Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
The paperwork for the sale of the gallery went through quickly.
Davide met with the attorneys and signed the papers a week after he told me he was selling.
He would remain the acting manager for the next two months.
It would be cutting it close to create enough pieces for his showing, but he said he would manage it.
He reached out to several people he knew in the art world, but no one was willing to leave their current position to run the gallery.
After several fruitless weeks of job postings and interviews, Davide reached out to the new owners via email, explaining the issue.
They said they would send someone to act as an interim manager and take over his duties in the gallery until I could be trained to run the place.
The new position would also come with a raise once my training and probationary periods were over.
It was more than I expected. It also made me feel as though something was finally going right after years of working for a boss that used to claim my work as his own. Maybe Davide selling the gallery would be a blessing after all.
“The interim manager will be here this morning,” Davide said, interrupting my drifting thoughts. “As long as we don’t have anyone come in to purchase a piece, you should shadow us when I’m showing him the ropes. You’ll have to know all of this stuff at some point, too.”
I grinned at him. “I can do that. I might even take notes.”
“Oh, my God,” Davide gasped. “You’re one of those!”
“Those?”
“The nerdy girls that read books for fun and took copious notes in high school and college. I bet you were even a teacher’s pet!”
I rolled my eyes. “As if any of this should be a surprise to you. You know I read for fun. And you also know I took my education seriously, which means, yes, I paid attention in class and took notes.”
He shook his head. “I never thought I would say this, but it makes me think less of you.”
I flicked one of the sour gummy candies I was eating at his head, snorting when he tried to snatch it out of the air with his mouth, but it ended up hitting the tip of his nose and bouncing back onto my desk.
The chimes over the door sang out and I swiftly tucked the candy back into the top drawer of the reception desk. Whether it was a customer or the interim manager, I didn’t need to have Sour Patch Kids in plain view.
I brushed a few grains of sugar off the desk and grabbed a tissue to wipe the sticky bits off my fingers.
“Elijah! I didn’t realize you were coming by today,” Davide said.
My head shot up, and my gaze locked on the broad-shouldered form of Elijah Lawson. I hadn’t seen him since the night of Yancy’s rehearsal dinner. He hadn’t attended the wedding with Marcus, even though Marcus was still acting as the photographer.
Before I could control them, my eyes swept over him, taking in the expensive sheen of his slate blue suit, the crisp white shirt he wore beneath it, and his dark brown shoes. Other than the tux he wore to Lucy’s wedding, I’d never seen him dressed in anything but jeans or sweatpants and a t-shirt.
When my gaze returned to his face, heat hit my cheeks.
His sapphire eyes seemed lighter and brighter due to the deep blue of the suit he wore.
His hair was shorter than it had been the last time I saw him, and his jaw was clean-shaven for the first time since we’d met.
He looked as though he’d stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine.
I swallowed hard as he came closer. When he stopped in front of the reception desk, I could smell his cologne, the warm scent reminding me of the last time we’d been together in my apartment.
Finally, he looked away from me, turning toward Davide, and I had to fight the urge to collapse back in my chair. A tremor ran through my fingers, so I clasped them in my lap, tucking them beneath the desk.
“I—” Elijah began.
The bells over the door chimed again, and we all turned toward it. Marcus sauntered in, also dressed to the nines in a charcoal grey suit.
“Dammit, Elijah, you didn’t give them the news yet, did you?” he asked.
“No. I saved that all for you.”
Davide and I frowned at each other, then at Marcus. “What news?” Davide asked.
“That this will be the first location of Flynn galleries,” Marcus announced.
My mouth fell open. What?
“You own the LLC that bought me out?” Davide asked.
Marcus came closer and stopped in front of my boss. “Yep.” He used the back of his hand to smack Elijah in the chest. “Well, me and this asshole here.”
Davide’s mouth moved, opening and closing several times before he finally asked, “But why?”
“Several reasons,” Marcus answered. “The first being that I’m tired, and I’m ready to settle in one spot. Since most of my friends and family live in Dallas, I decided to make it my home base. And since I’m not ready to completely retire, I decided to change direction a bit.”
“But…but…”
If Elijah wasn’t taking up over half my attention, I would have smiled at the sight of my boss and friend speechless.
“And it’s time for you to focus on your art, D. Your sculptures are too beautiful not to be featured.”
Davide’s mouth shut, pressing in a firm line. His eyes took on the shine of tears as he cleared his throat. “Are you the reason I have a showing in New York?”
Marcus shrugged and tucked his hands in his pockets.
“Yes and no. I have the piece you gave me for my birthday last year in my apartment in New York. Talia came by to select some photographs for her gallery up there. When she saw it, she wouldn’t leave me alone about it, pestering me for your name and email.
Your phone number. Where she could see more of your work.
I thought she was going to tase and hogtie me so she could walk out with the sculpture. She was that in love with it.”
Once again, Davide was silent as he stared at Marcus. Seeing his shocked and hopeful expression, I forgot all about Elijah and the fact that he was less than five feet from me.
Before Davide could compose himself, Marcus continued, “But I knew you wouldn’t leave this place without a damn good incentive. And since I was looking to put down some roots, I decided to kill two birds with one sculpture.”
Davide scoffed at the way Marcus changed the figure of speech. “I don’t know what to say,” he finally stated.
“How about you start by giving my cousin the lay of the land,” Marcus said, nudging Elijah with his elbow. “Since he’s going to be taking over for you until Grier’s ready for the job.”
A high-pitched ringing started in my ears, growing louder and louder with each uneven breath I took.
What?
Marcus turned to me, grinning as though he had no idea about the bomb he’d just dropped on me.
I realized I’d asked the question out loud when he answered me, “Elijah will be the interim manager until you’re fully trained to manage the gallery. He’s worked in galleries before, so he knows a lot already.”
Oblivious to the devastation his words had left behind, Marcus turned back to Davide and guided him away as he asked him questions about his upcoming show in New York.
Holy. Shit. This had to be a nightmare.
I couldn’t help it. I looked up at Elijah and found him staring down at me from the other side of my desk, his hands in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
Nope. It was real. The guy I’d all but fallen in love with but who didn’t want anything more serious than a booty call was now going to be my boss.
I had no idea what I’d done in my past life to deserve this, but it must have been really, really bad.
My chest ached and small starbursts of light appeared at the edges of my vision. This couldn’t be happening.
“Are you okay, Grier?” Elijah asked.
I stared at him blankly, unable to gather my thoughts enough to answer. The paralysis broke when he took a step to the side, as though he intended to come around the desk toward me.
In a panic, I popped up to my feet. “I’m fine,” I answered. My voice was high and thin. “Excuse me, please.”
I fled toward the ladies’ room at the rear of the gallery space, my heels clicking a rapid staccato on stained concrete floor. Once the door was shut and locked behind me, I staggered over to the sink and leaned my palms on the counter, letting my head fall forward as I tried to catch my breath.
I was fucked. So fucked. I couldn’t quit. I didn’t have enough savings to do it. Any extra money I had went toward my student loans. I was finally starting to get the balance paid down. At this rate, I would have them paid off by the time I was thirty-two.
I could look for another job, but it would reflect badly on me.
I’d only been working at the gallery for just under three months.
They would want to know why I was leaving.
I had no idea how I would explain that I couldn’t stay because I was half in love with my new boss because we’d had a month-long fling before he actually became my boss. That would look even worse.
My stomach twisted. What in the hell was I going to do?
I couldn’t kid myself. I was going to have to endure this.
At least until I’d been here for a year.
Maybe if I could stick it out long enough, Elijah would be gone, and I would be in charge.
My next inhale was shaky, but I released it in a slow, steady stream. I had no choice. I had to do this.
I grabbed a paper towel and dampened it with cold water, squeezing it out the excess. I placed it on the nape of my neck, allowing the coolness to seep into my skin and calm me. I’d done a lot of things in my life because I’d had no choice. This was just one more thing.
Once my system calmed, I tossed the wet paper towel in the trash and checked my make-up in the mirror. My lip stain was holding strong, and my eyeliner hadn’t budged even though I’d been close to crying earlier.
Other than a tiny bit of redness on the edges of my eyes, I looked absolutely normal. The emotional upheaval wasn’t obvious on my face, thank God.
After another deep breath, I moved to the door and opened it.
And immediately stopped again. Elijah leaned against the wall opposite of the door, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes cast down to the floor.
He looked up when the door opened, those piercing eyes seeing straight through the calm facade I’d just collected.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’m fine. Did you need the room?” I asked, stepping out into the hall.
He shook his head. “You seemed upset.”
“I wasn’t expecting to see you today, much less learn that you’re going to be my boss for the foreseeable future. I’m not really upset. Just surprised.”
Elijah nodded. “I understand.” His eyes skimmed over me. “You’ve lost weight.”
I shrugged. “I’ve been busy and working out a little more.”
That was a lie. Sure, I was going for walks after dinner because it helped me sleep more than two or three hours at night, but that was the only exercise I was getting.
Mostly, I had no appetite. When I was hungry, nothing I ate tasted good, so I picked at it.
I didn’t think he believed me, but Elijah didn’t argue.
“You don’t have to worry about your job while I’m here,” he said, changing the subject. “I know you’re very good at what you do.”
“Okay.”
He studied me as though he was waiting for me to say something else. When I didn’t, he pushed away from the wall and came toward me. I took half a step back before I realized it. I planted my feet and stared up at him when he stopped a foot away.
“Look, Grier, I was hoping we could talk—”
“There you are!” Davide exclaimed, coming around the corner.
I could have kissed him for saving me from a painful conversation with Elijah. No doubt he wanted to tell me that it would be best if we acted like nothing happened between us while he was working here.
“Let’s go to my office and discuss what you’ll need to know before my time here is up,” Davide continued.
The bells above the door tinkled through the air and I nearly sighed with relief. “I’ll see who that is,” I offered, not waiting for a response.
As I passed him, Davide and I shared a telling look. I knew we’d be discussing this development when we were alone. This day was turning out to be a shitshow. I only hoped it wasn’t a sign of what was to come.