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Chapter 22: A Collector's Party

The address Martha had given Nikola led her and Greg to a large brick apartment building on the Upper East Side, where their taxi was surrounded by limousines. A uniformed doorman stood under the awning outside and directed them to the front desk. The lobby of the building seemed designed to impress. It had twenty foot ceilings and was furnished like an old fashioned drawing room, with crystal chandeliers hanging over antique sofas, chairs and coffee tables. A few people were lounging there, but most of the lobby was empty, which added to its look of spaciousness. The lobby staff took their names, checked a guest list and then pointed them towards a manned elevator.

They were taken up to the eighteenth floor, where the elevator opened upon a small hallway, with an open set of double doors, which led directly into the party. The party was well under way, and the noise of numerous conversations created a sound wall that hit them as soon as the elevator opened.

Nikola noticed only one other doorway in the hallway, a smaller single door that looked like it led to a kitchen, and assumed that this must be the only apartment on the floor. She thought that it must be tremendous to cover the whole floor of the building like this, and was not disappointed when they entered.

They stepped through the double doors and found themselves in a foyer that opened out into a large ballroom. The foyer was three steps above the open space below it, giving new arrivals a good overview of the party in progress. It also allowed the people at the party to see who was coming in. Nikola spotted Martha hurrying towards them almost as soon as they entered.

"Darling, where ever have you been?" Martha asked with the perfunctory air kisses. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago."

"I'm sorry, we had a little accident," Nikola replied.

Martha then turned to Greg, shook his hand, and said, "How nice to see you again. I'm glad you could make it. How's the article coming?"

"Not bad. It'll be a few months before it comes out. But I've got all the information I need to work with, and I'm really impressed with your artist here, so I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised when you see it."

"I'm sure I will too. Meanwhile, if you don't mind, I would like to introduce you to some of our other artists. The Barclays have some of their work in the collection here that I'm sure you'd be interested in. I'm sure Nikola won't mind giving you up for a few minutes, will you Nikola?" Martha flashed a quick smile at Nikola, grabbed Greg's arm, and without waiting for a reply, steered him away into the crowd.

Nikola stood at the top of the steps, unsure of how to proceed. She scanned the crowd and was happy to spot Eddie coming towards her. Nikola stepped down and met her half-way.

"Naughty girl, Nikola, you're quite late. Did Martha reprimand you?"

"Only slightly, but then she ran off with my date."

"Yeah, I noticed that. I can't say that I blame her, though. I wouldn't mind running off with him myself. Is that Greg?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Just checking. After all, you never know..."

"One of him is more than enough."

"Why do you say that?"

"You wouldn't believe what he did this evening."

"Try me."

Nikola paused, remembering her first image of the broken door, and the shock it gave her. "He broke into my apartment, busted the door down."

"Why did he do that?" Eddie's eyes went round.

"He had come by to pick me up tonight, and he said he heard me scream, and thought that I was being attacked. The only thing I know was that I woke up from a nightmare, to find him sitting on my bed next to me, with my front door broken and wide open."

"That must have been an experience, but I don't think I'd mind too much waking up to him."

"Eddie, get your mind out of the gutter. I hardly know him. And I was waking up from a nightmare... All right, I'll admit that in some ways it was nice... He pulled me out of this terrible hallway, where I was trapped, and comforted me afterwards. But it was kind of embarrassing, too. I sleep in the nude and the covers slipped down..."

"Now who's mind's in the gutter?"

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"I'm sure you didn't. So what happened next?" Eddie asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Nothing. I got embarrassed and threw him out of the room. Then, afterwards I gave him a hard time about the door."

"Oh, missed opportunities..."

"Stop it, Eddie. I'm so mixed up about him. On the one hand, I'm really drawn to him. I could really fall in love with this guy. But on the other hand, he scares me. I feel like I can't trust him somehow."

"You're probably just being paranoid. He looks like a perfectly nice man to me. Maybe he's just a little shy."

"I hope that's it, because next time he takes me in his arms, I don't know if I'll be able to resist."

"And I thought I was the wild woman."

"I'm usually pretty tame, but, he's special."

"I know. I can see it in your eyes when you talk about him."

"I hope it's not just his resemblance to Erik. And the nightmares. Between them and the note, I'm frightened a lot more than usual. I'm much more vulnerable now. It's probably the wrong time to start a relationship..." Nikola's voice drifted off when she surprised herself with the extent of her vulnerability.

"Oh, be quiet, Nikola. You worry way too much. Just relax, enjoy yourself, and let life come as it flows. Worrying never helped anything."

"You're right. I should relax more, but I can't help worrying. If I could only just shut off my brain for a little while..."

"Here," Eddie said, handing Nikola one of the glasses of champagne that she had grabbed from a passing waiter, "this will help. After all, we're at a party. It may be a work party, but it's a party nonetheless."

Nikola sipped at her champagne and surveyed the room. She recognized less than half of the people she saw, and most of those only through pictures she had seen in art journals. She was impressed by some of the other artists in attendance. A few of them were very well respected. The rest of the people she recognized were from her reception and other gallery functions.

The room they stood in was very large and sparsely furnished. Its central expanse of hardwood floor was very well suited to a party like this, as it encouraged people and groups to mingle, by providing unrestricted access to any other part of the room. Along the edges were a series of chairs, couches and end-tables scattered in small clusters. Both the furniture and the paintings above it were modern and in subdued tones, such that one's attention was always drawn back to the crowd.

Nikola turned back to Eddie and asked, "Are any Vermes artists represented here?"

"I've never seen or heard of any."

"Martha said there were."

"In her dreams. But there are some cool paintings in the gallery. A couple of interesting sculptures, too. That's through those doors there," Eddie pointed across the room to an open set of double doors, one of two on the opposite wall. "You should check it out while you're here."

"Okay, I will." Nikola looked around the room and asked, "Anyone else I would know here?"

"I saw George and Warren earlier, and, of course, Alan's here."

"Why do you say of course?"

"Every time I'm at one of these things or hear about one, he's at it. I think he thrives on them. But, then again, we both have the Martha connection."

"Of course."

"Speaking of the Martha connection, look who's heading towards us. I have a feeling that the working part of this party is going to start soon."

Martha was talking even as she approached, "I'm glad to find the two of you. You have to mingle more, you can't just huddle together in a corner."

"But we don't know anyone here," Eddie replied.

"That's a lie and you know it. I've introduced you to all of them, thousands of times. You can't wait for me to take you around every time."

"I assure you, we weren't waiting for that at all."

Martha flashed a sharp look to Eddie before continuing. "Well, if I have to take you around, I will. If you want to sell paintings, you have to be seen. You have to keep your name on their mind."

Eddie rolled her eyes before following Martha through the crowd, with Nikola pulling up the rear. They were then subjected to a stream of art-related small talk that diverted them for over an hour and a half. They finally escaped at the entrance to the gallery.

When they stepped inside, Nikola felt an immediate change of atmosphere. Despite the opened double doors, the party noise diminished noticeably when she crossed the threshold. The lighting was lower as well. Spotlights highlighted the paintings on both sides and the statues in the center of the long and narrow room. Nikola started to survey the room when she was interrupted by Eddie, who was standing beside her facing in the other direction, out to the party.

"So what did you think of all that?" Eddie asked.

"I noticed that Martha seems to work really hard at promoting us at these parties. Sometimes it's hard to believe that she's anything other than what she presents herself to be."

"I don't think it's hard to believe at all. Why every time I talk to her, I get the impression she's lying. She's impossible to pin down. Like a snake. Very slippery."

"Marty could have been paranoid or something..." Nikola said thoughtfully.

"You didn't know the guy. He was as down-to-earth as they come. He just wasn't the delusions type."

"No, you're right. I never knew Marty."

Eddie smiled at someone in the party behind Nikola and said, There's Michael, I have to talk to him. I'll see you later." They exchanged smiles and Eddie ran off, leaving Nikola alone at the door to the gallery. Nikola turned her back to the loud, writhing mass of people in the main room, and faced the gallery, seeking a release from the show outside. A few small groups of people who Nikola didn't recognize were scattered amongst the artwork, but the bulk of the gallery was empty.

Nikola turned to her left and found herself facing a peaceful, abstracted landscape with layers of deep greens and blues, in the same vein as the work she had done before she started painting her nightmares. The colors were deeper and the edges were sharper and more cubist, but the soothing effect was the same. As her eyes danced over the multifaceted shapes covering the painting's surface, her body relaxed.

She moved slowly along the wall and examined a few more canvasses in the same mood, before the tone of the work in front of her changed completely. The paintings became darker and gloomier, sprinkled with hints of the macabre. Paintings of faces twisted in expressions of anguish, along side depictions of human being's astounding capability of cruelty, danced in front of Nikola's face. She felt as if she had entered a nightmare - someone else's nightmare, but with the same elements of terror as her own. She tried to tear her eyes away from the most devastating of the collection, a large painting hanging in a dark corner, but she found herself transfixed. The images were horrifying, and yet compelling.

Nikola was torn out of her trance when a heavy hand fell on her shoulder. The hand swung her around and she found herself involved in a kiss. Alan had grabbed her and was forcefully holding her near him. She put a hand up against his chest and tried to push herself away, but his grip was firm and he was far stronger than she was. She was trapped until he decided to let her go.

"It's so good to see you again, Nikola. I've missed you since Sunday. You never really did go on errands, did you? You just ran over to Eddie's. I didn't know if I should be hurt. Should I?"

Nikola swallowed the anger that was her first reaction to his forceful embrace, and tried to evaluate what he had just said. The implication that he followed her that afternoon was unmistakable and worrisome. Is he the one who's giving me the sensation of being followed? Stalking me? Is he a lunatic, or does this somehow have to do with the gallery? She was unsure how to answer him, so she stammered through a neutral excuse, designed especially not to enrage the lunatic: "That was one of my errands... We were supposed to finish a project together. I had things to work on there, but then I got very tired and fell asleep."

"Then, I suppose I shouldn't be offended."

"No, not at all." After a pause she added, "Are you following me?"

Alan chuckled softly at the question, then put his forefinger under her chin, as if to bring her eyes, which were already on his, up to his, and said, "I know everything Nikola. Just get used to it. And don't play with me." He kissed her lightly on the lips, turned and left. Standing amongst the numbing images, Nikola felt that Alan's behavior had been carefully planned to give her something to think about, and it had had the desired effect. She couldn't help wonder how much was behind it, if anything.

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