Love's Rendition
Part 21
by Tragedy88
E-Mail: Tragedy88@goplay.com
Disclaimers: See
Part 1.
“Want
to go for a drive with me?” Allison asked the next morning over coffee and
blueberry muffins.
“A drive?” I wondered why there were no comments about last night, the
kisses she’d given so tenderly or the reason for my tears.
“Yes, there’s something I’d like to
show you.” She turned to look at me,
and her tentative smile made my heart skip a beat.
“Sure, where to?” I had
the sudden thought that I was wrong.
Totally wrong, and everything I'd come to realize wasn't true. My stomach churned as I stood and grabbed
the back of the kitchen chair.
Allison reached out her hand and
steadied me. “You okay?”
I just nodded.
“It’s nothing bad. I'm not kicking you out of the house or
anything," she said lightly.
"Just wait and see. And-
and if you don’t like it…well we’ll get to that when we come to it.”
So we made our way through the house
and to the limo, where Ed was waiting.
When the limo finally pulled to a stop we were in front of Wahbash
Galleries. I looked at Allison. She just smiled.
“Come on.” She led the way inside to the main room, taking my hand in
hers. There were numerous people
wandering around, looking at the new paintings.
I stopped dead in my tracks. “What is this?” All around me were the paintings I’d done in the last two months.
“Remember I said I had a special
show coming up?” Allison waved her hand
around the room.
“Uh huh.”
“This is it, Grace.”
“My paintings?” My jaw hung open. Allison with the rose, by the trellis…flowers, children playing,
mountains, sunsets, forests…. All
mine. And the centerpiece. “My brother,” I whispered.
“It’s…he’s not for sale. None of them are if you don’t want to, but I
already have bids on three of them. For
over 50,000.”
“Each?” I croaked, stunned.
Allison nodded with a wide smile.
“I’ve got to sit down.” Shakily I made my way to a bench off to the
side. Allison sat beside me.
“I’m sorry. I thought you’d like it.”
I looked at her slowly. “I- It’s just such a shock.”
“Then it’s all right?”
“It’s more than all right. You’ll never know….” Tears began to cloud my eyes and hastily I
wiped them away. “You’ll never know how
much this means to me. Why have you
done all this for me?” I asked abruptly.
“What do you mean?” Her eyebrows rose. “Why did I spend money on you?
Why have I given you things?”
My eyes narrowed. "Why are my paintings here? I never asked you to do this."
“Do you think all I want is a
commission?”
“I'm not sure what you want,” I
admitted, crossing my arms across my chest and sitting straigther on the
cushioned bench.
“I did this," she waved her
hand around the room, "because you deserve it.” She reached out a trembling hand and touched my cheek. “What else do you want?”
My heart caught in my throat. I don't want anything but you, hovered on
the tip of my tongue, but refused to be said aloud. “And for all this….” I waved my hand impatiently towards the
paintings. “What do you want from me?”
Her eyes widened and her hand
dropped to her lap. “Nothing,
Grace. Haven’t you learned that by
now? Haven’t you learned
anything?” As her voice rose numerous
people turned our way.
“I’ve learned a lot of things,” I replied
defiantly, and more then a little embarrased by the unabashed stares now
directed at us.
“And what’s that? That nothing’s for free? That no one can care about you or do things
for you without some ulterior motive?”
She paused, standing, and raked a trembling hand through her raven hair. “Why won’t you let anyone love you?” she
yelled.
The shattering rage in her blue eyes
frightened me. Unconsiously I stood and
stepped back a pace.
“Goddammit,” She cursed and abruptly headed to the front doors of the
gallery. I raced after her and just
barely caught her arm as she cleared the glass door.
“Allison!”
She spun around to face me, ripping
my hand off her forearm. “Just go away,
Grace.”
People were bustling past us on the
busy sidewalk. Horns were honking,
radios blaring…and all I could hear were the words, ‘why won’t you let anyone
love you?’
“Just forget everything I said. Forget about the show. Forget about the paintings…” she muttered
and turned away. She resumed her course
down the busy sidewalk, bypassing the limo and a perplexed Ed.
I watched her go, my heart aching.
Apparently I hadn’t learned anything
at all.
•••
I wasn’t sure if I should return to the
mansion, but Ed insisted.
I worried for Allison and her dark frame
of mind. She was out on the streets- a
place I knew was violent and horrible to someone vulnerable- and my heart
rested in my throat the whole drive to her home.
As I wandered around the house-
Vella discreetly keeping her distance after talking to Ed- I touched the spines
of books, the frames of pictures, countertops…all places that Allison had
touched.
Not much made sense to me right then,
since I’d thought I’d had it all figured out.
Was I a fool? The same stupid
idiot that had fallen hard and fast for a beautiful woman while sketching her
in the park?
No.
I knew in my heart and to the
darkest reaches of my aching soul that there was more to it then that.
•••
(c) 2000, Tragedy88