Eleanor

Eleanor gave Justin a credit card & trusted him completely with furnishing & decorating the house, the same way she's come to trust him as a wardrobe consultant. He's just better at that kind of thing than she is. He gets it done quickly, he gets it done right & on budget, she couldn't have done better if she'd hired an interior designer. Throughout the house-hunting process, Justin would try to hasten her decision making by promising to bring home his gear when he had a home to bring it to: this house has a whole little room they've dedicated to it. Eleanor does get what she wanted out of this move: when he's seen the last client for the last time, when his gear is installed in it's shrine, she feels like she's truly gotten him, all of him.

Eleanor is dedicated her job & works long hours, but she rushes home to Justin in the evenings, loving the feeling of coming home to him, just him, in their own place. She was worried at first, the long hours alone would make him unhappy, but he's always absorbed in something when she comes in, sometimes cooking, but more often, he's working on the photos he continues to take of her, pictures of her in his hand, to be specific. That's the central bit of each photo: it can be any part of her, from her feet all the way up to her face, but they always include his left hand, while the right holds the camera. Eleanor loves all of them, and finally bought him a large scale printer to make prints at him, to ease his discomfort at her continually having them printed at the office.

"Eleanor," Gavin's voice comes over the line, "I'd like to meet you for lunch sometime soon, I have an interesting proposition..." They don't socialize that often with Gavin anymore now that they've all moved: in fact, Justin & Eleanor don't socialize as a general rule, so it's a surprise to have him calling her in her office. "Sure, Gavin," she agrees, and they find a day they can both commit to. "Alright, Gavin, I'll see you then," she says, noticing as she hangs up that Corrine has come into the office while she was talking & is standing with jaw dropped, as though she's said something wrong...Eleanor can't imagine what, she's not some menial hireling who isn't supposed to take personal calls..."Did you just get a call from that mysterious new actor who's house no one can get into?" Eleanor smiles. "Gavin's a good friend, actually," she says, wondering what kind of proposition he could have in mind, and how she can use their connection to her advantage, now that her former neighbor is a sought-after celebrity & media darling.

"I was thinking of opening an art gallery," Gavin tells her as they order lunch, and tells her about his discomfort at it seeming like a vanity project, at having the Hollywood thing ruin it. "I've decided to embrace this new role, to really be an actor, since it seems to be what I'm doing," he say, "But I don't want to completely lose touch with what I was, I want this space to be separate from that." What he wants, is for Eleanor to be his partner, to be his co-curator, help him establish the gallery's name (without using his now famous name to push it), not showing his own work until they'd had enough successful showings of other artists. Eleanor considers the proposition as they eat lunch, she's kind of always wanted an art gallery, always wavering between her love of words & her love of art...but an L.A. art gallery was not what she had in mind, shuddering as she thinks of Mercedes. She understands what Gavin is afraid of, being despised by 'real' artists because he's an actor, he's looking to her for legitimacy. He's quite serious, he's found the space, he's got the money ready, he just wants a partner to be there when he starts signing things. "It sounds like an interesting plan, Gavin," she says, "I'm in." And then she asks him a favor of her own, her magazine & several others, have been dying to get pictures of his new house for their lifestyle sections. But Gavin so far hasn't budged: he'll do interviews because he has to, the movie studio arranges them for him, but he has absolutely refused to allow them into his house, to let them do stories about his private life. Eleanor wants an exclusive tour of his house for her magazine, and bargains hard for it. "I can get our gallery's name into the press without using your name, Gavin, but it would help put me in a better position there if I could get this, one article about your house, with pictures..." Gavin accepts before the meal is finished, "Astrid will be happy about it, anyway," he says with a sigh. Eleanor returns to the office with a date for the photo crews to visit Gavin's house. Corrine actually hugs her, she's so impressed.

"We need an artist for our first show," Gavin says as they sign the lease papers & take possession of their new gallery, which they have yet to name, they only know, neither wants it named after themselves. "I know an artist, working with digital photography," Eleanor says, "He's completely unknown, never shown anywhere, but I really like what he's doing, and I think it fits well with your vision for the gallery." Gavin asks her to send him some samples & Eleanor does, without letting Justin know what she's doing, and without letting Gavin know they are Justin's pictures. Of course Gavin raves about them when he gets them: Justin's work is right up Gavin's alley, exactly the kind of thing he'd like his own work associated with, maybe even wishes he was up to himself. Eleanor smiles, proud of her man as she listens to their friend praise the tones & textures. Gavin asks for the artist's name, and isn't entirely surprised when Eleanor reveals his identity: she sent only carefully chosen images, nothing that showed her face, but Gavin says he thought he recognized Justin's hand, having sketched it so often. "He's got great hands," Gavin comments, "I didn't know he was interested in photography..." Eleanor explains to Gavin, just a little, "He has no idea that what he's doing is art, Gavin. And he has no idea I'm intending to show him in our gallery...that is if you're interested..." "Oh, I'm interested," Gavin affirms, "It's actually kind of exciting isn't? For our gallery to discover what could turn out to be a hot new artist?" Technically, Justin is her discovery, not 'the gallery's', Eleanor thinks, but doesn't press the point with Gavin. In this case, it looks best to have Gavin be out in front of this promotion, anyway, instead of the pushy girlfriend/model/agent.

Eleanor tells Justin their plans for the gallery's first show. "You showed our pictures to Gavin?" is Justin's horrified first response: convincing him to let her show them publicly is going to be more difficult than she anticipated. "Eleanor, those pictures are just for us, I never wanted them in some art show, I'm not sure I want to let you do this," he says, brow knitted, fretting deeply. Eleanor sits close, strokes him, "Justin, your work is very special to me, and that's why I want to show it, it's too special to keep just for ourselves," she explains, cuddling and petting him at the same time, until his brow is smooth & unworried, and he's nuzzling against her in response to her affection. "Why don't you show your paintings, Elle? Why does it have to be the photos?" he asks. Eleanor's cheeks heat in a pink blush, "My paintings are at best competent nude studies, Justin, your work is real art," she tries to explain, knowing it's probably futile, he's never been able to see art the way she does, can't even recognize his own. "It's not 'my work' Elle, it's just pictures of us. It's no one's business but ours. You know if it's important to you, I'll go along with this. But I can't promise to like it."

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