Paint Me Curious Bronze [Curious] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Silke Ming

  “That smile says more than about just being lucky. Is he good in bed? Does he have a big one?” Toby asked.

  “You never cease to amaze me, Toby. Fancy asking a lady such questions!”

  “Well?” he asked, turning to look at her.

  “The answer to both your questions is yes!”

  “Go girl!” he said, laughing. “I knew it. I could see the happiness in those three portraits.”

  “What about you?”

  “You know me. I take whatever I can get, and tonight, do I ever have a winner!”

  “She or he?”

  “Tonight it’s he. Oh, Summer, he is Mr. Wonderful.”

  “Where did you meet?”

  “At work!” he said, giggling.

  “Is it a good idea to get involved with a coworker?”

  “He doesn’t actually work in my office. He works for the same firm but at a different location.”

  “Here we are,” said Summer, pointing to the Port Collier sign.

  “What’s going on around here?” he asked as they saw the crowds milling around.

  “I don’t know. Looks like some kind of a night market.”

  “We can have a look after dinner,” he said.

  The two friends laughed and talked throughout the dinner. They exchanged stories about their love lives and what they had planned for the future. Toby said he had found a small apartment in an upscale area of Whitney and was living the good life.

  After a wonderful evening together, the two friends left the restaurant. It was eleven o’clock and the night market was closed, and since Toby had a hot date, they decided to leave.

  “That was fun,” said Summer.

  “Yes. Let’s do it again before the good weather is over.”

  They drove along the deserted road and did not meet another vehicle along the way. Driving up to the house, she saw a parked car and immediately thought it was Fred Podesta’s.

  “Is that the husband of what’s her name?”

  “Lana Podesta.”

  “They must have a lot to discuss. It is a rather long meeting,” said Toby, as he got out and hugged and kissed her.

  “You’d better hurry home before you miss your date,” she said, laughing.

  “He won’t leave. I will bet my life on that.”

  “You’re so sure of yourself,” she said as she put the key in the lock.

  He waited until she was safely inside, and she heard his car roaring away in the distance.

  It was very still inside the home. She wondered what they were discussing. She decided not to wait for Seamus, and climbed the stairs to their bedroom. She was about to close the door when she heard a strange noise. That of a yelping puppy! She stopped and listened. It was still again. Then she heard that strange whimpering noise again. It suddenly dawned on her that the last time she had heard that noise was when Fred Podesta was there for a business meeting. She waited for that swishing sound but there was none, but the whimpering continued.

  She rested her shoes on the landing, climbed the stairs, and opened the studio door. It was pitch black in the studio, but she could see light filtering through the corner of the still life painting. She was afraid to move, but she had to know what was going on. She moved quietly in the direction of the painting, almost knocking over an easel on the way. She moved the painting slightly to the side. It was bright in the secret room, but she couldn’t see too much from her vantage point. The whimpering had now grown louder, and she kept trying to see what was going on. Suddenly she saw Seamus move to a chair and take a seat. He was fully clothed and was wearing a pair of long white gloves. She gasped. She could hear his voice but couldn’t understand what he was saying. A head appeared in front of the chair where he was seated. The body was on all fours. He had a full beard and wore something like a dog collar with a leash attached to it. It was Fred Podesta! She stood in front of the door, her mouth wide open. Seamus stood up, and she could see something like a whip in his hand. He raised it and brought it down on the body, which was bowed on the floor in front of him. There was a yelp and more whimpering, and then they both disappeared from view. She waited. Seamus again came into view this time, pulling him by the leash. She had seen enough!

  * * * *

  She quietly closed the door, picked up her cell phone which she had been charging, and left the house. She walked in the direction of the Audi, but then changed her mind and jumped into the Beetle. She turned the ignition on and backed out of the driveway, tears streaming down her face. She had no idea where she was going or what she should do. She pulled the Beetle over to the side of the road and sat there for a short while. Then she decided to call Toby. He had a date, but she had nowhere else to go.

  * * * *

  Seamus got up and removed the paraphernalia that had bound Fred Podesta. Her threw his long white gloves into a garbage can and opened the door, leaving the man alone to get dressed. He flicked the light on in the studio and pulled Lana’s portrait from behind his desk.

  “This is for you,” he said, handing the package to the now fully clothed Fred Podesta.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a portrait.”

  “May I open it?” he asked.

  “Go ahead.”

  Fred carefully opened the package and then stared at it.

  “Lana!” he said as if expecting her to reply. “This is beautiful. How much does she owe you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “We can’t have that. Her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and this would be the perfect gift for her. Does she know about this?”

  “No, she doesn’t. I painted it from memory.”

  “This is how you make your living, Seamus. I insist on paying for it. How much?”

  “Just give me whatever you want.”

  “In that case, I will pay you now,” he said, pulling out his check book and writing a check.

  He handed it to Seamus and started down the stairs with the parcel under his arm. Seamus looked at the check. Twenty thousand dollars! That was unexpected money. He followed him down the stairs and stopped to look in the bedroom. Summer was not there. He looked around downstairs and there was still no sign of her. He paced back and forth and waited, all the while staring at his watch.

  * * * *

  Summer dialled Toby’s number and he picked up.

  “Hello!”

  His voice was music to her wounded ears.

  “Hello,” he said again.

  “Hi, Toby. It’s Summer.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve missed me already.”

  “Can I come to your place?”

  “What’s wrong, Summer?”

  “I’ll tell you when I get there,” she said between sobs.

  She had no idea how she made it into Whitney along the treacherous gravel road, but when she arrived at the prearranged intersection, Toby was waiting for her. She ran into his waiting arms and wept.

  “What is the matter?”

  His hot date, realising that the situation was dire, said he would return the following evening and made a quick exit. She couldn’t find the right words to explain to Toby what she had seen. After collecting her thoughts, she sat beside him on the couch and told him the complete sordid story.

  “Are you sure that’s what you saw?”

  “You know me better than anyone else, Toby. I know what I saw.”

  “You’d better stay here tonight. Would you like me to call him?”

  “No. I don’t ever want to see him again,” she said, wailing even louder.

  “I think you should see him and ask for an explanation. I’m sure…”

  Before he could finish the sentence, his cell phone rang.

  “Yes, Seamus, she is here with me.”

  He listened.

  “I think you should ask her that yourself,” he said, staring in Summer’s direction.

  “I don’t want to talk to him,” she said, turning her head away.

  “Seamus, I think you sh
ould call tomorrow and talk to her. Right now she is in no condition to talk to you. You wanted to know why she was here, so I’ll tell you why. She’s here because she saw what was going on between you and that Podesta man.”

  There was silence on the other end. Then Seamus spoke.

  “She misunderstood what she saw.”

  “I will try to talk to her, Seamus. You can call her tomorrow.”

  Summer spent the night on her friend’s sofa. All she could see in front of her was Fred Podesta moving around the floor like a dog and Seamus’s hand with a whip raining down blows on him. She got up and stared out the window. The streetlights were the only sign of life. She paced back and forth and finally returned to the sofa. After a sleepless night, she finally drifted off to sleep around five in the morning.

  She opened her eyes and gazed around, remembering she was in Toby’s apartment. She could hear him moving around as he was getting dressed for work. He looked out from his bedroom and, seeing that she was not asleep, came out and sat down beside her.

  “How do you feel this morning?”

  “Lousy!” she replied.

  “For all it’s worth, Summer, I will tell you that I don’t think Seamus is gay.”

  “Then what was he doing with that…that Fred Podesta?”

  “That’s something you will have to discuss with him, but I think I am right about him. There is something weird going on between them, but it is definitely not a relationship.”

  Her cell phone started to ring, and she looked at the number and shut it off. It was Seamus. It rang again and she did the same thing again. Another phone started to ring, but it was Toby’s.

  “She will talk to you,” said Toby. “She has been through a lot, but I’ve told her she should talk to you and clear things up. You must understand where her head is right now. What she saw, she doesn’t understand, and it has thrown her into a tizzy.”

  He hung up the phone and continued to dress for work.

  “Call him and speak to him,” he said as he was about to leave. “However, you are most welcome to stay here if things get difficult.”

  “I don’t want to be in the way,” she said.

  “What are friends for?” he asked. “Anyway, call him and talk to him. Get out of here. You are wrecking my love life.”

  She laughed and pushed her head deeper into the pillow.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It was a rather warm day, much too warm for the end of the season, and Summer was still trying to absorb all that she had seen the previous evening. She wondered whether she should call Seamus or just drive up to the house. She decided not to return, at least not yet. She decided to call him instead. Her phone started to ring, and he was on the other end.

  “Where are you?” he asked in a depressing tone of voice.

  “I’m still at Toby’s apartment.”

  “I’m very sorry, Summer. We’ve got to talk. I know I have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “I can’t concentrate at the moment,” she replied.

  “The man who wanted to buy the car called. I told him I would get back to him later this afternoon.”

  “I can’t talk about that right now. I’ll be in touch,” she said and hung up.

  Four days and nights she spent in Toby’s apartment missing Seamus and wanting to return home, but she couldn’t. He had really hurt her to the core. Seamus’s situation was not much better. He thought for sure that he had really lost her. On the morning of the fifth day, she decided to call him. She said she would be there to talk to him. He paced back and forth awaiting her arrival. He was unable to work and his constant pacing was getting on Millie’s nerves. She knew that something was gravely wrong between him and Summer.

  “It’s none of my business, but where is Summer?”

  “We had a misunderstanding and she took off.”

  “Summer is a very sensible young woman,” said Millie, glaring at him. “She wouldn’t disappear just like that.”

  He didn’t reply.

  Summer turned the car onto the driveway and parked behind Millie’s pickup truck. She walked into the house where she found Seamus sitting on the sofa, and he was in a dreadful state. He was unshaven and his clothes were rumpled. She did not greet him but headed in the direction of the kitchen.

  “Dear Lord!” said Millie when she saw her. “You look a right mess. Sit down and have a nice warm cup of tea.”

  “Thank you, Millie.”

  “You look as if you haven’t slept a wink.”

  “I didn’t,” she said, twirling the sugar bowl around in her hands.

  Millie set the cup of tea in front of her and sat down.

  “Nothing is impossible,” she said. “Talk to him and work it out, whatever it is! If it would make you feel any better, he is twice as miserable as you are, my dear. Now go out and talk to him.”

  She did not reply but drank her tea slowly.

  “He’s waiting for you. Go out and talk to him.”

  “He can wait,” she snapped.

  She thanked Millie for the tea and went into the living room where he was waiting. She stood and stared at him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Only God knows how sorry I am. I would’ve done anything for this not to happen.”

  Not wanting Millie to hear the details of the disagreement, she climbed the stairs and went to the bedroom. He hesitated before he followed her. He closed the bedroom door behind him and went toward her.

  “Don’t touch me,” she shouted. “You are a sick man.”

  “It’s really not what you think it is,” he said.

  “Do you think I am a fool? I know what I saw. I saw you dragging your lover’s husband around like a dog.”

  “That’s true, but it’s really not what you think.”

  “What am I thinking, Seamus? Please tell me what I am thinking.”

  “Perhaps you think we have something together.”

  “Oh, please don’t say anything like that,” she said, her lips curling at the thought. “It just makes me sick to my stomach. To think that I allowed you to touch me after you were messing around with Fred Podesta.”

  “Please listen to me, Summer. I will explain everything to you.”

  “I find it difficult to believe anything you have to say. It’s all a bunch of lies.”

  “Summer, do you remember that I told you he was my financial backer?”

  “Is that what you are calling it now?” she snapped.

  “Please, Summer. I love you. Give me a chance to explain.”

  “All right, Seamus, but you’d better tell me the truth about this sordid business.”

  He sat on the bed next to her and tried to hold her hand.

  “Please explain, but don’t touch me.”

  “At least you are going to listen to me,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I did not know too much about life when I met the Podestas. I was a young man with talent when I met this influential man and his wife. I found out he was a politician, and I needed someone to back me financially.”

  “You told me all that before. Get to the point, Seamus.”

  “I’m trying to get to the point, but I must explain everything to you,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “I was a struggling artist. He was impressed with my talent and offered to help me. That was when Lana came into the picture. She was quite pretty back then, and I realized things weren’t the way they should be between them. She kept showing up at my little loft, as I told you before, and one thing led to another.”

  “Is that when you started to sleep with her?”

  “Yes, but it had nothing to do with love.”

  “Get to her husband. That’s the part I’m interested in right now.”

  “Yes,” he said, bowing his head. “Once when Fred was out of town, Lana enticed me over to the house. We didn’t know that Fred had returned to Whitney. He showed up at the house and found us in a compromising position.”

  “Compromising position?” she asked.
>
  “Yes, we were kissing, and of course he realized that we were having an affair.”

  “So what did you do after he saw you?”

  “I apologized and left, thinking that was the end of our relationship. However, one night he turned up at the loft and kept talking while I painted. He never said anything about what he had seen. Instead, he started to tell me about his problems with Lana. He never mentioned the word blackmail, but as he continued to talk, I realized what he was trying to say.”

  “And what was he trying to say?”

  “He told me about the strange fetish he had. He said he was afraid to go to the clubs around Whitney because he was very well-known around town and was afraid someone would try to blackmail him. He asked if in exchange for his financial backing, if I could privately help him out. In other words, he was telling me that I owed him a favour. He had caught me with his wife. Punishing him was as far as I was willing to go. He liked to be humiliated. That’s the way he got his kicks. I told him I had no interest in such things and would only do it to help him out of a very tricky situation.”

  “So, how often did you help him out of his so-called tricky situation?”

  “Sometimes once a month, sometimes twice,” he whispered.

  “Did she know about it?”

  “I’m not sure,” he said, turning his head to look at her.

  “So you were beating the shit out of him, and at the same time you were screwing his wife?”

  “This all started before I knew you, Summer. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Tell me something, Seamus.”

  “I will tell you the truth about anything you want to know, Summer. Please don’t leave me.”

  “You no longer need him. You are financially stable. Why do you continue to carry on with this shameful act?”

  “He is a good person, and I really feel sorry for him. I knew he couldn’t go to any of those public places, so I just carried on helping him.”

  “How long did you intend on helping him? This is not the first time it happened since I was here. You told me the whimpering noise I heard might have been a coyote. How could you, Seamus? How could you?”