Chapter 196
A thick air of awkwardness is floating around us and it makes me so uncomfortable.
"This is awkward. Uhm... Why don't we talk about your inspiration and story behind this piece of art, shall we?" I ask her and she agrees by nodding her head rapidly. I signal her to follow me to some seats and we make ourselves comfortable.
"Alright. Well as you can see, the lady in this painting is in a dark street, which represents her life and the street lamp represents the little hope that she has to hold on to, to survive. The black umbrella represents her burdens which she carries along with her and clearly you can see that she isn't happy at all. But the little glow in her heart, is the little faith that she has left. She... She's... Me. I got myself into a very bad state and just when I thought I couldn't take it any more, someone told me that there's more to life than just pain and self destruction. I held on to the little faith I had. And hoped that things would get better. I'm glad things are getting even better." She smiles at the painting and sniffles. "As you know when it stops raining and the sun shines, people let go of their umbrellas. So I already let go of my umbrella of burdens."
"Wow. I... I'm speechless," I say just as Roxy walks in and furrows her brow seeing the two of us together.
"Did I miss anything?" Roxy asks as she sits next to me and I shake my head and hand her the painting and she gasps.
"Mother of all paintings! Look at this, Kyrah! This one would definitely capture people's attention. It's quite intriguing. Who brought it in?" she asks and I turn to Sabrina.
In my mind she'll always be Sabrina, but since she prefers to use Bethany now, I'll be calling her by that name.
"Bethany. She painted it," I say and Roxy's jaw drops.
"Kyrah, can I talk to you for a sec?" Roxy asks and I shrug. She grabs my arm and takes me further away from Sabrina. Where she wouldn't hear what we are talking about.
"What?" I ask.
"I don't know about you but... this might sound crazy. She's a really good artist if you ask me and, I don't know if you'd be comfortable if we involved her in the exhibition. If you're not okay with it, I'll understand," she says.
"Actually, I was thinking instead of just involving her in the exhibition, we could make her work for us, right? She can paint so many more pieces of art and we can sell them at very good prices and also, pay her. We may still be in a rocky kind of road with her but, trust me, we can not let such an artist go," I say and Roxy squeaks in excitement as she pulls me into a bear hug and kisses my cheek.
"Thank you! I'm sure she'll be happy to get a job here, right?" she asks.
"Yap!" I say and we head back to Sabrina and she stands up when she sees us.
"Kyrah and I have decided to have you as an employee here. If... that's okay with–" Sabrina cuts Roxy off.
"Of course it's okay with me. I really need a job right now. I spent a lot of time last night trying to find the nearest art galleries around. I don't regret coming here," she smiles. "I also have other paintings, I can bring them with me. So... when do I start?"
"Well, you can start working as soon as tomorrow. We can discuss more later in the week about the exhibition. Feel free to draw or paint or create whatever you want. Here, we let our imaginations run wild. So instead of buying this painting, it'll be displayed during the exhibition and we'll get to split the money. We'll talk more about that once you settle in," says Roxy and Sabrina's smile switches into a wide grin. She's more than happy. That I can tell.
"I promise, I won't let you guys down," she says.
"Okay. I'll ask Joe to show you around and introduce you to our young students tomorrow. For now you can leave at your own pleasure," I say and without any notice, she grabs my hand and shakes it. She does the same with Roxy and we both smile.
"Thank you so much. I'll never forget the kindness both of you have shown me today. I'll leave the painting here. I guess... I'll see you tomorrow then," she says and walks away.
Roxy and I watch her leave. We're both surprised that she trusts us so much with her work that she just left it with us without having any room for second thoughts. People do change. I believe her change is quite remarkable.
***
Later in the evening, people begin arriving one by one at Roxy's place. It's been a while since we all hung out as a group. I haven't seen Maeve in a year. She flew to Canada but now that she's back, I feel like a piece of me is back. The twins have been quite busy too. Jim is an accountant and Tim juggles in between Deejaying and working as a music producer. Quite hectic if you ask me. In campus we mostly shared the general units classes. Hence the different career paths.
Kye is here too and so is Johnny, Vic and Wren.
As we all lie down on the fluffy carpet and throw pillows, we've covered ourselves with warm blankets as we watch a series.
A moment pops up and Roxy and I explain what happened earlier at the gallery and every one is shocked. We also tell them that Sabrina had come to my house to apologize, which they find pretty weird. But they understand our decision to employ her.
"So, have you forgiven her?" Maeve asks and I shrug.
"I don't know. All I can say is that, I learned to let go of anything that doesn't make me happy. Time will tell," I say and take a sip of my soda.
"Aw! That's okay. You just do you, okay?" Maeve asks.
"Okay." I smile at her.
"In other news," Johnny cuts in and we all sit up and look at him. He is wiggling his brows while grinning at Maeve.
"What?" Kye asks.
"Maeve has just been selected by Vogue magazine as their new editor," Johnny says in a song-song voice and we all gasp at the same time.
"What? That's freaking amazing! You at Vogue? I can't believe it," Wren shouts.
"Neither can I," Maeve squeals and I stand up to hug her.
"That's pretty awesome, Maeve," Vic says.
"Congratulations, Maeve. May you find happiness and satisfaction while working for Vogue. You are one in a million and that is why they chose you," I tell her and she pouts.
"You've got this, babe," Roxy says and hugs her too.
We all end up in a large group hug with chuckles in between.
"Go, go! Maeve!" the twins cheer on and we all join in the chanting.
"Go, go! Maeve! Go, go! Maeve!"
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