Henry smiles at me. "You, darling, are a breath of fresh air."
Just then, I see Alexander heading in my direction. I smile at him, but he doesn't return it. Christ, who pissed on his cornflakes?
"Alexander," I say. "Henry just bought my first painting. I am having the best time ever." I grin up at him as I bounce up and down on my toes.
"That's fantastic, Emily. I was wondering what the noise was. Normally these events are quiet with only the hushed murmur of voices." Alex looks between me and Henry.
"I was just so excited, and Henry is being a darling. I don't know what I need to do next, though. I need to change some of the paintings, and I don't know if I have to take this one down or what to do."
Alexander turns to Henry. "Mr. Connors, it's a beautiful painting. Emily will put your name on it and send an invoice tomorrow. Then she will have it shipped to your office."
Henry looks at Alexander and smiles. "Of course, Mr. Hartfield. It was good to talk to you earlier. I hope we can do business again shortly." He looks at me. "Emily, it was a pleasure, and please let me know when you are exhibiting again. I would love to come and look at your paintings. I think my wife could find one or two she would want me to buy." He extends his hand again. I shake it before he gives me a business card. "My details are on there."
"Thank you, Henry, and absolutely I will let you know." I smile as I watch him walk away. "Did you just run him off there, Alexander? He's my first-ever client, and he has made me so happy."
"No, I didn't run him off. He can be a little bit forthright with women, so I was coming over to help you with him." He looks at the wall. "I'm so happy for you, Emily, let me help you swap some of these paintings out."
He moves toward the one Henry bought and takes it down. "Do you have something equally as beautiful as this one to go in its place?"
I reach down and grab a few canvases and hand them to him. He looks at them and admires them. "These are really good? Did you walk around the exhibit and look at the other paintings?"
"No, I didn't. I need to stay here."
"I'll stand here for a while, why don't you walk around and look at the other artists and introduce yourself, do some networking and I'll put your other paintings up." Alexander smiles and then takes another canvas off the wall.
"But, Alexander, you're the guy who is running this, you should be networking, not me."
“Does that make me important?” His gaze dances.
"Yes, and I don’t understand why you waited for me in the bathroom when you should have been out here networking. Why did you do that, Alexander?"
He steps toward me. "Have you noticed that you are the only one who calls me that? Even my assistant of thirteen years calls me Mr. Hartfield."
"Why didn't you say that? It's going to be hard to call you that now."
"I don't want you calling me that; I love how you say my name." He's really close, and I can feel the heat of his breath on me. "Now go look around before I say something that I shouldn't."
I look at him. "I think you already did that, Sir." I wink and walk away. His mouth is open, and I can't stop laughing.
Walking around, I stop and talk to a few artists. One is a woman, and as there are only two of us, I make a beeline for her exhibition. "Hey, I'm Emily. I was late," I introduce myself. "And they put me in the naughty corner." I point over to where Alexander is putting my paintings on the wall.
"Hey, I'm Flora. I wouldn't mind being over there with Mr. Hartfield. Although I've heard he's a stickler for rules and he's very short with people."
"That's not been my experience with him." He turns at that moment and smiles at me before turning back to what he was doing.
"Well, you're amongst the very few who see that side of him. Do you know him well?" She winks at me.
"Oh my god, no. I just met him today. He caught me crying in the corner earlier and helped me out. I didn't even know who he was."
Flora laughs. "That's so funny. Everyone knows who he is."
"I don't have a TV, and I don't read newspapers. Maybe I should start."
"Yeah, I would just in case you bump into another billionaire someday."
Flora turns to talk to a businessman interested in one of her works of art so I move around and introduce myself to the rest of the artists. I have collected some cards, and I know that I would love to meet Flora again; she was fun.
As I put the cards in my pocket, I walk back to see Alexander staring at my biggest painting. I wonder what he likes about it. "Hey, do you like that one?"
