Close to Destiny (A Magical Love Story)

Chapter 9

Back at the hotel

The receptionists at the hotel made my blood boil. I asked them if they had a guest named Will or William—an American—and they refused to give me any information whatsoever. Privacy reasons.

I tried hanging out in the lobby. An hour passed. Nothing. One more hour and it would be time for my dinner meeting with Gwen. I needed a distraction, so I slouched behind a laptop Gwen had set up in the gallery and sent out emails to the people who had left us their contact information. Spending time here would be good for me because it would keep my mind on the art project and away from Will and Destiny.

"Kat!" Gwen's voice startled me, and I nearly jumped out of the leather chair. I was sitting in a shadowy alcove that we used as our office. Here, we were cut off from the world. Gwen sat on the stool opposite me and gripped the edge of the eighteenth-century mahogany desk that separated us. "What happened last night?"

Her voice was serious and her eyes wide.

"What are you talking about?" I shook my head. "Didn't everything go OK?"

"This isn't about the show, Kat. It's about Destiny."

"What?" I swallowed hard.

"How do you know her and where did she take you?"

"Wait a minute... I don't get it." I was talking to myself, yet out loud.

"You can't possibly know her very well... No one does. She doesn't let anyone get very close."

"You know Destiny? You recognized her last night?"

I leaned forward and didn't take my eyes off Gwen. I was afraid I would miss a necessary clue if I turned my attention away for a second. Apparently, she hadn't realized that Destiny was the rather eccentric visitor I spoke of yesterday. Or if she did make the link, she was keeping the discovery to herself.

"Her family is mega wealthy," Gwen said. "But they stay out of the public eye. No one knows much about them or their investments, and it's best that way."

Suddenly, I remembered my conversation with the hotel receptionist. Of course, she knew I was referring to Destiny walking the halls naked in the middle of the night. That's why she was uncomfortable. She wouldn't dare cross one of the hotel's rich guests.

"Anyway, the one thing I do know about her is that she's an art lover, and fellow art lovers here in London tend to use her as a guide. If Destiny buys an artist's work, everyone follows. Six months later, the artist is a star, and Destiny has moved on to other things. So the idea of her setting foot in the gallery..."

Gwen gazed dreamily up at the gray ceiling as if looking at a perfect blue sky. Then she asked me if Destiny had said anything about her or commented on our show. But I didn't want to share my stories of Destiny with her. I had to handle the situation on my own.

"She's hardly spoken to me, Gwen..."

That was the truth, after all, I told myself.

"Well, if you talk with her again, tell her I would appreciate it if she would buy a piece of art rather than kidnapping my artists." Gwen was smiling, but I knew she was serious.

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