i_dreamt_that_i_dreamt_28
unhinged lilly and dennis pulled up to the house in newport and lilly's jaw dropped before she could help it. her provincial reaction made dennis' lips twist in a cruel grin.

'gawker.'

'asshole.' dennis let out a pleasantly surprised laugh at lilly's automatic barb. he was actually beginning to enjoy her insubordinance. even though he had built his reputation on fear, he was beginning to be drained by the look most of his employees held deep in their eyes.

it was a modern house built into the landscape; all glass and cement. where lilly grew up in vermont, houses like that didn't exist. mostly because a wall of windows that size would make the heating bill in the bitter cold winter astronomical, but also because new england was still horribly old fashioned in every way compared to southern california. she couldn't even tell where the front door was. dennis led the way.

a well dressed business man answered the door. 'ah dennis, good to see you.' he reached out his hand and pulled dennis close to pat him on the back with the other hand. 'she's a hot little thing.' he looked directly at lilly over dennis' shoulder. the flutter of her eyelashes was the only thing that betrayed her distaste. 'so this is your new protege. my name is carl.' he offered his hand to lilly and she gave it a stiff squeeze. carl's left eyebrow arched. 'please come in.'

the slickness of the interior betrayed money. 'so i've been reading your reviews lilly. i went to your showing at down the rabbit hole. i'm not one for oceanscapes.' he waved his right hand in a foppish dismissive gesture. 'but dennis tells me you have more abstract pieces in your oeuvre.' he looked at her over his shoulder. 'darker pieces.' lilly's stomach turned.

'yes, yes i do.' she stuttered slightly. carl led them through the vaulted living/dining/kitchen area as they talked down a hallway and stopped in front of an ominous door. or at least that was the feeling lilly got; something inside her wanted her to run, fast. 'most of them are not for sale.'

'really, why is that?'

something about carl stopped lilly from divulging the truth of the genesis of her 'darker' paintings. she fumbled for a neutral response. dennis elbowed her. carl opened the door and lilly gasped before she could stop herself.

'personal reasons....' the room was filled with vaguely obscene, dark artwork in all media. sculpture, painting, ink drawings, even a video installation. lilly's eyes were drawn to the movement, but in a couple of short moments she realized that there was twisted porn on the screen and she quickly averted her eyes and blushed.

'where did you find this one dennis? she's absolutely charming, in a rural kind of way.'

lilly's eyes snapped up in anger. 'i grew up in the mountains in vermont; if people wanted gore they just went in their backyard and killed things. and then left them in the backyard.' lilly's obvious disdain only piqued carl further.

before dennis could intervene, carl asked her 'you find my collection distasteful?'

'violence shouldn't be a subject of art.'

'then why do you paint it?'

'to get it out of my head.' lilly walked toward the empty ten foot wall and turned back to a stupefied dennis and an obviously delighted carl. 'you've never experienced real violence.' dennis finally found his voice, but carl raised his hand to stop him. he too was intrigued by lilly's honesty.

'what makes you say that?'

'you wouldn't need to collect artwork of it if you had.' lilly turned away from them to inspect the wall. 'you want a painting for this wall?'

'you have then i take it.'

'yes. do you want a commission or an existent work?'

sensing the personal conversation was over, carl turned to business. 'well i haven't seen any existent works to my liking.'

lilly slowly turned to look fully at all the other work in the room. 'i think i have some pieces that would fit nicely here.'

'let's set up an appointment for a viewing.'




'what the hell were you doing in there lilly?' they were driving back to her house. dennis was irate. 'not only is he a collector whose name would do you good, he is a friend of mine.'

'i gathered that. you shouldn't have took me there dennis. you know my story. by now, i would hope you know me. and i don't want to build my career on pity or capitalize on what happened to me, what i have to live with everyday...' lilly started shrieking and dennis shrunk back from her.

'woah, lilly. i'm....sorry.' a strange feeling stirred in dennis' gut; it took him a moment, but he recognized it as guilt.

'if you were sorry, you would have never taken me there. because he's your friend, i'll sell him my nightmare dennis, but do not do something like that to me again. I get to choose where my career goes and it will not go to a place like that again.' 		080806
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