Page 7 of Paint Me Love
Just when it looks like they are done talking and I’m about to inform Cassandra I’m leaving, someone calls out that the doors are open. Cassandra and Adam swish past me and down the stairs, and a minute later, a horde of people rushes into the gallery. Seeing as she’ll probably be busy greeting guests for the next ten minutes, I decide to grab my things from the staff room first and find her on my way out. It’s actually better that way I deem, as she will probably try to convince me to stay. But if I have one foot out of the door already, I won’t be tempted so easily.
4
Derek
Adamisgood.Heknows how to work people and get them to do what he wants. It’s why we are together… as friends with benefits. It serves us both, plus we look stunning next to each other. The media is all over it.
He got the owners of The Burlesque—Seattle’s most popular and fancy Italian restaurant—to drop their security & IT provider for Salinger Tech. It included having to host the son’s painting in the gallery, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make if the deal will bring us another million or ten. Not to mention the fact that all the gossip starts at The Burlesque, and, well, information can be a currency far more powerful than money.
Speaking of money, while the gallery itself isn’t really going to make me much of it, it’s still a platform I can use. It helps my and Salinger Tech’s image, and Cassandra’s brilliant idea to hire indie artists for the murals was the best thing we could’ve done in order to boost public opinion.
My fingers itch for my phone. I’ve been away on a business trip for a month, so I still haven’t figured out which of the four winners is my secret indulgence. I could have had someone lookinto it, but doing it myself is a lot more fun. He was so happy when he got picked, and while I’d love to have been the one behind it, I didn’t have anything to do with the decision. He won by his own merit.
With a smile on my face, I head out of the gallery’s office. Just then, I get a video call from Jared, my PA. Despite being young, fresh out of college and the son of one of my dad’s best friends, he’s actually decent at what he does, making my job a lot easier.
“Good afternoon, Jared. How can I help you?” I say, trying to keep my facial muscles neutral.
With a tablet in hand, he glances at the screen of his phone and nods. His mop of ginger hair matches the color of his tie, and there is a bite mark peeking out from beneath his shirt’s collar. I guess he gets a lot more action in the bedroom than I do. My and Adam’s sex life is… fine, I guess. He fucks well and knows how to get me off when he feels like it, but I can’t say either of us is into it enough anymore to leave marks on the other. In fact, I don’t think we ever had a phase where hickeys were a thing, actually.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Salinger. I’m calling to let you know that I spoke to JE Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Keller’s assistant confirmed he will be attending the gallery’s opening despite our short-notice invitation.”
I lean against the door frame as my insides twist with excitement. This is amazing, I’ve been trying to get the Kellers’ attention for months.
“Is he bringing anyone?” I ask, weighing whether it would be better pre-negotiations-wise if his sister was here or not.
Jared smiles, his boyish features lighting up in a way that tells me he’s anticipated this question and has come prepared. “Yes, but it’s not his sister. She has a procedure, it seems, so he’sbringing”—he grins like some mastermind—“Alistair Devon, the CEO of Devon Holidays.”
I do know who Alistair Devon is, thank you very much. He’s got another company in charge of his security and tech needs, but if Jack Keller is serving him to me on a silver platter like this, I suppose I should test the waters with him and see if he might be inclined to consider a new partner. JE Pharmaceuticals is still my priority though, but a one-to-one meeting with Devon Holiday’s CEO would be rather beneficial if I could land it.
Jared runs me through the other important individuals who have confirmed their attendance today, but my mind wanders as I stare out of the window. Sometimes, I find it very hard to fake interest in what people are telling me, but fortunately my position and status are sufficient to let me get away with it.
“Mr. Salinger?” Jared drawls a while later, seemingly finished with delivering his report. I can’t say I caught any of it after the announcement that Jack Keller and Alistair Devon will be attending.
“Hmm?” I shift my attention back to the video call. If I’m not wrong, I think it was Jared’s mother that’s Irish, so that must be where he gets his fair skin and hair color.
“Should I send you the list electronically? I’ve organized it alphabetically and color-coded it to reflect the level of importance of all the guests who will be at the gallery. Red is the must-talk to group.” See, he’s the best PA one could ask for. Patient and can read me well enough to be one step ahead of me most of the time.
“Remind me to increase your salary,” I say, finding to harder and harder to resist the smile teasing the corners of my lips. “And send me that list. I’ll have a look at it at some point.”
“Please make sure it’s before the gallery closes for the day. You need to speak to some of these people,” he chirps and standsup. “And you increased my salary two months ago already. I’m not sure the Board would okay another increase so soon.”
I did? I guess it slipped my mind. “Remind me in six months, then.”
He shakes his head, chuckling. “I’ll set up a reminder. And speaking of reminders, you have a meeting with the mayor this evening. Conference room four. I’ll have plenty of coffee ready.”
Good, because I’ll definitely need to be appropriately caffeinated so I don’t end up snoozing through the entire meeting. It’s happened once or twice before, and it was as bad as that time a client caught me playing a mobile gacha game on my phone. But, well, Isabel from Public Affairs will probably be joining me for this one since she’s the one that usually deals with anything not related to the private sector, so I’m sure she’ll nudge me if I start dozing off.
If I had to guess, the mayor wants to thank me for the donation to city hall and cut some deal so Salinger Tech backs him up when he’s up for reelection. We’ll probably agree since the benefits are worth it to us. Plus, he’ll owe us.
Bidding goodbye to Jared, I quickly skim through the list he sent me and head into the gallery hall. This whole thing is a game to me. It’s the rich playing the poor and the other rich, while trying to retain their place at the enviable top. Or displace someone currently higher than them. That’s all there is to it, and you are either lucky to be one of those rich assholes or you are stuck being one of their pawns. It’s nothing personal, even if it’s unfair as fuck.
I do wonder if my cute artist will be here today. Being overly busy and unable to indulge in our little chats has tanked my mood, but work is work. Sacrifices are needed every now and then so the millions can keep coming in.
A smirk I didn’t intend gives me a pause. Part of me still can’t believe he actually sent me a dick pic. Saliva floods mymouth. It was such a pretty dick too, lean and veiny against his smooth stomach and with the tip already leaking. God, I wanted to taste it so much, to suck it and lick it and drive my artist crazy with how good it feels to have his cock in my mouth.
Groaning, I adjust myself. He’s really gotten under my skin, and if I’m being honest, I like it. I shouldn’t, because I’m always the one in control, but it’s so exhilarating. Being unable to recognize him when Cassandra introduced the four artists has made this whole game all the more exciting, too. I love a good challenge and I am not afraid to pursue what I want. Even if I shouldn’t.
As a start, maybe I can pick out his mural, even if I didn’t let myself figure out which of the three men was him. He was embarrassed to talk about his work in our texts, saying I’d have to visit the gallery to see it. I scoff to myself. He has no idea who I am. It’s refreshing. Would he act differently if he did? I somehow doubt that. He’s just too pure, too nice, too bright for my dark world. It makes me want to corrupt him, to wrap him in the darkness I carry.
