The Past Between Us

-chapter one-

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There are a million ways of going about murder. You could do the classic knife to the heart, maybe a backstab, run him over with a car, or push him off a cliff, but nothing is more satisfying than the slow and painful death by poison...maybe in his morning coffee?

By now I had contemplated all the ways to kill my professor and also how to get away with it. Being one of the few well established painters in fourth year of college, he was always extra hard on me. It was the third time he had turned down my assignment within just one week. He would find out nitty gritty faults and ask me to do it again. And his cocky, holier than thou attitude always made things worse.

It was only the first week of last semester and I already felt like pulling out every last strand of hair from my head. I had two art gallery openings this week AND had to finish that wretched assignment, AGAIN.

Sarah says I should tell more people about my journey so far, it's a 'perfect sob story', according to her. It's true. I had gone from almost living on the streets to people spending thousands of dollars on my paintings. I had made it big, with my own hard work, and I was proud of it.
'I don't want false sympathisers Sarah' I said and she sighed for the umpteenth time.

'Okay never mind that, we are going all out for the gallery opening tonight right? I've got three brand new gala dresses waiting to be worn' she chirped.
Sarah was a glass half full kind of person. She only saw the good in life. I wouldn't blame her. Coming from one of those extremely rich families she had never seen the dark parts of life, the ugly bits. With that background, you'd expect her to be snobby but she was one of the sweetest souls I've known so far.

'Of course babe. We're definitely going all out, it's my biggest show this season after all. Now scoot, I have a million things to do before that, where the HELL is Luke?' Lukov Chen. Or just Luke, as we call him. He was a first year in college when he had started working for me. You could call him my... lackey? Okay, maybe assistant is a better word for it. Sarah and I both knew I had no need for an assistant, AT ALL. But Luke's professor, who was also my professor in first year, had requested me to let him work with me and learn from me. And having the utmost respect for her, I couldn't say no.
But since then he has been nothing but an absolute pain in the arse.

'You call for me and here I am, Miss Larsen' Luke beamed, entering the coffee shop and instantly catching the attention of all the girls there. He was a treat to the eyes, there's no denying that. But besides that there were no other good qualities to him.
'Don't, and this is the last time I'm warning you Luke, don't call me Larsen.' I gritted, pushing back the memories which came with that name.
'Oops sorry, don't get your panties in a twist Miss Olivia' he chuckled taking a seat.

'Drop the miss' I sighed. How the hell am I supposed to work another year with him?

'Okay fine, just Olivia. The venue is all set for tonight. I was just on the phone with the decorators, they'll start arranging your paintings in sometime, we should go and check it out. And I can finally wear my tux tonight right? ' he said.

'Oh my, is Luke finally taking his work seriously? Lucky me! Yeah you can wear your tux, but DON'T be late, I want you there for the opening' I said, finishing my coffee and getting up to leave, 'go visit the venue yourself please, I have tons of other work to do, and, please, for the love of good Lord, don't be late Luke.'

'Of course I won't, I'm never late' he winked and I mentally rolled my eyes.

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'I'm not sure what the guests would have their eyes on tonight, your paintings or you. You look gorgeous babe' Sarah said as she finished fixing my hair.
'Thanks, I am kinda nervous though, lots of big artists and collectors are coming' i admitted, the jitters finally setting in.
'You've worked day and night on these paintings Olivia. You and I both know how absolutely beautiful they are. Don't worry babe, everyone's going to love it.' she assured me.

It was eight in the evening and the guests had slowly started filling in. Luke, for the first time in forever, was not late.
'Told you I won't be late' he winked.
'Yes it seems the gods have graced me today' I chuckled.

'Wait, shit!' Luke exclaimed looking at his phone.
'What's wrong?' I asked.
'Shit! Shit! Shit Olivia!'
'What is it?!'
'I don't believe this'
'Would you tell me what the fuck it is?!'
'Someone just bought all the paintings from this collection.' Luke said.
'I'm sorry, what?' I asked, not for once believing what he said.
'I am not joking. Someone just bought all of sixteen of them' he said, rechecking his phone.
'But that's almost $250,000 dollars, and it's been just one hour since the collection has been released. Who is this person? What's their name?' I asked.
'It's someone called Kevin Young. Must be a big fan of your work, also very rich and... ' I stopped listening after I heard that name.

It couldn't be. Not Kevin. He was a closed chapter in my life. I had sworn to myself that I would never see that face again, that I would never hear that voice again.

This couldn't be actually happening right? He wasn't going to just walk into my life after four years. Right?

No. I wouldn't let him.

But then I heard that voice. And my heart stopped.

'Long time no see, Larsen'

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