“Not to the extent that other people do, and it’s okay,” she said.
Uncontrollable tears started streaming down my face. There was a painful ball in my throat and those pangs in my heart were intensifying.
“I got into the healthcare business because I thought with enough time and research, we could develop a cure. Getting into this, I knew I wouldn’t have enough time and I’d already made my peace with that. I did all I could to stay healthy, in the end, all I wanted was to be happy. ”
When I didn’t respond, she asked, “What would someone who has all the money in the world do if they knew their life is just about to end?”
Well, she couldn’t exactly buy life. But she could buy a business that dealt with saving lives, which explained her passion for the healthcare business.
“What would they do?” I asked, unsure of my answer.
She was struggling to speak while I was inwardly struggling to control myself.
“I chose to live, Amelia. I chose to love. I chose you.”
Her words broke me and nothing had ever broken me before. “You can’t do this to me, Isabel. You can’t let me…” I tried to gesture with my hands in an effort to express myself, but I didn’t know what I was trying to say.
It was all happening too soon and it felt like someone had punctured a hole in my heart and I was helplessly bleeding out.
“It’s not my choice.”
“It was your choice. You could’ve told me.”
“And then what? Would you have stayed with me?” she asked.
She knew I couldn’t lie. There was a part of me that wanted to tell her I would have, but we both knew the truth. Before I could come up with a suitable answer, the machines started beeping.
Nurses and doctors flooded into the room, quickly asking me to leave but I watched in horror as her doctors tried to work on her until the nurses managed to get me out, and locked the doors.
I’d never seen anything like it.
My hands were shaking out of dreaded fear. My heart was experiencing some sort of disconnect, almost like something inside me was breaking and I couldn’t … I couldn’t move.
An hour later, I was standing at the waiting room with Isabel’s parents when her doctor came and gave us the news.
Isabel was gone.
I remember her parents embracing, crying in helplessness, in desperation.
I was numb.
I never attended her funeral.
Three weeks later, I was summoned by her lawyer. I needed to be present in the reading of her will. She’d invested over half a billion dollars in the healthcare industry and she left it all to me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Book Three: Olivia and Amelia
“You’ll not believe this!”
“What? What’s going on?” I asked, a little surprised by the enthusiasm.
“Some art promoter guy came across my work and wants a few of my pieces showcased in an art gala. You see, every year he chooses a random art student from different campuses. Somehow, he came across my work and he liked it,” Rex said.
“Oh, my goodness! That’s amazing!”
I jumped into his arms.
“Some of the most prominent artists of our time are going to be there, Olivia.”
I pulled back to look at him. “Hey, this is your big break. You get to show the world just how talented you are,” I said.
“I just– I didn’t expect this. It came out of nowhere.”
“You should focus on the fact that it has happened.”
“I know, but…”
I wrapped my arms around him. I could tell this was a huge deal for him.
“I hope I’m your plus one,” I said.
“Of course, you are,” he said. “I got the news today. I had to tell you first.”
“That’s sweet, Rex.”
His family supported his art, but lived in Alberta, Canada. The only difference between us was that his parents continued financially supporting his studies while I supported myself.
“They told me on short notice. The art gala is tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow is Friday.”
“I know. The promoter guy called me last night.”
I’d spent a whole week in the Gallagher mansion. I needed a break.
Every single day had been spent in the office trying to learn and get myself accustomed to Mrs. Gallagher’s work life. I loved my job, and I thoroughly enjoyed working for her, but I didn’t like being in the office all the time. It made me feel like I was in prison.
I think the worst part was that I never got to see her and our communication was very limited. When I asked her to assign me someone for assistance, I had to email her, leave a note on her desk and leave a voicemail on her phone.
When she did assign me someone, she sent me a guy called Colin Peterson. He was good, in fact, he was great. He made me wonder why she was still letting me work for her.
She had a large group of established employees. I was a single, probably faint shadow unnoticeably orbiting around her, but for some reason she’d chosen me. That should’ve made me feel good but it made me feel unqualified.
So, did I need to take a break and go to an art gala with my best friend? I think so.
When Rex picked me up, I was wearing one of the elegant outfits I’d bought myself in Paris. It had only been a week but I was still experiencing pangs of guilt for overindulging in Mrs. Gallagher’s wealth.
Even wearing one of the amazing outfits I’d bought myself made me feel bad, but when I wore the pendant Mrs. Gallagher had given me, I felt less guilty.
“Oh wow!”
“What? I’m I overdressed?” I asked when I opened the door for Rex the following evening. He was dressed in a pinstripe suit and a nice tie. He looked great, as he stared back at me in awe.
“You’re ravishing,” he said.
I smiled. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”
He leaned forward and gave me a light hug and peck on the cheek, then stood back to look at me again.
“Okay, stop that,” I said.
“Oh, trust me, I’m trying,” he said playfully as he extended his arm.
“I hope you don’t mind us taking your car,” he said.
I rolled my eyes and laughed.
“What? You’re making more money than me,” he teased.
I had received my first monthly paycheck from Mrs. Gallagher, which had taken care of most of my immediate bills and expenses so I was going to be okay for a while.
“I need a miracle to get out of my financial situation.”
“With this job, you just might get a miracle,” he said.
I pecked his cheek as we headed downstairs.
“So how many pieces were chosen?” I asked.
“Two paintings and two sculptures,” he said.
We headed to the venue in Manhattan using my crappy car and in forty-five minutes, he was driving into parking.
I was a little tired from work because I’d been confined to my office all week, but I was eager to see the night unfold.
“This art promoter guy, do you know his name?” I asked.
“I’m sure he told me, but I got so excited from the news, I forgot. He sent someone this morning to come pick up the pieces.”
“How do you know he’s legit?”
“I asked around school, plus the guys he sent to pick up the pieces came with some documents for me to sign.”
It shouldn’t have bothered me that all this had taken place in just a couple of days, but it did. I didn’t want to express my concern in case I was wrong.
“That’s the venue, right there,” he said, pointing to the building.
There were fine cars driving by, stopping at the entrance and dropping people off. There were also a couple of valets by the entrance. The event appeared to have an elite list of guests.
“I knew the gala was a big deal, but I didn’t think there’d be so many fancy people,” Rex said.
Me neither. “Don’
t be nervous, you’re going to be great.”
“You hosted this kind of thing a few weeks ago, what should I do?”
I was very aware that we were still in my car parked some distance away. “Well, I noticed the artists would move slowly through the crowd talking to potential buyers. When someone viewed a piece, the artist would approach them and talk about it.”
“Great, thanks.”
“We should probably go inside now.”
“Yeah,” he said.
He took a deep breath and we both got out of the car.
We headed for the entrance and he handed over the invitation cards. When we walked inside, I was a little surprised to find out it was actually a big event.
“Oh, my God,” he said.
“Hey, don’t worry. It’s going to be a great night,” I said, squeezing his hand.
He nodded, even though he still looked nervous.
“Okay, let’s get some wine and find this promoter guy so that we can figure out where your pieces are,” I said.
The gala reminded me of Jaime’s art gallery. The difference was that it had only two large halls with ample space for guests to move about and the art display was carefully placed and well spaced.
There were a few people present, but the gala was going to start in about an hour so I assumed the rest of the guests would’ve shown up by then.
Rex took two glasses of champagne from a waiter who was moving around the room and handed me one. I was about to take a sip when he emptied his glass in one long swig.
“Hey, these are snotty rich people. You need to act like you’re one of these established artists and not a struggling artist from Queens,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I smiled at him and pulled him aside. At this rate he wasn’t going to be able to function properly. He was far too nervous.
“Alright, listen. You’re an incredibly talented artist. All you have to do is move around the room, take a look at the other pieces of art and get to know your audience. It’s that simple and you’re going to be great.”
He relaxed and smiled at me.
“You’re the best, Liv,” he said, lightly pecking my cheek.
I got him another glass of champagne and he took a proper sip.
We started moving around the room slowly observing the pieces. I didn’t have that artistic perception, but the pieces were eye catching.
“Wow, these guys are really good,” Rex said.
Intimidatingly so, but then so was he.
“I’ll go look for the promoter,” he said.
I moved along the room, observing the large paintings hanging on the walls and the sculptures on display.
More people had arrived and the soft music playing in the background was accompanied by the humming sound of the guests discussing the art pieces.
“Olivia?” A familiar feminine voice said my name and I turned around in surprise, wondering who had recognized me.
When my gaze met Jaime’s, I froze.
“Olivia, what’re you doing here?” she asked.
“Uhm… my friend Rex,” I said, trying to think.
“Oh, yeah, I remember him.”
“His pieces were chosen for the gala by an art promoter so…” Why was she talking to me as though she’d forgotten what had happened between us?
“Oh, I didn’t know they endorsed students. But that’s great for Rex, he must be very excited,” she said.
She looked great but standing next to her carrying out a casual conversation felt a little weird. “He is,” I said.
“Listen, I’m sorry for the way I left things off. It’s just that–”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said.
“Do what?”
“Explain,” I said.
She looked at me as though she wanted to tell me something then slowly nodded.
“You look good, Livvy,” she said, her gaze softening.
I was glad when Rex chose that moment to join us.
“I found him,” he said.
“Hi Rex,” Jaime said.
Rex stared at her with a bit of hostility and said, “Hi,” he turned to me and added, “Come on, Livvy.” He placed his arm over my shoulder and took me away.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I think so.”
I was a little confused. I’d liked her so much and seeing her was a bit of a surprise but there was no hurt or anger in me towards her.
“I didn’t know she’d be here tonight,” he said.
I took a deep breath and turned to face him. “You couldn’t have known. It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Surprisingly, yes.”
“Okay, you want me to introduce you to the promoter? He showed me where my pieces are, we can head there after you meet him. The display is amazing. It makes my work merge in with the rest,” he said.
“Sure, let’s go.”
We went to the second hall which had quite a number of art pieces on display.
“Over there.”
I followed Rex to his promoter and froze for the second time that night when he said, “Excuse me, Mr. Connor?”
Frank Connor turned around and his gaze widened in what appeared to be recognition.
“Olivia, how nice to see you,” he said.
“Nice to see you too,” I said.
I should’ve known I’d run into Jaime or Frank. They were both in the art world and the gala was a big event. Now the only person missing was Mrs. Gallagher. At the thought, my heart skipped a beat. Was it possible? Could she be present?
“Your friend here is quite gifted,” Frank Connor said.
“Yes, he is,” I said.
“Thank you, Mr. Connor. Come on, Livvy,” Rex said.
He closed his hand around mine and led me away from Frank Connor.
“How do you two know each other?” he asked.
“He works for Mrs. Gallagher. Remember Cleopatra’s headpiece?”
He quickly nodded. “No wonder I thought he looked familiar.”
“This night keeps getting more and more interesting,” I said.
He took me to where his pieces were displayed.
“This is amazing,” I said, noticing the same thing he had.
The display was perfectly merged with the rest of the pieces in the hall. “Congratulations, you’re in the big league now,” I said, gently patting his shoulder.
I was so excited for him. He’d always been so committed to his art and it was finally paying off. This gala was going to expose his work to the world of art lovers.
“Now that you know where my pieces are, why don’t you go mingle with the crowd and check out the rest of the art,” Rex said.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I want to see the art too. When I spot someone checking out my work, I’ll just come over and see what they think.”
“Okay,” I said.
I watched him proudly as he walked away to view the other art pieces. I studied his pieces for a while then moved on, silently listening to what people were saying about the pieces they were viewing.
They might as well have been speaking Latin. It felt like we were looking at two different works of art. When I looked at an abstract painting, I saw a mix of colors merged together on canvas.
I continued along, listening to what a couple of women were saying about a sculpture. It was an abstract sculpture. I walked away from them sadly reaffirming I was not an artistic person.
Rex made abstract art sometimes, but for some reason, I seemed to understand his. But it was easy because he always explained them to me.
An hour and a half later, I was on my third glass of wine. I assumed all the guests had arrived because the halls were a bit crowded, but not enough to be annoying. Rex had disappeared, but I wasn’t looking for him because I knew he was working.
After exhausting the artwork in the second hall, I went back to the first since I’d not had much of a ch
ance to check them out. It was less crowded there and easier to spot a person.
Rex found me half an hour later and he seemed ecstatic. I laughed at his enthusiasm and asked, “What’s going on?”
“All my pieces have been bought,” he said.
“What?” I wrapped my arms around him.
“Yeah, can you believe it?”
We pulled apart. “Who bought them? Do you know?”
“No, it was an anonymous buyer,” he said.
“Wow, that was fast,” I said.
“Yeah, Mr. Connor said he’s interested in being my agent so we’re going to meet on Monday morning to discuss it.”
“That’s amazing!”
“I know. I can’t believe it myself,” he said.
I was about to respond when my gaze settled on an image across the room. I could hear Rex talking but I wasn’t listening to him anymore.
She was there.
She wasn’t directly facing me but from the angle at which we stood, it was clear enough for me to see her face. God, she was sensational. I hadn’t seen her all week. I couldn’t believe how much I’d missed her.
“Liv, are you listening to me?”
I looked at him as I tried to shake Mrs. Gallagher’s image out of my mind. For a moment, I thought I’d imagined her presence. “Sorry, what?” I asked.
He followed the direction my gaze had been fixated on and a smile rose on his lips. “I didn’t know she’d be here,” he said.
I followed his gaze and watched Mrs. Gallagher from a distance. She was talking to Frank Connor. “Neither did I,” I said.
“You want to go say hello?” he asked.
“Should I? Would that be appropriate?” I was suddenly nervous.
“I think it’s appropriate,” he said, but the smile on his face was misleading.
Frank walked away from her and then she turned. Somehow, across the room our gazes met and locked.
“Go to her. It would be rude at this point not to,” Rex said as he left me alone.
The rest of the room fell silent and as though by magic, a pathway to her cleared. I was so uneasy I couldn’t bring myself to take that first step, then as though by some pull, I started walking over to her.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Hello Mrs. Gallagher, I didn’t expect to run into you,” I said.
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