There had to be a way to make it work out.
CHAPTER 4
SUNDAY MORNING, my phone was ringing when I left the shower. Bridget’s grimacing mug glared up at me from the screen while the phone vibrated in a circle on the bathroom counter.
I cringed and stared at it until she went to voicemail, then padded into the closet to find something to wear. Jackson’s passionate, vigorous pounding had left my nethers in a tender state so I skipped the panties and found a cotton wrap dress in the back of my closet.
The phone began ringing again, and I slipped it into my pocket and started down the hall for the studio. I was determined to find the path to my emotions with a brush today. I knew I could do it. I just had to hold these feelings in my mouth like a pebble on my tongue. Hold them and let them color the taste of everything. I was sure it would work.
The phone went to voicemail again but then immediately double-buzzed. I had a text.
Call me or I am coming over.
I thumbed through my contact list as I walked.
“God, Bridget, I am working,” I whined as she picked up the phone.
“Yeah well so am I. That’s why I am calling. I am your boss.”
“You are not my boss.”
“You want assistant commission?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” I admitted.
“Then I am your boss.”
“OK, OK,” I muttered as I plucked a panel off the floor and fitted it on the easel.
“So how did it go?”
I cringed. “Well… when I got there, Melissa had everything crated up for me, so that was good.”
“Did you run her over?”
“What?”
I heard her spit out a plume of smoke. “I told you to run her over the next time you saw her.”
“Oh… no well, next time. If she’s in the alley when I arrive or something.”
“Fine, whatever.”
The line went quiet.
“So Edna knew my aunt,” I said brightly. “And my mom. How weird is that?”
“That is totes weird,” she muttered impatiently. “Edna Mayfield, who knows everybody and lives like two blocks from you knew your aunt and mother. Who could have guessed.”
“Well, I was surprised,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s because you don’t know anything about this side of the business, Margot. I’m sure that comes as a shock to you.”
“Fuck, what is wrong with you this morning?” I spat as I squeezed a glob of white paint onto the glass palette.
“Just get to it.”
“Get to what?”
“The sale, Margot! Jesus!”
I sighed, hard.
“What did you do?” she growled.
“She bought the plums.”
“Wait, what? She reserved nine paintings!”
“Yeah, I know. Well, actually I think Declan probably reserved them. She only wanted one.”
“Fuck!”
“I know.”
“How did you fuck this up?”
“Wait… what? Me?” I said, my hand in midair holding a tube of yellow ochre.
“This was an easy sale, Margot! I asked you to just close the fucking deal! The paintings were in her fucking house already!”
I thought frantically for any explanation I could give her.
“Well, yeah but… she said that one painting was all she needed! I mean, you should see that space, there’s barely room for anything!”
“You think she ran out of room?” she drawled sarcastically. “Really? Is that what you’re going with?”
“Well, no, I mean… I don’t know. Bridget, I don’t know.”
“Fuck. You are fucked.”
Tell me about it, I thought.
“Do you know what you did? You had three collectors in the palm of your hand, and you couldn’t close the deal with any of them. You fucked the first two, and then you let the third one slip away. Not even fucking Melissa could fuck that up. Not anyone!”
She’s got a point, I admitted to myself. How did I screw all that up?
“I have the others here,” I said quietly. “I’ll bring them back on Monday.”
“Whatever.”
I listened to her snarl on the other end of the line, my stomach churning. Was there a good moment coming up? Was she going to calm down?
“Listen, Bridget?”
“No.”
“What? What do you mean, no?”
“You’re about to ask me for money.”
“No I wasn’t.”
“Yes you were.”
“OK, yes I was, but it’s totally a loan.”
“I’m sorry, kiddo,” she sighed, blowing out a hard cone of smoke. “I can’t do it.”
“You know I’m good for it. I am working right now. Like this minute. You know I will pay you back. You can just buy the paintings wholesale maybe? Like an advance?”