Painless (61 page)

Nikolos came walking up behind me.

“Everyone,” Spiridon said, “this is my son, Nikolos Manos. Christos’ father.”

Romeo’s eyes were bugging out. He turned to me and whisper wheezed, “He’s so hot, Sam!” I think Romeo was about to cry with joy. I couldn’t blame him. Nikolos was a slightly older, equally hot version of his son.

Nikolos chuckled at Romeo, “You must be Romeo. I’ve heard all about you,” he grinned while shaking Romeo’s hand.

Romeo appeared ready to faint. After the handshake, he squeed, “I’m never washing this hand again!”

“Just don’t use it to wipe, and you’ll be okay,” Nikolos chuckled. “If you ever do end up wiping with it, don’t eat with it.” He winked at Romeo.

No one had been expecting such a dirty joke to come out of the mouth of someone who was all our parents’ ages, so everybody busted up laughing, even Spiridon.

===

Over the next few hours, people filed into Charboneau Gallery until the place was packed. Everyone wore tuxedos and black dresses. A lot of them were older, some of whom I recognized from Christos’ solo show last year, including rich Mrs. Moorhouse.

Christos’ attorney Russell Merriweather showed up and he chatted with Spiridon and Nikolos like they were old pals. Probably because they were.

As we neared the official start time of the show, Christos pointed to one couple walking into the gallery. A beautiful middle aged blonde woman and a handsome salt and pepper haired man. “Guess who that is,” Christos said.

“I don’t know, the Prince of Monaco and Grace Kelly?”

“Nope,” he chuckled, “Close. That’s Westin-Conrad Kingston-Whitehouse and Gwendolyn Kingston-Whitehouse. Tiffany’s parents.”

I frowned, “How many names does her dad have?”

“At least thirty,” Christos chuckled.

“I can see where Tiffany gets her beauty. Her mom is gorgeous. Although she looks a bit…severe.”

“That’s an understatement,” Christos smirked.

“Really? How?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Oh, come on. Now I
have
to know,” I begged.

“Do you have about four hours? I can’t even begin to do justice to all the shit I could tell you about the Kingston-Whitehouses in any less time.”

I bugged my eyes, “Wow. Is it that bad?”

“That family is a prime time soap opera,” Christos said. He almost sounded, I don’t know, sad? He had known Tiffany for years. I’m sure he would fill me in some other time.

“I have to go say hi to them,” Christos said. “Care to join me?”

I said sarcastically, “I’ll let you handle that. Tiffany’s mom scares me.”

“You and me both,” Christos said over his shoulder as he walked toward them. He talked to them for a bit before greeting other guests.

I hung out with Madison, Romeo and Kamiko near the door. A short while later, Jake came walking in.

“What the fuck are you wearing, Jake?” Madison demanded, her brows knit together.

Jake wore one of those black T shirts with a tuxedo silk-screened on the front in white. At least his shirt was long sleeved and hugged his tan, muscled body flatteringly. He also wore black jeans and black Vans tennis shoes. His blond hair was golden and naturally feathered and weathered. It draped across his forehead in this way that probably made anything with a double X chromosome want to run their fingers through it.

“I don’t have a tux,” Jake hissed apologetically. He thrust his hands into his pockets. He looked like a giant kid out of his element.

Madison rolled her eyes and smiled at him. She tip-toed up to kiss his cheek. “I still love you, you big surf bum.”

The lights overhead faded down suddenly and the DJ softened the volume on the dubstep until it was a murmur.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Brandon said over a microphone from somewhere in the room.
 

The chatter of conversation around the room quieted. All eyes turned to Brandon, who appeared near the DJ booth. A spotlight shone on him.

“We have a very special event here tonight at Charboneau,” Brandon continued, “and I want to welcome everyone to a once in a lifetime experience. This is a first, ladies and gentlemen. You may have noticed that the placard out front read simply, Manos. All of us in the art world know there are three Manos men. How could I, Brandon Charboneau, have made such an oversight?” He paused and smiled expectantly.

The crowd chuckled.

“I assure you, it was no oversight.”

I saw Christos, who stood with some of the older patrons, grin and roll his eyes at Brandon.

“Because tonight, ladies and gentlemen,” Brandon said mysteriously, “we have all three Manos men in attendance. Spiridon? Nikolos? Christos? Will you please join me?”

The three Manos men worked their way through the crowd into the spotlight next to Brandon while the crowd murmured.

It only took a second before people started clapping. I mean, loudly. Soon, people were cheering. I had never appreciated how famous the Manos men really were until now. But I didn’t know then that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

The Manos men now stood beside Brandon. They all smiled and waved, and they all looked so damn handsome and humble. I was truly the luckiest girl in the world to be part of their family. Well, at least an honorary member, since I was only Christos’ girlfriend. It’s not like I was his wife. But, boy, was I proud of all three of them right now. I started tearing up with joy.

Madison bumped my elbow and whispered, “It’s okay, Sam. Let it out.”

“I don’t want my mascara to run,” I sniffled, dabbing the corner of my eye with my pinky.

“Here’s a handkerchief,” Romeo said, proffering one from his coat pocket, “It’s silk. Go ahead,” he said affectionately. “I’ve only blown my nose in it once today,” he grinned. “I’m kidding.”
 

I giggled and took it to blot my eyes.

When the applause died down, Brandon said, “Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, not only do we have all three Manos men here in attendance, but we also have their masterful art.”

On cue, spotlights came on throughout the gallery, illuminating all of the black silk covered paintings on the walls.
 

“The Manos family is back!” Brandon cheered over the mic. “Welcome to the first ever showing of the unseen art of Spiridon, Nikolos and Christos Manos!” He was yelling on his final words. He handed the microphone to the DJ so he could clap vigorously.
 

The entire room joined him.

“Yeah!” Jake shouted.

“Woo hoo!” Madison cheered.

“All right, Christos!” Kamiko clapped.

“I’d do him!” Romeo shouted.

I grimaced and smiled at him. “You are so Romeo, Romeo!”

He grinned wide, “I know, right?”

My friends were awesome. Normally, I wasn’t the kind of girl to cheer at social events. But tonight was special. And I couldn’t help myself. I cheered away, “Yay, Christos! Woo!!!!”

It didn’t take long for the whole room to explode with noise. It was like being at a concert when a famous band came out on stage at the beginning of the show. The room roared with approval and applause.

It was totally overwhelming.

The spotlights still shone on The Manos Men. Christos stepped between Spiridon and Nikolos and put his arms around their necks. They bowed in unison.

After awhile, the cheering faded.

Back on the mic, Brandon said, “Anybody ready to see some art?”

“Yeah!!!” the crowd shouted.

This was hardly what I expected from an art gallery opening. But what did I know? It was frickin’ awesome!

The DJ cued up a bumping dubstep track at the exact same moment all of the black silks rippled to the floor beneath each canvas.

The crowd literally gasped.

The room was filled with art. Portraits I’d seen in Nikolos’ studio. Landscapes I’d seen in Spiridon’s house. And Christos’ nudes, and a few other paintings I couldn’t see. There was so much to look at.

Everyone gazed around the room, speechless. After a moment, people gravitated toward the paintings and the conversation was soon as loud as the music.

I walked around the room with the gang, looking at all the art. I made comments about the portraits I’d seen Nikolos working on at his house. They all looked amazing and had lots of character. But my favorite was still his portrait of Spiridon, maybe because I knew Spiridon so well and the portrait practically breathed when I looked at it.

As for Spiridon’s landscapes, I’d seen some of them before, but not all. In any case, I’d never seen them properly lit in a gallery. They glowed from their frames like portals to another reality. You could feel the breeze on your face or the sun in your eyes. Amazing.

“These paintings are incredible,” Kamiko said. “It’s almost like I can smell the ocean breeze in Spiridon’s art like I’m right there. It’s unreal.”

“I know, right?” I said, in total agreement.

“She’s just smelling my farts,” Romeo joked.

“Romeo,” Kamiko’s face pinched into a grimace, “your farts smell nothing like an ocean breeze. Believe me, I know.”

I threw my head back and laughed.

We finally worked our way through the crowd to Christos’ paintings. We’d all seen the female nudes before in the studio. But none of the gang had seen the LOVE portrait of me and Christos.

“I can see your boobies!” Romeo said.

I blushed instantly. This is what I was worried about.

“Don’t worry, Sam,” Madison said. “Half the planet has boobies, and the other half has seen them before.”

I rolled my eyes. I hoped nobody recognized me. I’d forgotten to bring a disguise. Oh well. Maybe there was too much chaos in the gallery for anyone to notice I was the naked girl in the life size painting hanging on the wall under a spotlight.

Some older guy beside me in a tux was glancing between my face and the painting, back and forth.

“Yeah,” Romeo said to the guy, “that’s her.”

I rolled my eyes, “Thanks, Romeo,” I hissed sarcastically.

“Any time,” he giggled.
 

The older guy said, “It’s an amazing likeness. That’s Christos with you in the portrait, isn’t it?”

I nodded.

“I’ve never seen an artist do a self portrait with a woman beside him,” the man said.

“She’s his girlfriend,” Romeo said, “That’s why the painting is called LOVE.”

“That’s wonderful,” the man smiled, then turned to a woman with silver hair who was obviously his wife. She smiled at me before the two of them examined the portrait in detail.

“Romeo,” I asked, “how do you know so much about Christos’ paintings?”

Romeo said, “Oh, uh…”

“What the fuck!” Kamiko literally shouted. She was several paces ahead of us. “I can’t believe it!”

“What!” Mads said, pulling Jake along as she moved to see what Kamiko was talking about.

I followed them until we all stood before a huge portrait. Of Romeo. Jumping in the air exactly like Mario from Donkey Kong. Romeo was dressed in his traditional black steampunk attire. His monocle hung suspended in the air on the S curve of the monocle string. Romeo too was suspended in mid flight, his arms thrust down with his fingers splayed, his jacket billowing out around him, his knees flung forward and back like he was hurdling over something. He had the largest open mouthed smiled I’d ever seen. The painting was beautiful.

“What’s it say on the card?” Kamiko asked. “What’s the title?”

Madison leaned down and read it. “It just says, ‘Romeo’.”

Romeo grinned, “Because that’s all it needs to say.”

Christos squeezed through the crowd. “What do you think?” he asked me.

“I love it!” I smiled. “When did you do it? I had no idea you were working on this.”

He cocked his eyebrow, “Whenever you were working at my dad’s house.”

“It’s so good, Christos,” Madison said.

“Thanks,” he smiled. “Hey Jake, I’m loving the tux.”
 

Jake glanced down at his T shirt tux. “Seriously?”

Christos gave Jake a thumbs up. ‘Only you, bro.”

Jake grinned and nodded while they bumped fists.

At that moment, I happened to notice that two paintings between Christos’ other paintings still had black silk over them. One of them was really big. “What’s up with the two covered paintings?”

“It’s a surprise,” he flashed his dimpled grin at me.

“Oh really?”

“You’re going to love it.”

“Like I love the LOVE painting?”

He nodded, “Yeah.”

“I can’t wait!”

“Well, I’ve got to keep circling,” Christos said. “People are asking questions a mile a minute.”

“Okay,” I waved as he was swallowed by the crowd.

He wasn’t exaggerating. Everyone wanted to talk to him. They all looked up at him with sparkling eyes, in awe of the rockstar artist. I was so proud of him.

===

At one point, the gang had wandered off to look at more art. I stood talking to Spiridon and Nikolos in front of one of Spiridon’s large landscapes.

Brandon suddenly squeezed through the crowd and stuck a red dot on the landscape. “Another one sold,” he smiled at Spiridon.

“How many is that?” Spiridon asked him.

“Nine, and more on the way,” Brandon smiled.
 

“Hey, Brandon” Nikolos said, “who’s selling more, me or dad?”

“Right now, Spiridon has you by two.”

Spiridon clapped Nikolos on the back, “I told you I’ve still got it.”

“Yeah,” Nikolos said to him, “but Brandon says I’m catching up. Brandon, go sell more of my paintings.”

Brandon grinned and shook his head, “They’re all selling.”

Nikolos chuckled, “Well, just make sure more of mine sell. Can’t let the old man show me up.”

Spiridon rolled his eyes. “Ahh, youth,” he grinned.

“So,” Brandon said to Spiridon, “tell me something. I’ve been trying to get you to sell these landscapes for years.” He motioned to the paintings on the walls. “But you said you wouldn’t because they meant too much to you. You even turned down Stanford Wentworth’s offer for the lot a few months ago. Why’d you change your mind now?”

Spiridon shrugged his shoulders. “You yourself told Christos he needed more paintings on the wall if he wanted a successful show. I wanted my grandson to have a successful show. It’s that simple. Seeing him succeed means more to me than keeping these old paintings.”