Lomax Family Ch. 9 Elle's Art Gallery

For a while now Elle Lomax had been talking about quitting her job and opening an art gallery. Her husband Corky made very good money as a top medical researcher and he had no objections--as long as Elle still had plenty of time for him. He'd always been very proprietary with Elle, but she didn't mind; she was in love with him and he pleased her in all ways--except for his jealousy. It wasn't out of control, but when it came to another man talking to her or worse, flirting, his sense of humor went right out the window. 

When they had become a couple, just before they started college, the attraction was pretty much instantaneous on both their parts. Elle, however, had dated a couple of other guys in high school while Corky had never dated anyone before her. In fact, Elle had given him his first kiss at the pool party that Lori Ferguson had thrown days before they all left for Sim State U. 

The thing was that Elle, like Lori Ferguson, was especially curvy and, in fact, had to watch her weight closely. Both of these women attracted more than their fair share of attention at times, although Elle was much more voluptuous than Lori. The thing was Lori secretly enjoyed admiring looks from men, but Harvey was not the jealous type. At least not so it showed. Whereas Elle did not want men to flirt with her at all, except for her husband, of course. What Lori did or thought was not of much interest to Corky, but what Elle did was another thing. She never gave him reason to worry about her actions, though, he was more worried about men's reactions to her. He went off to work happy and whistling every day and sometimes worked long hours, not obsessing about Elle at all, but the minute he was home he wanted attention from her. He shared her with the art world and her family, but little else. This gallery was important to her, though, and, even though it would consume a lot of her time, Corky wanted her to be happy. Maybe not that many men would come to an art gallery...

Telling him that she still needed to think a little more about the venture anyway, Elle mused on her way to work, and pondered when she was home. She continued to work as a conceptual artist at Pathways Foundation where she could paint to her heart's content as well as paint on weekends if she chose to do so. Painting was still so important to her--if she opened a gallery she would have to paint in her off hours alone, could she be happy? Elle loved sharing her passion with others, though, and thought that exposing people to the artwork that she admired and had spoken to her and making it available to them would be exhilarating. 

Meanwhile, Elle had been growing out her very short, spiky hair. She had not had long hair since high school and Corky had thought she was sexy with short hair, but she knew he would really like her to grow it long. He'd been so supportive and loving about her art gallery, Elle thought she should please him in this small way. 

Finally, as she made dinner one night and they had their meal she talked again with Corky and they reviewed their finances. 

"It think you should go ahead, otherwise you'll always wonder if you could have made a success of it," he advised, "Let's go look at that building again and if you still want it, we'll pay the money and you can start decorating it and choosing what you want to offer for sale."

"But, what if it's all for nothing and I stink at sales?"

"Don't talk crazy--I've never known you to stink at anything, babe. You'll be great. And if you don't like it after you've given it a fair trial, well then, you can go back to what you're doing now. I think they'd take you back in a heartbeat."

They were in no hurry to have children so this was her chance to try something new and exciting.

"You are the sweetest guy," Elle marveled, "I think I just fell in love with you all over again."

"Prove it," he grinned wickedly.

"Oh, don't you know I will, babycakes."

The next morning while Corky hit the exercise machine, Elle dressed and then called the realtor and they started the process of starting her new business. Corky was with her all the way. Elle couldn't think of a really catchy name for the gallery so for the time being they simply called it Elle's Art Gallery.

There was plenty to do for Corky when Elle was busy; he still liked to tinker with cars along with playing his beloved piano, or even the drums or guitar, and had recently started learning to garden. He kept an eagle eye on his wife just the same. On the days she knew she would have to work late, instead of driving herself there, Corky dropped her off in the morning before he went to work and came by when he got off. He helped her with any restocking that needed to be done, hung new pieces of art, went through the sales receipts and kept track of the bottom line. As far as Elle was concerned, her name was on the building, but the business belonged to both of them. Art, and as it turned out, selling that art were something she was good at, but she hated the finances part. Corky took care of all of that for her. 

 
The art gallery was a success almost right away. Elle hired all women just to give Corky's overworked imagination a break. One of them was MacKenzie Goth, Colby Goth's new wife. MacKenzie admitted she was a novice at sales, so Elle didn't tell her that she, too, was actually a novice at that. Instead she started her out as a restocker. MacKenzie did well at that, but near the end of the days the gallery was open late Elle had her put aside restocking to tidy up and then go home. Once the business was closed for the evening Elle and Corky did the rest of the restocking.

Many of Elle's friends in Pleasantview came into the gallery. In fact, Lori and Harvey Ferguson were two of her very first customers on opening day. Melanie Caswell's father, Errol Flynn showed up, too, as well as one of Elle's sister-in-laws, Lucy Burb Lomax.

Besides not caring for the financial end of the business, Elle found out that she was quite slow as a cashier. This bothered her since she'd figured she would have time to talk at length with a customer and still ring up their sales. She finally gave in and hired a cashier but then had to fire the other salesgirl she'd hired. The girl was too pushy and lost as many sales as she accomplished. Elle's policy was that she would rather not sell a painting than have a customer harassed. As for her own sales technique she was quietly enthusiastic about the works of art she sold, and was happy to show any artwork. She thought people should make up their own mind, though, about what appealed to them.

On the days Corky worked he got off before Elle, but always greeted her with a kiss when she arrived. On her days off, she always made a special supper for him and they talked about his day and hers. Since the gallery was making a profit, Elle was pleased and so was Corky. What lay ahead they did not know, but right now they were happy and content.

 

Next blog update: The Lomax Family Ch. 10 Andy and Holly