Whispers in the Gallery

Maya scurries out of her apartment building, messy brown hair tied up into a bun, her blue flannel top half buttoned and flaying with the wind. Her bright green eyes shielded by a pair of thick rimmed marbles green glasses mixed with black. She looks like your regular average girl, the kind to bury her head in the clouds and not have the ‘luxury’ of male attention, a fitting description. She wonders about her life as she walks hurriedly, her mother had called in the early hours of the morning once again inquiring and pressing about her lack of a marriage mate. “I'm just 28, I have a few years to go. Besides, I am always busy, you know that” She'd whined. An excuse her impatient mother was already sick and tired of. “You have a few years until the menopause stage too. Is that when you'd find a husband? How would I get a grandchild? All your mates are married already and all you do is hide behind those ugly glasses and that stupid easel your father made the mistake of getting you. All my friends have grandkids, do I have to die first before you give birth to mine?” Her mother huffed as usual, “you are already sizes too big for the regular wedding dresses, would you wait until they'd be tearing at the seams?” Maya had just sighed and apologized to her mother, assuring her that things would change and be better, although she was not sure herself. You see, she had never had a boyfriend before. Through her school years she was the bullied kid, friendless and alone, she had to turn to her art for comfort thus breeding her timid personality. In college she had gotten more attention from guys, although she knew it was only because of her body, a few catcalls here and there and guys basically undressing her curvy form with their eyes. She had also learnt the hard way not to take them seriously, a memory she had no intentions of uncovering. She made her way into the gallery, shuffling and wiping her sweaty hands as she walked in. She saw her manager, Flora, frowning disapprovingly at her as she struggled to fix her dressing. She had on a flannel top and a simple black maxi skirt, put together by an equally simple gold belt. “You're late Maya, you know we have a busy day today” She whispered aggressively “I am so sorry, I was held up for a bit while trying to figure out what to wear” Maya whispered back apologetically Flora gave her a once over, smirked and whispered back “maybe if you weren't so big you would be able to fit into clothes better”. Maya laughed timidly along, swallowing the bile that rose in her throat bitterly as she watched Flora's skinny form strut away. She envied her. Truthfully, Maya was in no way fat, she was far from it in fact but she was in no way skinny either, with her wide hips and round behind she was definitely a sight to behold. To her though, her stretch marks and inability to be a size six was all she could see. She thanked her God silently that her stomach, although not toned, was not protruding as she was sure Flora might have sent her home otherwise, she had spent days working out and starving in anticipation of their ‘busy day'. Apparently they had a huge client coming in today. Sighing again, Maya picked up her easel and set it against the wall, going ahead to arrange the artworks, lost in her thoughts. She indistinctly hears the door opening but she does not look up. “Here we go again” She mutters softly, scuffling away as Flora walks towards the guests, she keeps her gaze trained on the floor as her focus is on being safely out of sight before Flora starts making jabs at her to humor the visitors as usual. She hears movement around the gallery and assumes it's a group of three of four people this time. She keeps her gaze down still as she prays not to be noticed, at best she hoped to be taken as another customer. “Oof!” She lets out involuntarily as she lands on her butt. She had clumsily run into a wall, or so she thought. Looking up finally, her first surprise was the beautiful pair of stormy gray eyes the wall possessed. Next was the ethereal beauty of a man she saw in front of her, he was so beautiful that she even forgot she was still on the floor. “What is this voiceless sack in front of me? So garbage bags walk now?” The beautiful stranger voiced with an annoyed expression. His deep velvety voice washed over her like cold water, jolting her to reality. She pulled herself together, standing slowly, starting an apology only to be cut off. “I am so so sorry Mr Seb, this is simply our severely oversized mascot. It was in no way supposed to be out of the store, I guess even mascots would sneak out just to catch a glimpse of your beautiful face” Flora cut in shrilly, blinking incessantly at the man. She looked ridiculous trying to flirt with him and her peacock looking face almost had Sebastian bursting out in laughter but he maintained his cold composure. Maya was on the brink of tears, saying a quick apology to the fine stranger she practically ran out of the store. She sat on the stairs and contemplated what exactly she had done to deserve such mistreatment from everyone. She wondered whether she should increase her hours in the gym with hopes of one day getting as skinny as Flora, or even close. She sat so lost in thoughts that she did not hear the door opening, again, neither did she notice the male figure standing and watching her silently, admiring her curves as she eventually stood up and dusted herself off. The pair of eyes remained on her as she walked off into the hot streets of Asheville.