AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Even if you feel that you’re not ready for a solo show, can you at least trust that Greg knows his job? It’s not up to you to decide. It’s Greg’s, and if he thinks your work is good enough for his gallery, who are you to say otherwise?”
I inhale deeply as his words penetrate my brain. “You have a point there,” I say tentatively. The more I let his words sink in, the more they make sense. Greg has been in the art industry for years, and in that time, he has seen a lot of work from various artists. He definitely knows what he’s doing. “I may not be the best judge for my work.”
Kyle grins and squeezes my hand. “That’s my girl. You deserve this, Grace, and you’ll be awesome. I can’t wait for the world to discover you.”
His enthusiasm is catching. I grin back. “Let’s do this.”
“I’ll just let him know that we’re here,” Kyle says and fishes out his phone.
As he types the message, I look at the space above the entrance where they write the name of the featured artist and imagine my name up there. Grace Hughes. That will be one special day. I hope that my parents will make it to the show. It will mean everything to me to share that day with them.
“He says we can go in now,” Kyle says, and we get out of the car.
We walk up to the closed double doors, but when we get nearer, they slide open, and a smiling woman lets us in.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Bryce. I’m sorry I gave you a hard time the last time you were here. I didn’t recognize you,” she says.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kyle says and gestures to me to enter first.
The woman’s eyes are on Kyle, and I could just as well be invisible as far as she’s concerned. I walk past her, and she doesn’t shift her gaze from Kyle. It’s a bit amusing but also offensive. I’m soon distracted and forget the woman’s bad manners and start to admire the art on the walls.
The pieces are gorgeous, and I’m soon lost in a world of colors and feelings as the artwork evokes deep emotions in me.
“Your work is even more beautiful,” a deep voice says behind me, and I jump, startled.
I whirl around to find Greg and Kyle beaming at me. I was so lost in admiring the forest landscape in front of me that I didn’t hear them come up behind me.
I shake Greg’s hand, and Kyle drapes his arm around me as we move to the next piece. It’s another landscape, this time of a forest, but the more I look at it, the more layers begin to emerge. I spot squirrels hiding underneath the underground as well as insects and small plants winding around the massive trees. It’s like going on an Easter egg hunt, and I find myself chuckling at every new discovery.
“Did you see this?” Kyle says, pointing at a frog relaxing by the side of a narrow stream.
I laugh. “I hadn’t seen it.”
We spend the next couple of minutes pointing out hidden animals and other objects in the painting. Greg tells us about the artist. He’s known all over the art world, and I tremble inwardly at the thought of my work hanging on the same wall his work hangs.
“I’m beside myself with excitement,” Greg says and laughs softly. “I’ve been dropping hints to everyone, but they all want to know who my new discovery is. Of course, I don’t intend on telling anyone, but it’s fun to see the excitement build up.”
“I hope they won’t be disappointed,” I say, voicing my fears.
“I promise you, they’ll be blown away,” he says in a way that allays my fears.
We spend an hour at the gallery, looking at the paintings and hearing about the various artists Greg has worked with over the years. Most of it is for my benefit, perhaps to give me confidence that he really does know his stuff. I’m grateful for what he’s doing, given that he doesn’t have to.
I’m more relaxed on our way back home, and Kyle comments on it.
“Your friend is a good person,” I tell him in response.
“Yeah, Greg is awesome, and he loves art. He lives and breathes it,” Kyle says.
“I feel bad that we kept him for so long, but it was exciting being there. I lost track of time.”
Kyle chuckles. “Don’t. Greg will be there for another two hours or even more. He’s a workaholic if I ever met one.”
That makes me feel a whole lot better. Back home, we let ourselves into the quiet house. It feels so peaceful shutting the world away and just being the two of us. I’ve become comfortable in Kyle’s house very fast. He was right that it would be better to stay with him rather than at my apartment for security reasons. His home is like a utopia. Here, I feel protected from the harshness of the world and mostly the media. Kyle sued the tabloid magazine, which used a drone to take pictures of us in the swimming pool, and though he has assured me that it won’t happen again, I’m still shy about going out there.
