AFTERNOON TEA
Water Miscible Oil Paint on Canvas (30in x 24in)
This painting depicts a couple having a light midafternoon delight of tea and sandwiches in a balcony. The man is sitting in a wheelchair while the woman is pouring a steaming tea from the pitcher into a cup. The tableware is all china.
Mr. Lavares contacted me to ask if I could submit another artwork for the upcoming joint exhibit, but this time my entry must be done using paints – it must be a painting now. To be honest, I wasn’t quite expert at handling paintbrush.
It would be exhibited with the works of other established artists including my professor Mr. Escano. And that was quite scary. How would I compete with those people? The only thing I could do was to do my best.
I’d been thinking for many days of what would be the best subject to paint, not until one afternoon when I saw my parents in the balcony. Dad was sitting in a wheel chair. They’re having an afternoon tea on the balcony. They would be the models of my first ever legit painting.
I removed the unfinished painting from the drafting board. This was the painting of two babies which I had left on the day I had escaped from the house. I replaced it with a blank canvas and pushed all the items towards the window where I could see my parents. I knew it was hard because my models were moving. So while I still had time, I quickly finished the preliminary sketch.
I was mixing oil paints on a palette, when a familiar female voice interrupted my wonderful thoughts for my next work. To my surprise, I lost my grip on the palette. It fell on the floor, splotching hues on the surface and my bare feet. I was wondering how she’d entered the room without making any noise.
“I’m sorry. Did I surprise you?” said Chloe.
“No, you didn’t. You really did not surprise me,” I said sarcastically, not tinted with any anger. “The palette wouldn’t fall on the floor if you didn’t surprise me. But if you’re really sorry, you would help me clean this mess.”
I went to my bathroom to clean my feet.
“Do you have any paper here to wipe out the paints?” she asked. “How about this mini sketchpad on the table? Can I tear some pages here?”
“No!” I shouted.
I grabbed the wet rag on the sink and went out of the bathroom, even though I hadn’t removed the blots of paints on my feet yet. Before she could open the sketch pad, I snapped up the sketch pad from her hands and handed over the rag to her.
I wasn’t angry just because she would tear some pages. I was afraid if she would see the drawings I had made after I’d got a fever in my former quarters in the dormitory. That time I’d been sketching a girl – and it wasn’t Colleen but Chloe. That’s the reason why I’d hurriedly hidden the sketchpad in my bag that day, when I’d heard the doorknob moving.
I concealed the sketchpad under the mattress, while she was busy wiping the floor.
“You know what?” she said, giving me a very malicious smile. “I wouldn’t doubt if you had nude drawings of Colleen in your sketchpad.”
“Perhaps, you’re right,” I said.
It was better if she would think that way. I slumped down the bed, putting both my hands under my head.
“Are you done?” I asked.
“Hey, you said I would only help you with this. Why am I the only one cleaning this?” She stood up and put the smeared rag on a stool along with a cup full of paintbrushes. “Speaking of Colleen, I notice that you’re staying in your room for a long time. It’s still summer vacation. Why don’t you and your girlfriend spend time together?”
“The truth is…” I sat up in bed, somber. “I can’t contact her lately.”
“What? You mean she broke up with you?” she asked, as he sat next to me.
“I don’t know. Maybe, not officially break up.”
“No way. I believe she’s just cooling off. Maybe, she just needs some time and space. What exactly happened the last time you saw her?”
What exactly had happened? Colleen and I had drunk in my quarters. And something had happened between us after that. How I wished I could say this to my sister. I turned my head down and didn’t say anything.
“It’s okay, Chleo. I understand if you don’t want to tell,” she said, rubbing down my back. “Well, I guess it’s not the right time to tell you something you don’t know yet.”
“What is it?” I asked, but she seemed reluctant to tell me. I guaranteed her, “You know, my personal issue doesn’t really matter, Chloe. Just tell me what it is.”
“It’s about me and Clayton,” she gave in. “We’re in a relationship now.”
“Really? Since when?” I was thunderstruck. At least, it dismissed Colleen from my mind.
“Since he came back to their house.”
“Then that’s almost a month. Congratulations. I’m happy for both of you.” I pinched her cheek lightly. “So my twin sister is a big girl now.”
She stopped mentioning about it, probably because she thought I would remember Colleen if she kept talking about it. Her eyes roamed around the room filled with drawings on the wall, until she saw the canvas near the window.
“Is this Mom and Dad?” she asked, as she pointed to the two people on the draft.
I nodded.
“You’re amazing, Chleo. I don’t know how to draw, but you seemed to do this one so easily. You know what? Sometimes I wonder if we are really twins. You’re good in arts, while I’d make a terrible painter.”
When I looked at her, I felt that my strange feeling for her was coming back. It was terrible and very wrong. I thought I had relinquished this feeling when Colleen had come into my life. But I was wrong.
Out of the blue, we were disrupted by the weeping of a woman – echoing from the balcony.
The wake was held in our house for a couple of days.
Before father died, his command to the medical staff of Solaire Medical Center was that they did not have to attend either the viewing or funeral. He’d wanted them to stay in the hospital to do their duty instead. However, many of them did not heed his command and still visited in the wake, but they only stayed for a short time and did it only once.
One day, Mr. Lavares came to visit. I wasn’t around that time, because I was in my bedroom taking a rest. When I woke up and went downstairs, I saw the spray of flowers he had left. It had a ribbon around that wrote ‘Condolence from The Gallery of Aesthetic Arts.’
I’d never been aware that my father was an important person of the gallery. Perhaps, he had been one of their avid contributors. I had so many things to ask to Mr. Lavares, if only we had a chance.
The next morning was the burial day.
YOU ARE READING
Chloe & Chleo
Romansa"[W]hen I woke up, I realized I was falling in love with my own sister." - Chleo Solaire Jr. Chleo Solaire is a young contemporary artist whose dream is finally fulfilled when he had his first ever solo exhibit of his paintings. But no one...
