Chapter 44: Chapter 44

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, the master of all these magnificent artwork, Jodie Russels,” I open the exhibit and welcome all the guests to their hearts’ content.

After my opening speech, I straightly go down from the stage and look for Kendra, who’s been MIA since her last call with Seigfried.

A hand grabs me and pulls me behind the stage, when I look back it was Nikolai. Suddenly, the rage I feel for him for being a married man rushes back.

“Avery,” he whispers. I glare at him and rudely answer, “What? And you have the nerve to bring her here, huh? What the fuck Nikolai?”

“I am sorry. I didn’t we will be going here. Dmitri sets it all up,” he defends.

“Oh, right? Your brother-in-law, right?”, I scowl at him. His eyes widen. “Yes, Nikolai, I heard the two of you talking that night,” I add to answer the confusion in his face.

“Did she know?”, he looks down and whispers.

I sigh deeply, “No, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. I am such an asshole best friend.”

“I am sorry, Avery, could you p-”, he asks me for a favor but I see his wife walking to him so I pretend to shake his hands and change the topic, “Great, Mr. Murrow, I hope you could stay until the auction, enjoy your day,” and signal him about his wife.

I walk out and intentionally greets his wife, Dmitri’s sister, “Mrs. Murrow, are you enjoying the exhibit?”

She smiles meaninglessly and puts up a mask, “Yes, great work, indeed. I would like to visit your office sometimes and talk about, you know, events.”

I easily catch up with her message, so I answer sarcastically, “That would be great, we will welcome you and your husband greatly. If you’ll excuse me, I have some guests to welcome.”

After putting up a bold face in front of her, I hurriedly look for Kendra in the crowd. I am about to reach the entrance door, when another hand suddenly pulls me under the glass stairs at the corner.

“Ouch, what the-”, before I could even finish my sentence, I see Dmitri’s face.

I immediately reclaim my hand from his grip. He frowns at my reaction.

I secure my hands by crossing them, “Mr, Sullivan, I hope you are enjoying the show. I am sorry, I was a bit taken aback by your action. I hope you don’t mind,” I distantly face him.

“Are we really doing this Avery? Seriously?”, he impatiently asks.

“Do what? I am your host, after all,” I tone down.

“Ava, please, what do you want me to do? Announce you as my girlfriend? And then what, we’ll break up over petty things? I don’t do that,” he insists with his irrationality.

While I am supposed to be welcoming the guests, I am here stuck with him, I look around to ensure no one’s listening.

“I already gave you an ultimatum, didn’t I? I respect your logic. So please, learn to respect mine,” I look at him in the eyes, trying to stand my ground, even if it kills me inside.

The next thing I could feel is my back leaning against the wall under the staircase. His right arm is placed above my head, while the left hand secures my shoulder.

“Stop it, Dmitri, don’t ruin my event, please,” I try to calm him down.

But his mind seems to be playing with him, “I can’t control myself in front of you, Avery. I just want to kiss you right now.”

“You don’t have the rights. You are not my boyfriend,” I boldly refuse his temptation, even if deep inside, I really want to bite his lips right here, right now.

I squeeze my legs a bit, and as he notices my gestures, he pins me more and moves his face forward, “You know, your body knows, you can’t reject me, can you?”

I am about to give in again to his charms as I sniff his manly perfume like a sort of potion alluring me to give up, and his minty breath blows below my ears.

But a figure from the entrance door, saves my ass and my principles from this dangerous tempting man. The figure who turns out to be Seigfried suddenly calls to my name desperately.

I can see him quenching his teeth as he sees our position, but he keeps still and calls us out, “Ava, I’ve been looking for you.”

Dmitri’s grip on my shoulder tightens and his face turns furious as he recognized the voice, then he lets go of me and faces him, “Seigfried Cohen, you are not welcome him.”

But I immediately run toward Seid and explain, “Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Cohen is my guest. We will be going out for a while, please enjoy the show and I hope you stay until the auction time.”

I pull Seid’s hand as soon as I could to avoid more tension and lead him outside the building.

Seid cannot contain his curiosity, “What is he doing here, Ava?”

“Uh, long story, Seid, first, we need to find Kendra. Please, help me,” I beg him.

He smiles and brushes my hair behind my ear, “Don’t worry, she sends me here.”

I sigh deeply, “Well, thank goodness, I am dead worried about her, we need to hurry, I need to go back before the auction starts.”

“Don’t worry, I just came to tell you she’s okay. I’ll take care of her, just do well with your first exhibit, okay?” he sweetly says.

Seid’s action somehow melts my heart. After the break-up, he has changed a lot. Considering that he shows up today, he really learns his lesson.

I hug him, “Thank you, please come to the auction.”

“I will,” he smiles, and says, “I want to say, I am proud of you, always am, always will, my Ava.”

I look at him sadly, knowing I could no longer reciprocate his feelings. Why now? He should have done this before I met that man.

***

The host of the auction finally takes the stage. His assistants positions all the ten artworks that are for sale. Dmitri, Nikolai, and his wife are seated on the first line at the right side of the area.

Whereas, Kendra, who has now calmed down, Seid beside me, and I, in the aisle seat, take the first line on the left. After all, we are the VVIPs of this exhibit. Jodie, is on the stage, in the middle of her 10 artworks.

The auction started and Nikolai’s wife bought a lot of paintings. At least five will be delivered to their house. The other four artworks were sold to other guests.

I, myself, am extremely happy for Jodie, who now, has found her voice, in the industry that she loves.

But, I have no idea what the tenth artwork would be. She only told me that it is her biggest surprise and her greatest masterpiece.

Before they remove the cloth covering it, Jodie stands up and gives a speech.

“Uh, hello, I am not good at this, so I’ll keep it short, thank you all for joining me here and for making my first exhibit a great experience. I wouldn’t be here if not for all of you,” she takes her bow with tears from her eyes.

Then she sobers up and explains the last piece, “Uh, I consider this my greatest work because this person is the very reason why I am here. If not for her, I am still just a street painter.”

My heart jumps at her story, it seems familiar with our first encounter. I gulp and continue listening to her,

“She thought she was the first one who sees me back in Italy. Well, in fact, I saw her first. She was sitting on a bench, her face was so beautiful, she had her smile on her face, but her eyes, they were lonely. Seeing her like that, I wished to see her eyes truly smile, therefore, I named this last piece, ‘The Lost Smile’.”

The moment they remove the cloth, the people behind me cheer in amusement. They clap their hands applauding the lifelike, sad eyes of the portrait. But I stand up, so does Seid, so does Dmitri.

I don’t know what they are thinking, but I am damn sure, those are my eyes, beautiful, smiling, but filled with emotions, sadness, and melancholy.

My eyes filled with tears as Jodie thanked me in public.