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 Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 3:20 pm
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 "Quite the interesting set of paintings, aren't they?" said a high-toned male voice behind her.
Mary Anne turned to see the flamboyant receptionist from the front desk of the art gallery standing there. There was a slight smirk on his lips but his eyes seemed like they were on the verge of rolling, as if this wasn't the first time he caught someone getting lost in the three paintings.
"Excellent craftsmanship," agreed Mary Anne, turning to face him. "Both for the original artist and those who restored them." She let a smirk of her own appear on her face.
"Well, if you were thinking of putting up an offer for them, I hate to break it to you that they're not for sale."
"I wouldn't have expected them to be," admitted Mary Anne.
The young man tilted his head quizzically.
"I am familiar with the two men who helped restore them," she explained.
"Wait," He looked her up and down in shock. "You know Mr. Teach and Mr. Hands?"
She chuckled and raised her arms slightly. "I know. I don't look like someone who would exist in the same world as those two... but we were pretty close back in the day. Thick as thieves, some would say."
"I bet you have some great stories then." The young man's eyes flashed with mischief at the possibility.
"I think we both know it wouldn't be a good idea to go sharing those sort of stories."
"Spoil sport."
Mary Anne let out a laugh, realizing this young man was the start of what exactly she needed.
"Lucius!" exclaimed a man from the front of the gallery. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be manning the gallery! I didn't hire you to gossip!"
Lucius turned around quickly in a guilty manner before shifting his weight to one leg and retorted with, "For the record, I wasn't gossiping! I was clarifying with this nice lady on what paintings were and weren't available for purchase." He walked back towards the desk, passing the man along the way. "And I don't appreciate you talking down to me in front of our customers like that."
The blond curly haired man who had reprimanded him briefly opened his mouth as if to respond to the comment before closing it. He pulled the bottom of his blue sweater down before turning to address her.
"Sorry about that," said the man. "I understand you were looking to purchase a painting?"
"Your employee here - Lucius, was it? - was just explaining to me that these three paintings weren't for sale when he saw me gazing upon them. I admit I spent more time in front of them than I realized," Mary Anne laughed, turning to send a wink in Lucius' direction. "I didn't expect them to be. Especially knowing how involved Ed got into the project. He tends to do that."
The man beside her blinked as he caught on to her use of Edward's shortened name. Even Lucius straightened in shock, hearing confirmation of what she had hinted at earlier.
"But I would happily purchase something from here," continued Mary Anne. "I always try to support my friends when I can."
"You... You know Edward?"
"And Izzy," confirmed Mary Anne.
"Well then, what an honor!" The man held out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Stede. His partner."
"So, I've heard," said Mary Anne shaking his hand. She smirked before looking around the gallery. "Now... what paintings would you recommend? Bonus points if it happens to be either of my boys' personal works."
Stede was briefly flustered at her words before finally diving into a long spiel about the various paintings he had on display for purchase. |
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 3:59 pm
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"I'm home!" called out Stede, as he stepped into the apartment and hanged his coat and scarf on their hooks by the door.
"Welcome back," responded Ed's voice from the kitchen. He poked his head through the opening into the hallway to greet Stede. "How was work?"
"I almost thought I was going to have to threaten that Lucius with being fired again when I went in this afternoon."
"Oh?" Ed narrowed his eyes quizzically, a slight frown appearing on his face. Stede knew his husband was a bit fond of the young man, having distantly worked with him at the museum.
"I thought he was gossiping with a customer," explained Stede, following Ed into the kitchen when he had turned back to the pan that was sizzling with food cooking. "Turns out he was just deterring her from trying to purchase our dear three paintings. Though it turns out there wasn't going to be any concern of that."
"What? She didn't like them?" asked Ed, shocked.
"Oh no! She was quite fond of them," said Stede. "She said she knew you wouldn't want to sell them after putting so much time and work into them."
"She?"
"I never got around to asking clarification on how she knew you. She just indicated she was a friend of yours. Well, a friend of both you and Izzy actually." Stede settled into one of the chairs at the breakfast counter. "In fact, she settled on one of Izzy's paintings. Apparently, the particular beachscape he had painted had a special meaning to her." He shrugged, again confused by the woman he spoke of.
"Someone bought one of my paintings?" asked Izzy, catching the tail end of the conversation as he came in from upstairs.
"Do you know her name?" asked Ed.
"I think she said Mary Anne Townsend," said Stede. "I could check with Lucius tomorrow. I'm sure he wrote it down for personal reasons. That boy, I swear."
Stede looked between Ed and Izzy as he finally caught on to the sudden silence that fell over the both of them upon hearing the name.
"Mary Anne?" whispered Ed.
"She's back?" breathed Izzy.
"I take it you know her?" inquired Stede.
"Yeah," said Ed. "Something like that."
Dinner was just as quiet. Stede tried to spark conversation to interrupt the silence but the other two seemed too lost in their own thoughts to add anything beyond a grunt of agreement or a word or two of response. He eventually stopped attempting to coax any conversation out of them. What was it about this woman to affect all of the people in his life? First Lucius at the art gallery. Now both of his husbands. Who was she?
"Morning, Lucius," said Stede, stepping into the gallery.
"Ah," said Lucius, turning and straightening up seeing his boss enter. "You're here."
"Yes," said Stede, looking at him with a frown. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Oh," replied the young man. "I didn't mean you shouldn't be. It's just... well..." He pointed towards the direction of the three paintings. "She's back."
"She?" asked Stede. He turned and almost took a step back seeing Mary Anne standing before the paintings before. Turning back to Lucius, he asked, "What she doing here?"
Lucius shrugged and looked over at Mary Anne, seeming to be just as confused by her reappearance at the art gallery. Stede sighed as he put the bag in his hand behind the desk and then walked over to the woman.
"Back to buy another painting?" inquired Stede, stepping beside her.
"Hmm?" said Mary Anne, slowing pulling her gaze away from the paintings. Her eyes took a moment to finally focus on him. "Oh! Sorry. Guess I got lost in the paintings again."
"You really like them that much?" asked Stede.
"I guess I got a bit flustered by yesterday's events that I forgot the reason why I had stopped by your gallery yesterday," explained Mary Anne, turning towards Stede. He couldn't help but notice she seemed to position herself to the pointing of hiding the paintings behind her out of her peripheral vision.
"Oh? And what was that reason?"
"A painting recently came into my possession," she said. "A friend of mine who is in the art field like Ed came across it during an auction sale or something like that at one of the galleries in New York. He didn't think I would have wanted it to fall into anyone else's hands. Especially after knowing how much I obsessed over the news about these ones." She gestured over her shoulder with a hand towards the paintings.
"I see," said Stede. "And were you wanting to pass it on to us to sale? Seems a bit odd if your friend went through all that trouble."
"Oh, I don't intend on putting it up for sale," said Mary Anne, shaking her head. "Flint was right in purchasing it for me when he saw it. Not just for personal reasons... but because of what it portrayed. Or I should say... who."
"Flint!" exclaimed Stede. He recognized the name instantly, having heard Edward mention the name when talking about his earlier years of painting. "Well, you certainly seem to be well versed of the art world yourself."
"Hard not to be when you find yourself constantly crossing paths with artists," said Mary Anne shrugging.
"But something about this painting made you want to come here? To my gallery?"
"It's been some time since Edward and I last were in touch, so I wasn't sure whether he would still be at the same place of residence. I knew he was involved with this art gallery with the recent news about your paintings here. So I figured out would inquire about him through your gallery."
"You're wanting to reconnect with Edward?"
"Well... I suppose both Edward and Izzy. And now that I know your part in the whole thing, I suppose you should be involved too."
Stede stared at her for a moment, taking in the woman standing before her more fully than usual. At first glance he didn't understand why this woman would be involved with someone like Ed but as he looked further, he started recognizing same details indicating she had once fitted perfectly into Edward's former crowd. The anchor earrings hanging from skull studs. Her fascination with the seascape painting by Izzy. And not to mention having some association with the same people in the art world.
"Well... how about this?" said Stede finally. "How about you come join us for dinner? We are treating ourselves with dinner out for a change."
"I wouldn't want to impose," said Mary Anne.
"Not at all," said Stede. "I think after their reactions from hearing your name last night, they might appreciate being able to see you in person and get confirmation that you really are here."
Mary Anne glanced over towards the wall that displayed Izzy's seascapes and a faint smile appeared on her face. She turned back to look at Stede. "Then expect a plus one to your party then."
"Excellent!" |
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 4:48 pm
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Mary Anne smoothed a hand across the fabric of her black dress that hugged around her hips as she stepped into the restaurant and did a quick glance at the visible tables seeing if she could see the familiar faces she was going to meeting for dinner. She didn't instantly notice anyone who stood out to her.
She found herself focusing back to the present hearing the hostess at the booth in front of her welcoming her to the restaurant. "How many in your party?"
"I am actually supposed to be meeting a few people. I don't know if they are already here or not."
"Oh. Do you know what name is would be under?"
Mary Anne chuckled quietly to herself at the question, realizing Stede had never relayed that information to her. Though she supposed he probably didn't know either what name Edward would have put it under when making the reservation. "Uh... it could be either Teach, Hands, or Bonnet."
The hostess looked through her list before tapping at a name on it.
"Yep, here it is. Teach - party of four," she said. "It looks like the other 3 have already been seated. I'll take you over to their table."
"Thank you."
She followed through the sea of tables behind the hostess, noticing the brief glances in her direction from the other diners. Mary Anne was used to others taking in her beauty but she supposed her current look might give others a pause for a different reason; she had gone with a black shadowed eye look. She couldn't help be reminded of her leather rock aesthetic she had done during her college years when hanging out with Edward and his crew. Beautiful but deadly - that was the vibe her look for the night was giving.
"Here we are," said the hostess.
"Ah, excellent! You made it!" said Stede, brightly smiling at her arrival as he stood up.
Edward and Izzy stared at her stunned as the hostess left Mary Anne with them and Stede did his series of greetings and well-wishing before holding the empty chair out for her to sit upon. Mary Anne finally gazed across the table at both of them.
"Hello," said Mary Anne, meekly.
"You're really here," whispered Izzy, a hint of admiration lighting up his dark eyes.
"You came back," added Ed, his brown eyes wide with shock.
"I did," she answered.
"Well, isn't this nice?" said Stede. "Getting to reunite old acquaintances. And the possibility of working together regarding a painting. Funny how things work themselves out like that."
Mary Anne's gaze shifted over to Izzy as he heard out a hand to her on top of the table. She paused for only a brief moment before placing her own into it.
"We missed you," said Izzy.
She smiled. "I did too. I didn't realize how much I would."
After a few prompts from Stede and the brief interruptions from the waiter to take their orders and deliver food, the awkwardness finally dissipated and the four of them chatted away as if there had never been any distance or time seperating them.
"So, Stede mentioned you had a painting you wanted us to take a look at?" inquired Ed, as he leaned back in his chair after finishing his plate and picking up his wine glass to take a sip.
Mary Anne hummed in acknowledgement as she completed her own sip. "Yes, thanks to Flint - you remember Flint, don't you? - I now am the owner of a... well, a very unique painting."
"James?" said Ed, lowering his glass. "F*ck! He's still around?"
"And this painting gave you the idea to come to us?" inquired Izzy.
"I think once you see it you'll understand why I had to come back here and track you down," said Mary Anne.
"What's the old man painting these days?" asked Ed, getting distracted. "He's not still doing all of those depressing seascapes is he?"
"Not even going to give a hint on what it is, are you?" asked Stede, smirking in amusement at her continued vagueness about the painting.
"He's been doing a series of paintings of his boyfriend," replied Mary Anne to Ed. "Though you'll probably never see any of them in a gallery. Things got a bit rocky between the two of them recently. Or so I've heard." She then turned to look at Stede. "Trust me. It's better if you just see it for yourself than have me try to explain it."
"Must be some painting."
"You have no idea," breathed Mary Anne, before taking another sip of her wine.
"Are you sure she's on her way?" asked Stede. "And knows where she's going? I would hate for her to get lost after such a lovely time at dinner."
"Stede," said Ed. "She's been to my apartment multiple times from my college days. She probably could still draw a blood map of it with exact adequacy. Well, aside from the new installments from Izzy and you."
"Well, if you're sure."
The doorbell rang and they heard Izzy answer it.
"Sorry. It took me longer than expected," they heard Mary Anne say. "Some jackasses thought it was perfectly fine to pull right in front of me when I was about to cross some sidewalks because heaven forbid they have to wait a few minutes for the next green light. Not that they were going anywhere anyway with the evening traffic."
"No other issues finding the place?" inquired Izzy.
Mary Anne laughed. "You know me better than that, Z!"
"Good to see you're not getting rusty," replied Izzy, a hint of rare warmth and laughter in his voice.
"Come on," said Mary Anne. "I bet your boys are biting at the bit wanting to see this bloody painting. They've been questioning me all night thinking they're going to get something out of me about it."
"You are making it quite the mystery. Can you blame them?"
Stede and Ed looked over as Mary Anne finally appeared into view, a brown papered package in her arms, with Izzy trailing behind.
"I take it you set up an easel for me to put it on?" She asked Izzy over her shoulder.
"Set it up there in the living room, just like you would've wanted."
She turned with a smile and placed a kiss on the cross tattoo on his check. "I knew I liked you for a reason."
Izzy tried to hide the blush that came to his cheeks from the gesture.
"Alright," said Mary Anne, walking over to the easel and putting the package on top of it. She gently undid the strings that tied the paper around it. "Here we go."
Silence fell upon the room as she finally pulled the brown paper away revealing the painting hidden within. A dark green-eyed woman with long flowing golden hair in a faded wine-colored dress gazed out at them, a Mona Lisa smile upon her lips and the hint of an oceanscape behind her. Stede slowly turned to look at Mary Anne taking in her own dark green eyes and golden locks.
"What the?" whispered Stede.
"Well, f*ck!" said Ed.
Izzy stepped forward to look at the paintwork more closely. After a few moments of perusing it from different angles, he stepped back shaking his head.
"Even without doing our usual testing... I can tell it's done with the same type of paints as the other three," said Izzy.
"Think someone is trying to do a replication?" asked Stede.
Izzy shook his head and turned towards him. "Based on the amount of age and dirt on this painting, it looks like the real deal. No one would be able to replicate it that well."
"So... our trio of paintings... it's expanding?" said Ed.
"It would seem so," confirmed Izzy.
"I told you you would be interested in it."
"And you said your friend found it at an auction in New York?"
Mary Anne nodded. "Apparently the last member of a family in the Carolinas had passed away and there was no one to inherit the property. So, everything was sent off to their respective departments to be donated, sold, or auctioned off. This painting apparently exchanged a few hands before finding its way to that particular gallery Flint and Silver were at."
"Of all people to find it..." said Ed.
"We've determined our paintings had some connection with each other. Who do you think she was in relation to them?" asked Stede.
"If it's anything like ours, she probably has some history with Izzy and my doppelgangers."
"Really?" said Stede, looking at the painting more closely. "She seems to be a bit... refined to be in the likes of yours, Ed. I could see it with Izzy's though."
"She may have had a different life than what is portrayed in her painting," said Mary Anne, settling on the armrest of the nearby armchair. "Don't forget, Stede. You thought the same thing about me when you first heard I had a history with these two."
Stede turned to look at her for a moment before looking back at the painting.
"Perhaps your right," said Stede. "After all... my doppelganger gentleman ended up being a pirate." |
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Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2023 8:53 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2023 9:52 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2023 10:14 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2023 10:48 am
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