Art Gallery Anarchy

“What do you think of this one?” Sabrina asked you as you approached her and slipped your arm around her waist. She did the same and you could feel her run her hand under the back of your suit jacket and scratch her nails lightly against your back.

You quirked your lips to the side as you looked at the piece of art she’d been looking at. None of you were ‘art people’ but that didn’t mean you couldn’t have opinions. “Hmm,” you said. “I think it’s… kind of generic. Like, I could see it hanging in a hotel lobby, or a professor’s office, or wherever. It doesn’t scream ‘wow’ to me.”

“Really?” Sabrina asked. “I thought it was really erotic.”

You scrunched your brow, taking another look at the painting. “I’m gonna need that one spelled out for me, baby.”

She smiled sweetly at you. “Well, first off, see that dark section? Think of that as a penis. Then that other part on the right-”

“Oooh,” you said and snorted lightly. “OK. When you point it out, I see it. Not sure if that’s the intended thing though.”

“You don’t know it wasn’t,” she grinned, then took your hand. “How are the others?”

You glanced back across the gallery where Gemma was currently posing as Tasha’s girlfriend. Several finance bros, or whatever they did for a living, had approached them while you’d been fetching fresh drinks for your dates and Gemma was having fun fending them off and refusing to flirt despite their varied attempts. Tasha, knowing Gemma’s disposition from the times at the comedy club, had fallen in and they were playing the ‘aloof lesbians.’

“Gemma is giving them the runaround,” you said, squeezing Sabrina’s fingers gently. “Tasha is having fun watching her do it and chipping in. Honestly, part of me feels a little bad cause a couple of those guys might actually be interested in her.”

“Psh,” Sabrina shushed you. “She’s all ours this weekend. We can be wingwomen for her some other time if she really wants to find someone. For now, that ass is yours tonight.”

“And Gemmas,” you smiled, and her eyes got a playful glint in them as she smiled back. Then her smile turned into a mild frown, followed by her eyes going wider. “What is it?” you asked, knowing she was looking over your shoulder but not in the direction of the girls.

“Guess who just showed up on the arm of some forty-something-year-old man?” Sabrina asked.

You groaned. “Please fucking tell me it’s not Joy.”

“It’s not Joy,” Sabrina said. “It’s Lucy.”

You closed your eyes for a moment, trying to decide how bad this was. It didn’t need to be bad. The two of you could just nod hello to each other, acknowledge each other’s presence, and then move on. Who she was here with wasn’t any of your business.

Well, maybe a little. Eric had done you a lot of solids over the summer, not the least of which was taking a punch to the face.

“You want to tell Eric, or should I?” Sabrina asked.

“I should do it,” you sighed. “Can you go tell Gemma?”

Sabrina nodded and pursed her lips, summoning you down to give her a kiss since she couldn’t go much more on her toes in the heels she was wearing. After a quick peck she slipped away from you, skirting around to one side of the gallery to avoid Lucy and her date. You quickly took out your phone and messaged Eric. ‘Hey, are you recording right now?’

It didn’t take him long to get back to you. ‘Starting one in a few minutes live. Want to watch?’

‘Out with Gemma and Sabrina or I would,’ you replied at least half-truthfully - if you happened to be at home you would watch to try and figure out what the podcasts he was going on were even like. ‘Do you want potentially bad news now, or later?’

The bubbles popped up a couple of times as he clearly tried to decide. Finally, his response came through. ‘Now.’

You turned and opened up the camera function on your phone, drifting a little to the right until you saw Lucy and her date. She was dressed up nicely and looked as attractive as you’d ever seen her - her long black hair was perfectly styled, her dress was sleek and hugged her body in all the right ways, and she was wearing what had to be at least four inch heels. Her date was also well dressed in a tailored beige suit, and looked like he was maybe of Indian descent. His black hair was styled up as well, and his beard was well-trimmed, but both were speckled with silvering and even from the distance you were at you could tell he was older and wealthy. He also had a hand possessively low on Lucy’s hip.

Quickly snapping the picture, you turned around so Lucy wouldn’t spot you and sent it off to Eric. ‘They walked in a couple minutes ago together.’

There was a long wait, and then Eric just sent back. ‘Thanks for heads up.’ Followed by a fist-bump emoji.

You had been expecting something… more? Or less? Eric’s tumultuous relationship with Lucy had left you unsure of where they were officially - were they supposed to be pseudo-exclusive, or were they both playing the field without talking about it?

Gemma approached you, a look of concern on her face. “You told him?” she asked.

You nodded. “He just said thanks for the heads up,” you said. “Where’s Sabrina and Tasha?”

“Washroom,” Gemma said, then smirked. “Not to fool around though.”

You snorted. “OK, that’s good.”

“Do you think we should leave? We can just move on to our next destination,” Gemma suggested.

“I’m not sure. It’s not like-”

“What the fuck is your problem!?” Lucy hissed from about five feet away as she stormed towards you and Gemma.

Fuuuck, Eric, you groaned internally. What did you do?

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