Gordon smiled. “It turns out you’re quite a profitable artist for me and I am going to be putting on another exhibition in a few months.”
I shook hands with Gordon. “Here’s to an equally profitable working relationship.”
“I’m not a religious man but… Amen.”
I smiled. “Oh, by the way… who bought paintings?”
“Oh… The River was bought by the Hammersmiths,” Gordon said. “And The Dreamer was bought by… I think it was the Danvers. Isn’t that similar to your last name?”
My eyes went wide with shock. “That is my last name,” I said, in amazement. “They’re my parents.”
“Huh… spending five thousand on their own kid’s work when they could get it for free,” Gordon said. “Never underestimate the length that proud parents will go to.”
I walked back into the thick of the gallery… feeling… I didn’t quite know what I was feeling. It was a mix of so many things that I couldn’t quite work it all out in my head. And before I could, I was approached by a beautiful couple who wanted to ask me about my work. I was talking to them when I spotted her.
She was standing by my collection with her eyes on me. She looked breathtaking in a white dress that made her look both sexy and angelic. My heart started to beat a little faster, and I excused myself quickly and walked over to her.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” Zoey replied.
“You came.”
“Of course I came,” she nodded. “I couldn’t miss your big night.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“No, thank you,” Zoey said. “For my painting.”
38
Zoey
“No, thank you,” I said. “For my painting.”
Devlin smiled tenderly at me. “I was trying to express how I felt about you… but I think my feelings were too big for the canvas.”
“I think you did a pretty good job,” I said. “In fact… I might have bought it if it hadn’t been a little out of my price range.”
At that exact moment, one of the gallery staff came up to the painting and pasted a little ‘sold’ sticker right next to it.
“Wow,” I breathed. “You have a fan.”
“I think in this case, it’s the person in the painting that had to do with the sale,” Devlin said, with a secret smile.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said, staring at my image and thinking how much more beautiful his vision of me was.
“I do,” Devlin said quietly.
I avoided his gaze and looked around at the crowd. “This is a good turnout… isn’t it?”
“Gordon knows how to put on a show,” Devlin nodded. “And because of it… I might actually be able to make an honest living and focus on my work.”
“It’s what you always dreamed,” I said. “And you finally got everything you wanted.”
“Not everything,” Devlin said.
He didn’t put a lot of emphasis on his words, but the weight of them settled between the two of us. What did I want? What had been my real motivation for coming here in the first place? I wasn’t so sure that I knew myself. But staring at Devlin’s gorgeous blue eyes, I couldn’t see past my own need and desire. I loved him so much that it hurt to be this close to him and feel the barrier that stood between us. Yes, that barrier was of my own making… but he had built the foundation for it without even realizing. Could I really forgive all that happened?