Only His

19. Umm....Boyfriend

Elizabeth Meyer

When we stepped inside the hidden area I let his hand go since I want to give some dramatic effect to what I am about to show him. When I reached the spot and turned around he was checking the door. He pushed almost half of it with ease.

"Neil come over here." I called him waving my hands to make it fast.

He stopped what he was doing and came to me.

"Ok... What is it you want to show me?"

A smile played on his lips.
Since I was standing in front of it I guess he didn't notice at all. Slowly I moved myself away from it. At first his face didn't show any reaction. But slowly understanding made his lips to make an 'O'...

"Is this the original one? I mean I know this one.... I have seen it but Is this the ...." before he could finish

" yes it is.....  see the signature. The duplicates don't have her signature even if it has.... it's on the down right corner but see....this is on the left upper corner. I have heard she always used to sign with the light pencil so that no one notice at all. I am sure this is it. Oh god I can't believe." I was squealing in delightment. I know I was being childish but I don't care at all.

"You know so much about paintings.... its of" Then again out of excitement I didn't let him finish.

"J. Rosette..... Her self portrait.....The only one indeed.... See the contours...see the shades...she uses only pastels. This is framed too to ensure a long life and Oh god ....I can't believe this....please pinch me."

He was laughing... He grabbed my shoulders softly and firmly....I guess to keep me in place coz I was jumping again. But the touch was enough. Why pinching when tingling electric sparks are already there to show me the reality. I ceased from jumping further. All that is left was a wide grin stick to my lips.....even my cheeks are hurting.

"What are they.... Paintings??" He asked gesturing towards the other two stands that are covered in similar type of clothes.

"I guess so....let's have a look" I grabbed his forearms and led him along with me. He complied with me.

My guess was right. They were paintings too. One was of this mansion's... a helicopter view. But it was beautiful. The snow ball viburnum enclosed the front yard and the four tier water fountain could be seen clearly. That's the highlight of this picture you could see every single thing that adorned the frontage of the mansion without any interruptions. It was magnificent in my simple terms. The glorious era of the place. The sky had a tiny tint of darkness might as well hinting the arrival of a possible rain.... I glanced at Neil. He was... um.....he was looking at me. In real quick he gestured me to see the next one. Ok ....

The third one was of a man. A bearded man wearing glasses and suspenders. Eventhough he wore glasses his eyes contained all the love and mischief of this world. All I could let out was a
" wow"

"What?" He was looking at me with a developing frown in his face. The' what' almost startled me.

"What" I was confused but something in his voice told me to ask this 'what' as calmly as I can. It came out as a whisper.

"What is in it to make a wow .... I mean it's just a painting" He was trying to reason his 'what'...
"Ofcourse it is. But look at him...how he is smiling....look at his eyes...full of love and naughtiness and his moustache.... his beard...I like beard.  " I don't know why I exaggerated that much. But when I glanced at him he was tracing his fingers through his jawline. Wait.... Is he jealous?...he is jealous.... A small pout of disapproval formed in his lips. I added