Martine The Beginning (Cruising to Love, The Prequel) (14 page)

up her bakery job…thank goodness! Martine wrapped the paintings and put them in the store room, telling the ladies she would have them delivered the next day to their homes.

  By now they were Martine
’s new best friends.  First name basis and all insisting they were coming to both charity events.

  All from the
’about town’
item, Martine realized.  On impulse, she said,

 
“Would you like a peek at some of Belinda Boyle’s work?  I really can’t sell you any, I just about have enough for her show…but you might like to see.”

 
“Oh, that would be so nice. I love to look a new artist,” smiled Lucy.

  Martine brought out the abstract, which she had mentally priced at three hundred before she pulled it from the window to save for the show.  She also chose a still life, a landscape and on impulse, one of the nudes.  The better of the two.

  Leona, Louise and Lucy were impressed. Louise looked at Martine. 

 
“I want that abstract, Martine.”

  Martine smiled. 
“Louise, I wish I could sell it to you.  But I need it for the show.”

 
“How much?”

 
“I don’t know.  I haven’t even priced it yet.”

  Louise looked at it. 
“I’ll pay a thousand for it, and let you have it back for the show.”

  Martine thought. 
“Twelve hundred and I get it for January 15
th
to 27
th
.”

  Louise pulled her cheque book back out.

  Lucy said, “I like the nude.  Is this the only nude she’s done?”

  Martine smiled. 
“No, I have two and there are another three that I haven’t seen yet.”

 
“Bring the other one out.”  Martine went into the store room and brought out the other nude.

  Lucy smiled. 
“Oh, yes.  Oh, yes.  I know just where I’m going to hang these.”

  Her sisters laughed.
“They’ll be on her bedroom wall, Martine,” giggled Leona.  “She’s just divorced her husband.  Needs something to give her sweet dreams…”

  Lucy laughed. 
“They know me so well.”

  Martine smiled.
“I’d have to make the same deal as I did with Louise, Lucy.  I need them back for the show.”

  Lucy agreed. 
“How much?”

 
“I haven’t priced them yet…”

 
“How about a thousand for the two?”

  Martine shook her head.

  “Oh, alright.  Fifteen hundred.  But not a penny more.”

 
“Since you’ve bought the other paintings, Lucy, I’ll go for it.  But when you come to the show in January, you are going to see a thousand pound price tag on the other three nudes…they are lovely young men, aren’t they?”

 
“Oh, yes…I wouldn’t mind either of them coming to visit me.”

  Martine laughed.  One of the nudes doubled as her delivery boy.

  “Lucy, make sure you’re home tomorrow…that one will deliver your paintings, I promise.”

  The three sisters roared with laughter.  Martine explained that he was a student at the Art College, and did her deliveries for pocket money.

  They had a cup of tea, and were just leaving when Belinda walked in the door.

  Dan was behind her with three paintings.  The other nudes.

  Of course, Lucy had to look.  One of them was Dan.  Martine noticed Lucy licking her lips…she had a feeling there was another sale there…

 
“No, Lucy, you can’t buy it today.  But nobody else will buy it before the show, either.”

 
“Ah, come on, Martine.  Same deal.”

 
“I’ll get more for it in January, and I must look after Belinda’s interests.”

  Belinda looked ready to speak.  Martine sent her a warning glance.  Belinda shut her mouth.  There was something different about Martine today.  She seemed stronger, more sure of herself.  Belinda decided to shut up and let Martine handle it.

  “Oh, ok.  I’ll pay the January price.  Maybe Dan could bring that one over to me himself?  I’d be happy to pay you fifty pounds to deliver it, Dan…” Lucy smiled at the young man. 

  Dan was quite used to women admiring him.  Older, younger, they all liked to look at Dan.  And Lucy was a good looking woman.  Obviously rich.  Hmm
…Lucy might be the best looking woman Dan had ever seen…

 
“I’d be happy to bring it over to you,” Dan smiled at her.  “You don’t have to pay me fifty pounds.” He grinned at Lucy wickedly, admiringly, “Twenty would be plenty.”

  Lucy licked her lips.  Dan smiled.  Belinda smiled too.  She was bored with Dan, and this woman had just bought her picture.  Money for her winter coat.  Mother was still being difficult about the credit card bill. She wondered what her January price was. Maybe Martine was putting them up to two hundred?

  “How about tonight?” Lucy suggested.  “I’ll be home about seven.  You could help me hang it, if you don’t mind.”

 
“I don’t mind at all, Mrs???”

 
“Lucy, call me Lucy. I’m not Mrs. Anybody.”

  She wrote another cheque for Martine, and with a lingering glance at Dan, the three sisters left.

  Martine started to laugh.

  Belinda and Dan laughed with her.  They were both delighted with the sale, and they didn
’t know the rest yet.

 
“Belinda, how much is that coat you have your eye on?” Martine asked.

 
“Four hundred pounds,” Belinda said.  “Why?”

 
“Well, Belinda.  You can buy four of those coats.  I just made you sixteen hundred and twenty pounds.  The ladies bought your Abstract and three nudes.  And I put your prices up.  Way up.  Because I didn’t really want to

sell them until the Show in January.  But they paid well, and the pictures are coming back for

the show.  We’ll just mark them ’Sold’ when we exhibit them.”  She pulled out her Gallery cheque book and wrote Belinda the cheque.

  Belinda kissed her on the cheek. 
“Wow! Thank you, Martine.”

  Dan smiled. 
“Well, Belinda, you are doing great with your nudes, aren’t you?  Maybe you should do another one of me, since this one sold so fast…”

 
“I will, Danny.  It’s so much fun getting you in the mood…that woman was certainly taken with you, wasn’t she?”

 
“Eh, I didn’t notice,” Dan lied.  Martine and Belinda laughed. 

 
“Just be prepared to do more than help her hang that painting, Dan,” giggled Belinda.  “Bet she gets you into bed as fast as I did…”

 
“Very few women put the moves on a man as fast as you, Belinda,” Dan smiled.  “I must admit.  Lucy is a beautiful woman.  I quite like older women.  They’re always so giving sexually, not as selfish as some younger women I know…” Dan had glanced sideways at Belinda, smiling sardonically.

  They left quite quickly.  Belinda wanted to buy her coat.  Dan took the painting of himself.  He wanted to have a shower, and change into his jeans.  His tight jeans, he informed Martine.

  Martine felt that she was fast losing her innocence.  Not the innocence Lucas meant, the other innocence.  And as far as business was concerned, that might be a very good thing.

  She
’d made just under three thousand pounds this afternoon. And three hundred and sixty yesterday. More than she’d ever made for the Gallery in a full month. 

  She turned and looked at the back wall speculatively.  Maybe instead of just taking the

door off the hinges, she could knock the wall out and add the storage room to the showroom.  The back room, where she lived now, would become the storage and tea room.  Because when she had a part time girl, she would need a tea room. 

  Her eyes narrowed.  She could move in with Penny.  Now that Penny was leaving the band, and she would be able to pack in the bakery job at last.  She
’d sound Penny out when she got here. If she went on a really strict budget, she could pay for the renovation, and install new lighting.  Perhaps buy some of the art outright from the students.  Then she might be able to make a better profit margin…

  The door opened and it was Penny. With John. Ah
…maybe she couldn’t move in with Penny. Maybe it would cramp Penny’s style.

  Martine hugged them both.

  “John, I had a couple in here yesterday who read about me in your column. They spent five hundred pounds.  And then another lady came in who saw our picture in your friend’s column.  She spent four hundred, and then came back today with her sisters.  They spent a packet! I can’t begin to thank you enough!”

 
“Martine, you introduced me to Penny.  It’s me who has to thank you!”

  Penny smiled at both of them.

  “I’ll put the kettle on, shall I, or would you prefer coffee?”

  John and Penny preferred coffee, and that was already made. 

  “I brought John to help with the dance lesson,

Martine.” her friend told her.  “He’
s a great

dancer.  I found that out last night.
”  She flashed John a smile.  He beamed at her. 

  The next hour was fun.  Martine learned how to do a basic cha cha and a waltz.  Penny showed her the simplest jive steps. 
“That’s enough for today, Martine.  Or they’ll just blur in your mind.”

 
“What will blur in her mind?”  Lucas was standing at the door.

 
“Lucas, I didn’t expect you until after seven, how lovely.” Martine ran into his arms and kissed him hello.

 
“I got a ride down with the Ministry officials in a government plane,” he told her, smiling.  “Hi, John.  Hi, Penny.  Congratulations, Penny.”

 
“Penny and John were teaching me how to dance, for when we go out tomorrow evening,” Martine laughed. 

 
“And she did very well,” John told him.

 
“So the four of us are going dining and dancing?” asked Lucas, his arm still around Martine.

  John laughed.
“I wish it was just the four of us.  This is the Cancer Society Christmas Dinner and Dance.  The chap at the
Times
who is supposed to show his face broke his bloody knee

Tuesday, so our editor thought yours truly better go.  There are four tickets, and so I thought maybe the two of you would join us?  Never know, I
’m sure you’ll get your pictures in one of the Sunday rags if you want to.  Look what last weekend did for the Gallery, Martine…”

  John and Penny left at six thirty, they were going to see a film and then have dinner.

  Lucas had been over to his flat and dropped off his briefcase and bag, and then come back to Martine.

  She laughingly filled him in on the three sisters
’ shopping spree.

 
“So, darling your sales figures for the day are how much?” Lucas asked.

 
“Fifty seven hundred pounds, and nine hundred yesterday, so sixty-six hundred pounds in two days!  That’s twenty-six hundred and forty for the Gallery, darling!  That certainly keeps the lights on for a couple of months,” Martine grinned.

  Lucas was doing some quick figuring. 
“And you want to knock out that wall, add the space to the show room? Upgrade the lighting in here?”

  Martine nodded. 
“I was thinking to turn the room I live in now into a storage cum lunch room.  Maybe see if there is enough in the kitty to make the washroom more professional, less like a flat bathroom?”

  Lucas went and had a look. 
“If we took out the bath tub, we could put storage cupboards in that space, maybe that would give you enough storage.  I think you have to start having about eight or ten extra canvases here, and the rest hanging.  If we open up the space, you’ll have room to hang how many more pictures?”

 
“Mixed sizes, probably twenty.”

 
“Average price, what hundred?”

 
“No, Lucas.  I learned something in the last

two days. I learned how to make this business profitable.”

  “What do you mean, darling?”

 
“I put my prices up more than double.  Way more than double.  I sold two of the nudes for fifteen hundred for the pair.  The third went for a thousand…I’d planned to ask two hundred.  But when the ladies asked me the price, I said I hadn’t set it yet, and I listened to what they offered and then asked more.  And got it! You know I was going to ask three for Belinda’s abstract?”

  Lucas nodded. 

  “I did the same thing, said I hadn’t priced it yet.  Leona offered a thousand.  I shook my head and kept my mouth shut.  She came up to twelve hundred.”

 
“Perhaps these ladies are the exception, not the norm?” asked Lucas.  He hated to burst her bubble, but…

 
“No, darling.  The day before a couple came in and bought two watercolours.  I’d had them at fifty each.  I’d taken the price tags off, I was going to mark them down to forty, for a Christmas sale.  But I listened to what the customers were saying to each other, and I ended up getting five hundred for the pair.  And they think they saved a hundred pounds.  And maybe they did.  Because I think I’m going to mark the others in that batch for three hundred. 

 
“That couple came in off John’s column.”

  Lucas looked at her very seriously. 
“So your conclusions are, darling?”

 
“People accept the value you put on things.  I’ve been coming from a mentality of not having very much, so offering things cheaply.  My ads in the local rag have been aimed at the bargain shopper.”

 
“Nobody has a business that grows if all they get is bargain shoppers, Martine.”

 
“I realize that now, Lucas.”  She smiled at him.  “I realize that now.  And I also realize that all of the money I’ve spent on these little ads has been wasted.

 
“So, I’m getting someone in here tomorrow afternoon for a couple of hours, and I’m going to buy a splendid evening outfit, one that I can change accessories and change the look.  And we are going to have our picture taken at every opportunity.