Diamonds Dancing

Twenty Four

"Stare any harder and I'm afraid the painting might come to life." She greeted the elderly woman, who was staring blankly at a grand painting in the foyer.

Sharp blue eyes flickered over to the giddy woman and a hearty laugh ricocheted off the echoey walls.

It was the next morning, the sun had barely risen and she wide awake, ready to start her day. After unpacking her belongings and doing all the chores she needed to do to plan for the week ahead, the one thing she struggled to do was sleep. She had stayed up the whole night, her mind focused on one thing only.

Ruth opened her arms out to welcome the nanny in a hug. "How are you, deary? I was getting worried for a moment there, I thought you'd never return."

She returned the hug, inhaling the comforting scent of the housekeeper before she let go. "I'm great! We got back late last night and, well, you know how extreme jet lag can be." She lied, not wanting to admit her real reasoning for locking herself up in her room.

"Now tell me, what are we staring so intensely at?"

She stood next to her, bringing her eyes over to the art that had distracted her in the first place.

Wordless, she gazed over at the painting and her heart began to swell in emotion.

There were three familiar faces and one that she had only ever seen on the internet and gigantic billboards outside the subway. A blonde-haired toddler was in the arms of the supermodel, and a toothy, much, much smaller, Janessa held onto the older man's hand.

She was beautiful. A full set of pearly whites, deep dimples and hair that appeared to glow under the studio lights. There was no denying the fact that she was captivating, reeking of elegance. Her tall frame went perfectly with his, her attention was stolen by his slight smile and she squinted to see better.

Rika uttered the simple statement. "He has a dimple."

An indent could be seen in his left cheek, it was profound and she wondered whether she had chosen to ignore it this entire time or if she was seeing things.

She assumed his youngest daughter had gotten her charming dimples from her mother but it turned out that he also had a dimple of his own.

To be completely honest, she had never really seen him smile like that. It was natural, unforced, full of genuine happiness. His crooked wry smile trapped her in, causing her to lose her train of thought.

Thankfully, another round of boisterous laughter jerked her into consciousness. "Frightening, isn't it."

No, not even in the slightest.

His smile was something else, she could feel herself ogling which was why she decided to clear her throat.

"The only times I saw him that way was when he was around her." Nodding her head, whispers of her grey locks moved with her. "You know, she was constantly making sure to treat the staff like family, I don't believe that there was one bad bone in her body. She was honestly one of a kind."

She didn't doubt that one second.

Curious, she asked. "Would you happen to know what day her birthday falls on this year?"

The silence was deafening.

"I was thinking that perhaps the kids would want to honour her by doing something she loved?" She stuttered nervously, saying it out loud made her question whether her plan was shambolic.

Ruth sucked in a hearable breath, catching the nanny's hopeful gaze, she bestowed her a saddened look. "You have such a pure soul, Rika, I think that's a wonderful idea." She told her, smiling as she did. "It's on a Wednesday this year, the fifteenth to be exact."