Just Can't Get Enough (19 page)

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Authors: Cheris Hodges

BOOK: Just Can't Get Enough
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CHAPTER 19
Darius was on edge as the hours before Celina's showing ticked away. Was Tiffany going to make good on her threat to cause trouble?
Why can't that woman just fall off a subway platform?
he thought as he sat on the edge of the bed, watching Celina slip on her Roberto Cavalli gown. The powder-blue and pink gown clung to her body as if she was the inspiration for the design. Darius's eyes followed her as she walked over to the closet and opened the door. He was surprised at how stylish Celina was. She had names like Prada, Cavalli, Donna Karan, and Dolce in her closet. She had three pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes and a pair of Manolo Blahnik sandals. Those Manolos were the shoes she decided to wear. Celina bent over and picked up the pink sandals. Then she turned to Darius.
“Are you going to watch me or are you going to get dressed?” she asked.
Darius shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “I was enjoying the show and,” he said as he stood up, “trying to figure out how to take this dress off without ripping it.” He encircled her waist and kissed her on the back of her neck.
Celina hit him on the shoulder. “Stop it,” she said. “You're going to make me late.”
Darius let her go and smiled wickedly. “I'm going to the bathroom,” he said as he headed out of the bedroom. Darius showered and shaved quickly. When he walked out of the bathroom, Celina was adorning her hair with a pink ribbon that matched the pink in her dress. She looked more like a model than an artist.
“Wow,” Darius said.
Celina turned around, getting a full view of him in nothing but a towel. Suddenly, she wasn't worried about being late. “You'd better get dressed or we're never going to get out of here,” she said as she picked up her makeup case and headed to the bathroom.
“I bet I'll be dressed before you put your face on,” he called out as the bathroom door closed behind her. Darius dressed quickly, slipping into his new suit. As he buttoned his shirt, Celina walked out of the bathroom, radiant. “I'm ready,” she announced.
Darius could hardly breathe as he looked at her. “Beautiful,” he said, giving her a long, lingering look. Celina had on a light dusting of foundation and a clear gloss on her lips. The only thing that was missing was a halo.
“Are you ready, Ms. Lady?” Darius asked as he grabbed his jacket. Celina smiled and headed out the door. Darius walked behind her, admiring the view of her shapely behind in her haute couture gown. Once they got outside, they walked a couple of blocks to hail a cab.
“No subway tonight?” Darius ribbed.
Celina raised her eyebrow. “In this dress? I think not,” she said as she raised her arm to hail a cab. A taxi pulled up to the corner immediately and Darius knew why the driver stopped; Celina had power over traffic in that dress. Darius grabbed her hand and kissed it after they were seated in the cab. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Nervous. Does it show?”
Darius shook his head. “All I see is beauty.” About fifteen minutes later, the taxi was stopping in front of the gallery. Darius stepped out of the cab, not expecting the sudden flash of cameras. Instinctively, he threw his hand up to shield his eyes from the bright blue flashes. Celina stepped out of the car camera-ready, with a smile plastered on her face. Darius watched her nervousness evaporate under the watchful eye of the media. Reporters swirled around her, asking her questions about the show, her latest work, Paris, and her dress. Celina linked arms with Darius after answering the reporters' questions and walked into the gallery. “So, this is your life?” Darius whispered through his smile.
“Some days,” she said. “Millicent knows how to create a buzz.” Another flash of light bulbs went off, capturing Celina and Darius on film. Millicent walked over to them, looking like a peacock, in Darius's opinion, with blue, gold, and green feathers in her hair. Her sequined black dress hugged her reed-thin body so tightly Darius wondered if she could breathe.
She leaned in and kissed Celina on the cheek. “You look amazing,” she said breathlessly. “That dress and this exhibit are going to launch you into the stratosphere.”
“Lofty goals,” Celina said, keeping a plastic smile on her face for the photographers. “Let's just get through the night and see what happens.”
Millicent led Celina and Darius into the main gallery where all of the paintings were. While a group of reporters cornered Celina and Millicent, Darius wandered around the gallery, looking at his girlfriend's body of work. He looked up and saw that the main focus of the showing was
H2Love.
Smiling, he couldn't help but think about the creation of the painting and how it changed everything between them. That was the day he knew he had to have her in his life and not just for a moment, but forever. Crossing over to it, he smiled as he stared at the image.
“Beautiful, isn't it?” a woman asked. Darius turned and faced her. “Liza Damien.” She extended her hand to him.
Darius shook her hand and nodded. “Celina is a great artist.”
“And you're the perfect model,” she said, looking from Darius to the painting. “Ellian, get this shot. Do you have a few minutes to answer some questions?” The cameraman focused his lens on Darius. He looked around for Celina, hoping that she would save him from the reporter and the glare of the spotlight, but she was in another corner with a group of reporters.
“Why not?” Darius said.
Liza smiled and stuck a microphone in his face. “Your name?”
“Darius McRae.”
Liza nodded and told him what station she worked for and to relax and be natural.
“We're here with Darius McRae, who looks just like the image in Hart's new painting,
H2Love.
Darius, are you a model?”
“No, Celina and I are old friends and she asked me to pose for a painting. I had no idea that it would be this popular.”
“Old friends? Well, how does it feel to be immortalized on canvas like this?”
Darius turned his head and looked at the painting again. “Right now, it hasn't sunk in. Maybe when I'm seventyfive years old with a potbelly, it will.”
“Thank you,” Liza said as she signaled for Ellian to turn the camera off. She shook hands with Darius, then headed over to the other reporters who were interviewing Celina. Darius walked around the showroom looking at the other paintings. When someone tapped him on the shoulder, he thought it was another reporter. Darius turned around and looked into Tiffany's face.
“She does have some talent,” she said as she flung her hair back. “Not much, but I guess there isn't anything else going on tonight and these people will do anything to get free booze and food.”
“Why are you here?” Darius asked.
Tiffany smiled. “I'm here to support a fellow Elmore native. I mean, isn't that why you posed for this picture?” She pointed to the painting.
“You're not welcome here and if you don't leave, I'll have the police escort you out.”
Tiffany placed her hands on her round hips. “And cause a scene at your beloved's showing? Darius, you wouldn't.”
The last thing he wanted to do was mar Celina's evening, but Tiffany had to go.
“What do you want?” he asked acquiescing.
She turned toward Celina and then back to Darius. “Why her? What does she have that I don't have?”
“Me. Tiffany, I never promised you anything and I never loved you. I'm sorry that you thought there was something between us when there wasn't.”
She folded her arms underneath her breasts. “Darius, I was there for you when you were whining about your ex and she comes into town for five minutes and all of a sudden she is the love of your life? That's not fair.”
“There for me?” he said trying to keep his voice low and even. “Tiffany, you were a rebound screw. I had no intentions of having anything serious with a moneygrubbing gold digger like you.”
Tiffany's eyes narrowed into tight slits, then she hauled off and slapped him with all the fury inside her. A few people standing near them peered in their direction.
“You will not talk to me like that. I loved you.”
Darius took a step back and exhaled. “Leave,” he snapped.
A gallery security guard walked over to Darius and Tiffany. “Is there a problem over here?” he asked as he looked at the angry scowls on their faces.
Tiffany turned to him and smiled. “No, sir. I was just leaving. I have a plane to catch,” she said, then turned to Darius. “You have to come home and I won't forget this.”
The guard followed Tiffany out the front door as Darius looked for Celina in the crowd. He hoped she hadn't seen what happened. Darius knew that when they returned to Elmore, things were going to get a lot worse.
 
 
By the end of the night, Celina's cheeks burned from all the smiling and all she wanted to do was head home and fall asleep in Darius's arms. As the party started to wind down, she found him sitting in a corner hiding from reporters, something she wished that she could do. The reporters and gallery patrons kept her busy all night, which was a good thing, since everyone loved her work and she sold more than half of her paintings. Celina wouldn't allow anyone to buy
H2Love.
That one belonged to her and Darius. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Where have you been all my life?” she asked.
Darius pointed to the painting. “Sitting right here on the wall.” He turned around and kissed Celina gently on the lips.
“Did you have fun?” she asked.
“It was an experience. Do you think it's going to be like this when we open the Celina Hart Gallery of Fine Art in Elmore?” he asked.
“Wow, you really have been giving this some thought.” Celina looked up at
H2Love.
“This has to come with us. When the showing is over, I'll have Millicent ship it home.” Celina was shocked that she called Elmore home, given that she hadn't lived there in more than twenty years, but being with Darius was home, whether it was Elmore, Harlem, or a tent in the woods. “Are you ready to go?” she asked. “Maybe we can go grab a bite to eat.”
“I want to grab something, but not a bite to eat,” Darius whispered huskily.
Playfully she punched him in the arm, “But I'm hungry. Trust me, it's worth the wait,” she said with a smile.
Darius nodded. “All right, my lady, lead the way.”
As they headed out the door, Millicent stopped them. “Celina, Celina, this was a fabulous showing and we have so many orders. You know I got an offer for $50,000 for
H2Love.
”
Celina shook her head. “It's not for sale. We're going to hang it in our gallery in South Carolina.”
Millicent nodded. “Let me know when it opens. I would love to see it. Are you going to have exclusively new art or all of your work?”
“A mix,” Darius said. “We'll make sure you get an invite to the opening. I'm sorry but we have to go.”
Millicent waved good-bye to the couple as they walked out the door. “Great save,” Celina said once they made it outside. “Millicent would have kept us in there for hours.”
Darius nodded. “I could tell.”
Celina hailed a cab. The wind had picked up outside. Even though it was still summer, the nights were growing cooler, announcing that fall wasn't too far away. She'd never paid much attention to the weather before, always carrying a jacket with her to keep the winds at bay. Tonight she had something better and when Darius wrapped his arms around her, she knew she never had to worry about a jacket again. This was right and finally she knew it.
“Where are we headed?” Darius asked as he and Celina slipped into the cab.
“You'll like it,” she said. Celina leaned over the seat and gave the driver the address to The Blue Smoke Jazz Standard on East 27th Street. Then she eased into Darius's arms as the cab took off.
“Nights like this make me miss living in a city,” Darius said, gently stroking her arm. “What would we be doing if we were in Elmore?”
Celina smiled. “Maybe at the lake, watching the stars. Listening to some Coltrane on the stereo. Taking each other's clothes off.” She gently bit his bottom lip.
“Damn, do we need to get on a plane? That sounds better than wherever we're headed.”
“What did I do to deserve you? Darius, you've opened my eyes to so much and you've opened my heart. I'll love you forever, I know it.”
Darius smiled and kissed her. “And I'm not going to let you forget you said that, Ms. Hart.”
When the cab pulled up in front of the jazz club, Celina's cell phone rang. She pulled the phone out of her purse. “Hello?”
“Celina, it's Velma. Your father took a turn for the worse. We're rushing him to Columbia.”

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