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"Oh, I thought " He caught himself and started over. "There you have me, friend. It took us all by
surprise. I mean Celia and Alex had their rough moments like any other couple, but when she& well, it
left us all flabbergasted. She seemed very normal and all. Normal, you know? It fairly tore Alex up. He
looked like death himself for a while. I think that party last night was the first time he's really been out of
the house since it happened."
"She leave a note?"
"Yeah, she said she just couldn't go on any longer. It was next to her on the car seat. You know how
she died?"
"Yes, Reva mentioned it to me."
"Reva." He smiled. "Lovelygirl& It shocked her, too. She and Celia were very good friends, they were
both models. Celia married her artist, and Reva's about to, so I suppose they had a lot of notes to
compare on the subject, not that Alex or Leighton are even remotely alike."
"How so?"
"They both paint and wear clothes and eat food, but beyond that they're night and day, stylistically and
temperamentally. Like all that business in the studio, it was taken care of with a minimum of fuss and
bother in about a quarter hour, right? If you'd gone to Leighton for the work you'd still be talking and
talking. He's more showman than anything. If someone comes to him for a commission he puts them to a
lot of trouble so they think they're getting their money's worth. Then he'd have your girl sitting for a
couple hours every day for two or three weeks so you think he's really earning his fee."
"That's what we expected with Alex."
"And he didn't give it to you. Art is a business with both of them, but Alex just gets on with it, and if
people are disappointed with the lack of show, the finished product makes up fork."
"I'll say. That sketch he did was really great."
"And you don't need to worry about the painting, he'll do something to knock your eyes out."
"How did you two get together?"
He laughed. "It's been so long I hardly remember, we both go so far back. His family had money and
mine didn't; he had the polish and I had the spit. I used to get him into a lot of trouble taking him off to
pool halls and other fun places, then he'd show me how to look at things and draw them. We both had
watercolors down by the time we were out of grade school. He'd won a few prizes and me, too, and
then one day I sold something. It convinced me this was a way of making a living without working that
and the occasional crap game."
"And if you left the crap games alone youcould make a living," said Sandra, coming in with a broom and
dustpan. "Is he telling you the sad story of his life. Jack?"
"Not so sad," defended Evan. "I enjoy every moment." To illustrate, he drained off the rest of the beer
and raided the box for another. Sandra rolled her eyes in mock suffering and left for the studio.
Evan grinned beatifically. "Before yesterday she'd have given me a five-minute lecture on gambling,
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drinking, and other forms of peaceable sport. Now she's so occupied with Alex it takes the pressure off
me. Isn't love wonderful?"
I had to agree. "She and Alex have known each other just as long?"
"Not really. He was my friend mostly until we got older, then he went off to study in Paris for a couple of
years. When he returned she started to notice him, but then he was off to New York getting established.
He came back just after the crash; famous, quite thoroughly married to Celia, and off Sandra's eligible
list."
"That's a funny way to describe a marriage."
"It applied to them. I liked Celia well enough, but she was a bit self-centered no, that's not the
word& "He eyed the dwindling contents of the beer bottle. "I think this stuff is starting to get to me."
Before he could decide on his definition, Bobbi, Sandra, and Adrian walked in. Bobbi was pulling on her
brown velvet gloves.
"All finished?" I asked.
"Jack, you should see the things he has in there, it's absolutely wonderful. Alex should have it in a gallery
or museum. They're all too beautiful to be shelved up out of sight."
"Maybe you could talk to Reva," said Evan.
Adrian shrugged it off. "Another time. You're going to see her tomorrow, aren't you?"
"Yeah, sure, first thing, but I'm having my doubts."
"You promised, Evan, so don't try to get out of it," Sandra told him.
"I wouldn't do that, it's just I won't be held responsible if Reva says no. She'll be thinking of Leigh ton "
"And Leighton thinks of himself," Adrian concluded, twisting his ring around again.
"Well, it is her gallery, of course she'll want to be selling his work and Reva might think my stuff would
take away from his sales."
"Even though the gallery gets a commission should your work sell?"
"Not as much as they'd get from Leighton. He's very popular just now, you know."
"We know, but we also know your work is quite different from Leighton's and would attract a different
audience. Reva will certainly want to widen the pool of prospective buyers."
"Not that wide& Can you imagine someone like Mr. Danube walking in for a look?"
Adrian apparently could and wisely shifted the point of his argument. "Sandra expects you to try."
"Iwill try, I've said so, but& "
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"Yes?"
"Nothing, just but."
Sandra had her arms crossed and was leaning against a counter, watching the exchange with amusement.
"Alex, he's just having a case of the shakes."
"Odd, that usually doesn't happen until the morning after the debauch."
Evan sighed dramatically. "They're talking like I'm not in the room anymore, which means I've become
invisible again. If I could learn to control it I'd go on stage and make a fortune." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]