SHIPS CompanionSHIP, FriendSHIP, RelationSHIP

by K'Anne Meinel

Joan returned the call two days later. She apologized and left a message. In an email she explained that she was working on a project that she wanted to get it done before she saw Grace in 2 weeks or so.

  The next few days were all near misses of phone calls, emails, and even an imail or two. Joan had the rotten habit of leaving her computer on when she got distracted by something and a few of the imails she received from Grace went unanswered. Grace was getting annoyed and frustrated.

  She thought about Joan a lot more as time went by and they didn’t speak. Talking to each other’s answering machines was not what she wanted. Thinking about Joan in bed at night got her hot and bothered. She tried taking care of it herself but it wasn’t the same anymore. She needed Joan now. It was getting more frustrating as time went by. One night when she knew it was very late there she called, hoping that she would at least get to hear Joan’s voice. A very sleepy and irate voice came over the phone “DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?”, no hello, no cheerfulness. Grace knew she must be coming obsessed. She apologized emphatically to Joan and explained how frustrated she had been to talk TO her and not her answering machine.

  It had been hell for Joan as well. Grace unfortunately chose the day of Joan’s electrolyses and Joan wasn’t in the best of moods. She had taken a Tylenol PM for the pain and gone to bed hoping that by morning it would no longer bother her. To be woken at this hour just simply pissed her off. Grace did not find a sympathetic ear. The conversation was brief and left them both a little angry.

  Two days later Joan called Grace at UCI and apologized. She caught Grace in the middle of work and unfortunately Grace wasn’t in the best of moods then. It left both of them angry again.

  Grace tried to reach Joan that night only to yet again get her answering machine. Trying to hide her impatience and frustration she just simply left the message “Call me.”

  Joan in the meantime in between the spa treatments and shopping was making arrangements to move things to Malibu. She spoke with each of the boys explaining that her opportunities were greater with her art there. They were all adults and didn’t need her on a daily basis. She’d fly back periodically for trips and they could come out anytime. Bryan like that idea as he’d always wanted to learn to surf. Her Malibu gallery and studio was right on Pacific Coast Highway across from the beach. Perfect for surfing. They seemed fine with her plans if surprised. They’d all been surprised by her new look. She explained that it would help her career and she had needed an ego boost. Exchanging looks they later decided she must be going through the change. At 41, had she of known what they said, she would have banged some heads together.

  She arranged for Craig to keep Yoshi working at the gallery. The foundation would pay her weekly. She could continue doing what she had done for the last year or so without Joan’s supervision. The new works would continue to get printed and shipped out of the Wausau gallery and Yoshi would handle it for her. Yoshi was fine with that idea as well. She enjoyed the quiet of the gallery with the occasional collector or tourist strolling in to view the works and perhaps to buy.

  She sold her antique Mercedes. A collector who would love it as much as she had bought it for a decent price. She’d miss it but it was time to start anew she felt. From the apartment she packed and shipped her old clothes, pictures, and trinkets. Yoshi would find a tenant for it while Joan was in Malibu. She’d arranged for the heat, gas, electric, cable, and phone to be turned off the day she left.

  Finally two nights before she was to depart she and Grace reached each other on the phone. Joan was relaxing in front of the cable music station drinking a nice wine when the phone rang twice and Grace answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Hiya beautiful, what’s new with you?” Joan was smiling into the phone.

  “Hey you, long time no speak! Was wondering if you were going to stay mad at me or something.”

  “Or something.”

  “What?”

  “You gave me a choice, I chose ‘or something.’ I don’t get mad, I get angry, instead of getting either I chose or something.”

  Laughing at her logic Grace asked her how she’d been. How was her project coming along.

  “Fine, a few fine tuning’s but otherwise great.”

  “I’m missing you, you know? I love you but your driving me crazy.”

  “Well, at least you work in the right department for that.”

  They chatted for a good half an hour and agreed to try again tomorrow. Joan smiled when she rang off anticipating the surprise. Her tickets were purchased. The apartment was pretty well packed up. She’d leave the furniture, appliances, and cookware. That much she could buy in California. Her older clothes, pictures, and trinkets were boxed and would be picked up tomorrow by the moving company. They’d arrive a week after her. With all the last minute details she only spoke with Grace once more before flying out. She told Grace she had a surprise for her but wouldn’t tell her what it was. Leaving it at that she rang off.

  ~ CHAPTER 7 ~

  Joan chose the red eye flight to John Wayne out of Minneapolis by way of Central Wisconsin. She thought at least she could sleep away the hours that usually bored her. She could never read or watch TV on a plane, it always gave her motion sickness. Unfortunately for her she couldn’t sleep this time either. She didn’t know if it was the anticipation or what but she was simply too wound up. She knew why they called it the red eye when she arrived and stopped in the restroom and saw her eyes.

  They screwed up her rental at the counter too. Two agents and a supervisor later she had them for lunch. Normally a pretty calm person the lack of sleep hadn’t helped and she nearly chewed their heads off. They tried to give her a compact car which she detested. Previous reservations had gone off without a hitch and with the supervisor soothing ruffled feathers all around she ended up with a luxury sedan that was really something. She enjoyed the Mark VIII they gave her. It was heavenly. She’d have preferred a Mercedes or something else along that line but foreign cars were only rented at the exotic counter and the only one of those was in Newport Beach.

  She drove directly to Grace’s apartment. It was about 7 AM local time and she knew Grace would just be getting up. Smiling at her little surprise, she hadn’t even told Grace when she was arriving. She hoped her makeover would go over well. She was getting so excited. She still had the guest pass Grace had given her in her purse. She flashed this to security and they waved her through. She drove slowly past the little cracker box houses some worth six figures a few worth seven. She parked in guest parking at Graces apartment. She sat for a moment to calm herself. Smiling in anticipation of what the next few minutes and her surprises would bring.

  She got out of the car, closed and locked it up. She wasn’t in the sticks anymore and an unlocked car was asking for trouble, locked ones sometimes too. She was halfway up the walk when to her surprise Graces door opened. A man dressed in a business suit was exiting. He turned back and gave Grace a kiss on the lips. She was dressed in a robe and had obviously just gotten up, coffee cup in hand. He turned and started down the walk, passing Joan where she stood frozen on the walk saying good morning to her. Joan stared at Grace and saw her squint into the morning sun, she then shut and locked the door. The lock was audible where Joan stood. Joan stood there until she heard the man start his car and drive away. Turning around she watched it leave. She walked to her own car and unlocked it. Sliding in she sat in stunned disbelief at what she had just witnessed.

  What should she do? She was just simply at a loss of what to do. Should she go and confront Grace? All the anticipation of the last few weeks had kept her emotions high. The let down was hard to handle. She was shaking. Of all the things she had anticipated this had never been on her list. The utter betrayal of being made a fool of made her angry. The tears started after she started the car and left. When she reached LAX on the 405 freeway she could barely see for the tears. Fortunately she hit rush hour and traffic was so slow she could cry her eyes out. By the time she hit the 10
and headed for Santa Monica she refused to let herself cry anymore. The anger became deep seated.

  Parking outside the gallery she repaired her face. Her eyes were puffy from crying and lack of sleep. There was nothing to do about that. She hauled her luggage up to the studio overlooking the gallery. It was only 9:30 and the gallery wouldn’t open until 10. She had warned her manager Madge of the impending move so Madge had opened up the apartment. The last tenant left a month ago so it was good timing. If Joan had left it one more month she wouldn’t have been able to have the apartment. Summer rentals ate up the vacancies.

  She unlocked the side door and walked down the hallway. To her right was a side door to the gallery. To her left a stairway up to the apartment. Climbing the stairs took her under the apartment and to the door. Unlocking this door as well she dropped her bags within. She was in the kitchenette of the apartment. The apartment stretched over the gallery and garage with large oceanfront windows. The rent in summer was just embarrassing it brought in so much. Joan owned it all. It felt comfortable to be back. She remembered the condition it had been in when her and the boys had found it on the list of foreclosures.

  Her first thought had been yuck. It was a dilapidated old building and dirty as hell. The boys and she had cleaned it out well, throwing almost everything out. They had filled quite a few garbage bins with the muck and garbage. They gutted it to the bare walls and started over. They hired a contractor who stuccoed the entire outside a beautiful Mediterranean white and they had plastered the inside after putting up the drywall. Huge windows were put in the front to catch the afternoon and evening sun. They were tinted and cost an astronomical price. The apartment was finished last. Joan had made it into a three room apartment. The living room and kitchen were what one saw first. Combined they were a pretty good size. The living room overlooked the gallery but you couldn’t see up into the apartment from below because of some cleverly placed windows. To the right of the living room was a good sized bedroom that Joan would use as her studio. Across from that bedroom was a full sized bathroom. To the left of the living room was the master bedroom. Skylights lit up the already brilliant white room. A queen sized bed and matching dresser were in the room already. A balcony wrapped along the west side of the room over the garage. Off the east side of the room was another full sized bathroom and walk in closets. Joan threw her bags at the bottom of the bed.

  Picking up the phone to be sure it had been installed properly, she checked for a dial tone. It was working all right. She reached for one of her bags and pulled her lap top from it. Hooking it up took a few minutes. Connecting to the internet took another few minutes. She sent emails to Yoshi, Madge, Craig, Adam, and Bryan. She let them know that she was discontinuing her personal email addresses and that they could reach her through the Malibu gallery email or the phone numbers she had given them. She further told them that she would be changing her cell phone number and would let them know when that was reprogrammed. If she received any messages they were to filter through the galleries but at no time were her private numbers, address, or email to be given out to anyone. She stressed this but didn’t want to actually say why or who may be trying to get that information. She emailed everyone on her list except for Grace that a new screen name would be coming and to watch for it. She then copied her email address book and her buddy list to her notepad. She then went on her master screen name and deleted her email address. Thinking for awhile she chose another one and set that up. It took her awhile to copy in the email addresses that she wanted to keep and the buddy list. She left off Graces deliberately. She then sent an email to everyone on the list informing them of her new mailing address both physically and cyber. In the description box she told them it was from her so they wouldn’t delete it. That finished, she signed off and turned off the computer. Her computer had an answering machine on it so she turned that feature back on. Putting it aside on the nightstand, she pulled her clothes off and slipped under the covers. It took a long time to relax. The thoughts going around in her head made it hard to sleep despite her fatigue.

  It was 2 PM local time when she awoke. For a moment she didn’t know where she was. When she became more aware the deep disappointment of the day hit her like a wave. Trying to shrug it off so she wouldn’t get depressed she headed for the bathroom. Her eyes looked a lot better than before. She repaired her makeup and covered up some of the remaining puffiness. She realized she was starving and there was nothing in the cupboard here. Not even dishes. She quickly unpacked her bags and stowed them. By the time she was dressed and ready to go it was already 2:45. She had to stop by the gallery or Madge would be sure to think she was slighted. She had to have noticed the car parked by the garage by now.

  Walking into the gallery she was struck by the difference from this gallery and the one in Wausau. This one was so very sophisticated. The location alone made it so. The beauty of the displays enhanced it. Madge was very good at her job. Most of what was displayed here was Joan’s work but a few years ago they’d begun to display other local artists’ work and it had paid off very well. One had even gone on to become quite famous. His start he owed to Wood’s Gallery of Malibu and he’d never forgotten that. Madge heard the side door open from her office. She didn’t miss much. She hurried from the office to greet her employer. She stopped in surprise. Standing before her was an elegantly dressed woman with her hair all in braids. She was astounded at the change. She had just seen Joan five weeks ago and the change was overwhelming. Incredible. Smiling broadly she told Joan how great she looked. She practically gushed over her. They chatted for awhile about the gallery and Joan assured Madge that she would still have full control over it and that Joan would just be a tenant living upstairs. Madge was relieved. Some artists tried to control every aspect of their career, Joan was one of the few that recognized the skills of other’s and let them do their jobs. Not all the people who had worked for Joan over the years understood that and Madge was the third manager of the gallery but under her tutelage it had prospered. A few of Joan’s lesser works had even been discretely sold just to get rid of them to heighten the exclusivity of the gallery. Madge knew her job and knew it was appreciated. Leaving her there Joan decided she needed to eat and do a few other errands.

  Her first stop was at a local malt shack. Ordering a vegetarian burger with a salad she washed it all down with a cherry shake. Feeling bloated but better she headed off for her other errands.

  Malibu didn’t sport the big name stores that she needed so she headed inland across the canyon to Thousand Oaks and the mall. Spotting a Best Buy she stopped and bought a wide screen TV, a VCR, a DVD player with surround system, a stereo, all integrated and all guaranteed to be delivered and hooked up in three days for her. She also found a countertop dishwasher and a stackable washer and dryer set, these too would be delivered and installed. While there she also purchased a convection microwave oven, a toaster, a juicer/blender, an alarm clock radio, and a really cool set of cordless phones. These she had put in her trunk. She made that salesman very, very happy. He thought she was just asking all those questions and looking at the different items. The items she listed and the products she wrote down were for later purchases. When she told him to write up all those items he nearly died there on the spot.

  She drove over to a furniture store and purchased a sectional sofa with a pull out bed and some reclining chairs as well as a desk and some lamps. These too were to be delivered in three days. Her credit card was going to have heart failure after all the use it got in the last month.

  It was getting late and she pulled into an art store and bought an easel, some paints (they didn’t carry all the kinds she used), pencils, an electric pencil sharpener, notepads, an artists chair, and some ready made canvasses. Because of the size of the easel and the canvasses they would deliver the entire lot the next day.

  Heading back she remembered that she needed food. She filled the cart and then her back seat with her remaining purchases. Exhausted she headed for Mali
bu. The only kind of shopping she ever enjoyed had been with Grace. She pushed that thought away. Her kind of shopping was to go into a store, look at what they had in what she wanted to buy. If they had it and she thought the price reasonable she bought it. She’d dicker on the price if she could. Most stores she never stayed in longer than an hour.

  Tired but please that her purchases were mostly done she made several trips up the stairs with her various purchases. She put the fruit on the counter, the vegetables and meats in their bins, and the frozen stuff in the freezer. The concentrated orange, apple, and grape juices she left a can of each out in the refrigerator to be made later. She realized then she had forgotten to buy plates, dishes, napkins, and silverware as well as pitchers and glasses. Kicking the door jam only hurt her toes. She finished putting out the microwave, the toaster, the blender, and left the clock radio and phones for another time. She walked down to 7-11 and bought plastic plates, forks, knives, and cups. Trudging back and truly tired now she made herself eat a fruit cup and drink some apple juice boxes. She tried out the new toaster and managed to eat a piece of unbuttered toast. Another thing she had forgotten to buy, butter. Pulling her sketch pad from her purse she tore a sheet of paper out and began a list, putting dishes, and silverware at the top of it. She washed up and added a scrubber to her list. Going to the bathroom she returned to add towels and linens to the list. Locking up and turning out the lights she went to bed.

  Getting up early the next morning because of the time change was a good thing. She got several things in order before she went out for the day. She had her list and headed across the canyon again to Thousand Oaks. She stopped again in at Best Buy. The salesman she had spoken to the previous day was there and she nearly gave him a heart attack when she told him she was there to cancel her order. She waited a silent count of ten to tell him that she was kidding. She needed to buy a 13” TV/VCR combo as well as a 27” TV and a VCR/DVD combo. She wanted one for her studio and the other for her bedroom. Making arrangements for these items to be delivered with the original shipment took some time as they were already in process. She also purchased an intercom system for the studio, the gallery, and the apartment. The salesman desperately wanted his commission so he worked hard to keep her happy. She was sure he was relieved when she left.