SHATTERED HEARTS

CHAPTER 2

Jerry's a lot older than me with three kids, he should be in his late forties I think. He is quite tall with a tan banana skin tone that brings out his almond brown eyes. I am sure his age doesn't show because he does so much exercise by lifting boxes and walking up and down the steps.

He rarely eats junk food either. He lost his wife to cancer last year and since then his smile seems to be missing. I never felt that much love between my parents, probably because I didn't spend so much time with them.

They traveled frequently and at some point my mom stayed home before joining my dad on some courtesy visits. "It's going to be way fun and blissful", I replied. At this point he is smiling, that was his phrase. I quickly walked into the building, straight to the elevator. I pressed the third button because that is where my office is located.

Immediately I reached the third floor I went straight to my office to drop my things. I rarely wore makeup to work. I have this theory that our gallery is filled with colors and materials already, so there's no need to add to it by being another artwork. Don't get me wrong, I always wear light makeup on serious days like today.

I walked straight to the gallery, fully equipped with the information I needed. Today I'm going to sell one of our best art to a top client. This is so new but my boss, the acting manager, Mr Richard, said I knew the painting better than anyone so I had to be the one doing the presentation. Well, as if that wasn't enough pressure already when I feel everyone is depending on me and the speech I have to give to this so-called client.

I'm at the entrance of the second art hall, where our famous painting is situated when I am met by Mr Richard, “hope you're prepared”, he said with a smile on his face, more of an assuring look. "Well, I'm doing my best not to flop this" I said half laughing. My body is quite tense but I think I will be able to manage just fine. We both stood there waiting for our number one customer for the day.

Mr Richard is a robust looking man in his early forties, he has two kids and a lovely wife, Stacy Richard. I'm not sure he could ever feel lonely. I am staring into space until I'm interrupted by Mr Richard's voice, it's time, he says and I know they are really close. Now his voice is not as assuring as earlier. We walk towards the door and are met by two guys in tuxedo and earphones.

They look very much like spies with their shades on. They held the door wide open for the next guy who I suspect to be the boss. Well, they might as well throw a red rug underneath for him to step on my subconscious says in a sarcastic tone. Cecilia was the one in charge of bringing them in, She is a friendly young lady who always had a smile on. She is fluent in Spanish, French, Latin, English, Portuguese and many other languages yet to comprehend.

I waved her off while walking behind our visitors and Mr Richard. Mr Richard is now talking to the man in front of the formalities that took place earlier at the door. The client looks more like a bully and no-nonsense person, he equally has shades on with muscles in all the right places. His suit stood out from everyone else.

I walked as quickly as my heels would allow me to the front. Now I am behind Mr Richard, who is close to Mr Mason, whom I got to know from the formalities they shared earlier. We are facing painting, and it is time for me to show my skills. With every nerve in me screaming "Run!!!". I took a long breath.

“Good day, My name's Elizabeth Daniels and I'll be your narrator/ presenter for today”. As tough as it looks, I am pretty confident in my voice and choice of words. I am now in front of Mr Richard and Mason, who send awkward chills down my spine. He waves his guards off, and they go ten feet behind him.

Now it's just the three of us, Mr Mason removes his shades, and I am met with gray color eyes, his lashes battling for space on his eyelids, he has thick eyebrows and a fine jawline. His beard did meet with his mustache on both ends, in a fine line and he has what I think is a brief chin. His perfectly carved light pink lips are a big distraction already. He looks like perfectly baked bread and I happen to be a lover of good bread.

I gulped down my anxiousness and continued, “This is a 1955 painting by Antonio Patio, he is a poet and painter”. Not so famous because he found comfort in hiding his work in his basement. He fell in love with a lady named Maryjane Cassio, who he was unable to open up to until his death. His basement was his solace.

All his paintings were found after the war, a letter was attached to one of those paintings and that's where we get his full story. Antonio was very rich, rich enough to put out his paintings for anyone to see for free but he just wanted them to be for her. He was not able to tell Maryjane this in person due to his untimely death. I took a short pause and gestured more towards the painting.

The background of this work is covered in french blue. He uses white to highlight her face out of the french blue background and a dim red color is used for her lips. Black is equally used for her lashes as you can see her eyes aren't open but closed. He had no picture of his love, but the glances of her he stole was enough for him to make this painting of her.

He painted her skin blue because she reminded him of the sea. Antonio named the painting “Amour pour toujours”, which means “forever love”. The painting beside this one has just pieces of the full drawing of a lady scattered. It is not a full drawing though, we can see her ears with a pearl-like earring dangling from it. Her wrists has a diamond bracelet, her fingers are covered with what seems like a white glove, her slender legs are in beautiful black heels with a heart pendant by the side.