Ari's interest in art went as far as Sonia's work, gradually expanding to what interested her in the art of others. To him, art was a decoration, an expression of emotion. While he could understand sex being painted in a blast of contemporary squiggles and shapes, he was a banker, and money was green and square and solid.

"What are you selling it for?" he'd ask. Then, "how much is the gallery taking off the top?"

Sonia hated that. It made all she did seem shallow. Put a value on it in dollars instead of aesthetics.