“My parents’ house is so big,” Arno said to Kelli. “We can stay in a guest wing and they won’t even know we’re there.”
“That’s nice,” Kelli said. “I just met the most amazing woman—she owns this nightclub in South Beach that’s not even open yet. Her name is Ingrid Casares and she says I should come by there later and we can dance and she’ll serve us drinks. But that’s not for a few more hours. What do you want to do now?”
“Don’t worry,” Arno said. “I’ll think of something.”
He stood with her outside his parents’ gallery on Lincoln Road. Even though the opening was officially over, there were still tons of people inside, all loving Randall Oddy’s work. This had been a good thing for Arno, because Randall had been more or less dragged away from Kelli by a bunch of collectors. Meanwhile, Arno had slowly made it out of the gallery with Kelli without anyone calling after them.
“We could go back inside and look for Randall,” Kelli said.
“Yeah, but is that the most fun thing you can think of?”
“No,” Kelli said, and smiled.
Just then a valet showed up in front of them with the white Cadillac. Arno hadn’t called for it. But here it was, and it had the keys in it.
“Thanks,” Arno said to the valet, and hopped in. He beckoned to Kelli, who shrugged and got in the passenger side.
“Let’s drive back to the house,” Arno said.
“Wait!” someone behind them screamed. Arno saw the gallery manager who owned the Cadillac screaming and waving, but he just turned up the radio.
At a stoplight, Arno turned to Kelli. She was smiling, so he kissed her, first on the neck and then on the lips. Her skin was hot from a day in the sun, and she laughed a little and kissed him back. Finally, Arno thought. This was by far the most work he’d ever done for a girl. A driver behind him honked his horn.
A few minutes later they pulled into the white pebble drive at his house. It was quiet there, and he took Kelli’s hand and led her around the side of the house, to the pool.
“Let’s go for that swim now,” he said.
Kelli didn’t speak. They crept around the corner and there were candles set out near the swimming pool. A bottle of champagne was in an ice bucket that was bobbing up and down in the middle of a life preserver. Music played, a light samba rhythm. Arno sniffed the air: incense. He hadn’t planned any of this. He was instantly furious, and wondered if Randall had somehow gotten out of the opening and arrived before them. Where the hell was he? Arno gripped Kelli’s hand tighter, and looked around him. How had Randall moved so fast?
“Oh my God,” Kelli said.
That’s when Arno saw his parents come through the glass doors wearing nothing but towels. Like him and Kelli, they were holding hands.
“Oh no,” Arno said. The towels dropped. His parents were making out. They were naked.
He felt Kelli wrestle her hand away from his.
“Gross,” she whispered. Arno’s parents started to kiss more intensely. Kelli and Arno watched, momentarily stunned, like witnesses to a car crash.
“Too gross!” Kelli said, and quickly ran back to the car.
“No, Kelli, wait—” Arno said. He ran after her. He’d never been so confused in his life.
“Please take me back to the gallery,” Kelli said. She sat in the passenger seat, with both her hands over her eyes.
Arno pulled the big white car out of the driveway as quietly as possible, and he didn’t open his mouth, or look at Kelli, who was loudly chewing what looked like Blue Blowout Bubblicious and examining her nails. Arno drove slowly and did everything he could to delete from his brain the image of his parents embracing naked by candlelight in front of the family pool.