Blu leaned across the table. “I may have a solution to your financial situation. At least temporarily. It could help you with your cash flow.”
My heart jumped. If I had to give up the gallery along with my marriage, well, that would be way more than I could take.
“Seriously? What are you thinking?”
You never knew what Blu had up his sleeve. He was a wheeler and dealer of epic proportions.
“So.” He lowered his voice and glanced around. “You know how I’m involved with party promotions?”
“Yeah. What about it?” I took huge mouthful of pasta. I didn’t usually take huge mouthfuls of anything, but after that day, I felt entitled.
I’d watched my weight so carefully over the years, I’d forgotten what pasta even tasted like. Fuck those skinny, Birkin-carrying bitches. Pasta was good.
“The parties I promote are sex parties, Av.” He stared at me like he was waiting for my head to explode.
I shrugged “I thought it was something like that. You
know, part of your gay secret life you never tell me about.”
“You kidding?” he said with a huff. “All along, you thought I was up to something…shall we say unconventional…and you never said anything?”
Was he offended I’d not called him out? I figured he’d tell me if and when he wanted to.
“I respect your privacy, Blu. Didn’t want to pry. I know the gay community has a different way of mixing and mingling.”
Did I just say that? He had a funny look on his face. One I’d not seen before.
“Yeah, well, the parties I’m talking about are a bit different than what you thought.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Not sure I wanted to hear about them, but on the other hand, I was morbidly curious.
“They’re not the gay parties you think they are.”
Oh. “What are they then? I mean, are you into kiddie porn? Please say no, Blu.”
“Av! Give me a fucking break. That’s gross. The parties are not gay. They’re straight.”
I laughed. “What are you doing at a straight sex party, for god’s sake?”
“I organize them. I don’t have sex at them. I have a team of guys I work with, and we host them for the city’s elite. Very exclusive. Very expensive.”
“Why aren’t you running gay parties?” I asked.
“You’re still stuck on that?” He rolled his eyes. “Because there are tons of gay sex parties. The money is in the straight parties. There aren’t as many of them, and the really nice ones are hard to come by. And we can charge a shitload for them.”
Geez. A whole world out there I was unaware of.
“Okay. So how does this involve me and my pathetic money situation?”
“Well, Av,” he said. “What would you say to using the gallery for a party or two? We’re needing a new location. It could be very lucrative for you.”
The waiter brought two tiramisu. One for each of us. My days of having one little bite of someone else’s dessert were over.
“Oh, c’mon. I can’t have a sex party at my gallery,” I laughed. God, that was some good tiramisu. It was all I could do to not moan out loud.
“No? Why not?” he asked. “The place sits empty six nights out of the week. Or more.”