To Love in Full

Chapter 2: Appetence

Appetence (n.) An eager desire, an instinctive inclination; an attraction or a natural bond.

Arabella's P.O.V.

The rest of the tour did not last for long, I parted ways with Alexander and Mr. Baglioni as they went into an office to discuss the security details for the museum. Now alone, I found myself walking aimlessly through the galleries and gazed at the paintings that were framed against the walls.

I stopped in front of a canvas that exhibited a landscape of wildflowers in a field. The thin brushstrokes lined out every detail, the colors created a vivid scene, and the sunlight from the windows had helped this painting come to life.

It was elegant, natural, and radiant. It's impressionism.

The next painting that I came across was unusual and eccentric. The objects and figures painted on the canvas were not something one would find in reality, but instead, from a whimsical imagination.

Expressionism? Or maybe surrealism.

As I came across the last painting, I noticed it was very different from the others. It was not extravagant; it was minimalistic. Not colorful, but plain. It's boring, I thought to myself as I stared at the black canvas with one white dot in the center. Definitely modern art. How do these things sell for millions of dollars?

Taking one last glance around the room, I noticed that some pieces were tilted out of place and one canvas was slightly protruding from its frame, almost like it was removed. It was strange, the previous curator must have been fired given that they did an awful job at rearranging these pieces.

I sighed and roamed over to the next gallery, but stopped in my tracks when I saw the odd man in black from earlier. He made brief eye contact with me but then directed his attention towards another sculpture.

How long has he been here? I asked myself, wondering if I should make an approach. After much contemplation and arguments within myself, I decided to make a genial introduction, as it would be best to not be a stranger to a possible coworker.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I said while nodding towards the statue that he was looking at.

I walked closer to stand next to him, mindful to keep my distance, as he then turned to gaze at me, but decided to keep his lips sealed and his voice a mystifying secret.

Great, I sighed and instinctively showed off a timid smile as to fill in the void between us, but I had no doubts that it came off as awkward.

"It's called the Girl from Anzio." My nervous mouth rambled on while a part of me died inside. I had hoped that this reticent man would put the other features of his face to use, but his eyes continued to glare down at me judgingly, while his mouth still had no reply.

This is truly embarrassing.

"Where is the man that you were with earlier?" he asked abruptly in a gruff Italian accent.

And so he speaks, I scoffed to myself while my eyes widened with shock as he caught me by surprise.

"Baglioni," he said with impatience and irritability within his voice.

What was with the attitude? I turned towards him with a scowl and bit my tongue to keep unkind words from slipping through my lips. I crossed my arms over my chest, tilted my head up to catch a view of this very tall man, and decided to return the same harsh manner that he had given me.

"Mr. Baglioni is in the security room showing a new employee around," I sneered back at him.

Without another word, or a simple 'thank you', I watched as the man turned around and started walking towards the office that Mr. Baglioni had entered earlier. I stared at his back in disbelief, but frowned, realizing that I was off to a bad start on my first day here.