‘Well enough… but why do you care after what I have just told you?’
‘Oh, you know, I like to visualize things. I suppose it is the way I process. Jeremy and I love our fine art, as you can see’, pointing to the paintings and sculptures around the room. ‘I love it for itself, but Jeremy buys it for investment purposes’.
‘So you know what to buy?’ Judith was not really interested but tried to normalize the situation and played along with the conversation.
‘He doesn’t but I do. I was an art appraiser for Sotheby’s in London before I married Jeremy, after much pursuing on his part, I might add.’
‘Oh’, Judith rolled her eyes, wanting nothing more than to leave the foyer.
Polly continued, ‘See that picture over there?’ pointing to a picture on the wall. ‘He bought it for me when were in the south of France. You see the colours? The red and blue…. see where they meet to form a purple. Jeremy wrote in his own blood ILYF. I Will Love You Forever. He desecrated quite a valuable piece…but, as you know, that’s what bankers like to do sometimes.’
‘Oh, yes’, Judith did not know where this conversation was going.
‘I think that is why he bought it, to be perfectly honest’. Touching her pearl necklace, Polly seemed dazed but kept talking, “These pearls from Cartier, Paris, he loves them.’
‘When did he buy you those?’ asked Judith, interested.
‘Last week, for tonight. One has to look very closely but with pearls, as with Jeremy, the less one sees the imperfections, the more one pays. They glow, just like him with all of his faults’. She hesitated, ‘He usually goes for women like you, you know. I should have realized it the minute I opened the door.’
‘What?’
