Bring Me Fire (15 page)

Chapter 29

It didn't take Conner long to identify the dresses in the store that he knew would
best suit the occasion.

"
I love helping people do this shit. It’s really my natural calling, if you didn’t know. Unfortunately, I’m not getting paid for it, so it really is a labor of love. It’s my passion, if you will."

"
You’re technically getting paid right now."

"
You’re right! And this would be the first time for that, which you should feel privileged to be a part of. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. So, I’m thinking that you don’t want to be too overdressed, which actually, I bet is kind of impossible, because some people really go all out for these sorts of things," Conner said. "Something simple, but refined. It’s almost like you’re going to the prom. Did you go to your prom?"

"
Yeah, I did. I don’t really remember it though, it kind of seemed like a lot of hype for something that wasn’t that didn’t turn out to be that amazing. What about you?"

"
Oh, I definitely went to my prom. I was nominated for prom king, if you can believe it, but of course the title went to Jason Taylor. He was the quarterback."
"Of course he was. But I’m not surprised you were nominated, either."

"
So here, we’ve got a few good things. This shade of blue would look really good on you, and I like the cut of this dress. What do you think?"

Sky looked at the two dresses. The blue one was strapless, with a fitted bodice and flowing skirt. The other dress was more form fitting, with violet and gray stripes.

"I do like the stripes," Sky said.

"
You should go try them on. I think either will look phenomenal, and I do believe I passed by the perfect pair of shoes when we were on our way in."

In the dressing room, Sky tried on the blue dress first. The color looked good against her skin, but the top fit awkwardly. She put it back on the hanger and tried on the purple and gray one. It had a scoop neck that showed off her collarbones and fit snugly, but in such a way that did not make her feel self-conscious. It was one of those dresses that, depending on the type of shoes and accessories it was paired with, could look either very elegant or very hipster bohemian. Sky stepped out from behind the curtain and Conner applauded.

"I knew it," he said, snapping his fingers. "That’s the one. You don’t even need to show me the blue one."

"
That’s good, because it didn’t fit right."

They moved on to shoes, and though Sky had several pairs in her closet at home that she thought might go well with this, she tried on the ones Conner suggested and settled on a pair of bright orange strappy sandals.

"I can’t believe I’m buying orange high heels," she said, looking down at her feet.

"
They’re not for everyone," Conner agreed. "But you can pull it off. And with that dress, it looks fabulous."

"
Good. Josh is taking me out for dinner before we go, too."

"
Oooh, he is? Where are you going?"
"I’m not sure yet; he said I could choose the place. Have any suggestions?"
"Well, that depends. What type of dining experience are you going for? He’s probably been to all the really good ones. Or maybe not - he’s not Mr. Social Butterfly. Let’s see, Corners is a good, so is the Blue Bead, Heavenly has hella good desserts, naturally..."

"
I’ve only been to the Blue Bead," Sky said. "Not those other places. But I was thinking it’d be fun to take him somewhere he hadn’t been before. I wanted to surprise him, though. It’s the first time we’ve gone on an official date."

"
I get it - this is all just foreplay for the auction. So probably it doesn’t even really matter where you go."

"
Maybe some place fancy."

"
Ooh, like a real grownup date. Well, there are plenty of good fancy places around. You’ll figure it out, sweetie."

"
I hope so," Sky said. "And thanks for helping me pick out an outfit."

Chapter 30

The restaurant Sky chose was one she’d never been to, and she wondered, as she and Josh walked in, if perhaps she should’ve picked somewhere she’d at least been once or twice. But her time in the city had always been spent as a poor college student, then as a poor post-grad, so she hadn’t been to many, or any, restaurants that were fancy. She’d certainly walked by a number of them, and the one she
picked in the end,
Wentworth
, was one she’d been past on several occasions. There were large plate glass windows that let the passing pedestrian traffic look into an elegant dining room, with white linen and a single rose on each table. Most of the patrons Sky could remember seeing when she had walked by were well-dressed and elegant looking. She supposed that she looked somewhat elegant, and she knew Josh certainly did, but she was suddenly certain she’d made a mistake choosing this restaurant.

"
Have you been here before?" she asked Josh as they walked into the restaurant.

"
A few times," he said. "I must say, I’m somewhat surprised that you picked this place. They have a delicious black and white truffle mac and cheese, if I remember correctly. Granted, I haven’t been here in a while, so I’m sure the menu has changed."

"
Truffle mac and cheese?"

"
Yes. It was quite good."

"
But you’re surprised that I picked out this place?"

"
I just thought you’d choose something a little more - I don’t know. Hip? Less stuffy? There will be a lot of dinosaurs in here, you know." As if on cue, the door opened behind them and an older, immaculately dressed couple shuffled in. The woman wore a strand of pearls looped several times around her neck and a rose-colored Chanel suit.

"
The other thing about this place," Josh said, "is that you’re going to want to have several hours to dedicate to the dining experience. Probably three or four, actually."

"
Oh. I didn’t realize that." Sky glanced to her left, into the restaurant, where she could see the maitre d’ watching them, looking anxious. "I think we’re stressing that guy out," she whispered.

Josh glanced up.
"I’m sure we are. That’s Roger."

"
You know him?"

"
Sort of. He’s worked here a long time." Josh held his wrist up and looked at his watch.  "So I’m certainly not against coming here, but maybe when we have more time? We don’t want to be late to the auction."

"
No, we don’t. But I made a reservation. I don’t want them to be mad. Roger looks like he might be mad if we back out."

"
Don’t worry. They’re not going to blacklist you. Here, I’ll go talk to Roger, explain the situation. It’ll be fine; don’t worry. Think of somewhere else you’d like to go. Somewhere you’d go with your friends, maybe."

Sky suppressed a smile, thinking about taking Josh to someplace like
Turntable
or one of the bars she and Julia liked to go to.

The Billingsgate Auction House was located in South of Market, and Sky knew of a good vegetarian sushi restaurant that was little more than a hole-in-the-wall but served up some of the best sushi she had ever had, even if it didn’t have fish. When Josh returned a few minutes later, she told him that she wanted to go there, and they went outside, hopped in a cab, and went down to
SoMa
.

"
Now this is a place I haven’t been before," he said after they were seated. The décor was sparse with nothing adorning the walls. An orchid sat on a small table in the corner, but that was it. The only items on their table were chopsticks, two paper napkins, and a bottle of shoyu. The menus were simple, printed on cream-color paper and encased in plastic and listed soups, salads, vegetarian rolls, and rice bowls. "Do you have any recommendations?"

"
Everything here is good," Sky said. "I like to get the soba noodle soup and the green tea. There’s a really good chocolate cake, too."

"
You wouldn’t think vegetarian sushi would actually be that good of an idea."

"
I was skeptical at first, too, but I think you’ll be very surprised. This is a really good place, yet somehow, it is still kind of like the city’s best kept secret."

"
Well, thank you for taking me. It’s always nice to go somewhere I haven’t been before. And try something new, too. Vegetarian sushi, huh? Who would’ve thought it."

Chapter 31

The auction was crowded, and Sky held onto Josh’s hand as they made their way into the building. She saw a few people she thought she recognized, though she couldn’t remember exactly from where. She supposed that she’d run into Ashley at some point, although there was such a big crowd, it was possible she wouldn’t. Sky had decided if she saw Ashley, she’d tell her, and if she didn’t, then that would be that.

They walked around for a while and looked at some of the art that would be auctioned off.

"
The nice thing about right now is it’s all free," Josh said. "No huge blockbusters here tonight, but there are some good ones."

When he left to go use the bathroom, Sky continued to walk around and look at the art. She overheard a couple discussing, in hushed tones, how high they’d be willing to bid on the Avery
Intonti painting they stood in front of. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. The couple did not appear to be that much older than Sky.

She kept her eyes out for the Seamus McManus forgery, but she didn’t see it. She saw two large paintings that looked like a fusion of cubism and futurism, done in bold, primary colors. She hadn’t heard of the artist before, but the paintings were dazzling. She turned and scanned the crowd, looking for Josh. She didn’t see him. Instead, though, her eyes landed right on Ashley, who was coming through the crowd by herself, almost as if she were walking straight over to Sky.

Sky could tell, though, from the expression on Ashley’s face, that she hadn’t been expecting to see her, or at least see her this very moment.

"
Ashley," Sky said. "Hi." She walked over. "Listen, I’m glad I ran into you, there’s something I want to..."

"
I don’t believe I have anything to say to you," Ashley said, her tone icy. "In fact, I think I think I made that perfectly clear on several different occasions, so I’m not sure why you’re trying to talk to me. Unless you’re an idiot, which, more and more, I’m starting to think is true."

Sky was aware of the people within earshot, their eyebrows raised. A few stopped their own conversations and looked at her, curiously. She knew her cheeks were getting red, and for a moment, she considered just walking away. But that would be foolish. No, she didn’t owe Ashley anything, but she owed it to herself, at least, to do what she thought was the right thing, regardless of external circumstances.

"I just want to tell you something," Sky said, straightening. Ashley’s eyes narrowed. She started to open her mouth to say something, but Sky held up her hand. "No," she said loudly. "You need to listen to what I’m going to tell you, and then you never have to speak to me again, if you choose. I’ll never come by the gallery; I’ll never even go into that neighborhood. I don’t know why you’ve felt the need to continue to spread rumors about me, but that’s your prerogative. That painting that you want to buy is a forgery."

Ashley shook her head slowly.
"Amazing," she said. "You really don’t want me to buy that painting. You don’t want to see me do something wonderful at
Prelude
, maybe because you didn’t think of it first. And this is the best you can do? Make up an obvious lie to attempt to get me not to buy the painting that you’re probably just going to try to buy for yourself?"

"
No. That’s not it at all. And I’d actually be very happy for both you and Aidan if you take
Prelude
in a different direction. But that painting is a forgery. I’ve seen the original."

"
Can you believe this?" Ashley said, looking toward the small crowd of people that had stopped around them. "That this little nobody..."

"
Are you sure it’s a forgery, dear?" a voice asked from behind Sky.

She turned at the vaguely familiar voice and saw the woman from the party in Tiburon. Isabelle? She looked as elegant as she had the night of the party.

"I am," Sky said.

Isabelle stepped so she was standing beside Sky. She looked at Ashley.
"Instead of publicly berating this poor girl," she said, her voice low and smooth, "I’d think a more appropriate response would be to thank her for saving you the embarrassment of buying a painting that is not the original you think it is."

"
And you believe her?" Ashley asked, though Sky could hear a note of uncertainty under the disbelief. She felt as though the crowd of people that had been listening were gathering in a circle around them, watching as if they were some sort of spectacle. It kind of was, she supposed, though it didn’t have to be, and she wished it wasn’t.

"
Why on earth would she make something like this up?"

"
Because she doesn’t want me to have it. Because she wants it for herself. Who knows? She’s got her reasons. All I know for sure is that there is no way in hell she could possibly know this was a forgery! How would she? She’s not an expert - she just graduated from college! Why,
I
gave Sky her first job out of art school!"

Sky felt a tingling, twisting in her stomach, and the overwhelming sensation of embarrassment for someone else.
Just stop
, she wanted to tell Ashley.
Just stop because you’re making a fool out of yourself and I don’t think you even realize it.
She no longer felt anything but pity toward the woman; clearly there was something deeper going on than simple dislike.

"
So even if she wants to swear on her life that she knows it’s a forgery, I don’t believe her," Ashley continued.

"
She knows it’s a forgery because I have the original."

Sky turned at the sound of Josh’s voice. He walked over and stood next to her, put an arm around her waist.
"I have the original and if you can’t take Sky’s word for it, you’ll have to take mine. And if you don’t want to do that and instead choose to bid money on a painting that isn’t authentic, well, then, I guess that’s up to you. Go and spend your money. Whatever makes you happy. But now, at least, you can make an informed decision. This is not a conspiracy against you, it’s not anything except exactly what it appears to be and that it someone going well out of her way to give you a heads up. So I guess you can consider yourself warned."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Sky wanted to slink off into a dark corner somewhere. She knew part of her should feel triumphant, or validated, at least, but really all she wanted to do was find the nearest exit.

"I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak so much," she heard a woman whisper a few feet from her.

"
Well, I’m glad we’ve got that all cleared up," Isabelle said with a laugh. "No harm done. Now why don’t we all get something to drink."

"
You okay?" Josh asked, looking down at Sky.

She nodded.
"Yes. Thanks for stepping in on my behalf."

"
It’s not that I didn’t think you couldn’t hold your own. I’m very aware that you can, in fact, but I’d heard enough about this whole damn painting thing to last a lifetime." He glanced up at Ashley, who was still standing there. "Can we put this thing to rest now?"
Her mouth was set in a thin line, but she managed to nod. "Yes," she said. "It’s not like there aren’t other paintings out there that I’m interested in." And she turned and walked off.

Sky told Josh she’d meet him outside. There was a small granite bench by the entrance and she sat on it, taking a long, deep breath. She was happy Josh had gotten a few pieces of art he really seemed to like and also that now she wouldn’t have to think any more about the McManus painting; unless it was the original she was looking at in Josh’s house. She hoped that Ashley had been able to find something she liked.

The door opened and a few people walked out, talking, laughing. One of the women smiled at Sky as she walked past. Sky watched them as they walked toward the parking lot. She heard the door open again and she glanced over shoulder, thinking it might be Josh. She looked away quickly when she saw that it was actually Ashley.

But instead of marching right past her, as she expected, she heard the click of Ashley’s heels stop right behind her. Sky turned back around.

"
Hi," she said.

Ashley stood there, arms crossed, a slight frown on her face.
"I was hoping I’d run into you again," she said. "Originally, because I just wanted the chance to tell you to mind your own business."

"
That’s not necessary. I’m not going to bother you anymore. Okay? You have my word. I won’t be stopping by the gallery, if I see you out in public again; I’ll pretend I don’t know you."

"
Well, that’s fine. But I’ve had a little time to think about it. And it does seem like you’re telling the truth. I’m not exactly sure why you went through so much trouble to let me know about it, seeing as I can’t say the two of us are on the best terms, but I’m adult enough to realize when someone has done the right thing, even when they didn’t have to."

She paused and the moment of silence stretched. Was that an apology of sorts? It didn’t appear that Ashley was going to say anything more.
"Okay," Sky said. "I appreciate you letting me know that. I hope you know that’s really the only place I was coming from. I was never trying to prevent you from doing anything, other than spending your money on a fake painting."

Ashley stood there for a moment, not saying anything. Finally, she nodded once and then walked off, saying,
"Good night."

"
Bye," Sky said, watching her walk off.

"
Everything okay?" Josh asked. He’d come out as Ashley had started to walk away.

"
Actually, yes it is," Sky said.

He smiled.
"Good. Glad to hear it."

A small smile spread across Sky’s face as she watched Ashley disappear into the distance. It wasn’t exactly an apology, but it was close enough.