by Eva Luxe
Harvey grabbed my wrist hard, almost falling from the table he moved so quickly. I yelled out, startled.
“Where do you think you’re going? We’re talking now. If you have any hopes of being in my showcase, you will sit your ass down.”
I was frozen. The last thing that I wanted to do was continue talking to Harvey in the state that he was in, but I also didn’t want to ruin my chance to be a part of a showcase that be my foot in the door into the art world, a world that I had been kept out of simply from not knowing the right people or having the time to do my art. Blake had given the one of those things: the time to do my art. And I felt good, proud that I had been able to accomplish such an important goal. Now, here I stood, with the person that I thought was going to help me with the other thing that I needed to help propel my art career and I was watching my hopes and dreams get dashed to pieces.
I sat down gingerly on the edge of my seat with the most serious look on my face that I could muster. I wanted it to be clear that, even though I was sitting and entertaining his ludicrous behavior.
“Let’s try this again,” he said, pulling out his checkbook. “How much will it take for me to fuck you for a night? I’m willing to be more than generous.”
“I’m not for sale,” I said, icily. “I’m not sure what you were told or what you are thinking right now, but let’s be clear: whatever arrangement you thought I had with anyone else, there will be no arrangement made with you now or in the future.”
I sat there watching him silently trying to process things. He smiled an evil smile, put his checkbook back into his inner jacket pocket, and sat drumming his fingers on the table.
“Okay. That’s completely fine,” said Harvey.
“Great,” I said, folding my arms and sitting back in my chair.
Harvey took out his cellphone and punched a number. After a few seconds, someone answered.
“Hey, can you do me a favor? I know that you aren’t at the gallery now, but as soon as you get a chance, can you take the crate that’s in the lobby out back and sit in the alley. It’s trash and we won’t be needing it,” he said. He hung up, smiled, and just looked at me.
I was so furious. Hot tears sprung from my eyes before I had a chance to stop them.
“You…you…” I was shaking I was so mad. I couldn’t believe that this is how he was acting and all because he couldn’t get his way and sleep with me. He just laughed, taking a huge swig of his cocktail.
“You brought this on yourself. All you had to do was go along with it,” he shrugged, pulled out his phone, and directed his attention to it. “Oh, and in case you were too slow to catch on, you’re no longer welcome to be a part of the showcase or at the gallery at all. You’re dismissed.”
He shooed me away like a fly that was buzzing around his head and irritating him.
I ran out of the bar, tears blurring my vision.
My heart was broken in ways that love could have never hurt me.
Chapter 13 – Blake
I stayed back in the hotel suite pacing back and forth. I had wanted to go with Talia to her meeting so badly, but I didn’t want to hovering over here while she was handling her business. I was happy that she had wanted me to come along at all, so I didn’t want to make her regret her decision by crowding her space.
But, that didn’t keep me from worrying about her. It was late and anything could happen to a single woman in the city.
I kept checking my phone to see if she had tried calling me. Nothing. I dialed Jensen’s number just to make sure that my phone was still working.
“Hello?” he answered, sleepily.
“Hey, Jensen,” I said, sheepishly. “I’m just checking to make sure that my phone is working. I’m in town for a bit.”
“Yeah, I heard,” he said. “Everything alright? You sound a little worried.”
“No, I’m fine,” I said. “I’m just sitting at the hotel right now.”
Jensen was silent.
“By yourself?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
“What happened to Talia?” I could hear him beginning to worry. That was the last thing that I wanted, for him to come rushing out in the middle of the night because he was worried about me being worried.
“No, everything is fine,” I said, not wanting to get into the details. “I just haven’t been landside in quite some time and hadn’t used this line. I just wanted to make sure that it was working. Thanks, Jensen. Have a good night. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I hung up and sunk down into an arm chair.
Relax, I told myself, rubbing my temples. I knew that I was overreacting. I clicked on the TV to see what was going on in the world. That probably wasn’t the best idea because the first thing that appeared on the screen was a news report of a woman who had been found after being lost for a week. It was showing a team of police officers removing her mangled body from a forest preserve where her body had been recovered. I shuddered.
Just as I got ready to change the channel, Talia came barrelling through the door, her makeup smeared. She had been crying and was visibly upset.
“What a fucking asshole!” she yelled, throwing down her purse and collapsing onto the couch. She started crying so hard that I thought that she was going to choke.
“Whoa! What’s going on? What’s wrong? What happened?” Even though I had been worried that something was going to happen, I had hoped that everything would have been okay. I immediately felt guilty for letting her leave without me.
She sat up, still crying, trying to calm herself so that she could tell me what had happened.
“For some reason, my friend Allison decided to tell everyone about our arrangement. Well, Harvey caught wind of it and decided that, since I had sold myself to you, that I must be for sale so he made a pass at me. When I refused him, he called his assistant and told her to throw my paintings in the alley and said that I’m no longer going to be in the showcase.”
After she finished talking, she let out the most gut-wrenching cries that I had ever heard. I was so furious. I wanted to find Harvey and make him feel every bit of the pain that she was feeling. Men like him disgusted me. They were so hellbent on having their own way that when they couldn’t get it, they reacted like toddlers having temper tantrums.
“Stay here,” I told her, grabbing my coat and walking toward the door. “I’m going to go have a heart-to-heart with Harvey. I’m sure he’ll have a change of heart.”
“No, don’t do that,” said Talia, jumping up and standing in front of me, her eyes full of fear. “He is a very powerful man and could make real trouble for you. I would hate for you to have to pay for what’s going on with me. You have a great job and I would hate for you to lose it.”
For a minute, I was confused. Then, I remembered the story that I had told her about me being an employee on the island.
I needed to tell her the truth. But, when I opened my mouth to speak, she burst out into tears all over again.
“I just can’t believe how close I came to finally having my dreams come true. And to have it all snatched away all because he looked at me as some sort of whore. I…just…I don’t know what to think about any of it. I feel so stupid, like I’ve thrown away my entire life. My reputation is shit now. I will forever be the whore of the art community.”
The heart-wrenching tears that wracked her entire frame was enough to send me into a rage. I wanted to find Harvey and rip him to shred piece by piece. I wanted him to suffer the way that she was suffering, but worse. He shouldn’t be able to make her feel like this. And it made me feel powerless to help her.
“Let’s get you undressed and into bed,” I told her, moving to wrap my arms around her.
“Don’t you get it?” she said, pulling away from me. “My art career is probably over and it hasn’t even really began. And all you can think about is getting into bed?”
She gave me the most disgusted look and turned and walked in the direction of the bathroom.
“I meant to get you int
o bed for you to rest,” I told her evenly. “There’s no sense in losing sleep over this prick. Let’s get ready for bed, relax, try to enjoy our stay in this nice suite, and then figure things out in the morning.”
She nodded, her bottom lip trembling as she fought back more tears. I could tell that she was trying to be brave and it made me admire her strength even more. I went to the bathroom and ran a hot bath for her. The steam from the tub filled the bathroom and made it hot. Once the tub was full, I led her to the bathroom, undressed her, and told her to get into the tub. She did so wordlessly, with a very sullen look on her face. I grabbed the bar of soap and washed her slowly, letting the water cascade from her shoulders. She sighed heavily, leaning her head back inviting the streams of hot water that were flowing down her chest and back.
“Can you get in with me?” she asked. Without hesitation, I nodded, slipped out of my clothes, and got into the tub with her. The water felt warm and comforting. I held her in my arms as she leaned against my chest.
“I’m sorry,” I said after a while, not quite knowing what else to say.
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “But, thank you. You have been exactly what I have needed. Thank you for being here for me.”
I kissed the side of her neck tenderly. I wanted her to feel the depth of my feelings for her. We sat in the tub until our fingers got all wrinkled and then got out. We didn’t bother putting clothes on, but we dried off and climbed into bed, burrowing down together into the thick down comforters.
“I just wish that I could have been appreciate for my art,” she said sadly. She was so talented. That was obvious. But, beyond that, she was passionate about her art. One of my favorite things about watching her create art was seeing how it lit her up from the inside out. It was magnetic. I wanted her to keep that always. But, hearing the uneasiness in her voice, like she wasn’t sure if she was good enough, broke my heart. I could tell that, despite her talent, she doubted herself. I felt like she had turned a corner in that regard by finishing the pieces. And now, after one interaction with this asshole, all of that was coming apart. It was such a shame.
She cried long, hard sobs against my chest. I didn’t say anything. I just held her, slowly rubbing her back, sheltering her in my arms. I wished that I could take the pain away from her. I wanted to see nothing but smiles on her face all of the time. That had been my driving force for the past few months in having her on the island. At first, it was just about me and wanting sex and companionship. But, it changed. I started wanting to see that fire grow within her. And I felt like it had started to flourish.
I was determined to bring back that fire and make it even bigger.
While I held her there in the hotel suite, listening to her sobs turn into whines and then watching her slowly drift off to sleep, I became determined to make sure that that smile never left her face. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do that, but my mind went to work to put together a plan to make it happen.
Talia would have the joy that she deserved, even if it was the last thing that I would do.
Chapter 14 – Talia
I laid in bed for quite some time the next morning with my eyes closed. I could hear the TV droning on off in the distance, but I was too excited about greeting the day. The memories from the night before were playing over and over vividly in my head. I had to fight back tears as the thoughts of my shattered art career registered in my head.
The last few months of my life had been a complete waste. True enough, I had been able to finish my pieces, but for what? They were currently sitting in the back of Harvey’s gallery and probably on their way to the city dump, never to be seen again.
I couldn’t even deal with that thought yet. Instead, I rolled over, burying myself deeper under the pile of blankets that were on top of the comfortable, warm bed. I reached over for Blake and found that he wasn’t in bed anymore. Part of me wondered where he might have been, but another part of me just wanted to stay in bed sleeping the day away.
My plans of hibernation were interrupted when my cellphone sounded off. I tried to ignore it, hoping that whoever it was that was calling me would get the hint and stop calling, but that didn’t happen. Instead, my phone rang over and over again. Finally, I had to get up and find it. It was still jammed in my jacket pocket from the jacket that I had been wearing the night before. I looked at the name on the display.
Allison.
Anger welled up in my heart as I thought about the way that she had contributed to the confusion from the night before. I definitely wanted to hear what she had to say about it.
“What?” I answered, harshly.
“Whoa! Hello to you to,” she snapped back. “Look, I’m not going to beat around the bush. I heard about what happened last night.”
“Oh? What exactly did you hear happened last night?” I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, but I knew that my irritation registered in my voice.
“I heard that Harvey decided to pull you out of the show. And I’m really sorry about that. I know that you were excited to be a part of this showcase. But, don’t worry; I’m sure that there will be plenty of other opportunities. You’re a very talented and dedicated artist.”
I ignored her compliment. She had some explaining to do.
“Yeah, well, he pulled me out of the show because you told him that I was exchanging sex for a place to stay and he tried to make a pass at me.”
She gasped in disbelief.
“I am so sorry. I never would have thought he would do something like that.”
“Yeah, he did. And I can’t pretend that I’m not hurt that you spread such nasty rumors about me. I thought that we were friends.”
“We are friends,” she said, her voice going up an octave. “I know that you don’t really have a reason to believe me, but I actually hadn’t even been talking to Harvey. He overheard me talking to Jenn. She had been complaining about bills and needing to make some extra money. And you know that she doesn’t mind sharing her bed with strangers, so I mentioned the site to her. I told her how lucky you had been to find a match on there. She actually went and signed up that night and has been meeting some guys from there.”
“I really wish you had left me out of it,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. I really wasn’t upset with Allison. I believed that she wouldn’t do anything that would hurt me on purpose. And I knew Jenn. Jenn would make a perfect candidate for the website. I could see her doing something like that easily. It was me who had stumbled across it and taken a chance on something I probably would never have done.
“I wish I had have, too.”
“And the worst part of it is that Harvey made it pretty clear that the reason that he had asked me to be a part of his showcase is because he hoped that it would help him fuck me. Isn’t that insulting?”
“Wow! He said that?” she asked incredulously.
“In so many words. When I refused to give him a price that he could pay to fuck me, he told me that I was no longer welcome in the showcase and called his secretary to have my things put outside.”
She gasped again.
“No! What an asshole! But, you know what? It’s probably for the best that things worked out this way before your name was attached to his. If these are the type of business practices that he takes part in, you wouldn’t have wanted to work with him on that level, anyway. Again, I’m sorry that you had to get mixed up in all of this, but good riddance.”
“Yeah, good riddance,” I said, sadly. “Good riddance to any semblance of an art career that I may have thought that I may have had. Good riddance to the idea of freedom. Good riddance to the silly notion that I had any real talent to speak of.”
I felt like crying I was so upset. But, I didn’t want to start blubbering away on the phone, so I held it together.
“Oh, Talia, I really wish that you didn’t feel that way,” said Allison, sounding just as sad as I had felt. “Don’t let the opinion of one shallow prick get in your head about your talents
. You are really gifted. The world deserves to see your art just like you deserve to have the joy of creating it.”
I knew on some level that she was right, but given the fact that I had spent so much time working on this showcase, this was a huge blow. I literally had revamped my life so that I could focus on doing my very best on this showcase and it’s almost as if everything had been thrown in my face as if it were trash. As if I were trash.
I wasn’t quite ready to see the positive side of things yet. I found an excuse to get off of the phone with Allison.
“Before you go, though, I wanted to tell you the other reason that I was calling besides telling you how terribly sorry that I am that things ended up the way that they did with Harvey and owning my part in the situation. I just didn’t want you to think that I was sitting around talking about you when that’s not the way that it was at all.”
“It’s okay,” I replied, coolly. “I feel that I know you well enough to know that if something like that happened, it wasn’t something that you would do intentionally. You have always proven yourself to be a true friend.”
“Okay, good,” said Allison. “The other reason for my call is that I have a friend Linda who is looking for a good artist for a showcase and I mentioned you to her. She wants to meet with you.”
“You know, Allison, maybe now is not the best time,” I said. “I’m still in the middle of trying to figure things out with this showcase and my pieces. Oh my God! My pieces! They are still in the alley behind Harvey’s gallery.”
Just then, Blake appeared as if out of nowhere.
“No, they aren’t,” he said, smiling. “I made sure that they were picked up and are safely stored away for whenever you need them.”
“Good,” said Allison, overhearing the conversation. “I know that you are still trying to sort through your feelings about what happened with Harvey, but before you make a decision, can you at least agree to meet with Linda just to hear what she’s talking about?”
I really didn’t want to do that, but I figured that there would be no harm in meeting with her.
“Sure,” I said. “Let me know when you can set something up. I know the type of artists that Linda works with and I’m sure that she will love your work.”