‘Get more security to the front.’ Josh shouted at two heavyset men by the entrance, perplexed by the throngs of people accumulating on his doorstep fighting to peer through windows. Groups of well-to-doers shuffled away from the entrance area, where outside began to resemble a zombie attack, complete with gruesome faces pushed against glass and eerie groaning.
‘An absolute success!’ beamed one broadsheet critic, sharing a drink and canapé with Nick and Konrad, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen such dedication to one theme – and so accomplishedly executed.’
‘Thank you, Toby.’ Nick said, sensing the expectant stares from patient partisans building around him and turned to circulate, ‘Been great talking with you.’ he added with a movie star smile. The flash of a camera caught him in his moment of veneration – a photo that would appear in newspapers, magazines and websites around the world, The Pinup Painter usually crassly captioned beneath – and for a brief time Nick rode the wave he found himself upon like a natural; a temporary-talk-of-the-town, and more than capable warm-up act before the headlining appearance.
Sofia, the eye-catching turn earlier in the night, had seen interest in her self-showcase fade as the evening wore on and admired Nick in his element among London’s glitterati. Her other ex, stressing near the entrance, looked back at Sofia and saw her fixed on Nick, watching him with the same sweet expression she used to give him. His wrought nerves took over and he marched over to her, stood beautiful in her trailing red dress, and startled her from her lustful daydream.
‘Hey! Your gaze is supposed to be on the big painting!’
‘Sorry.’ she said, returning to her correct pose looking up at Nick’s high-mounted principal piece.
He turned, grumbling spiteful obscenities and barged through Nick’s group of devotees, interrupting the flowing feelgood factor, ‘I thought you said she was coming!’ he snarled at Konrad, refusing to acknowledge Nick.
‘Corsica? Yeh, she is.’
‘Well she better!’ he threatened, ‘Her recent track-record isn’t the best!’
‘She’ll be here!’ Konrad glowered.
‘Can’t believe my future hangs on the appearance of a two-bit bimbo…’ Josh muttered as he made to leave, Konrad pulled him back by his shoulder.
‘You’re lucky you’re not in prison, son! But I can soon put you in hospital with those two thugs you sent round!’ he said with a chilling air that drew gasps from onlookers and sent Josh scurrying like an exposed rat. ‘Jeez!’ Konrad said to Nick, straightening his suit jacket over his arm cast, ‘I can see why you hit him now!’
The tension in the ether suddenly spiked and all heads instinctively turned to the gallery front, where outside frantic movement and muffled screams caused the security team to file through the gallery and line the entrance like a military drill team. Car headlights slowly approaching the building front, forcing their way through the frenzied crowd, finally paused as the leading car pulled to a stop. Then there was a silent delay before flashes of white became an intense throbbing light that filled the whole street, accompanied with hysterical noise that built to an unnerving crescendo. In the midst of the outside melee, a cluster of people beat a path to the gallery entrance; assisted by security forcing back the delirious frontline and allowing access. Eventually the entourage entered unscathed and once all doors were shut and manned, a peaceful relief blanketed the hall like a mass sigh.
‘Ladies and gentlemen.’ called an announcer over the sound system, ‘Corsica Coleman!’ and as if choreographed, she emerged from the group of sheltering arrivals like a butterfly leaving its chrysalis. All eyes fell on her, walking forwards in a figure-hugging white dress like the resurrection of a showbiz deliverer. Konrad’s reality lost sense of time and space and he envisaged her seductively approaching him in slow motion, hair blowing back like she was walking unharmed through the eye of a storm. She passed through the wowed crowd as workers cleared the centre area and setup chairs, and greeted Josh, the host, before moving to Nick, the featured artist. As she made her way to the hastily-prepared press conference area she gestured to the hall’s artwork for the benefit of the privileged witnesses, and gave Konrad a warm smile. An invited group of reporters took their seats while photographers and camera operators found vantage points, leaving everyone else to push and shove for the best view affordable.
‘Thank you Joshua Arnaud and Nicholas Green!’ Corsica said standing in front of her chair, clipping her microphone on her dress and initiating a round of applause, ‘A truly fantastic evening.’ and she took her seat next to her manager, looking very peeved with the whole affair.
‘Where have you been, Corsica?’ shouted one eager reporter out of turn.
‘Finding myself!’ she shot back, drawing laughs from gushing spectators.
Malcolm rose to his feet, ‘Okay, Corsica is proud to come here tonight and make a very special announcement; she’s prepared a short statement and will take questions after.’
‘I’ll tell you all about it later!’ she joked flirtingly with the reporter and took a sip of water, preparing the notes in front of her.
Lucy, alone in the hotel suite, sat on the edge of the bed biting her nails in silence with the television and laptop turned off. She was too tense to look at updates in case things went sour or the media portrayed it in their typically negative vein, continuing their cruel campaign against the beset star.
‘She must be mad!’ joked one journalist with another as they stood applauding the end of the press conference. Corsica posed gracefully for photos, at one point calling Nick over and having a series of shots taken with the showcased artist. Konrad could only look on with swelling pride at his closest friends enjoying the accolades. Sofia, free from her centrepiece role and changed into something black and slinky, returned to the hall and received an unexpected ovation.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, the star of the show… Sofia!’ Corsica introduced, and Sofia was guided to the table and joined the other headlining guests for photos, completely overwhelmed but shining bright. Josh stood at a distance admiring her; with his ego bruised from recent events he was washed by the realisation that he utterly and unconditionally adored her, and felt substantially worse as a result. The trio at the table linked arms and leaned in as photographers took their final snaps. Another standout image to be widely circulated featured Sofia gazing lovingly at Nick as the threesome huddled together like it was a curtain call. Within the hour it would be uploaded to news sites seen by millions – including Lucy several miles away, currently fighting her every instinct to learn of developments.
Flowing champagne added a serving of euphoric-poisoning to the already brimming celebration, and with the hour late and guests leaving it was time to drop all acts and savour the night naturally as friends. Nick, Konrad, Corsica and Sofia, all buzzing harmoniously, giggled in a clique group that was impenetrable to anyone not possessing the same high-spirits – which was impossible unless a member of staff learned they’d just won the lottery. Josh, directing workers and winding down the show, stared over his shoulder at the group; gripped by resentment for Nick, contempt for Konrad, gratitude for Corsica, and bittersweet love for Sofia – he’d probably never been so conflicted, but on some level knew that despite the mix of characters involved there was no alternative.
‘Oh!’ Corsica blurted aloud, nearly choking on her champagne as a thought suddenly gate-crashed her mind, ‘Has anyone called Lucy yet?’
‘No!’ Konrad said horrified, realising they’d forgotten the true star of the night, ‘Wanna call her?’
‘Yes’ Corsica smiled. She took his hand and led him to a quieter spot, subconsciously preferring to not speak in front of Nick, now left alone with his ex. He shuffled awkwardly, unsure what to say; Sofia felt considerably more comfortable, even pleased to find themselves with some privacy.
‘Who’d have thought we’d be here tonight like this!’ she said with a laugh.
‘I know! Life, eh?’ he replied generically.
&n
bsp; ‘Things could really change for us now.’
‘Yes.’ he pondered, ‘Things could really change…’
‘Guess we got Lucy to thank for that.’ she said and quickly regretted bringing her name up; Nick didn’t answer. She changed tack, ‘You know this is the first time we’ve been alone since that night together?’
He looked at her, uneasy with where this was leading, ‘Yeh, I suppose it must be.’
‘Have you not thought about it? How connected and familiar it was?’ she said edging enticingly closer.
‘No, I… er… well, this week’s been a bit hectic hasn’t it?’
She enjoyed flummoxing him, growing more attracted the further he withdrew, ‘I’ve thought about it a lot.’ she said seductively, slightly biting her lip, ‘And what it all means. Nicholas Green’s Sofia – it’s our history!’ she gestured to his work lining the walls of the gallery, ‘And future!’
‘Future?’
‘We’re meant to be, Nick.’ she took his hand, trembling as though caffeine was circulating through his veins.
‘Meant to be?’
‘Yes, Nick.’ she squeezed his hand and drew closer, ‘We’re soul-mates!’ and she tenderly kissed his bottom lip, lingering long enough to make Josh’s watchful eye spin in its socket.
‘W-We are?’
‘Yes!’ Sofia replied like a mother finally able to communicate something successfully to her infant, ‘Now that you’re going to be someone.’ she regrettably added, cringing as the words left her mouth.
Nick broke from his passive nervousness, ‘Now? Never before tonight?’
‘Well, at one time…’ she said forced on the back foot, ‘…but you were never really going anywhere, were you?’
‘I wasn’t going anywhere?’ he said, his pitch higher with every question.
‘We…’ she emphasised with clenched fists, ‘…weren’t going anywhere!’ She laughed at him and fell into his chest like he was being needlessly silly over something trivial. ‘But now we can… all the way to the top!’ she said dreamy-eyed.
Nick pushed her back, ‘But I’m the same person I was then.’
‘I know, but now the timing is… right.’
‘Sofia…’ he said with a current of inner-determination, ‘…the person I love is the one who made all this happen.’ Sofia’s pleading eyes failed to affect his unwavering stand.
‘What about you and me?’
‘You?’ he laughed, and looked around the impressive hall hosting his life’s work. He closed his eyes and absorbed a wave of tranquillity, ‘Oh, I think I have you out of my system now.’ and he glided away.
Sofia stood dejected as she watched Nick join Konrad and Corsica, talking excitedly on the phone in the corner of the hall. She looked over at Josh, jaded from pulling the venue’s strings all evening; he slumped into a chair and rested his head in his hands. He was exhausted, not just from commanding the foot soldiers, but from a period of crippling, albeit self-inflicted, stress. As he relaxed for the first time in days he realised it was all over, he’d effectively filled the holes he’d dug himself and rescued his gallery and reputation from imminent implosion, although at a cost; he’d lost Sofia and failed to beat Nick, as he saw it. Josh loved personal battles, ruthless competitiveness was ingrained in him, but hardnosed arrogance made him taste defeat for the first time and he didn’t like it. However, he’d miraculously escaped criminal charges and it was while he recognised an inkling of gratitude in his heart that she walked over to him.
Lucy threw her phone on the bed and turned on the TV searching for a news channel. As she waited for coverage of the night’s story she opened her laptop and browsed news sites, smiling proudly as images of Nick and Corsica accompanied generally positive reports. She froze as one website displayed the photo of Sofia looking lovingly at Nick and stared for a torturous amount of time, enlarging the image in her mind and reading a thousand stories into it; then the newsreader introduced the story and she snapped from her harmful thoughts and turned to the television.
‘Corsica Coleman’s long-awaited reappearance happened in style this evening as she unexpectedly attended Nicholas Green’s Sofia exhibition at the Joshua Arnaud Art Gallery in London. Arriving in a stunning white dress and looking relaxed after several weeks out of the public eye, she thanked fans for their patience and made a shock announcement; she has decided to champion environmental issues and organise a world music festival for the Kenwood concerts next month. Following heavy media criticism over her solo career and no-show at a recent headlining festival, Corsica Coleman has decided her future lies in the promotion of concerts and not performing in them…’
As the story ran, showing footage of her brainchild and the lavish coverage given to the exhibition, she began to cry as they featured a short biography on Nick, currently a little-known artist but soon to be proclaimed a culture-vulture’s pinup and the thinking-woman’s crumpet. She was bitterly torn between resentment for the pain he caused and joy at wanting to share the moment with the man she still loved.
When the group finally left the gallery to attend a showbiz party, Nick looked down at Josh and Sofia as he passed them at the entrance. Sofia was sat on Josh’s lap, her head in his chest; both staring back at him. In those few seconds they released all the cancerous energy they’d built inside and found a clear sense of closure. They’d passed the finish-line but there were no real winners and on a deeper level they knew it. They’d all lost something substantial on the road and carried a heavy burden as a result.
Chapter 21
Winners & Participants
HAIR: Straight, shiny and auburn – Likeness Match: 10/10
FACE: Cute and slender-nosed – Likeness Match: 10/10
HEIGHT: 5’3” – Likeness Match: 10/10
BOOBS: Naturally busty – Likeness Match: 10/10
ARSE: Perfectly round! – Likeness Match: 10/10
LEGS: Short and well-shaped – Likeness Match: 10/10
SCENT: 100% Lucy – Likeness Match: 10/10
OVERALL: The One.
Four weeks without word from Lucy and Nick’s eyes nearly bungee-jumped as he saw her pass several metres away. He dropped his plastic beer cup on the counter and gawped; he was about to call out when his deluded vision lost clarity and he began to notice tiny inconsistencies, which quickly became enormous differences. He turned back to his drink, angry at his mind playing tricks, then realised it was hardly surprising he was fantasising – he’d been avoiding the festival all weekend, worried about seeing Lucy and slipping deeper into self-regret. He looked back at the redhead hurrying along the pristine lawn and enjoyed her similarities, watching her red hair bounce with every confident stride; a petit but powerful woman of immeasurable potential. He allowed himself pleasure from the lookalike, delving into a daydream that offered momentary relief from the truth. When she disappeared from view so did his illusion and he finished his beer and ordered another.
Music from the domed stage, positioned directly in front of the stately Kenwood House, droned dimly around the far reaches of the grounds, home only to Nick and scattered groups of lovers seeking solace beside the lake. Konrad was walking around the grounds speaking to seated groups and gathering signatures for his petition; he was near the far end of the lake when he noticed a familiar figure sat alone in the marquee bar. He walked over, tip-toeing around groping couples, and surprised Nick.
‘What are you doing over here?’ he said loudly, nearly provoking an unfortunate episode. Nick composed his hyperventilation.
‘Keeping a safe distance.’ he replied ordering another beer for his campaigning friend. Konrad tossed his bulging clipboard onto the counter, put his hands on his waist and gave him a mean, if unintentionally camp, glare.
‘Two days you’ve wasted deciding whether to come or not and you’re just going to sit here on your own?’
‘Suppose.’
‘Drinking?’
‘Yes! Look, I’ve come to support you all, like you wanted.’<
br />
‘No one knows you’re here!’
‘Well you do! Now…’ he answered timidly.
‘And this is how you repay Corsica and Lucy for turning your life around?’ he glowered, forcing Nick to admit his stubbornness.
‘I just can’t deal with seeing Lucy right now.’
‘But you can ogle the arse off that redhead who passed a moment ago?’ Konrad replied; Nick was stumped for something to say. Konrad laughed and put his arm around him, ‘I had a good look too!’ he admitted, ‘From a distance she reminded me of Penny!’
‘Dirty sod!’ Nick smiled, his anxiety dissolving with the closeness he felt for his ever-present friend. The bartender brought Konrad’s beer and they raised glasses to each other with no verbal toast necessary. ‘So how’s it all going?’
‘Amazingly well!’ he raved, ‘The acts have been tremendous and it’s sold out every day!’
‘And your war against the evil corporation?’ Nick said sarcastically, thumbing through his padded clipboard. Konrad gave him an involuntary hug and sat down next to him, almost unable to breathe with excitement.
‘It’s all I’ve been doing.’ he said proudly, ‘Day and night, interviews and petitioning; I’ve been in the news like you, my friend!’ and he slapped his back with stinging spirit.
‘That’s terrific!’ Nick said feeling slightly sorry, ‘I haven’t really been following…’
‘Out drinking?’
‘And working! Im in-demand, mate; I have deadlines and responsibilities now!’
‘Truthfully?’
‘Yeh, mainly drinking…’
‘There you go!’
‘You can notice?’
‘Yes, but only with my sight, hearing and smell.’ Konrad replied, ‘I can’t taste or touch your alcohol-abuse and nor do I want to!’
‘Fair enough!’
‘We’ve actually reopened the whole debate.’ he said seriously, ‘Lots of people previously unaware are now backing a review of the development. I’m fighting back, Nick!’ he said jabbing out his arms, now fully functional and free of bandages, ‘I’m actually fighting The Man!’
Double Ex: A Romantic Comedy about Lost Love & Lookalikes Page 19