Page 28 of Apparently, I’m A B!tch

“Call me Tristan, please.”

Her smile widened and she bobbed her head. “Of course. And how badly do you want a show of your own, my darling Tristan?”

I took in a breath at the way she said my name. Something here didn’t feel right, but I answered honestly. “I’d do almost anything for something like that.”

She let out an echo of a laugh as she sat back in her chair, straightening as the waitress came to take our drink order. Once we were alone again, she said, “Good. I’m glad to hear that. I’ve some people you must meet.”

“Oh?” I tried to keep my confusion from showing. “I thought you might value my piece.”

She shook her head. “There are certain steps that need to be taken in order to get anywhere in the art world. An evaluation while you have absolutely no clout would be useless. Once you’ve had a few showings, and limited your work to a single collection, then a valuation will help to set a benchmark.”

All my time at art school, all my time with Carlos, and we never really knew the right way to break into mainstream gallery showings. Being born and raised in New York should’ve given me an edge, but I was so cripplingly shy during those years that I hadn’t made the connections that would’ve helped to boost me into the right circle of influence.

My shyness hadn’t been shaken until I got to know Nikki, and her brutal honesty jolted me into a new kind of awareness. She pushed me out of my comfort zone daily, with her quips and teasing, her unapologetic opinions and her single-minded determination to see justice for the world we lived in. She didn’t know it, but she inspired me to put everything into my art, to push beyond the mainstream, to give it a hundred percent until I felt it was ready for the world to see.

“So, you aren’t going to value my work?”

She shook her head. “No, but I will introduce you to the people who matter.”

Okay, this was… odd. Instead of trying to charge me money for her own valuation services, she was offering to help get my art into a showing by introducing me to her contacts? I bit my lower lip and leaned back in my chair, watching as a playful grin spread across her cheeks.

“Why would you do that?”

She cocked her head, her smile now toothy and startling. “We’re approaching the fall gallery season, as I’m sure you know, and I’d like to have someone worthwhile on my arm during those events.”

I nodded slowly. Lilly may’ve been right about the curator using my art and her connections to get a date out of me, but at least she was honest about it. Still, what she said confused me. According to the art world, I was nobody compared to Rochelle. What did she mean by… worthwhile?

“I’m not really… worth much though, Rochelle. From where I’m sitting, you’re the person who’s carved out a career and a network worth something. All I’ve got are my paintings and my coffee shop. Why would you want to help me?”

She leaned forward again, reaching across the table to draw circles along the back of my hand with her crimson nails. Both of our gazes went to that, watching her fingers as she looped around again and again.

“You artists are a fascinating group, and I’ve always enjoyed watching the process of how a piece comes to life and takes on a value all its own. When I saw you the other day, I thought we could help each other. You and I could have a lot of fun together, don’t you think?”

I was still confused. She flattened her hand over mine and our glances met. “You’ll come with me to shows, I’ll make the helpful introductions, and we’ll see where this takes us. It’s an ideal way to spend the fall season, don’t you think, darling?”