time.
“Fancy place,” I commented, not knowing what else to say. Bridget was definitely better at small talk than I was. But gladly I was just talking to her, trying to pass the time before I had to venture to the other side of the mansion.
She raised her eyebrow at me. “Really, that’s all you are going to say?”
I shrugged. “What else can I say? I came from a pretty poor household. Hell, this place is bigger than my school and most museums I have visited. This place looks like Buckingham Palace to me.”
“This place isn’t as big as Buckingham Palace.” Bridget grabbed a glass of Champagne from a tray a server was carrying. I wanted to ask how she knew that, whether or not she had actually been inside Buckingham Palace. It really wouldn’t have surprised me.
“Some reason I have a feeling you know that from experience.”
She simply smiled and we sauntered further into the ballroom. Bridget appeared to be looking for someone, but I wasn’t quite sure as to who. I presumed it was Jaques, but it wasn’t quite time for us to go in yet. We needed to wait for there not to be as many cars, when the guards weren’t on high alert for anyone crashing the party. We needed to wait at least another hour before I could go get the painting and swap it out for the one in my cane.
Bridget probably just wanted to start talking to Jaques and then bother him again when I was stealing the painting, distracting him just as she was good at. Also, since she was probably his guest, she wanted him to know that she had arrived, and brought a guest. I was supposed to be her brother here, something that I had to remember. If I appeared too close to her, people would start to be suspicious. I had to keep it cool.
Jaques was in the middle of the ballroom, talking to another couple. He appeared just as he did when I saw Bridget with him. He stood tall, like a man who wouldn’t let anyone size him up. He was older, probably in his forties, with dark hair that was beginning to grey. He was taller than me, which was sort of surprising as I was just under six foot, which placed him over six foot. He was definitely taller than most of the men here. And for being forty, he definitely looked as if he worked out a lot. Many men were probably jealous of him, hell even I was. But he could never have the one treasure I had. Bridget.
We waited for him to finish talking to the couple and when he saw Bridget, his eyes lit up. “Meadow! I see that you came.”
That was right, she went by Meadow here. Why she picked that name, I wasn’t sure. Maybe she just liked it.
Bridget, or Meadow, held out her hand and Jaques kissed it. I tried not to be irritated as I wasn't her lover but her brother. Disturbing if you thought about it, but I more looked at it as getting a lot of money at the end of some nightmare. Definitely worth a couple of hours of torture.
“Jaques, this is my brother Malcolm. I told you about him.”
I held out my hand to shake his. “It’s a pleasure, Monsieur Van Francis. Thank you for letting my sister bring me as her guest. I am a big fan of your work.”
He shook my hand. “Well, I would never say no to a fan. I do love people adoring me after all. Besides, your sister is charming. I’ve loved getting to know her. She must have been fantastic growing up with.”
“Indeed, she has always been one of the most popular girls in the neighborhood, but you probably already knew that.”
She elbowed me in the stomach. “Malcolm, please, he doesn’t need to know that.”
“Oh but I would love to get to know you better. How about a dance?” Jaques asked.
She bit her lip, playfully. I hated watching her flirt with other men, it always felt like getting stabbed in the chest. “How about in an hour. I want to grab a bit to eat first, I am famished.”
“Alright, I’m holding you to your word. I’ll come find you in an hour, alright?”
She nodded. “That sounds fantastic.”
He turned and went to talk to some more of his guests. I could hear them laugh.
“I wonder how popular he would be if he didn’t have all his money,” I whispered.
“Did it ever occur to you that he might be rich because of his popularity? That he was able to make money because he could talk people into anything?”
“You mean kind of like you?” I asked.
She gave me one of her famous looks. “A little different than that, but not too far off. Now, you better act more like a brother than jealous boyfriend or there is no way this job is going to work. Got it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.”
She grabbed a new glass of Champagne. “Well then, go mingle instead of acting like an overprotective puppy.”
This time I gave her a look, but she was right. I should mingle, act more interested in the things going on. It was why I was supposed to have come after all.
The more I ventured around, the more faces I started to recognize. There were a lot of famous people here, actors, actresses, people high in society. I couldn’t believe it. I thought I even saw Robert Downey Jr. but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure and I didn’t want to act like that person at the party, especially since I was supposed to fit in and have a low profile.
As a kid I would have never dreamt I would attend such a function, though if I did it probably would have been under the same circumstances; stealing something. That or working as a server. That would have been more likely for me to think of as I would never have thought I would become so good at art thievery that I could get away with such a heist. But between Bridget and I, anything was possible.
The hour passed and I saw Jaques grab Bridget by the hand to take her out on the dance floor. She met my gaze and I nodded, knowing it was time to take my leave and find the room with the painting in it.
According to notes Bridget obtained, the guards would mainly be surrounding the ballroom, and then patrolling a few hallways. Most of the areas they would be patrolling were near the safes and offices, not the bedroom where the painting was. No one would think to look there for a priceless painting.
I snuck around each and every guard without any trouble. It wasn’t the first time I had to get around so many guards and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. I had gotten quite good at it, honestly, and wondered how much more I was capable of. I had always loved spy movies and I knew this was probably the closest I would ever get to become a spy.
Coming up to the room that Bridget had me memorize, I picked the lock. There wasn’t anyone around and I, of course, had gloves on. Never knew if the mark would find out that their painting had been switched out. After a couple of moments I heard the click of the lock and the door opened.
Talk about fancy, I had never seen such a rich bedroom. It was modern compared to the ballroom, but I knew that most of the things in here were way beyond my paycheck, if I had a paycheck. Strange metal statues, abstract art, one of those nice beds that I was tempted to jump on; this man had everything.
Nevertheless, I needed to hurry and trade out the painting.
I opened up my cane and pulled out the fake painting that had been made to look genuine. Any expert would have seen that it was fake, but with all that this man had, I really doubted he would notice, at least not for a while. I pulled the painting off the wall and carefully took off the frame. I felt a little like Mr. Bean with Whistler’s Mother. It made me laugh a little, but I was glad I wouldn’t have to carry the painting out like a cart making fake squeaking noises.
I listened carefully for anyone outside as I cut the canvas off of the wood to roll it up carefully with some parchment paper to be smuggled out of here in my cane. I would then glue the fake one on with some pretty nice glue. Knowing the different types of glue definitely came in hand with this job.
The outside hallway was still quiet as I began to glue on the fake painting. It didn’t take long as I made sure it was all smoothed out and dry. I placed the painting back on the wall and carefully rolled up the real one to be put in my care. It fit snug but I knew it would be fine. We had done it before.
All I had to do was get back to the ballroom without being caught. That, to me was the easy part. Then tonight I could propose. It was perfect, everything was going according to plan.
Making sure I didn’t leave anything, I opened the door to the hallway. And there stood Bridget. With Jaques.
“Meadow. There you are, I was looking everywhere for you,” I lied. It was the only thing I could come up with as I had no idea what was going on. Did he find out and drag her here to get the truth? My heart was pounding in my chest and I could feel sweat forming at my brow.