The days seemed to flew by in New York and Bea had plenty to keep her occupied. Not only did she continued to help Michael with work, she'd still play the piano, paint, go out picture houses and theaters, to concerts and to parties.
After trying to explore New York on their own for a bit, Bea and Michael had made some friends.
They were invited to a party by Jack Bradley. The invitation regarded Bea and was extended to 'Mr. Gray'. It had been sent to the hotel's reception and was passed onto them.
Michael wasn't keen on going. Bea was well aware that for whatever reason Michael held animosity towards Jack and he had no intention on getting to know him. Still, Bea wanted to have more company than just Michael on this city and there could be only positives on getting some acquaintances.
Bea could only think of how they wouldn't be so isolated, could get help more easily in different matters and could be invited to even more parties if they made some friends.
So, upon Bea's persistence and also her saying that she'd go alone if Michael still refused, they went together.
"I don't understand why he invited us to a party..." Michael says as he puts on his jacket.
Bea chuckles at Michael's distrust without reason of Jack's good intentions.
"He is from England, just like we are, and he probably has guessed that we can use with some more company. Locals, Americans... someone we can go to when we are in need of something."
"We don't need anything, Beatrice" Michael affirms.
"You can never be sure. You never know when moments of distress are going to come," Bea says as she approaches him.
She stands in front of him, blocking his view of the mirror where he was gazing at his reflection.
"Still... a party at night and no dinner beforehand..." Michael says finding yet another fault where Bea could see none.
"Don't be so stubborn and just give in and admit he is a kind man."
"We'll see what he intends with this party."
Bea laughs, a good, strong laugh, that puts a smile on Michael's displeased face.
"It's a party, Michael. Friends invite friends to parties."
"Friends and people they intend to get advantage of."
Bea breathes in deeply and then retouches Michael's tie.
"I adore how unfriendly you are to most, and how you make up your mind very quickly, but... give in on this one."
"We'll see..."
"Let's just enjoy tonight. We should get some friends we can talk to. If it's just the two of us for much longer, in this city full of people everywhere, we'll get bored and I won't be able to finish your portrait."
"I'll never get bored of you," Michael says soothingly.
Bea tilts her head, knowing that those words wouldn't be true for much longer, not unless they had other people to pass their time with. And, hearing those words from someone other than Finn sounded sickly.
"Just be... cordial to Jack Bradley. He is yet to show us any character flaws."
"Was I not cordial when we met him at the concert?"
"If you had spoken to me the way you spoke to Jack Bradley on the first time we met... I would have done everything to avoid meeting you again."
"I wasn't that bad," Michael says with an unfocused gaze.
"You were pretty bad," Bea contradicts, wrinkling her nose. "And I'm saying so. I've also dealt with the men that pass by the Betting Shop. Rude men. And also Arthur was very hard on me the first time he saw me on The Garrison. It's not little things that faze me."
"You're overreacting and trying to make me tone it down."
"So you acknowledge there's something to tone down?" Bea asks with a smirk.
Michael rolls his eyes, amused. "Let's just go."
They were driven to the address on the invitation and, showing it at the door, go inside. There were the directed towards some stairs that leaded to two big doors that were opened when they approached. Inside, a big saloon, was filled with people, lined up tables full of food, small round tables with chairs around and waiters going around serving drinks. A big empty space at the middle were people could dance or just talk to each other.
At the end of the room there was a stage with a bang playing some music.
A waiter passed by them with a tray full of Champaign glasses and stopped for them to take one.
"This is certainly... big."
"I wouldn't have guessed that he's from England and has only been here as long as I have."
"Isn't this something to be suspicious of, then?" Michael questions.
"There you go, trying to find faults in Jack..." Bea says shaking her head.
"You have to admit no one should be able to throw a party this big when he's only been here for a few weeks."
Bea turns her head to look at Michael in the eyes and says nothing, feeling it slightly weird that so many people were attending Jack Bradley's party. It would have been natural to have a few acquaintances already, but not this many.
"Maybe he extended the invitations to friends of friends," Bea suggests.
They stood there, near the door, looking around until Jack Bradley went to them.
"Hello, hello!" he says cheerfully. "Thank you for coming."
"Wouldn't miss it," Bea says. "This looks really nice."
"Glad you think so," he says with a nod and then looks at Michael. "And glad to see you're better. No cane and all..."
"Told you it was temporary, Mr. Bradley," Michael reminds with a forced smile.
"You sure did, Mr. Gray. Let me introduce you to some friends," Jack then offers and leads Bea and Michael to a small group of people.
The group of people turned to face Bea and Michael as they saw Jack wanted to introduce them.
"These are Beatrice and Michael."
"Beatrice, the painter?" a young woman with short blonde hair, a couple of years older than Bea wonders.
"Indeed," Jack affirms.
"Jack tells me you're going to paint a portrait of him. I must ask you to do one for me as well. I'm Gina, by the way," the woman says as she extends a hand to Bea.
Bea takes Gina's hand and shakes it.
"Why would you ask me to paint something for you if you've never seen my work?" she questions benevolently.
"Oh, Jack told me that he saw some of your work before and that back in London you started painting his portrait and it looked good."
"Well... Sure, I'll be happy to paint your portrait," Bea says slightly anxious. "We'll speak more of it after you see my work."
"This is Alexander," Jack then introduces the other people, "Matthew, Brian and Lucy."
"Are you all from here?" Bea wonders.
"No, not from New York," Alexander says.
"I'm from Detroit, but I come here all the time," Gina says.
"And how do you know Mr. Bradley?" Michael asks.
"Parties," Alexander says. "We go to a lot of the same."
Bea turns her head to Michael yet again and looks him up and down with a raised brow, as if telling him silently 'I was right about going to parties'.
"By the way, I would love if you'd paint me as well," Alexander says with a smile. "If you'd do me a friendly price."
"Ah, yes, of course... I still have to paint Jack Bradley first. And I am finishing Michael's portrait as well."
"Oh, you must show us Michael's portrait, then," Gina says with a smile. "Once it's all done."
"Yes, of course—"
"Oh, I love this music," Michael interrupts, looking at the band on the stage. "Want to dance, Beatrice?"
"Yes, sure," Bea accepts with relief, taking Michael's hand and moving away from the group.
They go to the middle of the room, where people were dancing and away from the small group of acquaintances.
"Thank you," Bea says as she gets closer to Michael, holding his hand and resting her other on his shoulder, as he rested his on on her back. "I wasn't expecting to get portrait requests in the first minute I met new people."
"Bradley's fault," Michael says. "He was the one that told them of you, oh great artist," he mocks slightly.
"Not funny."
"You consider that a fault in him?"
Bea stays silent for a little as they dance and then answers, "No."
"No?" Michael questions.
"If anything, he's trying to sell my paintings, getting me some work. Work gives me money. Money that I don't really need now but will need in the future. So... Jack Bradley was helping me. I just wasn't expecting it."
"You really can't find a fault in him, can you?"
Bea shrugs. "I don't think he had bad intentions whilst endorsing my paintings. And the worse thing that could happen would be me having to paint for hours and hours..."
"That's not what you want," Michael says knowingly.
"True. I didn't come here to spend my entire days painting. I came here to help you with the company's work. However... money is money. I will take it."
Michael chuckles. "You do well, then. Just don't take on requests for too many paintings and let them know your time and your price."
"Maybe later you can help me decided how much to charge for a portrait."
"I will don't worry. I'll make sure you get what you deserve for each of them."
Bea smiles thankfully as Michael spins her once to the rhythm of the music.
She wondered if he wouldn't get tired of dancing since only recently he had stopped using the cane, but Michael continued to dance and lead Bea away, moving both feet as if floating around, softly and quickly.
"We need to dance more often," Bea admits as they spin around along with the music. "This is fun."
"We'll dance every weekend if that pleases you," Michael offers.