Thread: New studio
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Old 04-05-2018, 04:01 AM
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joseph engraver joseph engraver is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Sarzana,Italy
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Default Re: New studio

I make my living gambling and am wary of making an error in judgment, so when I returned to the penthouse I sat down in front of the computer and did a search on Gina Giovanelli.
I looked into her driving record, credit report, police report, whether she had been married or divorced.
You may say I was snooping, but I considered it more a need to find out what Gina was as a person. I know too many people who had their live and finances destroyed by becoming involved with the wrong person and I was not going to make that stupid mistake at this point in my life. In an hour I knew she owned her home out on Blue Diamond Ridge, would be thirty three years old on December nineteenth, never married, and had never been arrested for drunk driving, that she drove a ten year old Jeep Wrangler, never involved in domestic disputes or violence. And her credit was rated as excellent. The last thing I did was check the phone directory; her number and found two other Giovanelli were listed.
“Dear Gina, while I was travelling in Europe, I found these earrings and I thought about you.
Joda Fish”
“Dear Gina, I hope you like these.
Joda Fish”
I must have written a dozen Dear Gina notes. All of them I deleted, before I decided that Al´s note idea was not how I think and act. I am a direct approach guy, I made up my mind to see her and just say, “Gina, I like your smile and the color of your eyes and would like to know you better. Would you go out to lunch sometime?”
There is a small canvas on the easel; I had not worked on in a month. It is the unfinished profile of a man who´s face is composed of puzzle pieces done in ice cold blue, burnt sienna and red darkened with black, all separated by jagged lines of white. I will title it A Fractured Man.
I enjoy the thought process involved in painting; it is my escape into another world of contemplation and color. Picking up a brush, a tube of violet and one of cerulean blue I mixed them directly on the canvas- I was finishing the background when the phone rang.
I let the answering machine take the call, and then I heard Al say, “Call me, it is about Moss”.
When the background was done I signed the work; J. Wilson, cleaned my brush, put away the paints and stacked the painting against the wall along with fifty or so others, then I called Al.
As soon as he picked up the phone I said, “It´s me Al.”
“Joe; you need to buy a copy of today’s USA Today. Moss has made the front page. They are calling him the Trans-Continental Strangler; he is being investigated for a bunch of young girl rapes and murders all over Europe and England.
It says that he was picking up young prostitutes just a few hours before he was scheduled to fly back to the States. After killing them, he would change into his Captains uniform, breeze through airport security, and be thousands of miles away before the bodies were discovered.
Now you can say that you played poker against a real killer.”
“Thanks for the info Al, but what about Bob?” “Now that is the wildest story about luck that you will ever hear. Got to go to work, stop by soon and I will tell you all about it.” And he hung up.
It all made sense now, the look on Moss´s face at McDonalds, his comment about how he did not miss flying but missed the stewardess and the sex, and the uncomfortable feeling I had when he put his hand on my shoulder.
Cheats, liar’s, drifters, ex cons, hookers, thieves and serial killers, they are all drawn to that oval of green felt, each hoping to make easy money.
You never can tell who will sit down at a poker table. For my sanity and health; I was now positive I needed to quit the game.
I could see no sense in procrastinating. I picked up the phone and dialed the Horse Shoe Casino, then had the operator to connect me to Gina Giovanelli at the poker room cashiers cage. I tried to think of some excuse for calling but found none. She answered, I found myself tongue tied and hung up.
This is not going to work Joseph Wilson. You are going to make a fool out of yourself, Think it through, use the good common sense you have, and put a plan together.
What the hell, you are not a child, you are only going to ask a woman out for lunch .Take a shower, clear you mind, dress and make the effort to see if she has any interest in you.
After my shower, I stood in front of the mirror, Pulled in my gut and flexed my not too impressive bicep muscles, decided that I needed to exercise more. The hours sitting at the poker tables were not conducive to fitness. “I wonder what that boxer Jack looks like.” I said to the reflection as I shaved.
I went to my closet and tried to decide what to wear.
Realizing as I did so, that this must be a universal dilemma shared by both sexes.
Reason took hold of my thoughts, I put on a pair of worn jeans, a white shirt, my new boots and a grey cashmere sweater, added a dash of cologne and topped everything off with my beret, then taking the pretty little box with the ear rings went out the door ..
Gina was busy counting a large pile of money as I walked up to the cage. I stood there for a moment watching her and thinking how attractive she was. When she looked up and saw me her hand immediately went up to her hair to check that it was just right. Then came that smile, that warm welcoming infatuating smile that l had been thinking of for the last three weeks. Our eyes met and instantly I knew that she was pleased to see me again.
“Joe, where have you been? It is not like you to be away from the tables for this long. I was beginning to wonder if you were O.K...”
“Hi Gina, the woman with the most beautiful smile in Las Vegas, I have been on a road trip to Europe, and it is nice to be back in town. I brought you a small present from Paris”.
Not waiting for her to answer me I gave her the fancy little box with the ear rings. She opened it, admired them, and then she put them on, saying as she did. “How beautiful they are Joe, and how thoughtful you are for thinking of me, I love them.”
Bingo, I made it to first base.
“Gina, I was wondering if you would have lunch with me when you finish your shift,”
She gave me a beautiful smile, shook her head ¸saying as she did.
“I am sorry Joe, I would love to, but after I get off I have to go home and feed my dog Jack, and then take him for his run. Boxers are great pets but they go crazy if they don’t get a chance to run and do their thing after being cooped up all morning. Do you like dogs?”
What could I say?
“I love dogs, I had one when I was a kid and she was my best friend. Her name was Lucy. It hurt me so when she died that I never wanted to have another. Now that I live in a place where no pets are allowed, owning one is out of the question.
Would you consider going out to dinner? I know a great restaurant and the owner is a friend, you can bring Jack.”
Again she smiled at the thought of taking the dog, and I was happy that my concern over a boxer named Jack could be taken care of by a rare T bone steak.
“I will consider it Joe, but only if you will go for a run with me and Jack when I get off work.
He is not friendly to strangers and you need to get to know each other before going to a public place like a restaurant.”
Run? She had not said a leisurely walk in the park. I had not move at more than a brisk walk in years; I surely could not run more than a hundred feet before collapsing from exhaustion.
Gina had just raised the stakes and I had to call, bluff, or fold.
I decided a bluff was my only option. “I think that is a great idea, but, I don’t think these cowboy boots are best for running through the park.”
“I don’t go to the park Joe, there are too many dogs there and Jack can be aggressive if he is challenged.
I take him for his run in the foothills near my home where the air is fresh and I can look for arrowheads and spear points in a creek bottom there.
You won’t have to run, and the boots will protect you from scorpions and rattlesnakes. It is so beautiful there; I get off in three hours. Do you want to go?”
Damn the Scorpions, poisonous snakes, lizards, horned toads and dead Indian spirits. I said "I would like that very much"
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