Maria knew that she had just started dating Diana and it wasn’t the first time she had dated someone else, male or female, that seemed like they were on pins and needles all the time, especially at the start. Still,  Diana was so overwhelmed by Maria it was a little hard to handle. In the back of her mind, she wondered what would happen if her girlfriend found out the truth about their relationship. After all, being hit on by someone with so many similar interests was a great coincidence. Being hit on by someone who had bugged your dorm, hacked your email and social media accounts, and secretly investigated your family and past so she could know about all those interests was something else entirely.<br/><br/>It probably helped that, in truth, there was very little acting Maria needed to be with Diana, unlike “assets” she had to handle in the past. The evening certainly started out well enough. Maria was a little floored by just how beautiful her young girlfriend looked and that she was proudly showing off the lovely emerald necklace Maria had got for her for their last date. All the way until the arrivals of the antipasto Diana kept the conversation light and sweet. It wasn’t until she was cutting into her lightly fried calamari did Maria bring it up.<br/><br/>“So how’s school Di? Your project going well?” She ate a piece of delicious squid and picked up her red wine glass. “You know, if you have the budget for it I know the curator of this lovely gallery in Dallas. They have this one piece that I think would be<em>perfect</em>! I haven’t seen it myself but it’s not only showing a purchase of jewelry it’s also got these little gems in the frame. I mean the fact is the<em>frame</em>is as much of the piece as the painting which I always found really interesting.”  She took a sip of wine.<br/><br/>“I don’t think the loan fee will be too high even with the show coming up but the department would still have to pay the shipping which will be kinda pricey as I’m sure you can imagine.” Maria’s sparkling brown eyes met Diana’s youthful hazels. “I know I know we probably shouldn’t be talking about this now. It’s not very romantic but this is your first big show and I want to make sure it’s perfect you know? Hopefully your budget isn’t too stretched at this point. At this point I know you got to start thinking about the dull stuff: food, drinks, security, music.” It was no coincidence the most important thing, at least the most important thing to Maria, was mentioned third.<br/><br/>"Just let me know if you can squeeze it into the budget and if not, I can help you out. God knows I've run my share of shows so I know where to trim." Maria picked up the bottle of wine she had ordered. “Do you want more wine by the way sweetie? This is a really good vintage.” Her smile was sweet and her gaze nothing but romantic admiration for her new young companion. Not a trace of ulterior motive could be found in her beautiful face…not that Diana was looking, of course.