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Leaningmy arms on my desk I type out a reply,
Me:It’s fine. Don’t apologise, it was business. XX
A message appears almostright after I send mine.
Troy:I don’t like it when clients intrude on my own time. XX
In my mind’seye I can see the frown tugging at his brow. I can imagine how that meeting went this morning. Not well, I bet.
Me:It’s a pity my dad didn’t have that special feature. XX
Puttingmy phone on the desk, I pick up my croissant and break the end off and pop it into my mouth as another text comes through.
Troy:But when all’s said and done it was a productive meeting. So, there’s that. XX
Me:Good, I’m glad. XX
It’sweird how everything has become so domesticated. Just as I think about life with Troy, Kellie knocks on the door and places a post-it note in front of me.
“What’s this?” I frown as I read the notes Kellie has made and give her my full attention, pushing my phone away.
She plonks herself down on the chair at the other side of my desk. “You need to email this guy; he wants to put some pieces in the gallery and wants to know if you have room.”I nod, placing the yellow sticky note on my computer screen so I don’t forget. “He said if you email him, he’ll send you some samples of his work.”
I nod again, but I can’t stop thinking about wanting to paint again. “I painted yesterday.” Completely off topic but I thought I’d drop into conversation, and her jaw drops, her eyes widening in shock.
She knows how long it’s been since I’ve wanted to pick up a brush. “And what did you paint?”
“The countryside right outside the window of my art room.”
“This is amazing!” She’s usually overzealous at the best of times, but this is on another level even for her. “How long have I been saying you should get back to painting?” I see a thought flicker in her mind. “Oh my God! Why didn’t I think of this before?” she taps her head with the heel of her hand. “What a twat.”
“Are you going to keep hitting yourself and calling yourself names or maybe you could tell me what the lightbulb moment was all about.”
“You’re painting again,” She repeats what I’ve just said.
“Yeah, I’m sure I just said that. Well, I’ve done one canvas. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” I chuckle at her. That girl sometimes. “So…”
“Paintings. Why don’t you do a showcase evening. We could invite some of the artists we already have tied up in the gallery, we can put prosecco and canapés on, we could make an evening of it. Let’s get you out there and not as the owner of the gallery but as an artist, like you always wanted to be. You’ve got a platform. Use it.”
Chewing on the inside of my mouth she sparks the idea in my head. Maybe Troy could ask some of the acquaintances he knows. “I could do a few more pieces to add to it. I could ask some of our top artists if they want to share a showcase too.” I smile, thinking it’s a brilliant idea.
“What you think then?” Kellie asks with her eyes wide in anticipation. “I’d love to see you get some recognition, it’s no less than you deserve.”
“Let’s do it. I’ll ask Troy to put some invites out once we have everything in place, but first we need to set a date.”
“Let me get the diary.” She pushes out of her chair and almost runs out of the office on her stilettos. While she’s gone, I grab my phone and open my screen, then start typing out a message to Troy.
Me:I’ve got some news for you. XX
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
TROY
Emily’s message comes through on the navigation screen on the dashboard of my Range Rover telling me she has news. I’m dying to find out what it is, so instead of trying to reply, I make a diversion to the gallery. It’s almost midday anyway, I’m sure I can stop for coffee. I could really do with a break since that last appointment. The fucker had me there long enough until he came around to my way of thinking. I guess I’m not as ruthless as Mitch was after all. Either that or that little minx has softened me up. Mitch would have wrapped it up in an hour. The only thing I found hard to believe was the guy was sinking faster than the Titanic did and he still had the nerve to question final figures and ask for more. I took his steel company off his hands for far more than it was worth - he should have been fucking thanking me. It’s not my fault that he couldn’t keep it going.
Within half an hour I’m pulling up outside of Lancaster Galleries and parking my car in one of the reserved spots that she keeps for customers on the road outside, and stroll in. As I focus on some of the paintings they have on the wall, it makes me happy that Emily has achieved at least of one of her dreams. Mitch used to keep me informed on how the Gallery was doing but it dented the steel I’d erected around my heart to know anything more. The day Mitch died was the day I knew I could rectify things.
Emily is an amazing artist, it made me sad when I found out she’d stopped painting, I guess her creative flair went on hiatus, because when I saw the painting that she did yesterday I knew she hadn’t lost her touch.
