When I thought back on that night when I first saw Leigh I remembered Helena coming up next to me. She was also watching you at your table. Now I think her pursuit of Leigh was similar to her pursuit of me. She just wanted what you had and she used Leigh to bring you down another notch. As much as I wasn’t in love with Helena and I had accepted that we were not monogamous it still bruised my ego to have her flaunt other women in front of me. It hurt me to see her with Leigh. I guess my veiled hostility for Leigh is stemming from that. That might be why I distrust her now.”

“Tee. Leigh wasn’t dating Helena or plotting against me back then. Now that I know that Helena saw Leigh with me that night it makes more sense. Leigh told me that Helena sought her out on the pretense of being interested in purchasing some of her art pieces. Helena came on to her but she was in a committed relationship with Valerie; the woman you saw us with at the club. She wouldn’t cheat on Val so any interactions you might have witnessed between her and Helena was just Helena trying to seduce her.

You have to understand that at the time Leigh was an up and coming young artist and sculptor. She would have been thrilled to have Helena Peabody interested in collecting her work and Helena used that. It wasn’t until Leigh broke up with Val several months later that she and I got together. That when Helena’s interest peaked. That’s when she underhandedly convinced Leigh to sign the exclusive to show her work at the Peabody Gallery in New York.

Leigh made a bad judgment call. She was young and naïve and Helena offered her instant success. She and I talked about the deal. I tried to talk her out of it but she didn’t listen. Needless to say she lived to regret it. As for their sexual relationship that didn’t happen until after they left for New York. Once Leigh served her purpose Helena lost interest. I know Leigh made the choice of her own free will. I know I was hurt in the process but she was a victim as much as I was. That’s part of the reason why I want to help her get reestablished here on the west coast. She is a brilliant talent. We owe it to the art world to make that discovery. She told me horror stories of her time with Helena and believe me she suffered plenty. I’m not holding any grudges against her. We’ve made our peace and we’re friends again.