SHIPS CompanionSHIP, FriendSHIP, RelationSHIP

by K'Anne Meinel

  She went to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy her sheets, towels, dishes, and silverware. She bought a few bowls and pitchers as well. She could have spent a lot on gadgets but reality set in and she knew she wouldn’t ever need any of those things much less use them. She found a great art table and credenza for her studio. Easy assembly required. Yeah, right. She bought them anyway.

  Her third stop was the DMV to change her license over to California. It was a good thing she had had a California drivers license before or they would have made her take the test again. After all these years she wasn’t sure she could pass it without studying the book.

  Her final stop was the grocery store again. She was more thorough this time and got everything on the list as well as a few things on sale and things that appealed to her. Now she felt that she was ready to settle into her apartment. She returned to the studio.

  She unpacked the car making several trips. Madge came out after the third one and asked if she could help. Thanking her but refusing she did ask her for the name of a carpenter, a plumber, and an electrician. Madge returned with two numbers in a few minutes, friends of hers who could use the work. Joan sat down and called. One was a plumber and electrician. She made plans for him to come the next day. She needed the water and electric routed for her new washer/dryer set. She left a message for the carpenter as he wasn’t at the number.

  Sitting down after running all these errands she sighed heavily. She was tired. The emotional upheaval weighed heavily on her. Thinking about it really got her down. Determined not to let it, she changed her clothes and took a jog on the beach. Gorgeous weather for May. The June glooms hadn’t started yet, where the overcast clouds continually left things gray and gloomy. She must have jogged a couple of miles before stopping for a breather and walking back.

  On her way she saw a restaurant called Jack’s with those funky little game pieces that the name implied. It had an upstairs for fine dining and downstairs over the beach for swimmers and beach goers to eat. She headed to the lower level and ordered a fruit salad. It wasn’t busy in the middle of the week and she chatted idly with the bored waitress for awhile. She headed back to the apartment to finish setting up everything she could.

  She set up the intercom system which were little boxes. She put one in the studio, one in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, and gave one to Madge to set up in the office. They had switches so you could choose which box you wanted to talk to and they had a speaker like a microphone so once you acknowledged whoever was paging you, you didn’t need to stand at the box and talk to them. They sent out little radio signals so it was all cordless except for plugging them in. Madge called her to be sure they were working and Joan explained that 1, 2, & 3 were in the respective rooms so she could write them down. The next thing she hooked up was her cordless phone system. It was really cool. They were the size of a palm pilot or smaller. It reminded her of Star Trek from the 60’s when they used their communicators. She set the base with the answering machine in the kitchen. The two other set’s were put in the studio and the bedroom. She could pick up any of these and clip them to her belt and put on a headset and totally be hands free. She thought this might be a plus when she was painting.

  She put some plants she had bought in the living room near the beautiful window that gave her a view of the houses across the way. In between and over those houses she could see the ocean. It was a deep blue today. Peaceful and relaxing.

  That was the last bit of peaceful and relaxing that she had that day as she attempted to put her easy to assemble art table and credenza. It was a good thing she had purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond a complete tool kit. She swore and sobbed in frustration until she got it all put together. It took the rest of the afternoon and into the evening to get it all assembled. She was a perfectionist and when things didn’t line up evenly she pulled them apart and tried again. After hours and hours of sweat and tears she got them together and they looked great. The few supplies she had purchased she put away in the credenza which had some apothecary type drawers which were perfect for art supplies. The drawers in the middle were wide and flat, perfect for pads of paper or artwork. The cabinet front below these drawers would hold cans of paint. The table she positioned so that the glare of the sunlight would never hit the top of the table. She could look out and see the ocean when she wanted.

  After a full day she went to fix herself something to eat. She ate off her new plates, using her new silverware, drinking from her new glasses. Halfway through her meal she heard a really odd noise. It kept going for 3 or 4 times before she realized it was her phone. She ran to it and found the carpenter on the other end of the line. She made arrangements for him to come and give her an estimate for some work in the apartment on Monday. After everyone else had come and gone.

  With her checklist finished and a totally exhausting day behind her, she went to bed. This was one place she couldn’t totally forget about Grace. It was hard. It caused her to lose sleep. Having not had regular loving in years, to have had it and lost it caused an ache she had never knew could exist.

  Over the next few days she had the plumber/electrician rewire and route some pipes to her walk in closet for the new washer/dryer set up. She had her new tv/stereo systems delivered. They set up the tv/vcr/dvd system with surround sound in the living room. It took them hours to get everything adjusted just right. While they were doing that her couch and chairs were delivered. Good timing in her opinion since it all would have to fit together. The tv and dvd/vcr in her bedroom took less than an hour for them to set up with it’s sound system. Shaking her head, remembering the days when it was just plug it in and it worked she couldn’t believe the hassle involved. It took maybe 15 minutes for the guys to install her washer/dryer and hook it up to the plumbing and electrical. The dishwasher was so cute and it just plugged in and hooked up to the water supply, easy and simple. She was thrilled with her new toys. She wasn’t too thrilled with all the warranty and instruction manuals. She spent one whole night just reading the ones for the living room entertainment center.

  On Monday the carpenter reconstructed her closet space to section off the washer/dryer from her clothes closet. Each would have it’s space and no dust would get from the dryer into her clothing. When he was done it looked like it had always been there.

  Her boxes from Wisconsin arrived on Wednesday. She spent the remainder of the week sorting and putting things away. She called the car rental agency and had the car picked up as she no longer needed it. If she needed to go anywhere she’d call a taxi, take the bus, or if it became a big project, rent another car. If that became a hassle she’d buy one. For now she was content.

  That weekend she was able to begin painting again. Her settling in accomplished she threw all her energies into painting. All the pain she had been feeling she redirected to her work. In the weeks and months that followed she did some incredible work.

  She purchased another digital scanner that could scan pieces up to 10’ across. She and Madge had it installed in a backroom that had been used for storage. Madge was pleased as now she could offer that service to some of their other artists too. Joan was pleased because she wanted the new pieces out on the internet as soon as possible and the prints begun production immediately. It was simpler to send a CD disk to the printer now. All very high tech. Then she decided to hold off on listing the pieces on the internet until the new catalog came out for a larger impact. Meanwhile, they were ready to begin production on the prints and for once were ahead of things.

  ~ CHAPTER 8 ~

  Grace went to work as usual. She didn’t hear again from Joan that day. Wondering about the surprise that Joan had teased her with made her smile. Joan had something up her sleeve and it was making her very pleased with herself. That night she checked the answering machine and no message. Well, Joan knew her hours pretty well, she’d probably call later when she knew she’d be home. Firing up the computer she checked for emails, nothing there so she decided to send her own. Finding a clever joke she
sent that as well. She waited until 10 for Joan to call and then went to bed.

  In the morning she checked her emails before work and found both that she had sent Joan were back with the posting reading RETURNED MAIL USER UNKNOWN. Puzzled, Grace checked the email address again, sent the mail again, and waited. Sure enough in a few minutes it was returned, user unknown. That was strange. Looking at the time she decided to call Joan, perhaps she was unaware of her email being down. The phone rang twice before she heard a recorded message telling her that the number she had reached had been disconnected, no further information was available. Since she had called the number from her speed dial, she looked it up and called it again. The same recording came on. Really puzzled now she called the gallery and Yoshi answered the phone. She asked if Joan was in and was told no she wasn’t. She left a message for Joan to call as soon as she got in. Satisfied with that, she went to work. She checked her answering machine at noon but no message. She called the gallery again and left a message with Yoshi. That night when she got home there was again, no message. Beginning to worry as she was expecting Joan to fly in and call for a ride she called the airlines. They wouldn’t give her any information. She called Tracey as she worked for a travel agency. Tracey looked up all the available flights that day and they narrowed it down to two airlines that could have possibly flown out of Central Wisconsin. Then she checked the last 48 hours of flights and found that Joan had flown in the previous morning on the red eye from Minneapolis. Now Grace really was worried. Joan had been in town for two days and not phoned, not even a message. She phoned the Malibu gallery and asked Madge if she had seen Joan. Under Joan’s instructions Madge said she could leave a message and she would forward it to Joan. She didn’t lie to Grace, she just didn’t tell her what she wanted to know. Grace left another message there.

  Now what? She didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t like Joan. Joan had often sent her irrelevant emails, jokes, or even what could be termed love letters. Not more than a day or two had passed where some form of communication had occurred, but that business with the phone disconnected and the emails bouncing back bothered her. Calming herself she was sure she was blowing it all out of proportion. Perhaps this all had to do with Joan’s surprise. With that thought she went to bed.

  After a couple of weeks of no returned messages, Grace was very hurt and now angry. If Joan had changed her mind about their relationship, why didn’t she just come out and tell Grace. Why this? Why like this? Grace even tracked down the Wood’s Foundation phone number and called Craig, leaving him a message that would not be returned. A second call actually got him on the line but he told her nothing other than his mother was fine and he couldn’t force her to return her messages. Now Grace was truly angry. How childish. If Joan had stabbed her in the heart it couldn’t have hurt any more. Her friends and coworkers started noticing that something was wrong. Joanne finally cornered her one day and Grace confessed it all, the hurt, the frustration, the anger. Joanne was ready to beat the shit out of Joan for her she became so angry. How dare someone treat Grace like this. The hardest part Grace admitted was the not knowing, the why.

  Joanne even took it so far as to go the Mailibu gallery. She asked Madge if she might see the artist about a special commission. Madge said it might be arranged and that if Jo left her name and phone number she would get back to her. Joan happened to be in the office while Jo was in the gallery and stayed hidden until she left. The name and number were thrown in the trash with instructions that if THAT woman ever came in again she was to have her requests ignored.

  ~ CHAPTER 9 ~

  Joan was getting ready for a big presentation. She’d been contracted to produce artwork for the new addition at the hospital in downtown Los Angeles. Six months ago she was approached by the director Harold Waterman, who told her what they wanted in the entranceway of the addition. She had her sketchbook handy and showed him a picture of the profile of a beautiful woman with wavy blonde hair looking almost angelic and so peaceful. He leapt at having a portrait such as that in the hospital. It was perfect he said, just what he had been looking for. He asked though, could she do it for only $50,000? Agreeing on the price and signing a contract she had the work done in two months. It was a monster piece. The canvas didn’t even fit in her studio upstairs. She and Madge had to place it in the gallery with a tarp over it. Madge hung pieces behind it to hide it a bit but a 20’ painting isn’t easy to hide. Joan agreed to work on it after hours and into the night. What Harold didn’t know was this was actually a second piece. The sketch he saw was the preliminary drawing of another piece she had finished in her studio, a normal sized portrait with the word GRACE flowing across the bottom.

  Joan had thought that perhaps by exorcising Grace from her system in this way that she’d get some peace and quiet. It hadn’t worked completely but it had helped. She wasn’t sure if she would ever sell the piece. It hung in the gallery but without a pricetag. In the six months it hung there, they’d had several inquiries about it. Madge let on that it was part of a private collection that they were holding. She wondered about it as well, Joan would tell her nothing other than it wasn’t for sale. The last week before the unveiling of the piece at the hospital she put it back in her studio.

  The piece for the hospital was scanned in sections and then delivered and Joan had been invited for the new addition’s unveiling. They were going to have a huge party and Harold made sure she was coming. He’d even provided her with a date in the form of his nephew Simon. Simon had arranged a limo to pick them up. He was due anytime.

  Joan looked in the mirror at her reflection. She was pleased with almost all she saw. She’d let herself go this last year in depression and not taken advantage of what she learned at the spa. She’d felt and looked a bit frumpy. Since the piece called Grace was done though she had started coming out of her shell. Taking long walks on the beach, jogging, spending at least two nights a week at Jack’s where she met new people all the time, all of it had helped. Tonight she was wearing a black dress. She’d found it here in Malibu in a small exclusive boutique frequented by movie stars. When she told the woman behind the counter what the evening was the woman said she had just the thing, she did too. The dress hugged her like a second skin, it’s spaghetti straps holding her bust barely in and pushing it up beyond nature. For once her broad shoulders didn’t bother her. The dress emphasized her trim if too thin waistline. It didn’t infringe on her walking which had been a prerequisite when she went to buy an outfit. It came to mid calf leaving her legs looking long and sexy. The matching shoes made her feel so glamorous. She wore a Chinese pendant of jade with oriental script which meant ‘good health’ in fine gold in the center, she thought that very appropriate for a hospital function. She had matching jade earrings dangling from her ears in the first hole and a gold Chinese script hanging from the second hole. The left side had an gold ear clip with a chain attached to the Chinese script in that ear. She’d thought about getting a third hole pierced in each ear and perhaps a nose ring but she was an artist and they would have thought her way out there beyond where they probably thought she already was. Besides the idea of sneezing with a nose ring gave her the shudders.

  Her hair she had fixed the braids so they roped around her head in an elegant way. The length down her back hiding the backless dress. She’d roped it with gold beads and it shimmered with it’s red highlights in the light. She grabbed a satin and cotton blend coat that would cover the dress in any possible weather.

  She heard a car in the driveway below her bedroom balcony. Looking out she saw a tall, dark, and handsome man get out of the limousine. He was at least 10 years younger than her. Oh, Gawd! He would have made any woman proud to be seen with. She buzzed him in and in moments he was at the door.

  Opening it Simon was struck dumb for a moment. He couldn’t believe his good fortune. What a babe. His uncle had commanded this performance and he had hoped that the woman would be reasonably good looking, but wow he had really lucked out. She
was statuesque. He’d been expecting a gypsy from what he’d heard of this artist. She was even a good height to his 6’ frame. Introducing himself with a slight bow he smiled a winning smile.

  Joan was amused. This was a VERY good looking man. Why in the world his uncle had fixed them up together she did not know. She could see that she had shocked him and that pleased her. She hadn’t had moments like this in her life and she was cherishing this one. She let him help her on with her coat, he made sure he skimmed his fingertips on her shoulders. She wasn’t certain but he could have also kissed her neck, but when she looked back he was looking oh so innocent. Catching up her purse, she grabbed her keys and dropped them into it. He escorted her to the limousine and tucked her in it.

  They chatted nicely and got to know each other on the way across the canyon towards LA, but when he put his hand on her knee, she firmly took it off. He raised an eyebrow in response.

  “Look Simon, I’m almost old enough to be your mother, knock it off.”

  Laughing it off he tried again later. Joan told him if he didn’t behave himself she’d put an elbow and perhaps a knee into his future fatherhood. He got the hint and behaved himself thereafter even though he found it difficult, her perfume was intoxicating and he told her so.

  He told her about himself. He was a doctor in the hospital that his uncle directed. He’d started an internship in psychiatry. He was just 30 years old. Next to him Joan felt ancient.