IMMORTAL LOVE | one

3 - Purchased

                                                 Alana watched the negotiation being discussed by Karla against the gallery owner and admired at how professional and sophisticated Karla was.

The event had finished an hour ago, her team had managed to sell all the art pieces downstairs. To celebrate, Jake and Pam had discussed going out for drinks. However, Alana had to decline as Karla had asked her to help negotiate with the gallery owner about re-selling her painting to the guy in Armani. Her partners had left her with regret on their faces, however, Alana had encouraged them to go out and enjoy in her place. She had bid them adieu an hour ago.

Upon discovering that Alana was the painter of the piece he cherished, the gallery owner was honoured to meet the famous anonymous artist. He chided himself for not recognising her sooner and commented how it was such a small world that she should be the one to have curated this event. After receiving the praise, Alana had introduced him to Karla and her boss and explained the current predicament.

Because the gallery owner cherished the painting, he initially refused to sell it. Alana no longer held any legal binding to the painting and so she couldn't help them. However, Karla was famous for being tenacious. She would not leave until her boss got what he wanted. And so, she had begun negotiating with the gallery owner.

It has been twenty minutes, since Alana left the main office to the vending machine selling coffee. She had excused herself from listening to their tireless negotiation. She took her time to go and get that coffee. Alana was exhausted, for the last eighteen hours since morning she'd been up and down with attention to detail, trying to organise this whole event. Placing the art pieces in the correct order. Driving to and fro, from her office to this gallery. And finally, this whole evening.

She felt her muscles aching and being in heels for the past three hours had burned out her soles. She missed her Vans, terribly.

Because there was no one else in the building but security and the party in the main office, Alana decided she couldn't handle it anymore and got rid of her heels. She was walking back to the main gallery office, barefoot, with coffee on one hand and heels dangling in the other, when she stopped suddenly...

Standing outside the main office, his tall masculine form leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and his fingers playing with the vial of his necklace, was the guy—who's name she should learn fast, since "guy in Armani" was growing old.

"Coffee?" Alana announced her presence as she stood in front of him, the arm— in which her strapped heels weren't dangling from—reached out to hand him a plastic cup of coffee.

His eyes opened in slits and stared down at her. As he studied her with those intense golden eyes, they lingered briefly on her bare feet. A small ghostlike crinkle cracked his frown. A hint of a smile flashed briefly on his eyes. Although his face remained expressionless, he seemed to be amused by the fact she had ditched her heels.

"No." He replied to her initial request.

Not even a thank you for offering.

Alana shrugged and brought the cup to her lips, thinking one more cup wouldn't kill her after this long night she had. Although she would later regret it—since caffeine could keep her up all night. She decided she will be fine, she had the whole weekend free to recuperate from the long weekday she had.

As she was mindlessly drinking her coffee, too tired to notice the fact that his watchful eyes were drilling holes through her. His form suddenly invaded her space as he took a step toward her. Alana watched the whole scene, transfixed, as if in slow motion, as he simply grabbed the half-finished cup in her hands.