Spring Portraits

Mary and Bert had been friends for many years and knew each other better than anyone else. After leaving the Banks family, the wind brought her to France. To be precise: to Paris.

Without knowing this, Bert decided to collect impressions in this city and work there for a short time as an artist. This idea came from none other than Mary Poppins, as she had been to Paris many times and knew the incredible talent of her best friend.

On a beautiful, sunny day in spring, he sat down in a street in Montmartre and started to paint. His choice fell on the Sacré-Cœur basilica, which shaped the image of the city. Lively, he let his brush slide across the canvas and brought colourful oil paint on the white surface.

So he stayed a few hours until he drew the last point and put the utensils aside. Satisfied, he examined his latest work of art when a voice, more beautiful than any song, made him look up: "Can one buy this masterpiece of yours, good sir?"

"Mary!?" He jumped up and wanted to give her a friendly hug, but stopped at the last moment, because he did not want to soil her clothes. "What are ya doin' 'ere?"

"I work here... But since today is my free Tuesday, I wanted to take a little walk."

As she spoke, Bert noticed what a beautiful picture he saw: Mary's hair was, as always, neatly pinned up, her blouse was white with a slight stitch of pink and the skirt and jacket dark blue. All this was perfect for the background: the sky was blue and covered with light cloud clouds, the cherry trees were blooming, and the picturesque city gave the sight of ultimate perfection. He crouched down and looked at everything from a new perspective and found it even more beautiful! So he set up his chair next to Mary: "Sit down, please."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I want t' paint ya."

Frowning, the nanny sat down and looked skeptically at her friend. He was putting a new canvas on the easel - his eyes sparkled, but Mary could not make out the exact emotions in it. Despite the skepticism, part of her was flattered that he portrayed her.

"What should I do?"

"Just keep calm and sit straight and don't look so serious" He winked and dipped the brush in the paint.

With a critical eye, he examined her and wasn't completely satisfied - after all, the picture should be perfect!

"Could ya maybe raise your chin? Yea', perfect! And now look a bit more in me direction." As soon as everything was as he wanted it to be, he started to paint.

The fact that he studied her with his blue eyes gave her goosebumps- but not unpleasant ones!

Although Mary was a respectable woman, there was a tiny spark of curiosity deep inside her that made her try to catch a glimpse of the painting. But Bert, who knew and loved this trait, admonished her and had to smile. "Don't move."

However, Mary's posture had changed as a result of the movement, which is why the artist was moving toward her and wanted to align her chin. However, he stopped at the last moment: "May I?" She nodded and held her breath for a moment, as he took her chin in his warm hand and then approached her with his face. Concentrated, he studied her eyes and memorised every detail.

As if hypnotised, she looked into his beautiful eyes and literally sank in this ocean of different shades of dark blue. The two of them were so close that they could feel each other's breath and their noses slightly bumped against each other.

"Did I already tell ya that ya 'ave stunning eyes? The spectrum of blue is incredible! You can literally read in them!" He waited a moment before returning to his painting.