Dr. Stud

But is she right? Should I call? I try to imagine the sound of his voice and it sends shivers down my spine. I would love to talk to him. I long to talk to him. But I don’t want to talk to him if it seems like I’m swooping in with an agenda. That’s not fair to him. And what am I going to say, how can I explain that in a town full of women he has successfully avoided, I stormed the gates, forgot my birth control, and managed to get knocked up in the space of a week? That sounds ridiculous. It sounds manipulative, conniving.

We had an arrangement: one week of no-strings exploration. A “staycation” for both of us. No strings means no strings.

Finally I twist toward her, taking her hands in my hands and pulling her forward so she has to look me right in the eye. She blinks a couple of times, startled.

“Didi, right now we are on a mission,” I explain tersely. “We are going to Martha Adler to make sure that your drunk ass still has a job. Okay? Let’s just do one thing at a time.”

“I’m not drunk,” Didi scowls, snatching her hands back.

“Fine,” I say as we pull up in front of the gallery. “Now let’s make sure you are also not unemployed.”

Didi walks in front of me and I can tell by the way her spine stiffens that Martha has already seen her. The stiletto heels ring out as she approaches, sharp as gunfire.

“Didi, can I have a moment?”

I step out from behind her, smiling as I catch Martha’s eye.

“Martha, I finally got ahold of Dusty,” I interrupt, pretending that I don’t know how rude I am being.

Martha flinches and scowls, turning her attention toward me.

“Um... all right? Thank you for doing that.”

“I have some bad news,” I announce, cutting Martha off before she can get Didi back into her sights. “Dusty was snaked by another gallery. They saw her at the opening and… she took the job.”

Martha looks affronted. “Who was it?” she snarls.

“I will find out for you,” I assure her, slowly inching my body between her and Didi. “But in the meantime, there’s no one there. We need to be open on Thursday, and so I was thinking… Well, actually, Didi suggested—”

“Didi?” Martha repeats sarcastically. “Yes, please tell me what Didi’s suggestion was.”

Martha folds her hands in front of her chest, tapping her upper arms with her shiny red fingertips. I take a moment to swallow and arrange my story in the most compelling possible narrative.

“Well, the opening was a success,” I begin in a hurry, “but we don’t really have a second show planned. So with Martha Schindler so successful in this space, we were thinking that a co-located show could be a nice way to pivot off of the Manhattan reputation and bring more prestige to the Willowdale location.”

“Co-located?” she repeats slowly. “As in, a double opening?”

“Exactly,” Didi pipes in, hobbling forward. She offers Martha a tight, brave smile. “Your Florida collectors are slightly less sophisticated than New York, which makes Schindler a fantastic choice. Her color palette is really on trend for the Naples area.”

I offer a silent prayer of thanks to Didi for paying attention. I forget sometimes that she really is good at her job, when she bothers to show up to do it.

“Oh, yes… The blue lady. I suppose those large pieces will perfectly match some local sofas. Heathens.”

“I know, right?” I laugh brightly, aware that she is almost bought in. “So Didi and I would like to go down and handle the Florida location.”

Martha purses her lips, flaring her nostrils as she thinks it through.

“Both of you?”

“Well, I know that I can’t do it by myself, and Didi is almost healed,” I explain quickly, hoping it sounds remotely possible.

But as Martha glances at Didi, I realize that this really was her last chance. Martha is only happy to have Didi out of her sight. Dusty getting snaked was a stroke of luck.

“You would have to stay until… through the high season, I suppose,” Martha adds, nodding to herself. “Would you be willing to do that? Through, say, January?”

I take a moment to calculate, and it seems to be just about the right amount of time. After that, maybe I could just take a very convenient vacation, to make sure it all works out.

“Well, then,” Martha announces, casting a brief accusatory look at Didi, “looks like you two are going to be heading out of town.”