Given Time

by Anthony Burn

The confusion in his tone changed to something more soothing. ‘I’m sorry, Lauren, I think you’re wrong. I think you’re being unfair to your artists and your customers. In effect, you’re telling your artists you don’t think their work is worth the prices you need to charge, and you’re telling your customers they can’t have these excellent paintings because you won’t charge the prices they want to pay for them.’

  ‘Hmm, I don’t know…’ she began.

  ‘It’s okay, I understand your feelings because you’re used to prices being set at a certain level, but actually things are worth what people are prepared to pay for them. When a Picasso sold at auction for in excess of one hundred million, it’s not because someone said that’s what the price should be, it’s because that’s what someone wanted to pay.’

  ‘Yes, but we are setting prices here,’ I argued.

  ‘Agreed, but you’ve got to set them at a level that your market wants to pay. I promise you these will sell, and you will still be helping your emerging artists to get established.’

  Lauren asked the question that was forming on my lips. ‘How much do you think we should raise the prices by?’

  ‘I think, at a minimum, you should add a zero to your current prices, but you might find you need to go higher than that.’

  Lauren’s expression reflected the shock I was feeling at the prospect of a tenfold increase, but we talked it through for some time before James offered his guarantee that if we didn’t start selling within a fortnight he would waive his fee.

  My phone’s ringtone brought me to my senses with a jolt on Monday morning. I stretched out sleepily, expecting to find Lauren beside me, but the bed was empty. Assuming she must be in the bathroom, I turned over and picked up the mobile. I checked the screen and was confused to find it was Lauren calling.

  ‘Morning, sleepyhead,’ she said playfully after I swiped the accept button.

  ‘Where are you?’ I asked, failing to stifle a yawn.

  ‘I’m at work,’ she said. ‘I came in early to get all the price changes done before we opened.’

  ‘Why didn’t you wake me? I could have given you a hand.’

  ‘You were sleeping so peacefully I didn’t want to disturb you,’ she explained. ‘In any event, it didn’t need both of us. They’re all done now. God, I hope James is right about this. It feels crazy to me.’

  ‘I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,’ I said, trying to sound more positive than I felt. James’s advice had seemed constructive at the time, and we were determined to follow it, but as the weekend had progressed our doubts about the amount of the price rise had amplified considerably.

  ‘Yeah, it’ll be totally fine,’ she said, sounding even less convinced than me. ‘Anyway, I really called to thank you again for a wonderful day yesterday. I can’t believe what a lucky girl I am.’

  We’d flown down to Girona early the previous morning, and visited the Dali museum in Figueres. While I’d found the works of art fascinating, it had been just as entertaining for me to watch the expressions of wonder on Lauren’s face as she viewed pieces that she only knew from photographs and as she discovered works that were completely new to her. The exhilaration she radiated was infectious, and there were many times during the day when I considered that I could never have had anything like the same experience without her.

  ‘Honestly, I think I’m the lucky one,’ I told her, ‘but you’re welcome anyway. Listen, I’ll get up and dressed as quickly as possible and I’ll be in soon, okay?’

  ‘There’s no rush, I can manage,’ she began, but her tone became hurried. ‘We’ve got customers. Gotta go. See you soon. Love you. Bye.’

  She disconnected before I could reply, so I said ‘Yeah, all of that, right back at you’ to the screen, and traipsed through to the bathroom.

  I sat out on the roof terrace, eating a leisurely breakfast while I watched the river traffic chugging in an endless procession past my apartment. In my relaxed frame of mind, it was easy to imagine it was doing so purely for my amusement.

  The mid-September weather had turned mild, and the cloudless sky allowed the sun to bathe the city in a vibrant light that brought out all of its colours, chasing away its customary grey pallor. With only the slightest of breezes to cool the air, even the Thames seemed to be tranquil as its lazy flow took it away from the metropolis.

  Absently, I acknowledged the waves of the tourists on the riverboats while I drank my coffee and thought of Lauren. She filled my soul with inexpressible joy, and I started to understand that my life had been merely existence before I met her. I couldn’t remember a time I’d been happier, and I revelled in the emotion. But now my euphoria was strengthened by a growing sense of relief. We had made love several times over the weekend, and I hadn’t felt the remotest need for violence to achieve satisfaction. I still couldn’t understand why I had before, but now I was convinced it was a one-off aberration. One that I would never repeat.

  It was getting on for an hour before I snapped out of my reverie, and took my breakfast things inside. I retrieved the time device from the bathroom and turned back to ten minutes after Lauren had called before hiding it among my socks in my bedside cabinet. On my return to the kitchen I nodded with satisfaction, seeing my dirty plates and cup had disappeared from the worktop and reappeared completely clean in their cupboards, having not been used.

  Lauren was waiting near the entrance when I arrived, excitement written all over her face. I’d been about to apologise for having slept in, but it was evident that she had something momentous to tell me. I caught her enthusiasm in an instant. ‘Come on, then. What is it?’

  She struggled to contain herself. ‘The customers that came in while I was talking to you have only just left. They’ve been all around the gallery – upstairs as well. They sat on the sofas, drank wine and asked me lots of questions.’

  It all sounded good, but I gathered from her tone that there might be more. ‘And they bought a painting?’ I suggested.

  She dropped her eyes, and shook her head.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ I said, feeling bad for having deflated her enthusiasm, ‘but it’s a start, isn’t it?’

  Her eyes met mine again, and her elation had increased immeasurably. ‘No, they didn’t buy a painting, Kee. They bought two.’

  She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me long and hard.

  ‘Not at work, remember?’ I said, when she finally stopped for breath.

  ‘Who invented that stupid rule?’ she asked, and kissed me again.

  We didn’t sell anything else that day, but while it was relatively quiet, as Mondays often were, we noticed a marked difference in the people who came in. Most were taking their time and viewing the whole gallery; some were using the sofas, and Lauren was kept busy with explanations about the works while I offered wine and made small talk.

  By the end of Thursday we had sold three more paintings and a sculpture that I had secretly hoped wouldn’t go. I’d wanted it for myself and had planned to buy it at the end of the current exhibition if it was still available. But while I was disappointed for myself, I was pleased that it had contributed to the success of the gallery. Both of our moods had lightened and the concern had evaporated from Lauren’s demeanour, leaving her as carefree at work as she had been in Nice and Figueres.

  Since the weekend, she had been meeting with a number of artists each evening after work with a view to bringing them into the agency, so it was the first time we had been able to spend the night together. We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant we had discovered in Soho, where we lingered over our food and chatted happily about how the fortunes of the business had changed so dramatically.

  ‘At the new prices, were going to go into profit in no time,’ Lauren said. ‘We only need to sell one or two pieces a week now, but we’ve sold six so far and it’s still only Thursday.’

  ‘That’s about the rate we were hoping for,’ I reminded her.

  ‘Yes, I know, but it’s a big adjustment
knowing we’re earning ten times as much.’ She shook her head as if trying to banish the incredulity from her mind.

  I laughed. ‘We’ll cope. I’m just concerned that our artists have had to endure a massive hike in their earnings. How were they holding up when you spoke to them?’

  ‘On the whole, not too bad,’ she said, joining in with the irony. ‘I think they’re going to manage, and the new ones I’ve been speaking to this week have all said they can probably put up with it.’

  ‘I’ll speak to James tomorrow and let him know how it’s going. I think he’s earned his fee.’

  Lauren swiped through to the clock app on her phone as soon as we’d climbed into her bed.

  ‘What time do you want me to set it for?’ she asked.

  I sighed. ‘You’d better make it early so I’ve got time to go home and change before work.’

  ‘You don’t have to get in for opening time,’ she said. ‘I can survive on my own for a while.’

  ‘Yeah, but it hardly seems fair,’ I told her. ‘You’re already putting in a lot more hours than me, what with going to meetings after work as well.’

  ‘I don’t mind. This is my first go at running my own gallery. It’s my dream job and I’m loving it.’

  I kissed her. ‘You are a real treasure, but all this trekking between our flats is getting to be a pain. How would you feel about us living together?’

  Her eyes opened wide. ‘Are you asking me to move in with you?’

  I scowled at the thought. ‘Hell, no,’ I said. ‘I want to move in with you. I love this place.’

  ‘Oh, that’s a relief,’ she retorted. ‘I was so worried you might want me to give it up for that awful hovel by the river.’

  She pushed me down on my back and rested her face on my chest so I could only see the top of her head. ‘There’s just one thing, Kee. I know we have the no kissing rule, and I think it works really well, but if we work together and live together, I’m worried it might be too much, that we might… Oh, I don’t know, I’m not putting this very well. I mean you might… or I might…’

  ‘Chocolate factory syndrome,’ I told her.

  She looked up at me, her brow creased in confusion. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘It’s something I heard years ago. When new workers start on the production line they’re told they can eat as many chocolates as they like, because the management know that within a very short time they will get sick of them.’

  ‘I could never get sick of you,’ she simpered.

  ‘Me neither. Of you, I mean. You’re right though. We do need some time apart so we can miss each other and have things to catch up on. So, I was thinking I could easily work from home on some days, and I think you should go to meetings with artists during the day, so you’re not putting in all this overtime.’

  ‘But you’ve said you don’t feel confident about discussing the art with customers yet. Would you be alright running the gallery on your own?’

  ‘No, not really,’ I admitted, ‘and I don’t like the idea of you being there alone either.’

  ‘I’m a big girl, I can handle it,’ she said, ‘but I would prefer to have someone else about. Are you saying we should get some help?’

  ‘Yes, I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of days, now we’ve started selling.’

  She laughed. ‘Me too! Do you mean a trainee?’

  ‘No, I think we want someone who knows what they’re doing, so you can go off to meetings or whatever straight away.’

  ‘That makes sense. We will still work together on some days though, won’t we?’

  ‘Yes, of course we will. We can easily accommodate three staff at once. Do you know of anyone who might be interested in coming to work for us?’

  She frowned again. ‘Well, I can think of one or two who might be okay, but I don’t know if they could handle it on their own.’

  ‘I’ll still be there to help when you’re not,’ I told her, ‘so they wouldn’t be completely on their own. What about Christa McKenzie?’

  ‘Oh my God, I’d love to have Christa working with us, but she’s so high up and respected at the Hanniden, she would never want to leave them.’

  ‘We could try making her an offer she can’t refuse,’ I suggested.

  ‘What, you mean, like doubling whatever she says she’s earning now?’

  ‘No, I think we’ll make it company policy that we only ever do that for someone extra special.’

  ‘You mean someone whose knickers you’re trying to get into.’

  I must have looked hurt because she quickly added, ‘Oh God, Kee, that was a horrible thing to say. I really didn’t mean it. Please forgive me. I love you so much.’

  I kissed her forehead. ‘You are forgiven, but in a way it’s true, except I wanted so much more than that. I wanted to get into your life, and I would have given you the whole world for that.’

  ‘You have done. You really have, and so much more.’ She gave me a lengthy, passionate kiss and then rested her face back on my chest. She was quiet for a long time, but then she whispered, ‘Do you really think we could approach Christa?’

  ‘I don’t see why not,’ I said. ‘The worst she could do is say no.’

  She turned her face to mine, the animation in her eyes pre-empting her words. ‘This is so exciting,’ she said.

  ‘Anyway, you haven’t answered my question. Are you going to move in with me?’

  She turned her face away. ‘I’ve got to think about it,’ she whispered.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise. Is it too soon?’ I asked, unable to keep the disappointment out of my voice. ‘I know we’ve only been together a few weeks, but I feel so positive about us. I thought you’d be quite keen on the idea.’

  She looked back up at me and her sly grin was fixed in place. ‘No, I’ve got to think whether I need to hire a van for my stuff or if I can get it all into my car. Most of all, I’ve got to think about how soon I can do it.’

  Twenty-two

  It didn’t take long for Lauren to move in. She rushed home from work on Friday and loaded as many of her clothes as she could fit into her car, and then drove to the apartment arriving just before nine. I’d prepared a meal for her, so we sat and ate before unloading her things.

  ‘That was the best takeaway pizza I’ve ever had,’ she said.

  ‘I aim to please,’ I told her as I loaded the dishwasher.

  It took us several trips down to the basement garage to fetch all of her clothes, and when we’d finished the wardrobes were getting dangerously close to overflowing.

  ‘Have you got much more to bring?’ I asked.

  ‘No, there’s not a lot more in my flat. I can probably fit the rest into two or three boxes and bring them by taxi. There’s no rush though, I’ve still got another four months to run on my lease. Oh, and I have about three hundred pairs of shoes in a storage container.’

  A shiver coursed through me as I was reminded of my stepmother, but I saw the glint in Lauren’s eye and breathed a sigh of relief at her joke.

  Sunday morning brought a bustle of activity. Drew had finally got a break from his playing schedule, so he and Amy had come home for the weekend. They had visited their friends and Amy’s family in Birmingham the previous day, and now they were coming to spend some time with us before flying back to the States later in the day for yet another golf tournament.

  Lauren and I worked together preparing lunch. Satisfied that we’d done as much as we could in advance, Lauren took herself off to get ready while I made us coffee. She changed her outfit three times, each one as stunning as the others, and presented herself to me for inspection, but no matter how much I encouraged her she still dithered.

  After the third change, I altered my tactics. She was wearing a stunning blue dress that showed off her figure beautifully. ‘Oh no, that’s terrible,’ I said. ‘You’re bum looks huge in that.’

  She twisted her body to look at her rear. ‘Really? Are you sure?’ she asked, her voice pani
cky. She turned back to see me laughing and glowered at me.

  ‘Lauren, stop,’ I said. ‘You know with your figure you can wear anything and make it look sensational. I love that dress, so relax and have your coffee. You look great.’

  ‘Let me try just one more,’ she said, turning back towards the bedroom.

  ‘If you do, I’ll throw all of your clothes in the river and you’ll have to spend the day naked.’

  She shook her head at me. ‘That would totally make an impression.’

  A short while later, we greeted Drew and Amy at the front door and showed them into the living room, where Lauren and I shared a knowing look while our guests took in the view with unrestrained astonishment.

  Drew recovered first. ‘You’d have thought with all your money, you could have afforded somewhere decent.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s a terrible view,’ Amy joined in as she gazed towards Tower Bridge.

  ‘I think I preferred your reaction,’ I told Lauren.

  Drew and Amy regarded her quizzically. ‘Oh, don’t,’ Lauren said, her face colouring at the memory. ‘I’m twenty-four years old and I gushed like a stupid schoolgirl.’

  We gave the guys a guided tour of the apartment before finishing on the roof terrace. Leaning on the railings, Lauren and I waved back to a passing tourist without thinking until Drew asked, ‘Someone you know?’

  We explained that it was common for the people in the boats to wave; he and Amy were amused by the idea, but very soon found themselves joining in.

  ‘Have you thought about taking your kit off and giving them a flash?’ Drew asked, although I wasn’t sure at which of us his question was directed.

  Amy gave him an exasperated glare. ‘Only you could think of that.’

  ‘Yeah, but you’d do it, wouldn’t you, babe?’ he said.

  ‘You’ll have to excuse Drew,’ Amy told Lauren. ‘He can be a real child at times.’

  ‘You know you get naked at the first sign of sunshine,’ Drew persisted.

  ‘It’s different on holiday,’ she said.