Mary didn’t know much about art galleries, but she was a very quick learner, and the fact that she had practically volunteered to work for almost no pay was enough to swing the two gallery owners to give her a shot… part-time… three times a week.
The work was mostly office and admin stuff, which she could easily do from home – but Mary enjoyed spending her afternoons at the gallery. There was something very calming about being surrounded by art, and the two gallery owners were absolutely hilarious.
‘There are two separate exhibitions happening next week,’ she reminded Quaddra.
Quaddra grimaced as he nodded. ‘Yeah, I’d forgotten about that.’
‘I have to be there, honey. I’m sorry.’
‘Nothing to be sorry about,’ Quaddra said, before quickly coming up with an alternative. ‘So, how about we take a holiday when I get back then? Once you’re done with the exhibitions? We could go somewhere different.’
‘A holiday?’ Mary frowned.
‘Yeah, just the two of us… no work… no deals… no stocks… no exhibitions… just us.’
Mary looked back at Quaddra a little sideways. ‘Honey, I think that the cold air in here is really affecting your brain. You told me that you haven’t had a holiday in over five years, not because youdon’t want to, but because you can’t. You told me that you can’t leave your businesses unattended, not even for a day.’
‘Well, I’m sure that Ricky can keep the boat afloat for a week or so.’
Richard Ortiz, or Ricky, as his closest friends called him, was Quaddra’s right-hand man. He was as streetwise as a drug dealer and as clued up as Quaddra was when it came to reading people. Mary had met him several times in the past months. His wife, Nancy, was as sweet as pumpkin pie.
Mary tried studying Quaddra’s expression. She got nothing. ‘This is all very sudden, honey. Is something wrong?’
‘Wrong?’ Quaddra shook his head. ‘No, not at all. I just really wanted to spend some quality time with you. Away from everything and everyone.’
Mary carried on studying him.
‘Is there anywhere that you’ve always wanted to visit, but never did?’ Quaddra was trying hard to sound nonchalant. ‘Anywhere? Somewhere romantic perhaps?’ He winked at her. ‘I’ve got a private jet. We can go anywhere you like… anytime.’
Mary didn’t give the idea too much thought. ‘No, not really.’
‘How about Europe then?’ Quaddra sounded like he was getting excited.
‘Europe?’
‘Yeah, but not your regular tourist destinations like London, Paris, Rome, Athens… nothing like that. I was thinking of something a little more exotic like Prague, Krakow, or Lake Como… have you been to any of those places?’
Mary took another moment. ‘You want to go to Europe?’
‘With you… yes.’
Mary bit her bottom lip.
Quaddra read the moment and seized it like a pro. ‘C’mon, we could both use some time away… from everything and everyone, don’t you think? I know I could.’
He wasn’t wrong. Mary could really do with some time away… far away from everything and everyone.
‘I guess you’re right,’ she finally agreed. ‘It would be nice to go somewhere. And Europe sounds like fun. I’ll talk to Mr. Steiner at the gallery and get a week or so off. How does that sound?’
‘It sounds amazing.’ Quaddra jumped to his feet and walked over to Mary to kiss her again.
His secret plan was beginning to work.
Fifty-Six
Before flying to LA, Quaddra and Mary had agreed that once he was back and she was done with the two gallery exhibitions, they would fly to Vienna, in Austria, and then simply play it by ear – eleven days and as many, or as few, cities and countries as they wished. No pressure… no schedule… just the two of them doing whatever they felt like on the day. Mary really liked that idea. It reminded her of her days traveling the Deep South, and the more she thought about it, the more excited she got.
The first of the two exhibitions that Mary had talked about happened the night after Quaddra had flown to Los Angeles, and it had been practically a repetition of the one in which they’d first met – twenty-two brand-new artists, exhibiting their works for the very first time, and for one night only. Mary loved the idea of giving ‘new blood’ a chance to showcase their talent. Her biggest involvement had been with the artists’ selection – and the evening had been a complete success. The attendance had been the largest that the gallery owners had seen since they started their ‘Indie Art Exhibition’ project just over three years ago. On top of that, ninety-eight percent of the works exhibited that night were sold, which was the gallery’s largest sale number for a single exhibition night – across the board – not only for the ‘Indie’ night.
