Terry and Gene 1

"Good Morning," Terry said and looked up to smile at the customer who had come into the gallery. Her heart did a flip in her chest as she recognized the tall blond man who nodded at her before turning to look at the wall of paintings behind him. It wasn't the first time a celebrity had stopped in at her gallery. The famous usually had more money than they needed and purchasing art from her shop was a tax deduction, so she often made large sales to their kind. But this was Gene Grey, her favorite singer from her favorite band. She watched as he looked at the paintings. His longish blond hair hung straight down the back of his neck and his broad shoulders were well displayed by the black trench coat he wore. But beneath the nice coat, a pair of faded jeans and ratty tennis shoes shown. Terry smiled to herself and returned to inputting her sales data so her artists could be paid at the end of the month.

When she looked up again, he was gone. Probably in one of the back rooms, she thought. Then she saw him come out into the main part of the gallery again. His coat was open and she could see the gray sweatshirt he wore. She gritted her teeth and smiled slightly as he approached her.

"I have a question about one of the paintings."

"Sure. Show me which one," she said as she stepped out from behind the counter. She followed him into the back room and he pointed at a large picture.

It was an urban landscape done in black, gray and purple. In the foreground there was a broken and dejected man clutching a bottle. As you looked up, an alleyway extended with the buildings looming on either side of it. If you looked closer, you could see that the coloring and shadows on the buildings were actually faces, some beautiful, some hideous.

She nodded and turned to Gene.

"What can I tell you?"

"Do you know this guy?"

She nodded. "Jason. His work is very good."

"What's his story?"

People often asked her questions about the artists. Sometimes it was the stories she told about them that sold the artwork. Jason's story, however, wasn't all that pitiable.

"Jason is an alcoholic. Unfortunately, we see him at the hospital regularly. The truth is that he does his best work when he's sober. He just isn't able to stay that way for very long." Jason just made her sad.

Gene nodded and turned back to the painting.

"I know that feeling." Gene said as he looked at it. Terry sighed. She had heard that Gene had a drinking problem.

"What was that for?" Gene asked sharply and turned to face her.