"Have a second date with that sailor, watch 'the Bold and the Beautiful', take a face mask, go shopping…." Annie summed up, ticking off the various topics on her fingers as she wandered around the Greenwood gallery with Caroline.
Caroline kept turning her head, wanting to see as much as possible, not knowing where to look first. Annie just glanced around the room, not understanding what the fuss was about.
Caroline sighed with mock annoyance.
"Annie will you stop it now? I know there're plenty of other things you could be doing right now, but you agreed to come, so try to enjoy it a little."
"Agreed?" Annie scoffed, ignoring Caroline's request, "You made me!"
"It's good for you to be exposed to some culture every now and again. Didn't your parents ever try to interest you in things like this?" Caroline asked.
When she received no reply she glanced over her shoulder because Annie stood still and was now staring at her as though Caroline had asked her to do a cartwheel or something.
"Never mind…" Caroline smiled. She hooked an arm through Annie's and they walked on. They passed several other paintings, Caroline pointlessly trying to interest Annie in them. As they entered the second room, Caroline suddenly froze, staring at something across the room.
"What?" Annie asked, slightly annoyed, knowing another boring, politically correct answer would follow.
"Annie, that painting over there….it's beautiful" she breathed in awe. Before Annie had a chance to respond, Caroline rushed over to the other side of the room, dragging Annie with her.
When they reached it, Caroline marveled at it as though it was the world's biggest diamond. Meanwhile, Annie tilted her head and squinted her eyes but no matter what she tried, to her it just looked like a few splotches of paint on a canvas. But for argument's sake she decided to not start a new discussion about it.
"This is gorgeous, Annie. I HAVE to buy this, no matter what!" Caroline exclaimed enthusiastically.
Annie chuckled.
"'No matter what?'" she repeated as she leaned forward to study the price tag under the painting. "Are you sure? Have you seen how much this one is?"
Caroline shrugged. "Well…yes but that's art, it's always expensive. It's one of a kind after all."
"I sure hope so" Annie muttered under her breath, "What's it called anyway?"
Caroline studied the small brass plate under the painting.
"'Ambiguous Simplicity'" she read out loud. She gave an impressed little nod. "Sounds deep."
"What does that mean?" Annie said, making a face.
"Well I dunno..," Caroline replied, a bit uneasily, "I'm sure there's some hidden meaning in this painting, if we just look closely enough..."
Just as both women were studying the colorful canvas, a voice behind them caused them to jump and they quickly turned around.
"Like this one, huh?" a tall, blond-haired man queried. He was wearing a tuxedo and he thoughtfully sipped from a glass of champagne.
Caroline smiled at him, then looked at the painting again.
"Yeah, I really do, I love these colors" she added, tracing the various curves of paint with her index finger.
"I dunno, I somehow find it intriguing."
"Intriguing, huh?" the man echoed, impressed.
"Yeah" Caroline nodded, "I'm thinking of buying it, actually."
"If it weren't so damn expensive" Annie dryly added.
The man shrugged, taking another sip of champagne before he spoke again.
"It's expensive, but it's worth it, a lot of hard work has been put into in."
Annie crossed her arms and looked at him.
"And you would know this because…..?" she started defiantly, feeling an instant dislike for this man. She had absolutely nothing to base her opinion on, maybe it was just that hideous painting, she didn't know. But either way, he seemed snotty and he had an air of arrogance about him. She just knew their personalities would clash.
Sensing her dislike for him, he stuck his chin in the air.
"I painted it…" he finished, mimicking her tone of voice.
Taken off-guard, Annie's arms dropped to her sides and Caroline's eyes grew slightly in size.
"You painted this? You're the artist?" Caroline asked.
He nodded, unable to hide his pride over this revelation and though he tried to stop it, a small smile crept across his lips.
"Yup. In person."
"Wow," Caroline breathed.
"Oh, um…I'm Caroline Duffy" she then said, quickly extending her hand to him as though her mother had suddenly reminded her to mind her manners.
"Richard Karinsky" he introduced himself.
Annie followed Caroline's example and they then all looked at the painting again.
"Well," Caroline broke the silence, "Since I got to meet the artist, it's suddenly a bargain!"
She ignored the flirtatious undertone in her voice since she had no idea where it came from all of a sudden. She pushed it aside by exclaiming, "I'll buy it!"
Richard's eyes lit up.
"You're going to buy it? For real?" he beamed.
When Caroline nodded, he placed his half-empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter and stepped a bit closer. His small smile got a little bigger.
"That means I've made my first sale. Ever" he declared softly.
"You know Miss Duffy, you have no idea how much this means to me!"
His smile had grown from ear-to-ear as he took Caroline's hand in both of his and shook it with enthusiasm, nearly causing Caroline's arm to pop out of its socket.
"It's my pleasure, it's beautiful" Caroline replied coyly when he loosened his grasp on her hand. Their eyes locked for a moment and they held on to each other's hand just a beat too long. The atmosphere had suddenly changed and made it Annie feel invisible. Neither Richard nor Caroline seemed aware that she was there and she was just about to break the awkwardness when Caroline cleared her throat.
"Well, I better go find the owner then. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Karinsky."
He nodded and they walked off to the next room where the sculpture exhibition was held.
"Well," Annie said, "You certainly made him happy, you're the very first person to buy one of his paintings."
She briefly thought of adding 'no wonder' but she didn't want to kill Caroline's happy mood.
"Yeah I know," Caroline responded, still a bit dazzled by his reaction.
"I can't think of a more perfect situation. I mean, I get a beautiful painting and he makes his first sale. Everybody wins!"
"Mmm that depends," Annie replied doubtfully, "Are you going to hang it in the living room? 'Cause that would mean I'd have to look at it every time I come over."
Caroline playfully hit her friend's upper arm as they moved to the next room to admire the sculptures exhibited there.
Richard beamed with pride as he watched the redhead and her friend walk over to the sculpture exhibition in the next room.
"Caroline…" he muttered, loving the way her name sounded on his lips. He reluctantly tore his eyes away from her and focused on what had just happened.
He couldn't believe he'd made his first sale!
He'd always cared where his paintings would end up if someone finally bought one. He had a very strong connection with each and every one of them and he was happy that his painting was in good hands. He couldn't have wished for a warmer, kinder person to buy it. Or more beautiful, his brain reminded him.
His joy immediately washed away as guilt flooded over him. If he had known about Caroline before…
He resisted the urge to run after her and tell her everything. If he didn't come clean he'd never have a chance with her.
"As if…" he scoffed.
The clicking of high heels and the spicy scent of perfume pulled him back to reality.
"Everything okay here?" Ms. Greenwood asked. One hand was resting on her hip, the other was loosely wrapped around a glass of champagne.
He looked over his shoulder again as the internal battle in his head went on. This was his last chance to set things straight. His insecurity took over when Ms. Greenwood scraped her throat, trying to get his attention.
Caroline would never be interested in him anyway, he reasoned. Besides, what was done, was done he rationalized quickly before turning his attention to the gallery owner.
"It sure is, I just made my first sale!" he exclaimed.
"Really? That's wonderful Richard! To whom?"
"Her" he said, pointing to Caroline and Annie who were standing by a sculpture. "She's looking for you actually."
Caroline was pointing out details in the sculpture while Annie was shaking her head and indicating her watch.
He smirked slightly, wondering how two such different people ever became friends.
The woman glanced at Richard's painting, then arched a carefully plucked eyebrow at him.
"Well, at least you sold it, huh? Congratulations!"
She held up her glass to toast to his success only to find that he didn't have a drink.
"Here," she said, grabbing a fresh glass of champagne and thrusting it in his hand. "I'll go over after we've had a toast. May you become a very successful artist!"
He cast one final glance over his shoulder but Caroline and her friend were nowhere to be seen. He pushed the feelings of guilt far back to a corner of his mind, then smiled brightly at the woman across from him.
"Hear, hear"
They then clinked their glasses together to celebrate his first sale.
A few days later, a yellow cab pulled up in front of the gallery. After a moment, Annie and Caroline got out, making their way over to the entrance, Caroline nearly skipping with excitement because they were picking up her new painting.
Once inside, they walked through the long, beige hallways until they found their way.
When they entered the room though, it was nothing Caroline had expected. A handful of people had gathered there, everyone shouting and talking loudly, raising their voices to be heard.
Caroline hesitantly approached the group, wondering if she was in the wrong room after all. She craned her neck to see who everybody was talking to, to find the gallery owner, a thin woman in her mid-thirties and a guy she'd never seen before standing there. The gallery owner's face was red with heat and there were a few beads of sweat running down her forehead. The guy next to her was furiously shaking his head and holding up his hands in defence as they were talking to the crowd.
"Look, this is all I can tell you right now. I understand you're mad, but there's nothing else I can do for the moment. You'll hear from me when I know more. Sorry people."
The group angrily turned around, cussing at the owner and some threatening with lawyers. They nearly ran over Caroline as they furiously made their way out of the room. Caroline then carefully approached the owner, still in complete confusion about what was going on. She found the owner rubbing her forehead, talking to her companion in a high-pitched voice.
"Excuse me?" she interrupted them, "Um…what's going on? I'm here to pick up my painting. I bought it last week, 'Ambiguous Simplicity' by Richard Karinsky?"
The owner sighed.
"Well, join the club."
"What do you mean?" Annie asked who had now joined her friend.
"What I mean," the owner sighed again, "Is the same thing I told those other people, that it's gone, he's gone, everything's gone!"
"What?" Caroline raked a hand through her hair, scrunching up her forehead in utter confusion.
"I don't understand, what happened? Were you robbed?"
"Well, sort of. But not just me. You too and those other people too. This guy, Richard Karinsky, apparently sold the same painting to all these people you just saw. Everyone already paid for it of course and now he's gone with the painting and the money."
"But how is that possible?" Annie asked, "I was there when you sold the painting to Caroline."
The woman nodded.
"Yes, but after that he apparently sold it to those other people without me noticing. And before I could find out, he took off with it. I'm sorry Miss, but you've been conned."
With that, she turned on her heel and she and her companion left the room, leaving Caroline and Annie to stare at each other in shock.