1
Two Weeks Later
On a rainy Tuesday evening Daniel Jackson's Ford Focus rolled back into Ealing for the second time that day. As with every day, first came the task of supervising the delivery of the large canvases, for which he usually hired a "man with a van" to help with transportation.
Now quite rebelliously David Axelrod's Holy Thursday rolled with Daniel, like a divine co-pilot. It beat the latest's van driver's gruff ambiance. John Scott wasn't a bad fella. He wasn't as heavy handed as he appeared, but then Daniel's generous pay, and grateful tips at the end of the night, made sure of that.
He just had about as much class as ketchup on a flatiron steak. "Fackin' 'ell, she's a bit of awroight, int she?" he said when he first laid eyes on one of the canvasses. Credit due, the woman in the picture, Crystal Roberts her name was, was a stunning black woman of forty-three.
For some reason, Daniel had John down as a man who might have adverse reactions to an older black woman, whose ample blessings were not as pert and youthful as they used to be. That was on him, and he cursed himself a presumptuous ass. Times, after all, had changed. He himself couldn't afford to think regressively, despite the attitudes that would always remain.
But no, John had taken time to soak in the sight, as Daniel feared grimy fingerprints, because it was always the little things that spoiled an exhibition when your work hung under a spotlight. The perfectionist suffered himself, if anything.
"Yeah... yeah..." John said absently, scratching his bearded double-chin. "I'd take her phone number!"
'I don't think her partner there would let you, but I imagine she'd be flattered,' Daniel humoured the driver, pointing to the man embracing her from behind, almost a shadow himself. He wasn't about to tell John that Terrence was Crystal's son, and that John's jungle fever would have to pass untreated.
Daniel now laughed to himself as he approached the car park, where he called John from behind the wheel, turning the music off. 'It's Dan Jackson, John. Get home safe?'
'Awroight mate, yeah, yeah,' came the familiar jovial bellow. 'Safe and sound.'
'Excellent! Listen, I'll let you know later if I need you back. Otherwise I've wired your pay to your bank already. If not, I may need you in another few weeks, if you're available.
'Oh, yer a star, mate, thank you,' John gnashed excitedly at the phone. 'You take care then and I'll keep me phone handy!'
With that, John was gone, and Daniel was grinning ear to ear. Life was good. And who was he kidding? He liked John. John was a delightfully simple and honest character, but the operate word there was "character". Of course he'd be back!
Dressed to kill and ready for anything, Daniel bounded towards the next exhibition evening. The last two weeks had been such a success that nothing seemed capable of stopping him.
And the next morning Daniel surprised his mother at the front door with champagne and fresh roses, stood there in the lashing rain with a silly grin on his face. Nothing had stopped him. Another successful night done, he was riding too high on life to be bothered by the small things.
'You look like a drowned rat,' she said in a fit of hysterics. 'Will you come out of the rain?!'
'I'm watering your flowers, mum' he said before he had to be dragged indoors.
So Daniel spent that morning with Linda, dressed down to his boxer shorts with a warm towel over his shoulders as his clothes dried on the bathroom radiator.
'I wasn't planning on drinking champagne in the morning, you know,' she said with the faintest devilish gleam in her eyes as she rose the tulip glass to her lips. Again, they were sat at the breakfast bar.
'I didn't buy it for the morning, mum,' Daniel told her with a guilty look as he sipped his own. 'I just thought you might find an occasion.'
'Every moment with you is an occasion, darling,' she complimented freely. 'Oh but I could have saved it for the dinner,' she suddenly remembered.
'Hmm?'
'Mary and Adam are coming to dinner, remember?'
'Oh god I totally forgot,' Daniel said and slapped himself. 'When?'
'Friday evening,' Linda said, now worried. 'I told you Monday.'
'Ohhhh, shit!' Daniel spat those words out so dramatically, eyeing his mother with guilt before resting his head in his hands. And then he smiled at her and throated an impish laugh. 'Yes, she told me earlier this week when she called me. I'll be there, with pants on.'
'Tease!' she scorned. Daniel shrugged, didn't argue. That he was, after all.
'She called to tell me something else,' he then hinted, testing to see if his mother might know anything, or if she was holding any other expectations.
'Oh?' was his mother's muted response, and then a pregnant pause. 'Say anything interesting?'
Daniel regarded his mother seriously for a moment and then warmed to her, knowing that he couldn't keep a secret, even if he wanted to. At least not for long - being that the nature of Daniel and Mary's phone conversation that same Monday night proposed a very interesting opportunity.
'She told me that the two of you had a long chat Sunday night,' he said carefully. Even just at that his mother seemed to become slave to anticipation.
'Yes?' she inquired.
'Shall I make it easy on you?' Daniel suggested, trying not to be cruel.
'Please.'
'You really want me to photograph you naked?' he asked. 'Is it really something you'd like to do?'
'Oh god,' Linda blushed, the champagne having stealthily taken her guard down. 'That sneaky cow,' she gushed, but in no way maliciously. Daniel baited his breath. It was the only way not to laugh, or to say too much. 'I'm obsessed aren't I?'
'So?'
