Chapter Fifty-Five
Fifty-Five
There was no doubt that that first ‘I love you’ night, just over a couple of months ago, had been a somewhat terrifying experience for both Mary and Quaddra, but since then, their relationship had flourished to the point that Mary barely spent any time in her own apartment anymore, though she had insisted in carrying on paying her rent.
The few items of clothing that had once shared a small corner of Quaddra’s wardrobe had now moved into her own walk-in closet, as Mary finally began shopping again – dresses, shoes, jackets, handbags…
and she bought it all with her own money, not Quaddra’s, though he’d often surprise her with a gift or ten.
Despite it being a whole new experience for Quaddra, he loved the ‘living together’ lifestyle, and his romance ‘kung-fu’ was strong, with tender words and sweet gestures here and there, hidden notes in shoes and jacket pockets, surprise candlelight dinners…
anything to make sure that she knew that she was always at the forefront of his mind.
Whenever he wasn’t working, which wasn’t often, he and Mary would be together, which at first seemed to displease some of his friends.
The argument was that Mary was maybe monopolizing his time, but nothing could’ve been further from the truth.
Mary was the one who’d always insist that Quaddra would see his friends whenever he could…
go for a ‘boys’ night out’… and not lose touch with those who he’d always been closest to.
It had been his choice to spend most of his free time with her.
But if Quaddra’s romance game was strong, then so was Mary’s charm, and slowly but surely, her charisma began winning over all of Quaddra’s friends, including Megan.
‘Come in,’ Quaddra called from inside his home office, after Mary had knocked twice.
That was the only door in the entire house that was always kept closed.
When Quaddra was in there, he needed total concentration to deal with all the phone calls, the business transactions and the ridiculous number of stocks that several of his companies traded daily.
Blink and he could miss out on, or even lose, millions in one wrong move.
When he was traveling, or in his office in downtown San Francisco, his home office door was always locked.
Quaddra had once tried to show Mary how to trade, but the numbers on the screens changed so quickly, it gave Mary a headache in less than five minutes. The stock market certainly wasn’t for her.
Mary opened the door and stepped into the large and overly chilled office. The entire house was air-conditioned, but Quaddra kept the temperature inside his office a couple of degrees below what most people would consider comfortable.
‘Hey baby,’ Quaddra said, peeling his eyes from his computer screen. ‘Do you need me for something?’
‘No, not at all,’ Mary said, walking over to kiss him on the lips. ‘I just came in to tell you that I’ll see you later. I’m off for dinner and drinks with the girls and you know how that usually turns out, right? So, I might be a little late. But there’s plenty of food in the fridge.’
Quaddra knew that ‘the girls’ meant Megan, Carol, Kristie, Rachel and a couple more of their friends. He smiled at Mary, proudly. He still couldn’t believe how fast she had won them over. He kissed her again. ‘Have fun.’
As Mary got to the office door, Quaddra halted her. ‘Oh, baby, hold on.’ He did his best to sound breezy. ‘I forgot to ask you… you know that I have to be in LA for a few days next week, right?’
‘Um-hum!’ Mary nodded. This was something that she knew had to do with Quaddra’s film production companies.
‘I was thinking,’ he continued. ‘How about you come with me? After I’m done with business, we could hang out down there for a few days… maybe do some shopping? Beverly Hills… Rodeo Drive… Hollywood… you’ll love it. You could also meet up with your friend if you want.’
Mary gave Quaddra a subtle shake of the head, as if confused. ‘Friend? Which friend?’
‘The one who painted that piece you love so much,’ Quaddra clarified. ‘Betsy – didn’t she move to LA?’
Mary nodded. ‘Yeah, she did.’
Just a couple of months after Mary met Quaddra, Betsy had decided that as an artist, Los Angeles would be a better option for her, so she simply upped and moved.
‘You could meet up with her, go shopping… she might even have a new piece that you might like. She’s still painting, right?’
‘I think so. That’s why she moved to LA.’
‘We could also go check out Culver City and all the movie studios.’ He shrugged. ‘If you want, I can even ask someone to introduce you to a few A-list celebrities. Owning two film production studios has its perks, you know?’
Mary chuckled as she pulled a face at Quaddra. ‘As if meeting any kind of celebrities is something I care for.’
‘OK, fuck the celebrities then, let’s just have fun in LA.’
‘Honey, I can’t,’ Mary said back. ‘Not on such short notice. There are two separate exhibitions happening next week. I’ve told you about them, remember?’
Since Mary had decided to stay in San Francisco, she’d also decided that she needed to find something to do – not necessarily a job, she didn’t really need the money – or the ‘clock-punching’ hassle – but she needed something to occupy her days and her mind with.
Back in Massachusetts, before she married Nelson and moved to Woburn, Mary used to manage one of the largest independent bookshops in Boston, and that would’ve been her first choice – anything to do with books – until Quaddra suggested that maybe she should try art galleries, as it so happened that Steiner & Patch – the same art gallery that they had met in during the indie art exhibition – was hiring.
Mary didn’t know much about art galleries, but she was a very quick learner, and the fact that she had practically volunteered to work for almost no pay was enough to swing the two gallery owners to give her a shot… part-time… three times a week.
The work was mostly office and admin stuff, which she could easily do from home – but Mary enjoyed spending her afternoons at the gallery. There was something very calming about being surrounded by art, and the two gallery owners were absolutely hilarious.
‘There are two separate exhibitions happening next week,’ she reminded Quaddra.
Quaddra grimaced as he nodded. ‘Yeah, I’d forgotten about that.’
‘I have to be there, honey. I’m sorry.’
‘Nothing to be sorry about,’ Quaddra said, before quickly coming up with an alternative. ‘So, how about we take a holiday when I get back then? Once you’re done with the exhibitions? We could go somewhere different.’
‘A holiday?’ Mary frowned.
‘Yeah, just the two of us… no work… no deals… no stocks… no exhibitions… just us.’
Mary looked back at Quaddra a little sideways.
‘Honey, I think that the cold air in here is really affecting your brain. You told me that you haven’t had a holiday in over five years, not because you don’t want to, but because you can’t.
You told me that you can’t leave your businesses unattended, not even for a day. ’
‘Well, I’m sure that Ricky can keep the boat afloat for a week or so.’
Richard Ortiz, or Ricky, as his closest friends called him, was Quaddra’s right-hand man. He was as streetwise as a drug dealer and as clued up as Quaddra was when it came to reading people. Mary had met him several times in the past months. His wife, Nancy, was as sweet as pumpkin pie.
Mary tried studying Quaddra’s expression. She got nothing. ‘This is all very sudden, honey. Is something wrong?’
‘Wrong?’ Quaddra shook his head. ‘No, not at all. I just really wanted to spend some quality time with you. Away from everything and everyone.’
Mary carried on studying him.
‘Is there anywhere that you’ve always wanted to visit, but never did?’ Quaddra was trying hard to sound nonchalant. ‘Anywhere? Somewhere romantic perhaps?’ He winked at her. ‘I’ve got a private jet. We can go anywhere you like… anytime.’
Mary didn’t give the idea too much thought. ‘No, not really.’
‘How about Europe then?’ Quaddra sounded like he was getting excited.
‘Europe?’
‘Yeah, but not your regular tourist destinations like London, Paris, Rome, Athens… nothing like that. I was thinking of something a little more exotic like Prague, Krakow, or Lake Como… have you been to any of those places?’
Mary took another moment. ‘You want to go to Europe?’
‘With you… yes.’
Mary bit her bottom lip.
Quaddra read the moment and seized it like a pro. ‘C’mon, we could both use some time away… from everything and everyone, don’t you think? I know I could.’
He wasn’t wrong. Mary could really do with some time away… far away from everything and everyone.
‘I guess you’re right,’ she finally agreed. ‘It would be nice to go somewhere. And Europe sounds like fun. I’ll talk to Mr. Steiner at the gallery and get a week or so off. How does that sound?’
‘It sounds amazing.’ Quaddra jumped to his feet and walked over to Mary to kiss her again.
His secret plan was beginning to work.