“Are you ready for the excellent event that’s going to win the sale today?” The voice is no less confident even though it’s roughened by sleep.
“Ha! Did you see how happy Harrison was to throw some powder at his daughter? Or at his wife? Or his friend? Like a kid in a candy shop.”
Thank god Gavin’s making the awkward morning-after easy on me. I don’t know if he’s the Priya whisperer and he did it on purpose, or if he’s just that focused on the job. As focused as me, actually.
Either way, it’s attractive.
“What time is it?” Gavin reaches over me for my phone and flattens me between him and the bed in the process. It makes me laugh.
He yawns, getting a look at my screen. “Oh damn, it’s later than I thought. Did we set an alarm last night?”
“No, we didn’t.” My voice is muffled by my pillow.
“We were a bit busy.” He pushes himself up, and turns me around to face him. “We could be busy again.” His eyebrows wag up and down in invitation.
“Sure, if you want to give me an orgasm and be late to your own event, I won’t argue with you.” I reach up and kiss Gavin, one of my legs rubbing the back of his. He returns the kiss, and then pulls away when I try to deepen it.
“You’re right. I should get going.” At least he sounds regretful.
“Whatever.” I turn back to my side and close my eyes.
“See you later.” He gives me another kiss on the head as he gets out of bed.
I wave in his direction and hear the rustling sound of him putting on his clothes. He slips out the door and leaves me alone in the room.
I sigh and sit up. I’m not getting back to sleep again after that wakeup. I’m dissatisfied and I want him to come back and have sex with me and also not remind me of his name or our jobs. What’s in a name, anyway?
Course, they died at the end of that...so maybe the name was important, after all.
I’m going to do work to distract myself from the tragedy that is my life. I set up my remote workstation on the vintage vanity. I’m getting used to being surrounded by all the Gilded Age beauty...a redecoration might be in order for my office when I get back.
Maybe a redecoration will occupy my time when I get home and there’s no more Gavin. Because even though he sounds optimistic about wanting something with me now, here in this secluded, luxurious mansion paradise, I can’t believe he would still be excited about being with me once reality, and our dads, set in.
I’m seven internet tabs into doing some research for a piece from 800 C.E. India when my phone rings.
It’s Dad again.
I seriously contemplate not answering this time. I’m still on a high from all the sex with Gavin and how much fun I’ve been having this week, and I really don’t want him to interfere with that.
But unlike most children across the world, he’s also my boss, and it’s during business hours. So I slide across the screen to answer the call.
“Priya, you need to come home.” His voice is urgent, and I jump up in response.
I start rushing around the room, throwing my things in a suitcase. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re out there for this maybe sale of something we don’t even do, but we have other real sales you need to be focusing on. Smaller, sure things. If you haven’t gotten it by now, you aren’t going to get it.”
“Harrison is still reviewing our proposal.” I stop panicking, confident that everyone I love, and all the art I love, is safe and there’s no emergency.
“This has gone on too long. You don’t have the experience to pull in this sale, because we don’t work in this field.”
I mute the phone quickly so I can scream into my pillow. It’s getting harder and harder to deal with the casual ways that Dad dismisses my abilities and accomplishments. And those Big Two Houses’ job offers look better and better.
Scream over, I unmute the phone and try to catch up with what Dad is saying. He’s going on about something related to a smaller show he wants my department to put on.
I don’t want that sale. It’s a perfectly respectable sale, but it’s not that exciting, and it’s not going to bring in all that much money. Or much notice from the art market. It’s peanuts compared to what I can get for the Harrison sale.
I interrupt whatever he was trying to say. “It’s happening. I’m here. I’ve put in a lot of time for this show, and I’m going to stay until I get an answer. You agreed to let me do this,” I say firmly, standing up to my dad for the first time in a really long time.
