I Married a Billionaire: Lost and Found(40)

His face was grim. "I hate seeing you dragged through the mud because of me."

"I know." I settled against him, resting my head on his shoulder. "But it’ll be over before long."

I wasn’t sure if I was right. But in that moment, listening to his breaths and his slow, even heartbeat, it didn’t matter so much.





CHAPTER TWELVE





When my phone rang unexpectedly in the afternoon, I answered eagerly, hoping it would be Kelly with some news about her investigation.

"Hello?"

"Maddy? It's Curtis. Can you come down? I put up your installment and I want you to see it before the show. Let me know if you want anything changed. Is there any way you can find the time?"

"Oh…sure," I said, looking across the room at Daniel. But he didn't seem to even notice I was talking. I retreated quickly into my studio and shut the door. "Sorry," I said. "I just had to go somewhere where I could talk."

"It's fine," said Curtis.

"When did you want me to come?"

"Any time that's convenient for you. Seriously. I practically sleep here." I could hear that he was smiling, perhaps a little wryly.

"I'll try to stop by tomorrow," I said. "If I can get away." Without Daniel noticing, I added silently.





***

As it turned out, it was - once again - incredibly easy to slip out without Daniel even looking up. I'd been coming and going to my usual classes, workouts and errands without him noticing at all, so I'm not sure why I thought this would be any different. Still, I had a sort of secret thrill in the pit of my stomach as I made my way to the gallery. It was sort of nice to have something just for me, in the midst of all this chaos. It was a relief to leave the house, to talk to someone other than Daniel or Lindsey or prying journalists.

The first thing I noticed was the free-standing wall in the middle of the gallery, which Curtis had already picked out for me. He'd painted it black, so it stood out stark and imposing, like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Curtis was just emerging from his office, having heard the bell ring on my arrival.

"Do you like it?" he said, enthusiastically, coming towards me. "I think it'll be perfect, they're going to stand out so nicely."

"Yeah, they sure are," I replied, staring at it. "You don't think it's…too much?"

"Too much? No, no," he said, stepping close to me and looking the wall up and down, from my vantage point. "I think it's just right. Why?"

"I don't know. I feel like I'm going to wake up one night and see it standing at the foot of my bed."

He laughed. "You're too young to be making that reference, missy. But, all right, point taken. Would you prefer to be gray? Or something else maybe?"

I shrugged. "I mean, if you really think it'll complement it," I said. "You're the expert."

"Well, I was never the best with colors," he admitted. "I mean - I get by. But my wife - rest her soul - really, she was the one with the gift. I'm still a little bit lost without her." He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off on a whole…thing."

"It's all right," I said. I wasn't sure if it was recent enough to justify saying I'm sorry, so I decided not to comment. "Well, I think it looks nice. I'm just…I'm just nervous, I guess. First show and all that."

"Did you want to review the pieces?" he asked, gesturing towards his office. "Come on, just take one more look. I think I've picked my favorites, but I'm absolutely open to suggestion. I want you to feel like I'm showcasing your best work."

"Well, you'd be a better judge of that than I would," I replied, following him into the small room. "I think it's all crap."

He laughed. "That's normal. Trust me. Usually when people think that, though, they're not right. If you think everything you make is pure spun gold, that's when you should be worried."

"All right," I said, sitting down. "I'll take your word for it on that."

He'd picked out two other drawings - one of a horse that I'd done years ago, and a still life with a bowl of wax fruit that I hardly even remembered. They were both technically well done, but both of them, I thought, lacked a certain depth of feeling. No one was going to look into a bowl of fruit and feel like I'd touched some long-forgotten childhood memory. But looking through the rest of my portfolio, I had to admit he'd made the best possible choices out of what was available. My best work was mostly done while I was still a student; I'd been floundering ever since, either too exhausted from my string of soul-crushing retail jobs, or too distracted and drained by working for Daniel and his company. At least, that was the excuse I always told myself.

"So what do you think?" Curtis said finally, shaking me out of my reverie.

"Sorry," I said. "I sort of got lost in there. Yeah, I think you chose pretty well. I just wish I had something better to give you."

"Don't be ridiculous." Curtis sat down, tucking an e-cigarette between his lips and taking a long pull. "I wouldn't have given you an installation if I didn't think your work merited one."