The Sanctuary

All I've Ever Wanted (2)

***

As soon as he entered the office, he scanned it and his eyes immediately darted on one particular painting. His eyes almost popped out as he saw his first painting elegantly hanging on the right wall of the CEO's office.

His reaction did not escape that one person who was already staring at him as soon as he stepped into the room.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The man commented staring at Prem's beautiful face.

"Yeah. . . Breathtaking," Prem said without looking away from the painting.

"You bet. . . The first time I've seen that masterpiece, I fell in love with it."

That made Prem turn his head to look at the man. "Wow." He just murmured.

"You know, Isra-Sup's works have some kind of magic that pulls art enthusiasts like me to a world full of emotions. She wants us to feel what she was feeling when she was painting them. I kinda want to buy more, but she had a strict rule of a maximum of three paintings per collector only." He explained.

"Yeah. . . That is still the instruction until now." Prem blurted out.

"Oh. . . You know about that, too?" The man asked and Prem just nodded in response. "Sad fact, isn't it? I wanted to buy more, but I couldn't."

"Uhm. . . Say, how many Isra-Sup's paintings have you got?" He asked then looked at the painting once again. He couldn't get enough of it. He missed it.

"Six." The man answered nonchalantly.

"Wh. . . What??" Prem suddenly turned to face him with wide eyes.

"Six. One here. One in Samantha's office. . ." He said and pointed to his assistant. She smiled in agreement. "Two at my parents' and two in my house."

"Why?" Prem asked curiously.

"What do you mean why?"

"I mean. . . Isra-Sup is just new. . . He could be considered as an amateur."

"You know. . . When it comes to art, I know if the artist is good or not. . . And I say this artist is really good. Even though she's just new in this field. . . Well, you can see in her works that she really is something. And to prove my point, I think I'm not the only one who thinks Isra-Sup is really good. She had had two exhibits and all her paintings were sold out in just a couple of hours on the day of the exhibit." He calmly said.

"Mr. Chawalitrujiwong, have a seat please." Samantha motioned him to sit across from her. "You like paintings, too, I guess?"

"Yes." He answered as he took a seat.

"And I see you know Isra-Sup?" She continued as she handed the file to the man. Prem just nodded. "See that. . . You're one of those people who admire her and her art."

"Her?"

"Yeah. . . Isra-Sup. . . Her."

"Oh. . ." Prem exclaimed. He realized that his identity hadn't been disclosed to the public. Only his family, some closest friends, and his agent knew who he really was. "I have a trivia about Isra-Sup. . ." He decided it wouldn't harm if he shared a bit of information about him. "Isra-Sup is a he."

Silence enveloped the room.

The two other people in the room just stared at him as if he had grown horns. It was Samantha who spoke first.

"A what?"

"He is a man."

"But. . ."

"People just assumed he was a woman because his name or his pseudonym rather sounds like a woman's."