More Than What He Seems

Art, History, Science

    To be perfectly honest, I had not expected Luis to ask me on a date so soon after meeting. It had been a week since our meetup and despite being busy with my classes, the conversation we had that day kept playing over and over in my mind. After he asked me about the date, we talked for a while, went to a café for lunch, then parted ways. I had a lot of fun with him that day, but going on a date did not come up again.

    We had a lot of papers to turn in for our courses, but we had tried to talk to each other every day since we met up. Apparently, a couple of people had found out about us meeting up, but that was all they talked about before the topic changed to something else. I did not know what to describe us as, for now, just acquaintances. Today, I was sitting at home, working on my novel again, when I got a message from him. 

The_Shining_One: Hey, Aura, are you free this evening? I’d like to take you for dinner today.

Me: Um, sure. But where to?

The_Shining_One: You’ll need a dress.

Me: Huh? A dress?

    He did not respond after that, nor did the indicator pop up to show he was typing. I had to wonder if he even read my last message. Standing, I shut my laptop before making my way over to the closet to see if I even owned an appropriate dress. I had bought a few different outfits when I first entered college, just in case I made friends, but we ended up spending most of our time in virtual classes and I never had the opportunity.

    Looking through my clothes, in the very back was a black knee-length dress that was both mature and conservative, without looking too old for me. It looked formal, but I had a blue shawl I could wear with it to make it appear more informal. Changing into it and walking into the bathroom, I dabbed some eyeliner and lip gloss on before brushing my hair out. There was not really a need to put my hair up, as my natural curl made it look styled, so the only thing I really had to do was pin my bangs back.

    I felt weird and stroked my elbow as I looked at my reflection. Was this too much? He said it was a date, so I should dress up, right? But was this okay? Ugh, I really do not know. I walked back into my bedroom and looked at my cell phone to see if he messaged me back.

The_Shining_One: Yes, a dress. What’s your address? I’ll come pick you up.

    I sent over my address to him before walking into the kitchen to get some water. I was just as nervous as I was the first time we met up. After waiting about thirty minutes, a knock sounded on the door. My heart jumped up to my throat as I slipped on my dress shoes and walked over to it. When I opened the door, Luis was standing there wearing a suit and a friendly smile.

“Wow.” The smile faded from his face, but it faded to a look of fascination as he took in the sight of me. “You look stunning. It’s perfect.”

    He held out his hand to me in offering, and though I was blushing, I took it. I felt like he was going to whisk me away to some place extravagant, which made me feel slightly tense. When we made it downstairs to a car, it surprised me at how much of a gentleman he was. He even helped me into my seat before walking around to the other side and sliding in.

“So, where are we going?” I asked as he started the ignition. “Someplace close?”

“You’ll see.” He replied with a vague smile. “I think you’ll like it, though.”

    We talked about quite a few things on that drive. Our favorite foods, colors, what we like to do for fun. All the things I always found tedious to talk to other people about were fun with him. He did not make fun of me for my interest in ancient books or writings. I did not make fun of him for his interest in adorable hamster videos. Thirty minutes later, he parked the car outside of a building that looked to be hosting a party of sorts. 

“Here we are.” Luis said, coming around to my side after getting out. “Your hand, Milady.”

    I giggled lightly and took his hand, only to hook it on his elbow. With every step, I felt more and more nervous until we passed through the door. All around me were people admiring artworks. And not just ANY art, but statues and paintings of different deities from many cultures and belief structures. While he led me around, my eyes roamed the floor of the make-shift gallery in complete shock.

“This is a once in every decade gallery they host to increase interest in old world artwork.” He whispered as he led me to where some tables were off to one side. “On top of being able to view some of the most beautiful and well-known pieces, we can enjoy a meal.”

“How did you get seats to an event like this?!” I questioned in shock, my voice drawing a few eyes that made me slink back slightly. “Sorry. I would imagine this being an extremely exclusive event, even if it is to increase interest.”

“Hm. I wonder.” His reply was vague, but he chuckled at my embarrassment. “It is exclusive, but I have a few friends.”

    As they brought the food out to us, I looked around the unique pieces, from the paintings that carefully hung around the room to the statues that looked as real as living people. I could describe the atmosphere as elegant, but it was quiet as people ate and admired the art. For a while, we ate in silence and my eyes wandered the room, until I looked back at Luis, who solely focused on me. Blushing, I finished my meal while nervously avoiding his gaze before clearing my throat.

“This is… amazing, Luis.” I whispered as I took my last bite. “The food is delicious. Being surrounded by such beautiful art makes this feel surreal.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I thought you might like something like this.” He replied, then pointed at a blog on his cellphone. “After all, you are the one behind this blog, are you not?”

    I froze as I looked at the page. It was a blog I had not updated since my senior year in high school. It was something I had done in my spare time to bring the art society, historical society, and religious societies in my school closer together. Embarrassed, I looked down at the table, as the first post on it was when I was eleven years old. It was an open space to create and share ideas about art and its link between the other two. I was never popular back then, but apparently my blog had gotten popular since I stopped updating it.

“You stopped about five years ago.” Luis said, looking up at the people that mingled around the gallery. “I, like the rest of them, are fans of your ideas.”

“What?” I asked as a few of the people walked over to us. “What are you talking about, Luis?”

“So, you were telling the truth when you said you thought you knew the author of that blog?” A man asked, taking my hand and pressing his lips to the back of it. “My, you are a young lady. I was one of your earliest followers, along with Luis, here. We both found your page at the same time. Your first post.”

    My mouth fell open. In a matter of moments, the table had quite a few people standing around it, all talking at once. Being the center of attention, I sank down further into my seat, trying but failing to disappear from view. Logically, I was thankful to meet fans of my blog, but I was also so out of touch with others, I did not know how to respond to the praise. Luis watched on with a soft smile before standing and offering me his hand again.

“I wasn’t one hundred percent certain until I saw her response to this gallery.” He said, pulling me to a stand next to him. “After all, she was the reason this gallery got its start when she first opened her blog twelve years ago.”

    His warm hand rested firmly on my waist as he introduced me to the organizers and collectors of the event. It was oddly reassuring to have him there by my side, and though I was unfamiliar with being the center of attention, it did not bother me as much as it would have otherwise. Maybe it was not such a bad thing to make new friends, I thought as I shook hands with another benefactor.

"Where did you come up with the ideas you incorporated in your blog, Angel_Aura?" One gentleman asked, leaning forward as he shook her hand. "You were my inspiration to collect different artifacts and gave me my dream of being an archeologist."

"Most were just observations, but some took serious thoughts to spell out." I replied with a gentle smile. "The goal was to increase the number of interested parties at my schools, so I didn't realize it would become so popular. Thanks for reading it."

    I never realized my ideas in that post would draw in readers after I stopped writing. My only hope was to increase interest at school, not influence something like this. The art, history, and science materials spread all over the room drew my attention and I smiled. Someone obviously put a lot of thought into the placement of each individual piece. It was a beautiful space too, a fancy event hall in a place I would never be able to afford alone.

    Though I was enjoying myself, I could still feel Luis watching me, and the thought made me nervous. His gaze would burn into me, making me shift and falter when I spoke, though I would have done that, anyway. When I glanced over at him, he tried to feign interest in a statue of Zeus, but I saw his head shift away. Why was he so fixated on me? I wondered with a head tilted to the side. I am nothing special, just a girl born into a cult led by a crazy mother.

"Okay, even I have to admit it sounds interesting." I mumbled to myself, before looking towards another painting. "Oh! This painting was included in the information from my first post!"

"Yes, I managed to procure this from the original owner specifically for this exhibit. It was hard, but she was willing to part with it on the grounds that we allow a lot of people enjoy it's splendor." Luis said, stepping forward with an explanation. "I love the tones and coloring of this piece. The artist really worked hard to depict what he assumed Angels to look like. A beautiful piece."

"You're right. You can see the stroke lines and even tell when he switched the colors on his brush. The amount of effort just on the face alone is out of this world." I replied with a bright smile. "I've always loved antique art pieces like this one. They each tell a story, one the artist wanted to share, with each careful brushstroke."