“Where the hell are the caterers?”
“Just relax, Sara. You are winding yourself up over nothing,” Sandra Laramie said calmly, her eyes studying her daughter critically. “You should take better care of yourself. You look haggard. I understand that the opening has kept you busy, but looking like you do now…I doubt you will ever find a partner.”
Cool green eyes met Sandra’s blue ones. “I’m not really looking for one.”
“But all your friends have girlfriends or partners. Whatever you girls call it.”
Sara pushed to her feet. “I will go and see if everything is in order before the guests arrive.” With a last look at her mother, she left the office. She should be happy that her mother was not averse to her sexual orientation, but the fact that now she was pressuring her into finding a partner was irritating to say the least. It wasn’t that she lacked lovers. She had more than enough to keep her entertained and interested. She just wasn’t convinced that they were the type to take home and introduce to her mother. They were more the briefly meeting in a hotel room and leaving them there as soon as her itch was scratched type. Her search for her soul mate wasn’t a priority for her right now. The Laramie Gallery was very important to her and she wanted to make a success of it. She doubted she would get the desired results if she were to begin chasing after a woman at the same time. She was still young, thirty-one was not so old anymore and there would be ample time for her to go in pursuit of her soul mate later.
“Sara, do you have a minute, please?” one of her staff members called her over.
“Yes, Greg. What’s up?”
“It’s that new statue…We have tried various locations for it, but no matter where it’s put, it just doesn’t seem to fit. It seems to be so out of place everywhere.”
Sara frowned. “Uh…what statue are you talking about?”
Greg shrugged. “The Bells statue. It arrived a few hours ago. I thought you knew about it.”
Sara raked her mind to retrieve any memories she had of the statue. Maxima. “Oh yes, I remember now. Take me there and let’s see what we can do about finding it a perfect spot.”
Greg sighed in relief and briskly led her towards the third and the largest exhibition area of the museum. She quietly followed Greg as they wove their way through other sculptures and busts. Even before Greg could point out Maxima, Sara knew which one she was. The statue was life-sized, over six feet tall and very imposing. Even with its head slightly averted, and the chiseled features slightly hidden, it was quite recognizable. Maxima was gorgeous.
“It’s a really nice piece as you can see, but it just doesn’t seem to fit in here. It’s almost as if it doesn’t really belong here,” Greg said softly and Sara could pick up on the slight awe in the man’s voice. “To be honest, it unsettles me a bit.”
Sara pulled her gaze away from the statue and back to Greg. “Why’s that, Greg?”
“I don’t know, Sara. I can’t pinpoint it, but there is just something about it.”
Sara slowly walked over to the statue. It topped her by at least four inches, but as she stepped closer, eager to see the face better, she was stunned to see faint streaks on the sculpture’s face. Could it be tears?
“It’s as if it’s…” Greg said suddenly, making her stiffen in surprise. “I don’t know…”
“Come on, Greg. What are you trying to say?”
“It’s just that I get the feeling that it’s not really a sculpture. You know what I mean? It is just so lifelike.”
Sara quickly turned to him. “You feel it’s alive?”
Greg shrugged. “Don’t you feel it, Sara? It’s as if there’s another presence in the room with us.”
Sara stared at the man for a while, before she shook her head. “Are you still reading those X-Men comics, Greg?”
With a roll of his eyes, Greg turned and left her with the statue. Alone, she slowly circled the statue. If the story about Maxima was true, then she must’ve been a sight to behold. Her towering body was heavily muscled and the armor she wore made her look even more imposing. Sara came to a stop, facing the front of the statue.
“Greg’s right, you know. There really is something about you.” Her green eyes were fixed on the chiseled face. “What are you hiding from us, Maxima?”
“Nothing, because I’m a statue.”
Sara jumped at the unexpected voice behind her. “Mother!”
Sandra rolled her eyes at her daughter. ‘What? I mean you were the one talking to a stupid sculpture.” Sandra tossed her long blonde mane over her shoulder. “Your guests are beginning to arrive.”
Sara’s eyes widened. “Oh my, what time is it?”
“Definitely not the time for you to be chatting up a piece of cold marble,” Sandra snapped, and Sara gave her mother a withering look. “It’s true, honey. We wouldn’t want the staff to begin spreading rumors about you now, would we?”
Without a word, Sara turned and left the showroom, her mother following closely on her heels.
CHAPTER 2
After all the formalities had been taken care of, the fifty odd guests made their way over to the bar, some waiting for the staff to pass by them so they could snatch a glass of champagne off the trays. Sara was beaming. Every invited guest showed up and those who had a chance to tour the gallery earlier were totally enthralled with the collection of pieces on display. She noticed her mother making her way over to her with a lanky blonde in tow.
She groaned softly trying to find an escape from what she knew was coming. She’d come out to her mother a few years ago. Sandra Laramie had at first been horrified at the potential scandal, but after she found out that Merle Garibaldi, the famous fashion designer, was her daughter’s love interest, the shame was quickly forgotten. As one of the hottest designers in New York and one of Sandra’s favorites, she was quick to introduce the designer to her friends as her daughter’s ‘special’ friend—complete with a wink. But the honeymoon didn’t last long. Sara found Merle in bed with one of her models and left her. Her mother was heartbroken.
Since then Sandra had made it her goal in life to pair her up with other A-listers. The blonde who was following her mother, had supermodel written all over her. From the pleased look on her mother’s face, Sara could tell that unless she found an out very soon, Sandra was going to push the tall woman down her throat, so to speak. She scanned the area around her quickly and to her relief caught the eye of Andra Bells. Somehow her face must’ve reflected her panic, because the tall brunette quickly made her way over to her.
“Hello again. Would you mind showing me where you’ve placed Maxima?” The pale blue eyes twinkled as she stared at her. “Unless, of course, you’d prefer your mother’s company?”
Downing her glass quickly, Sara shook her head. “Please follow me.” She heard a soft chuckle come from her savior and gave her a slow grin.
A few short minutes later they were standing before the intriguing statue. Sara watched in rapt fascination as Andra slowly circled the statue, her pale eyes hooded, as she studied the statue with an odd look in her eyes. After a while the tall woman stood back and turned to face her.
“She’s simply magnificent, don’t you think?” Andra’s eyes were intense as they stared at her and Sara couldn’t help the slight feeling of unease settling over her. She couldn’t help but feel that there was more to the statue and that Andra was hiding something behind those mesmerizing eyes of hers.
She cleared her voice softly and nodded. “Yes, it’s really a wonderful piece of art.”
“Art?” Andra turned to look at sculpture again. “I’ve never looked at her that way, but you’re right. Maxima is art personified.”
Sara’s eyebrow lifted at the strange remark, but she kept her silence.
“She is in great shape for a woman who’s over 2500 years old, my grandmother used to say. As a child I found her size to be very intimidating and never came close to it unless I was in the company of either my grandmother or my mother.” The blue
eyes moved to lock with hers again and Sara smiled weakly. “They made it a ritual to dust and polish the statue on the weekends and throughout the entire time it took to dust her, they would talk to her.”
Sara felt a little uncomfortable under Andra’s close scrutiny and broke eye contact. From what she’d heard up to now, the Bells all seemed to be a little bit unusual. It must have something to do with their huge fortune. Andra must’ve noticed her discomfort and chuckled softly.
“I tend to get a little carried away when it comes to Maxima,” she said softly and stepped closer to the statue again, at last releasing Sara from her unblinking stare. “My wife is even worse than I am. She would spend hours on end just staring at Maxima.”
Wife?
“You’re married to…” she stopped and blushed, realizing that it was rude to pry into other people’s business.
“Yes, I’m married to my soul mate. She’s here with me. If you like, I can introduce her to you. She’s an archeologist and has written numerous papers on Maxima. Maybe you could come over for dinner one night. I know that Claire would be happy to show you our galleria, where we house Maxima when she’d not on loan, as is the case now.” Andra grinned. “Claire is the leading expert on anything pertaining to Maxima.”
Sara threw a quick glance at the statue. As absurd as the tale of Maxima sounded, she must admit that she was more than interested to hear about the warrior. Afterwards she could decide if it was believable or not.
“I would like that. Thank you.”
Andra’s eyes gleamed with delight. “Thank you for showing an interest and for your willingness to accommodate Maxima on such short notice.”
Why did it always feel as if Andra was saying more than she actually did say? Before she could ponder on the dark woman’s words, a group of guests entered the room and immediately came over to where they stood.
“Oh my gosh, what a beauty,” one of the female guests gushed, her eyes raking over the statue. “The detail is unbelievable, almost as if the statue could come alive at any moment.”
Sara looked over at Andra to see her reaction and was shocked to find her looking at her. This time there was an enigmatic smile on the woman’s beautiful face. Looking away quickly, Sara was almost relieved to see her mother and the supermodel coming towards them again. Seeing the determined look on her mother’s face, she knew that unless she wanted to cause a scene tonight, she would be going on a date with the tall, blonde woman who was sizing her up with an ill-disguised predatory look in her eyes.
***
Looking at her watch, Sara gasped. She wasn’t aware that it was this late already. She closed the file and shutdown her laptop. After the last guests had left and not feeling tired, she’d decided to work on some of the paperwork which had accumulated over the past few days before the launch of the museum. There were still lots of bills to settle and she’d wanted to see how many invoices she could process before she started writing out the checks tomorrow. The Laramie was still relatively small, but tonight’s turnout was a good indication of how popular the gallery could become. The sooner she paid off their debtors, the sooner they could look into sourcing new items. Since most of the works on display were Laramie heirlooms, the idea was to source income by lending out art works at a fee and/or to auction off pieces for future clients.
She reached for her purse and car keys and pulled her office door closed behind her. Her office was located down a short corridor next to the third exhibition hall. She shut off the lights in the bathrooms, conference/lunchroom, and the kitchen as she made her way into the exhibition room. Her eyes immediately fell on Maxima and with a slow smile she made her way over to the statue.
“Hello again, superstar,” she murmured as she looked up at the beautiful, marble warrior. “You stole the show tonight kicking dust in the eyes of Monet and Rembrandt. I doubt those guys have ever felt so upstaged.”
News about the stunning marble statue spread like wildfire amongst the guests and throughout the evening there was a steady stream of art lovers flocking to the Exhibition Hall Three to fawn over Maxima. The warrior had seemed even more aloof than usual under the admiration. Sara smiled at that. She was becoming just like Claire, Andra’s wife whom she’d met earlier tonight and who, to her surprise resembled herself in coloring complete with the blonde hair and green eyes.
Claire couldn’t stop talking about Maxima and the many conquests the warrior orchestrated before her illustrious career came to an abrupt stop. What was most interesting was how Claire would speak about Maxima as if she’d met her before. It was from her that she’d heard about Maxima’s aloof personality.
Looking at the statue of the tall, powerful warrior she couldn’t help but agree with Claire’s perception of the warrior. Maxima looked like she could be a little on the cold side. But perhaps that was her appeal. Sara’s eyes moved over the chiseled faced, caressing the beautifully shaped lips and nose, down to the powerful shoulders and the broad chest, the narrow waist and the thick muscled thighs encased in what she assumed could be leather pants. Yep, no doubt about it, Maxima was indeed a fine specimen.
She stiffened when a shrill ringing sound broke her silent perusal of the statue. There was only one person who would call her this late at night. She glanced at her watch. It was one thirty a.m. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse. She answered without even bothering to look at the caller ID.
“Mother,” she murmured as her eyes once again strayed to Maxima. The warrior’s hair was loose and resting on her broad shoulders. She absently wondered what the color of her hair and her eyes were. She was sure it must be something quite spectacular and intense.
“I called you at home but only got your answering machine. Where are you?”
“I’m about to leave the gallery now. Why do you ask, mother?”
There was a slight pause. “Caroline tried to call you to confirm your dinner date for tomorrow.”
She rolled her eyes at that and sighed deeply. Caroline was the supermodel her mother pawned off on her earlier. She only agreed on the date to avoid any confrontation with her mother since there were so many people around. However, she was sure that her date with Caroline would be the first and last time she hoped to see the woman. The way the woman had looked at her had really freaked her out a little. Caroline’s eyes kept on straying to her breasts all the time they’d been chatting. Not knowing how to excuse herself from the woman while her mother was watching them like a hawk, she had tried to catch the eye of someone, anyone to come over and save her from Psycho Barbie. She’d almost cried in relief when she’d met knowing green eyes. Claire had subtly made her way over to where she and Caroline stood with the excuse of discussing ‘business.’
“I lost track of time, mother,” she said with a calm she didn’t really feel. She was tired and hungry and her mother was the last person she wanted to talk to now.
“In that case, I suggest you call Caroline back and confirm your date for tomorrow. She’s very famous and you should feel honored that she changed her plans to come and meet you.”
“I told you before what I think of your matchmaking, mother. This will be the last time you set me up with anyone. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m tired and hungry and need to get home.”
There was an icy silence on the line. “Goodnight.”
The line went dead and Sara sighed. With one final look at Maxima she turned and left the exhibition hall.
***
Claire sighed deeply and rolled over, her hand reaching out for the familiar warmth of her wife. When she encountered an empty space, she slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She glanced at the alarm clockthree a.m. She swung her feet off the bed and reached for her gown to cover her nakedness. She smiled as she fastened her gown. Upon their return from the museum launch, Andra went to look in on their sleeping children. After assuring herself that the children were fine, she had proceeded to make wild passionate love to her wife. They were so lucky to still be deeply in love a
fter ten years together. Claire stepped into the kitchen and smiled when two sets of pale blue eyes turned to look at her. She quickly walked over to her wife and kissed her cheek before moving over to the other woman.
“When did you get here?”
The woman came to her feet, her blue eyes intense as she towered over Claire, her presence filling the room. Claire blushed every time the woman looked at her. She knew why she was looked at like that, but she couldn’t help feeling a tingling sensation down her spine every time.
“A short while ago.” The woman’s pale eyes never left hers. “You are more beautiful every time I see you.”
“Easy with the compliments,” Andra said dryly. “She’s married after all.”
Claire almost burst out laughing when she saw the sour look on her wife’s face. She walked over to Andra and made herself comfortable on her wife’s lap. Almost immediately she felt Andra’s arm curl around her waist and hold onto her possessively. She tenderly patted Andra’s hand and felt the grip around her waist loosen a little.
She turned to the other woman, once again surprised by how much she resembled Andra in looks. They were both tall, well-built with raven hair and those gorgeous ice blue eyes. The only physical difference between the two was that their guest was a few inches taller than Andra and her blue eyes had a hard edge to them. The woman also exuded a danger, which was enhanced by the hard, almost lifeless quality of her eyes. Claire blushed when she realized that their guest was well-aware of her scrutiny and was staring back at her.
“So, what do you think about Sara?” she asked carefully. The woman rarely showed any emotion, but Claire knew in the ten years that she’d known her, that the woman was not always as composed as she appeared right now. She had witnessed tantrums of massive proportions coming from her before.
The pale eyes narrowed to slits. “She is weak.”
Both Claire and Andra frowned at that. “Weak? Why do you say that?” Claire asked carefully.
To Be Unbroken Page 2
