Delon's Slivers

Sliver Three

         
           Delia felt parched. She'd spent the whole day scurrying from one gallery to the other,distributing the invites to her upcoming exhibition herself. She thought it only right that if she went herself,the curators would feel the pertinence of the event. Besides,that would give her workers a bit more time to add the finishing touches to her paintings.

         "Here you go Delia" Zac offered her a glass of water,taken from the dispenser at the far end of her office. Delia smiled,taking the glass from him and chugging the water down in one go.

          "How did it go?" Zac inquired,taking a seat behind Delia's desk. Delia looked over her little office. It was the only portion of her studio that she'd set aside for herself. She had to deal with a lot of companies and the documents and contracts couldn't sit with her paint brushes and palettes,could they?

          Still,it seemed a mess. Her file drawers were all opened to some degree,papers sprawled over the floor nonchalantly,new buckets of paint arranged close to the window and the new canvas' over the sofa. If her office was this way,she didn't even wish to see what the rest of the studio was like.

         "It went well Zac,I think we're going to have a really great turn up" Delia snapped herself back to earth,checking her phone for the time.

         "That's great. I've circulated the ads and posts on our social media pages and blogs. I think this will be one of our best so far" Zac informed as Delia took to her feet.

         "You're my illustrator for a reason" Delia smiled again,taking to her feet and throwing her jacket on. "Clocking out already?" Zac questioned,sparing his watch a glance.

         "Of course. Today was simply hectic and the faster I get to my bed,the better for me" Delia explained,looking out her glass window over the darkness which had begun to lurk over the earth.

         "What about Mia?" Delia inquired as she headed for the door. "Right here" Mia's bubbly voice had Delia's gaze averting from Zac to her door.

        "I still have a few paintings to wrap up. You can go on without me" Mia smiled. "Thank you,Mia" Delia returned the smile before proceeding down the stairs.

         She looked over the first floor,pleased with how much their preparations for the exhibition was going. A few years ago,her studio had been a mere bungalow but now,she'd expanded it to a storey building.

         Her paintings had become much more professional and she just had to give herself a pat on the back whenever she recalled what her pioneer paintings looked like. Their little gallery was all set for the exhibition with posters and unveiled paintings at different ends of the room.

         "Let me drive you home" Zac's voice came in as Delia stepped out of the studio. "Nah,I'm good. I think I'll be needing more of the chilly breeze of the evening. I'll take a cab" Delia turned down his offer.

         "It could be dangerous,let me.." Delia was quick to interject. Zac was an able bodied brunette who was a year younger than her and Delia loved the warm aura which always stuck around him. He couldn't even lay hands on a fly.

         "I'll be fine,Zac. See you tomorrow" Delia reminded him that she could take care of herself,although with a smile,before turning on her heels and continuing down the streets.

         She did take a cab as she'd said she would but she'd stopped right by the estate gates,deciding she would walk the distance to her house. It gave her enough time to think,threading over the hard blocks of the estate streets.
 
         It had been a week since she and Stephan got back from Lily's wedding. Like she'd predicted and feared,everything went back to the way it was. Not like anything had changed before,but it still hurt.