The silence between them stretched, making time feel like it was standing still. And that was the first ever time that the silence between them felt awkward.
Quaddra really wanted to say something… anything that could make that moment untie itself, but what could he say? That he was sorry for having fallen in love with her?
Mary took a third step in the direction of the bathroom, but then suddenly stopped. It’d been a year and a half since Nelson’s trial, and since then she’d been careful… very careful, actually. With the exception of gangster-suit man back in Nashville, she had no indications that her ex-husband was catching up to her,so maybe… just maybe… it was time to stop living in fear and finally start rebuilding her life.
All of a sudden, Mary turned around, jumped back into bed and into Quaddra’s arms.
‘Damn you,’ she said, holding his face in between her hands, her eyes glassy with tears.
‘Why?’ he asked.
‘Because I love you too.’
Fifty-Five
There was no doubt that that first ‘I love you’ night, just over a couple of months ago, had been a somewhat terrifying experience for both Mary and Quaddra, but since then, their relationship had flourished to the point that Mary barely spent any time in her own apartment anymore, though she had insisted in carrying on paying her rent. The few items of clothing that had once shared a small corner of Quaddra’s wardrobe had now moved into her own walk-in closet, as Mary finally began shopping again – dresses, shoes, jackets, handbags… and she bought it all with her own money, not Quaddra’s, though he’d often surprise her with a gift or ten.
Despite it being a whole new experience for Quaddra, he loved the ‘living together’ lifestyle, and his romance ‘kung-fu’ was strong, with tender words and sweet gestures here and there, hidden notes in shoes and jacket pockets, surprise candlelight dinners… anything to make sure that she knew that she was always at the forefront of his mind. Whenever he wasn’t working, which wasn’t often, he and Mary would be together, which at first seemed to displease some of his friends. The argument was that Mary was maybe monopolizing his time, but nothing could’ve been further from the truth. Mary was the one who’d always insist that Quaddra would see his friends whenever he could… go for a ‘boys’ night out’… and not lose touch withthose who he’d always been closest to. It had been his choice to spend most of his free time with her. But if Quaddra’s romance game was strong, then so was Mary’s charm, and slowly but surely, her charisma began winning over all of Quaddra’s friends, including Megan.
‘Come in,’ Quaddra called from inside his home office, after Mary had knocked twice. That was the only door in the entire house that was always kept closed. When Quaddra was in there, he needed total concentration to deal with all the phone calls, the business transactions and the ridiculous number of stocks that several of his companies traded daily. Blink and he could miss out on, or even lose, millions in one wrong move. When he was traveling, or in his office in downtown San Francisco, his home office door was always locked.
Quaddra had once tried to show Mary how to trade, but the numbers on the screens changed so quickly, it gave Mary a headache in less than five minutes. The stock market certainly wasn’t for her.
Mary opened the door and stepped into the large and overly chilled office. The entire house was air-conditioned, but Quaddra kept the temperature inside his office a couple of degrees below what most people would consider comfortable.
‘Hey baby,’ Quaddra said, peeling his eyes from his computer screen. ‘Do you need me for something?’
‘No, not at all,’ Mary said, walking over to kiss him on the lips. ‘I just came in to tell you that I’ll see you later. I’m off for dinner and drinks with the girls and you know how that usually turns out, right? So, I might be a little late. But there’s plenty of food in the fridge.’
Quaddra knew that ‘the girls’ meant Megan, Carol, Kristie, Rachel and a couple more of their friends. He smiled at Mary, proudly. He still couldn’t believe how fast she had won them over. He kissed her again. ‘Have fun.’
As Mary got to the office door, Quaddra halted her. ‘Oh, baby, hold on.’ He did his best to sound breezy. ‘I forgot to ask you… you know that I have to be in LA for a few days next week, right?’
‘Um-hum!’ Mary nodded. This was something that she knew had to do with Quaddra’s film production companies.
‘I was thinking,’ he continued. ‘How about you come with me? After I’m done with business, we could hang out down there for a few days… maybe do some shopping? Beverly Hills… Rodeo Drive… Hollywood… you’ll love it. You could also meet up with your friend if you want.’
Mary gave Quaddra a subtle shake of the head, as if confused. ‘Friend? Which friend?’
‘The one who painted that piece you love so much,’ Quaddra clarified. ‘Betsy – didn’t she move to LA?’
Mary nodded. ‘Yeah, she did.’
Just a couple of months after Mary met Quaddra, Betsy had decided that as an artist, Los Angeles would be a better option for her, so she simply upped and moved.
‘You could meet up with her, go shopping… she might even have a new piece that you might like. She’s still painting, right?’
‘I think so. That’s why she moved to LA.’
‘We could also go check out Culver City and all the movie studios.’ He shrugged. ‘If you want, I can even ask someone to introduce you to a few A-list celebrities. Owning two film production studios has its perks, you know?’
Mary chuckled as she pulled a face at Quaddra. ‘As if meeting any kind of celebrities is something I care for.’
‘OK, fuck the celebrities then, let’s just have fun in LA.’
‘Honey, I can’t,’ Mary said back. ‘Not on such short notice. There are two separate exhibitions happening next week. I’ve told you about them, remember?’
Since Mary had decided to stay in San Francisco, she’d also decided that she needed to find something to do – not necessarilya job, she didn’t really need the money – or the ‘clock-punching’ hassle – but she needed something to occupy her days and her mind with. Back in Massachusetts, before she married Nelson and moved to Woburn, Mary used to manage one of the largest independent bookshops in Boston, and that would’ve been her first choice – anything to do with books – until Quaddra suggested that maybe she should try art galleries, as it so happened that Steiner & Patch – the same art gallery that they had met in during the indie art exhibition – was hiring.