Page 62 of Code Name: Michelangelo

“What? Wow. You shouldn’t have. Please, you must allow me to repay you.”

I shook my head. “Just promise me that, when you’re ready, you’ll show your work here. I forgot to give you a card yesterday.” I pointed to the gallery’s name. “She’s our resident artist. By the way, I’m Penelope Ramsey, as the card says.”

“Julie Smith.”

“The gallery isn’t far from here. Feel free to stop in any time.”

She thanked me, but something told me she wouldn’t take me up on the offer.

“So anyway, I hope to bump into you here again.”

“I’d like that too. I don’t know many people in the city. No one, really.”

I held out my hand, and she shook it. “Consider me your first friend in the Big Apple.”

“I truly don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. When you’re ready, we’ll put a show together for you.”

Her cheeks flushed.

“You’re that good, Julie. I’m not just saying it.”

“How was your day, Butterfly?” Brand said when he called right after I walked into the town house.

“Good. I made a new friend.”

“Yeah? Tell me about her.”

I almost laughed that he’d assumed my friend was a woman, or maybe that was his way of making sure.

After explaining I’d noticed her sketching, I told him about having dinner with Tara and taking Julie the supplies she’d helped me purchase.

“You sound happy.”

“I am, but I miss you. How goes it in London?”

He sighed. “It seems preliminary at best.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think they’re feeling me out to see if I’d be willing to relocate to London, or rather Shere, where they’re headquartered.”

I hadn’t thought about him relocating permanently. “I, um, don’t know what to say. You need to?—”

“Do whatever it takes to make a life with you, Pen. Me living an ocean away won’t cut it.”

“We could take turns visiting one another.” I didn’t know why I was trying to talk him into taking a job that would keep us apart. I hated the idea of a long-distance relationship.

“As I said, my meeting today was preliminary. Tomorrow, I’ll meet with Nemesis.”

“The name sounds ominous.”

“I think you’d like her. In fact, she reminds me of you.”

I laughed. “I’m not sure whether I should take that as a compliment.”

“As someone here mentioned when I voiced the same trepidation, the definition of the word is, ‘a formidable and usually victorious opponent.’ In other words, she gets the job done and doesn’t let anyone stand in her way.”

---