Unrestrained (Unrestrained 3)

"Sure," I said. "I need to get out and do something."

She picked me up at 12:30 and we drove to Serrano, a restaurant in downtown Nairobi that catered to the foreign crowd of tourists and conference attendees. The room was bright with mirrors on the walls and huge glass chandeliers. The main dining room was crowded, filled with Europeans, and the room was abuzz with conversations, the white-aproned waiters threading through tables with trays of food.

Claire and I sat at a table for four that she had reserved off to the side of the room, so we were out of the main traffic area and the noise level was lower where we sat.

"Tell me how your class has been going," she said and sipped her white wine, her eyebrows raised expectantly.

I spoke about Talia Abasi, my instructor and about the class design and intent. Then, I told her about Sefton deVilliers being there with his class for a few weeks.

"Really?" she said and pursed her lips. "I knew he was teaching a class but thought it was a master class."

"He does," I said. "I was invited to take the class but I decided to stay with Talia."

"Why aren't you going to take it?" she asked, seeming surprised and slightly disapproving.

I shook my head. "I was tempted," I said and pondered how much to tell her about Sefton's

behavior. I couldn't really tell her anything. What could I say? That he was pestering me about my relationship with Drake?

I decided to tell her nothing.

"But I wanted to take the drawing class so I could get caught up," I added. "I haven't taken a class for several years."

"But to be invited to attend the master class! What an honor!"

I nodded, and drank my tea, hoping she didn't push it too much.

When the waiter returned with our meals, who showed up but Mr. Inappropriate himself, dressed in a fine light grey suit and white shirt, the neck open. He was alone and when he saw us, he made a face and then came over. A shock went through me – this couldn't be a coincidence. Claire must have told him. I watched Claire's face when Sefton arrived.

She seemed completely surprised.

"Sefton!" she said, extending her hand. He took it and kissed her knuckles.

"Claire," he said, and then turned to me. "Ms. McDermott. What a pleasant surprise."

"Quite," Claire said and smiled at us both. "What a coincidence! Don’t you have an exhibition coming up?"

"All work and no play makes for a dull boy, or so they say." He turned and gave me a pointed look. "Luckily, my time is my own and so I can devote myself to whatever I fancy at the time, whether art or love."

Then the beautiful woman who Sefton had been with the night of the party entered the restaurant. She glanced over and saw Sefton, but strangely, she didn’t come over. Instead, she remained standing by the doorway as if waiting for Sefton to come to her.

"Speaking of love…" he said and smiled. "Good to see you again, Ms. McDermott. Claire. I better run. My…" he said and hesitated. "My friend has arrived." He bowed to us and then turned to join the woman.

We both watched as the hostess seated them at a table on the other side of the restaurant.

"Of all the restaurants in a city like Nairobi, isn’t it a strange coincidence that we're here at the same time," I said, watching Claire.

"Yes," Claire said and smiled widely. "Serrano is very popular among the South African crowd. Of course Sefton would be likely to come here."

Claire smiled but said nothing more, taking another sip from her wine.

"That's his girlfriend?" I said, wanting to dig for information, but trying not to sound too interested.

"They're not really public about it. I think they're more casual than committed. You know artists," she said and wagged her eyebrows suggestively. "Free spirits sexually."

I made a face of surprise at that. "I hadn’t heard that."

"Oh, yes," she said and nodded. "Artists are the happiest with their sex lives. I read a study on it a while back. They're the best lovers, from what their partners have said."