Page 20 of Stroked
“You’re here early, but I am ready to go. I have the plans here for your review.” He leaned over in front of me to spread the plans out.
He had a nice olive complexion and a tall, toned body, not big and bulky like Jason, with dark brown hair that he stylishly combed. His beard was short and well maintained. Women always gawked at him, but once he walked and talked, they knew they were not what he was looking for. However, he was also amazingly kind to the ladies anyway. He was a friendly person, not to mention one of the hardest workers I’ve ever known.
“Miss Lindsey… Amy, honey, are you hungover?” Oh shit. He saw through the act.
“Shhhh! Don’t make an announcement, at least not with my door open,” I said through my teeth.
“Girl, I am not judging. I got some great tablets for that at my desk. I’ve just never seen you this way. Here, look this over. I’ll go get the tablets, and I’ll make sure everyone steers clear of you today.” Before I could protest, he was gone.
I looked over the setup and it was exactly what I wanted. Now, the delicate part: Moving the artwork. We, of course, had a crew and machines to assist, but it was still nerve-wrecking. Add to that my complete insanity and lack of judgment due to excessive alcohol consumption and today was likely to be a shitshow.
My mind didn’t have much time to wander before James was floating back in with his hands full.
“Here, take this,” he said as he plopped two tablets into a glass of water. “It’ll fix you right up, hun. And I am here for you.” His smile was big and bright, just like his personality.
I drank down the fizzy water and immediately drank another full bottle of water to wash the taste from my mouth.
“Gah, that’s terrible.” I was afraid that liquid was going to come back up with my bagel. It was disgusting.
“I didn’t say it was a delicacy, I said it’ll fix your head. We have work to do. I’m going to put my blazer in the back, so it doesn’t catch any of the work. I’ll get you in a few minutes to get this show on the road.” James floated back out of my office quickly. I stood and also removed my blazer. I had a snug cami underneath, but the less material, the better. The last thing we needed was someone’s shirt cuff catching a sculpture and pulling it off the stand. I had enough sense to wear slide-on flats today, too. I had been in a daze getting ready this morning, but the outfit worked.
I heard shuffling in the main gallery, so I decided to head out and speak to the crew, even though James hadn’t returned.
“Okay, everyone, happy Monday. I hope you all got some rest because the next few days will be intense, and it has to be perfect. The artist will be here Wednesday afternoon for their private preview, so we don’t have much time. Let’s get to work.” The team immediately got to it. James swooped around from person to person as I walked through the empty gallery.
The draping and tapestries were first. The stands were already moved in over the weekend. I spent the first half of the day telling people ‘a little to the left’ and ‘a little to the right’ as they hung the colorful cloths. The art wasn’t brought in yet, and the gallery was already coming to life.
Once all the draping was hung, I told everyone to break for lunch and retreated to my office. I barely sat before James was rushing in with my favorite pasta salad and club sandwich from the bistro a block down from the gallery.
“Oh my God, you’re a mind reader,” I said through mouthfuls of pasta.
“Hardly, but I am familiar with over-consumption. So, spill. I’ve not seen you like this since I met you.” James was staring across my desk with his ‘I’m waiting’ face.
“Nothing to spill. Just had too many last night. Plus, I was up early yesterday. Just a long day.”
His face didn’t change, and he didn’t touch his food.
I kept shoveling food in my face and looking down to avoid the conversation.
“Ah-hem. I am not buying this, ma’am. You can fool everyone else, but you can’t fool me. Spill it!” he said as he raised his voice.
“Shhhh! Okay, okay. There was a lady, that’s it.” Hopefully, that would be enough.
“And? There is always a lady, and again, I’ve never seen you like this. And don’t blame the alcohol.”
I finished chewing my food and looked up to see his big brown eyes staring at me like a bobcat with his prey in sight.
“Okay, she was different. Very beautiful, very enchanting, and very aggressive. But it was fun. We both had too much to drink, but still fun.”
“So, she was you? Because you just described yourself.” He finally started to take a bite from his sandwich.
“What? I’m not aggressive. Forward, but not aggressive.”
He rolled his eyes. “Same, same. But anyway, where did she live?”
I choked on my pasta salad. James jumped up and was by my side in a snap. He was smacking my back hard.
“Do the universal sign if it’s lodged in your throat! I know what to do. Can you breathe?” he asked, slamming my back with his palm.
