Chapter 4

Over the holidays, Faith’s art sales were through the roof. Word was spreading about her little gallery and her fantastic art classes. Not only that, but requests for her Brews & Brushes events were at an all-time high. In addition, word of her talents had spread throughout the local art community, and many aspiring artists had approached Faith about renting studio time or even about showing their art in her gallery.

One day in early spring, a woman came by Live Oaks and asked for Faith. She was a writer for a regional culture magazine and blogger. She spent three days hanging out with Faith at the gallery and wrote a highly complimentary article about Faith, her art and her eclectic little gallery and brewpub.

Suddenly, customers were coming out of everywhere, and Live Oaks was swamped with fans, artists and patrons. There was no way that Faith could keep up with the demand and service her fans and customers in the cramped little old Victorian home that had served her and Larry so well.

Faith enjoyed her lifestyle with Larry as much he did, but her need to promote and sell her art was more compelling than Larry’s need to receive recognition for his beer crafting had been. So, one afternoon after an intense round of sex, Faith brought up the subject of expansion.

“Larry, I’ve been struggling with something, and I need your input,” she began, as she lay naked, next to her husband on a plush cushion by the large bay window.

“Oh? That doesn’t sound so good. What would you need to struggle with? Things seem pretty good to me,” he asked her as he gently massaged her shoulders, still basking in the afterglow of their combined orgasms.

“Well, you know how much I love it here,” she said, starting to broach the topic which had been bothering her for the past few weeks, “but, I have so much to display, and this gallery is not big enough. I think we should expand our operations somewhat.”

“Expand,” he repeated, then asked, “how so?”

“Well, I found that the Tyler Building down on the Square is available,” she explained, “and it would make a beautiful gallery. It’s big enough to have different rooms for different media, like a sculpture room, and has rooms upstairs that I could rent out as studios to other aspiring artists while letting them showcase their work in the gallery, too.”

Larry stared intently at his wife, feeling surprised that she had thought through everything so well. “It sounds like you’ve been thinking about this for a while,” he said, kissing her on the neck softly. “What about here? Would you keep the Brews & Brushes classes here?”

“Oh, I’d keep this space, too,” she said, “I love my studio here, and this is the perfect spot for the classes, what with your sample room and all being right here. The new location would be just a gallery to show off my work and some rooms for rent. I’d still be based here and do most of my work from home.”

“Good,” Larry replied, hugging her tightly from behind. “I love being with you all of the time. Our time together is the most important part of all of this, for me.”

“Oh, me too,” Faith said, assuring her husband that she shared his desire. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

So, Larry agreed to get the Tyler building for her. With his contacts in commercial real estate, it wasn’t difficult. He got it at a bargain, buying the building outright instead of leasing it. He hired an old friend of his to gut the place and build it out to Faith’s specifications.

During the build-out, Faith was home less and less frequently, spending most of her time at the new location, overseeing construction and decorating. She would leave early and head over there, work all day and often come home late. It was a five-minute walk, and at first, he would go by and visit her a couple of times a day.

Of course, the chance for their sexual fun and games had dwindled as there were almost always workers around. She was usually too busy with this or that to spend much time with him when he came by, so after a few days he was down to one visit a day, then a few days later he stopped going altogether. He wouldn’t see his wife all day, even for lunch. Often, she would be tired when she got home and would have already grabbed dinner at one of the spots on the square. Their intimacy and sexuality had dropped significantly.

Larry had not complained to Faith about the way things had changed. He knew she was excited about the new gallery and didn’t want to rain on her parade. He also assumed that this was a temporary state of affairs. Once the build-out was done, things would improve. So, he was happy that the gallery opening was coming soon so that their lives could get back to normal.

It had been a few weeks since he’d been over to the Tyler Building to see the progress, so one afternoon he decided he’d pop over and check things out and see how the opening was progressing. He was surprised when he came around the corner and saw the front of the building. Faith had put up signage and painted the gallery name and logo on the front glass of the building.