𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 | 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘰

𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖

Valeria's POV

Breath-taking sculptures in every corner of the room and paintings hung on every wall that brought the smell of exhilarating sweet scent gave the room fancy and elegant vibes. This felt like a dream.

Perfection.

I would never get tired of the smell of this.

I stepped forward, looking at these masterpieces one by one. Paintings in the suitably harmonious shade. Polished sculpture with a natural sense of depth and space. I can not.

I glanced around the room again and did a double-take when I saw an abstract painting. Without hesitance, I quickened my step to the painting.

Before I even realized it, there was a man, a young one, was standing in front of it as if he was busy studying it. Not many people have taken interest in abstract arts, but this man?

He wore a fine, dark-blue, silk-lined cloth coat. His style was quite similar to Enzo's. I watched him mumbling something to himself as I waited for him to go away.

But he didn't move an inch. And my patience wore thin.

I sighed and walked over to the painting. It had simply seen figures within a sprawling landscape. There were some recognizable forms in the piece, but overall, there was no identifiable subject of this painting. I could tell that the painting provoked a diversity of problems.

It was beautiful. I turned my head to the man beside me and hold my tongue from spilling my thoughts.

He seemed to be in deep concentration, he didn't even blink. I waited a moment and then curiosity got the better of me. "It's too vibrant, isn't it?" I asked.

The man shook his head and those piercing dark brown eyes questioned me silently from under furrowed brows. "I'm not into art, so I don't understand any of these things."

I stared at him intently. "You're saying that you've been here about ten minutes, and you don't know what you're doing?" I blurted out. There's silence that lasted for about a minute.

"Oh. No. I'm here for business, I was just passing by," explained the man slowly. He raised his handbag and smiled politely. I nodded, still watching him.

Again, I questioned him, "Then, are you interested in buying paintings?" I tried not to get too depressed about my chances. If I see my money, I won't blow it for nothing.

"Well, I'm actually looking for an artist. I want to make a painting of my sibling. Do you-" The man stopped his talk when he was actually looking at me. He gazed down at me quizzically, a twinkle in his eyes.

I avoided his eyes by examining the painting. It was not a secret anymore that I am pretty. But I didn't think that it would cause someone to look at me this way. "I do paint. I mean, I'm an artist. And I got compliments pretty often, in case you need to know."

I kept acting like I'm studying the painting. The man cleared his throat, "Um- sorry-, you got hair on your face-"

I paused, sucking in a deep breath, and brushed my hair into a ponytail with embarrassment. I put my hands on my hip and smiled at him dryly. After seeing my awkwardness, the man chuckled, "About what you said earlier, do you have a business card or anything?"

I quickly ran my hands to my purse and found no business card. My hands clasped, "I-"

Worse luck, my stomach grumbled loudly for food, as I didn't eat breakfast this morning. For several seconds while the young man was taking his place on the step the silence continued. "Have you eaten lunch? We can talk about it in lunch," offered him as he motioned me to come with him.