I said, standing and walking to the full length mirror before turning this way and that, looking myself over.
“What in the world could be left, you look amazing,” he said, coming up behind me in the mirror. I turned and smiled.
“That suit looks fantastic on you.” Every accessory he had brought out that icy blue of his eyes, and the suit was a deep sapphire that just made them pop even more.
“I had a little help. Joey and I were looking at suits together, and Char stopped through and told me what colors might look good,” he said with a bit of a face flush. I grinned.
“Char is almost as good with fashion as I am. She made good choices,” I said, leaning up and kissing him gently.
“Hey now, we’re going to be late if you go starting things in here,” he said. I giggled and turned, grabbing the small clutch I’d set out for the evening and my earrings.
“Okay, fine. I can put on my jewelry in the car. I’m ready,” I said. Patrick smiled and motioned to the door with a very wild and dramatic flourish.
“My lady, your chariot awaits.”
~~~
The venue for the dinner party was a small, independent art gallery that Charlotte had written a story about and given a huge boost in exposure. The curator displayed pieces from non-traditional artists, such as graffiti artists and those whose materials for their art might not be widely used. The ones that most larger places wouldn’t give the time of day. He‘d had to expand his space into the building next door, and according to Char, had exhibits booked solid for the next year and a half. He was also the one who’d opened his doors to them last minute for Char’s baby shower, gifting her and Joey with a beautiful piece of graffiti art for the baby’s room. He was an all-around awesome guy named Keith.
The entire place had been decorated with hanging strands of lights that were white, so that you could see the exhibits, but the place was still dim and rather classy. Signs at the front stated that the actual dinner would take place at the back of the space, which I remembered was pretty open and normally contained sculptures. In the mean time, we were welcome to stroll about the exhibits.
“I love this place. Joey said that Charlotte comes up here almost once a month to see the new pieces,” Patrick said as we started walking, slowly taking our time.
“She does. She brought Al up here too, since Keith wanted to meet him. He’s so busy that he couldn’t make it out to the house though,” I said. Patrick nodded.
“I can’t imagine that running this place is a part time job.”
“He hired an assistant, and ended up having to hire a second one because there just wasn’t enough time in the day for the two of them to get everything done,” I said. “Thankfully, he has gotten some contracts around the city that make getting routine tasks done with simply an email, so that helps.”
“I’ve always loved how Izzy and Char keep up with the people that they write about. The good ones, that make good on their promises and really seem to be doing something with the exposure they’ve been given,” Patrick said. I smiled.
“They know what it’s like to struggle,” I said. “They make friends with people and they stick around. I don’t think that will ever change for either of them, even if they go international.”
“Good. People who stay grounded are the ones who make it.”
We walked through the exhibits, stopping to look at a few and find out who the artists were and peek at a few of the prices for the ones that we really liked. Finally we made it to the back, where the sculptures had been moved to the sides, and tables now occupied the majority of the space. A good sized crowd of people that I knew and people that I didn’t milled about, mingling and talking quietly.
“There you are!” Charlotte came up
Meg Cabot
Em Bailey
Craig Dirgo
Charles Wright
Joseph Hansen
Lisa Fox
Debbie Macomber
Molly Harper
RW Krpoun
Chip Hughes