AMACon 4: Serendipitous - English Fiction

Through Her Eyes - One

"Pare, ano? All set na ba? Less than one month to go na lang," Sam said all at once when Richard open the door. Nicomaine had just left after spending the night over and he was still groggy for staying up until the wee hours of morning.

"Good morning din sa'yo, Sam," he replied sarcastically.

Sam looked at him expectantly. "So...?"

"What?"

"Paintings?"

"I have two 16x20, two 18x24, and three 24x30. I'm planning to make another one. Ano, good enough?"

Sam clapped Richard's back in delight. "Good, good. Buti na lang that trip to ABV helped you. I wonder what happened that night."

The latter glared at him for overstaying his welcome. "Chismoso."

"Ah, was there a girl?"

"Are you leaving or do I have to drag your ass outside my door?"

He raised his hands in mock surrender and laughed. "I'll see you soon, Richard!"

"Yeah, fuck off!"

Richard slammed the door close and dragged his feet back to his room. As he was trying to find a comfortable position, his thoughts went back to when he told Nicomaine about Rica.

Ecstatic was an understatement, and the pride and glee that shone in her eyes made him feel like he could do that again just to see her that happy. He felt invincible.

She rode him that night, hot and reckless, her breasts bouncing as her moans reverberated in his apartment. He simply stared at the beauty before him, and Richard even before he could stop himself, he confessed.

"I love you, my Nicomaine," he said between labored breaths. She slammed harder and he met her halfway, their bodies fitting perfectly together.

"I love you more," was her reply, and they cried out in bliss as they both reached their climax.

*****

"Babe, do you love me?" She asked after another round of mapping kisses all over his skin.

"Of course, I do."

"Can I ask you a favor then?"

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. "Whatever you want, babe."

"I think I know what I want. As a model, I mean. Remember the first time we met tapos I told you na I don't have the same level of enlightenment as you do?"

Richard nodded, the remarkable night still fresh in his head.

"I know what I want now," she repeated. "I want you to paint me the way you painted Rica."

That stopped him and he fixed her a warning glare. "Nicomaine, that is not funny."

"I'm serious, babe! I could see your every emotion in that painting and I want to see myself that way too. I want my painter to be so engrossed in the idea of me that it translates to his art. Magazines can't do that for me. Only you can do that."

"Nicomaine, really, this is not funny."

Her eyes darkened. "I said," she enunciated slowly. "I know what I want."

He looked helplessly at her, begging her to change her mind.

But he knew her. A determined Nicomaine is an unstoppable Nicomaine.

"Okay."

*****

There was a decent turn out on the first day of his exhibit, but it soon gained more attention when word-of-mouth got more people walking in the gallery.

Eight large paintings were hanged meticulously, and Richard nervously drank his champagne. No one seemed interested enough to buy any of his work.

The largest four pieces showed portraits of the same face, but the eyes were strikingly different from one another. One showed pure ecstasy, the other one displayed suffering, and one was complete submission.

He stood in front of the last painting he did. It was his favorite, a 24x30 oil painting of his Nicomaine. Her teasing smile was immortalized, and Richard felt his heart tug for missing her so much.

She looked so lovely here that he couldn't bear the thought of hiding it in his bedroom and not letting the world see his Nicomaine.

In the painting, she had her arms covering her chest, and her legs were crossed elegantly on top of one another. The most unusual and fascinating part of it though was how her middle was sliced open. Her intestines spilled on the white sheet of his bed, and the blood complemented the color of her lips that he loved the most.

Richard could still hear her.

"I want you to see all of me, Richard. I want you to see all of me and I want you to paint me the way that will make you feel."

He followed her instructions, and the product was this beautiful painting. Every stroke was a declaration of love, and every detail was carefully painted. It was perfect. It was his masterpiece.

Redemption, he called it.

He was about to check the other paintings and meddle with the viewers when Richard felt someone tap his back.

"Sir Richard Faulkerson?" The man asked and flashed a badge. "I'm Officer Napoles. Sir, pwede ho ba kayong imbitahan sa presinto?"

Other people in the venue started to take notice of what's happening, and Sam cut through the growing throng of onlookers to get to Richard.

The painter looked flustered, but he stood his ground. "Para saan, Officer?"

"Good evening, Officer!" Greeted Sam, and shook the hand of the man, slowly leading him outside the gallery where hopefully no one could see them. Richard followed closely behind them. "Ano ba ang maitutulong namin, Sir Officer?"

"Iimbitahan ko lang sana si Sir sa presinto. May kaunting katanungan lang kami tungkol sa kapatid niya."

Confused, Sam asked, "Si Rica? Bakit, anong meron?"

"Sir, kung pwede si Richard sana ang kakausapin ko."

"Sam, watch over the exhibit for me. Sasama na ako nang matapos na 'to."

*****