Chapter 20
“Kai, come on baby, we have to go.” Gema urged as she snatched a piece of toast from the toaster and hurried to find her heels. She was going to be late for work if she didn’t hurry and get Kai to school, and lately it had been nearly impossible to get him up and out of the door. Ever since they came back from Disney, all he would do is beg her not to go to work, but to stay home with him, and it broke her heart everyday to leave him at his classroom. Kai sat on the floor by the front door of their townhouse, attempting to tie his Converse, but really just making knot after knot. Gema dropped her satchel to tie his shoes for him, grabbing his hands and pulling him to his feet. “Ready hun?”
“Yes Mami.” He said, grabbing his backpack and reaching to open the door.
“Wait honey, let me put on the alarm.” Gema set the alarm, then hustled Kai out of the house and into the car.
Hurrying into work with mere moments to spare before nine, Mark looked up as Gema came in, flashing him a tired smile, and he glanced at his watch.
“For the life of me, I can’t figure out why you feel the need to hurry into the office when you’re the boss. You know you can do whatever the hell you want, right?”
“Like fire you?” Gema teased, and Mark let out a snort of laughter.
“Oh please, you can’t fire me, I’m a minority.”
“You’re a homosexual, that‘s hardly a minority in London!” Katie, Gema’s business partner, protested as she came down the stairs from the upper loft. Katie was what most people would call, quirky. The typical artist type, Katie dressed like her body was a canvas. Today she had on a flowing syrong of olive green, and an orange men’s dress shirt tied in a knot on the side. Slender and graceful from years as an interpretive dancer, Katie had tied her blonde hair into a careless knot on top of her head, and there were smudges of blue on her hands and face.
“Whatever, Katie.” Mark glanced at her. “The starving artist motif is getting really old, by the way.”
Katie swatted at Mark with a paint brush and he ducked from her, coming up blazing.
“Get paint on my new V neck, I freakin dare you!”
“New piece, Katie?” Gema asked, distracting Katie from responding to Mark’s dare. They bickered like cats and dogs, but it was all for show, Gema knew. Katie and Mark had known each other since art school; Katie had studied interpretive dance and paintings, while Mark was one of the most talented photographers Gema had ever seen. She had met them by chance at an art opening, and they had just clicked.
“Oh yes, I’m working on capturing the essence of rain onto canvas while listening to the harvest chants of a Nigerian tribe. It came to me in a dream.” Katie nodded.
“Oh wow, that sounds….eclectic.”
“The word you were looking for is weird.” Mark informed Gema, and Gema swatted at Mark this time, who laughed as he dodged her attacks too.
“Any messages?” Gema asked as she made her way to the stairs.
“Yeah, someone called and said they wanted to possibly plan an event here? They wanted to rent out the space or something. Also, someone called for a consultation I guess? He said he just moved into the area and wants to decorate his house, but doesn’t know anything about art. I told him you’d call back to schedule an appointment or something.”
“Hhhmm.” Gema mused, only half listening as she took the stairs to the loft, where her workspace was. Stepping lightly over Katie’s radio that lay on the floor playing rhythmic drum beats, Gema went into her workplace/office and shut the door. Here, was where Gema liked to express herself. She was working on a new collection, all her pieces having the theme of a new beginning, a rebirth. At first it had been hard, taking care of Kai on her own, but Gema wasn’t going to wallow around in self pity forever. Oh sure, she’d spent about a week shoveling ice cream in her mouth, crying, and hating Vistos Stakolopous, but at the end of the day, what are you going to do? Of course Vanessa denied having any idea what Gema was talking about when she confronted her, but that didn’t matter either, because what was done, was done. Vistos had showed his true colors, and Gema was just glad she got to see them before it was too late. Maybe, just maybe, Vistos didn’t write that letter, but that didn’t explain why he never tried to reach her again. No phone calls, emails, unexpected visits, nothing. As far as Gema knew, he never tried to look her up, and for that she couldn’t forgive him. Humming to herself, Gema unveiled a fresh canvas and pulled out her set of acrylic paints, content to get all her feelings out on the paper.
YOU ARE READING
An Unexpected Romance
General Fiction“Mio dio, I love the way you say my name” His voice was a husky whisper, and Gema took a step back, caught off guard. He stared at her intently, shoving his hands into his pockets. “What do you want” he snapped at her, and Gema hesitated. “Well I…...
