crime.”
“Ha! Tell that to all the people holding worthless stock he sold them after his friends dumped their shares. The man is a bottom feeder and a first class cretin. Personally, I think there is a special Hell reserved for assholes like him.” I stood and looked down at my watch. I had approximately five minutes to get back to the gallery to meet Dr. Winters. “It’s been great. Why don’t you stop by this evening with Jude and we can talk more about this then? I really need to get back to the gallery to meet that arrogant bastard or there will be hell to pay.”
Paul kissed my cheek chastely. “We’ll see each other again real soon. Take care of yourself.”
“I will.” I headed back toward my gallery, praying I would be on time for this meeting with Dr. Winters.
***
Much to my amazement, not only was I on time but the cheap ass neurosurgeon ended up buying two expensive paintings which would be nice for my bank balance indeed and the gallery as a whole.
I arrived home to find Talia on the sofa scribbling furiously in a notebook. Jude had arranged for her transfer, but since she was still paying rent on an expensive apartment in West Los Angeles, we agreed she should take the spare guest room.
“Hey, how was your day at work?” she asked.
“Great. And Paul came by to see me and took me out for lunch.” I sat beside her. “All in all, it was a very good day.”
Talia’s smile faltered a bit before she plastered it back on. “I wish I could say the same. Why didn’t Jude tell me when I was transferred here I would have to work with Scarlet Fever? I don’t mind writing rock anthems, but changing every poetic word into something dirty just doesn’t feel right.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I wrote this great hook for a love song. Slow tempo so the lyrics were perfect. ‘Tonight is our night…when tomorrow comes nothing will be right…so give me a hint or a clue…I want to know if I’m gonna be loving you.’ Beautiful, right? They made me change ‘loving’ to ‘fucking’. I swear to God these hard rocking musicians have no freakin’ taste!” She set her notebook aside and weaved her hands through her hair.
“Well at least you get to work with all types, and Scarlet Fever is certainly no band to sneeze at. They have been around for a while and have four albums under their belt, with you helping them polish the fifth which is due out in a couple weeks. I already pre-ordered the mp3 from iTunes. I’m sure they are honored to work with someone as talented as you.”
She shook her head in exasperation. “I had to Skype with Kaz and Jaden since they aren’t here in New York, and the whole time we’re chatting, Jaden’s society girlfriend, Faith, shot daggers at me as if I were trying to steal her man! Let’s not forget these guys weren’t interested in me like that, but apparently my panties are supposed to get soaked or something because I am in the presence of these great sexy rockers with too many tats, sculpted abs, and killer bodies. I swear, women can be so dumb sometimes.”
I yawned, stretched out, and let my head fall in Talia’s lap. There was nothing sexual about my actions whatsoever and it was as natural as if we were sisters for her to massage my scalp as we talked.
“Most women fall for those type of bad boys. Give me a guy with an Ivy League degree, a respectful job, and who can fuck me sideways, and I am a happy woman. But not everyone thinks the way I do and how boring the world would be if they did?”
Talia was silent for a moment and I knew why, though I wasn’t sure whether I should broach the subject or not.
“Are you still having dreams about Seth Delvecchio? Believe me, if you said yes, I wouldn’t hold it against you.”
“I don’t want to talk about Seth any more than you want to discuss Kevin.” She sighed. “Besides, he is everything I detest: a tattooed rocker on the verge of superstardom with his stupid band, Winter’s
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