Chapter 83: Chapter 83
(Avery’s Thoughts)
I am currently at the learning center finishing the final hours of my crash course in Art Literacy and The Way To Curating.
Obviously, my body is present but my mind is elsewhere. It has been almost a week since my last argument with Dmitri.
At some point, I feel relieved since the last argument already made it clear. However, a part of me is mourning for his non-existence.
“Miss Anderson, are you with us?” I finally hear my British professor who’s been calling me countless of times.
“Uh, yes, sorry, what’s the question again?” I ask him.
He crosses his arms in front of his chest and taps his right food due to annoyance, “There’s no question Miss Anderson. I am just jutting down the list of students who will participate in our little tour, the one I’ve mentioned a month ago.”
My face flustered as the other students laugh at me, “Err, yes, I would love to. Where is it again? And when’s the deadline for confirmation?”
“Supposedly today, but since you haven’t decided yet, you can inform me and talk it out with you husband-to-be since you’ll be living for two whole months,” my professor utters teasing me.
Other students start cheering so I cover the ring on my left hand.
“Yes, sir. Thank you,” I shyly says.
After class, I go straight to the museum to finish some tasks. I am currently busy when Madame Claudia goes to the reception area.
“Avery, dear,” she calls to me. It is a good thing that they could speak in English, so I don’t need to speak in French.
I raise my head and stop from what I’m doing, I respond smiling, “Yes, Madame?”
“I’d just like to inform you that the paintings Dmitri Sullivan purchased has been delivered and installed successfully,” she says while implicitly smiling at me.
The smile on her face has a meaning behind it. So I answer shortly to avoid any more conversation, “I see. That’s good, then.”
“It is. He wanted to buy all our paintings but since I told him the replacements haven’t arrived yet, I recommended him to buy only half of it. In an instant we sold six, thanks to you,” there she goes again with her smile.
“It is my job,” is all I answered.
But then, Madame Claudia, who isn’t actually a gossipmonger in nature, suddenly takes interest in my lovelife.
She leans forward to the table between us, “That guy, she’s into you, isn’t he?”
I frown, “What do you mean?”
“Oh come on, don’t make me a fool, Avery. What’s the story behind you, too? And does Jeff know about him?” her question crosses the line this time.
“With all due respect Madame Claudia, let’s not talk about my life, can we?” I boldly say. I can see her face disfigures but I don’t like people nitpicking about my life.
“My bad, I’ll leave you and your work, then,” she peacefully backs down after it.
***
“Hey, Avery, your boyfriend is here,” says one of my workmates.
I look by the window and see him standing there.
Jeff pops out in front of our museum door. He’s been waiting for my shift to be over.
“Hey, is it okay if I leave early tonight?” I ask her.
“Sure, go on, I got you covered,” then she winks at me.
So I hurried outside, and poke him surprisingly, “Babe!”
His heart jumps but he tries not to sure it, “Hey, babe!”
“What are you doing here?” I ask him.
He holds my hand, “Let’s eat out tonight,” then he pulls me on his side.
“Okay, I am actually famished because of school and work, and also, I have something I want to ask you,” then I link both my arms to his and tilt my head on his shoulder.
“Sure,” he smiles at me.
“What do you want to eat?” he asks.
“Well, can we eat somewhere fancy, let’s say, the newly opened restaurant over there?” I suggest the restaurant where he proposed.
***
Once I set my feet inside the restaurant, I regret even recommending it. All six paintings that Dmitri purchased are all here in this restaurant.
The night of the argument rushed back in my mind.
“I have a restaurant here…”
“I am looking for an artwork for my restaurant…”
“Finding a home to such wonderful artworks…”
I immediately roam my eyes inside the restaurant like a hawk. I want to make sure that he isn’t here.
“Babe?” Jeff calls me out when I failed to answer the receptionist’s greetings.
“Uh, yes?” I awkwardly smile.
“Congratulations on your engagement again Ma’am, Sir. And welcome back, would you like to take the windows seat?” she politely asks.
“Uh, just near the door, behind that post”, I point a seat that’s hidden, so in case Dmitri appears tonight, Jeff won’t be able to see him.
“Are you sure, babe? You like the window seat,” Jeff argues.
“Uh, well, just for a change,” I respond to him, “Shall we?” then asks the receptionist to guide us.
“Follow me,” then she leads the way.
When we reach the table, Jeff offers me the seat that is near the door, but I immediately sit across it.
“You take that seat, babe, I like this one, pelase?” I take the seat where I can see both the door and the whole restaurant, while I give him the spot hidden by the wall. So he couldn’t see who is going in and out.
Jeff begins to look at the menu, while I sit restless with my eyes scouting the restaurant. I didn’t even hear Jeff when he asks me of my order.
Not until he squeezes my hand, that my presence of mind is back at us, “Hey, are you alright? Are you looking for something? You look like an ostrich, you keep extending your neck,” he says.
“Uh, well,” finding an excuse, “Rest room, I need to go to the restroom,” I blurt out.
“You should have said so, you should ask her, just don’t act like an ostrich,” he even teases me.
“Uh-huh,” I shortly answer and then stand from where I am sitting.
As I go to the receptionist to ask for the restroom, I am on the lookout. I immediately lock the door, and finally I can breathe.
Thanks to the exhaust fan’s noise, I can curse all I want in here,
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I cuss.
“You’re not going to leave me alone, aren’t you, Dmitri?” I talk to myself as if I’m talking to him.
“Why does it keep on happening? All I want is to be free of him, then why, why is it all connected or related to him?”
“Should I tell Jeff about it and suggest another restaurant? Or should I just endure it? Now I am confused!” My mind is messed up right now.
I take a deep breath and try to calm myself up.
“Breathe, Avery, breathe. You did nothing wrong. You did everything to avoid him. You love, Jeff. You’ve been faithful to him. You’ll get through the night,” I persuade myself.
When my heart is back at its place, I go out of the bathroom, another mistake I did for the night.
I should have waited for a few minutes more before going out, if I had known I wouldn’t have to hear something that would waver and shake my heart.
The only thing I said was, “I wish I didn’t hear it, at all. I wish I hadn’t known. How to unhear it? Please?”
I walk back to our spot like a mindless woman, bumping to someone else’s chairs.
“Babe, are you done?” Jeff’s voice, the man that I love, right?
“Hey, you look so pale, are you sure you are okay?” he asks.
I nod and say nothing. I sit and look at the menu, trying to hold back the tears form a shocking news I just received, “D-did you order?” I ask him stuttering.
“Oh, yeah, I order steak and some soup for appetizer. Would you like something else? Drinks perhaps?”
“That would be great, Sangria, I want it,” I request.
Then, Jeff finally gives our order to the waiter.
“This is going to be a long night, brace yourself, Avery,” my mind keeps on telling me.
Throughout the night, Jeff keeps on talking about their customers, recipes, and other funny things. I try to pretend, smile as he smiles, laugh as he laughs, curse as he curses, in order to conceal the heavy burden I have in my heart right now.
And just as I convinced myself, I, somehow, luckily, got through the night. Before we leave the restaurant, I ask him permission, no, I mean, I inform him that I would be leaving for our Europen tour for two months.
He is skeptical about it but he understands that it is for my career. And he trusts me wholeheartedly.
Maybe he shouldn’t have trusted me too much. Maybe, at some point, I don’t deserve his trust, especially when I can easily waver by a single information I heard about Dmitri.