She looks around the unfamiliar surroundings of this quaint little section of Paris and sees a bank across the street, “perfect” she mumbles and heads into the bank to open an account.
In broken French, she asks the clerk to recommend a private detective. Recognizing that the address is nearby, she strolls leisurely along the side streets and looks for the address. Walking up a small flight of stairs, she walks past a few tourists, enters the building and knocks on his door.
Her knocks are answered by polite and small framed man, who shows her to a chair across his desk.
“J'aimerais chercher une personne.” She tries to explain in French and is interrupted by the man,
“Madam, I speak English.” He replies in English with a heavy French accent.
Delightfully she corrects him,
“Mademoiselle, it is mademoiselle, and I would like to locate a man. His name is Jean Philip Pierre.”
Chapter Twenty Seven. Responding to Theodore’s urgent call, Karina rushes to the gallery and is greeted by the door. Ecstatic to convey the great news he takes Karina’s hands and rushes her inside the gallery.
“Sit down Karina” he pulls a chair for her excitedly, “you will not believe this but a miracle just happened.”
Contaminated by his excitement, Karina can no longer sustain the suspense, “I love miracles! Tell me, please, tell me what happened” she squeals in delight just like a child.
Theodore points to a large empty space on the left wall, “it is sold!” he smiles proudly.
Karina turns and stares at the empty space and realizes that her biggest painting has been sold. A huge smile grows on her face and refraining from screaming in excitement, she maintains calmness and turns to Theodore, “how much did it sell for?”
Theodore grabs her hands, “ready for this?” he smiles, “it sold for twenty five thousand dollars.”
Stunned speechless Karina takes a moment to register what Theodore just told her and speaks slowly as she tries to find the right words, “are you serious?” she begins to laugh, “you are joking with me right?”
Theodore shakes his head and shows her the cashier’s check. In disbelief Karina grabs the cashier’s check from Theodore’s hand and reads the amount out loud, “twenty five thousand dollars.” Her attention is drawn to the name imprinted on the cashier’s check – Adam Valdez.
“Adam?” she speaks slowly in shock, “Adam?” she repeats his name again, “Why would Adam spend twenty five thousand dollars on my painting? This does not sound right! He can not possibly …” Karina stutters and comes to an abrupt pause of silence. Open eyes wide and appears frightfully shaken, “Oh … my … God … ALEX!” she screams and runs out the door.
Once again dashing through the streets as if she has gone mad, Karina pays no attention to other pedestrians and shoves her way through while crying hysterically. Becoming breathless she pauses for a brief moment, screams over her tears and continues running. Prancing through the lobby of Adam’s apartment, she calls for the elevator and presses on the button repeatedly while mumbling “no .. no .. no ..”
It seems to be a torturously long elevator ride and Karina steps out of it a complete nervous wreck. Facing the long hallway, she drags each heavy step forward against the beat of her heart. Shuddering and sobbing she finally reaches Adam’s apartment and pounds on the door.
Weakly she pounds again. Each pound deafens and echoes through the coldness of the hallway. As her world swindles around her she collapses on her knees while she continues pounding on the door. Unanswered, Karina turns to back the door and sits with her legs bent against her chest. Hiding her head between her knees and cradling herself with crossed arms, she tugs herself into a fetal position as she continues sobbing.
She knows that something has happened to Alex. She already knows. Fallen asleep over heartbreaking sobs, she awakes to the sound of the opening elevator door. Wiping away the tears from her eyes, she looks towards the end of the corridor and sees a man walking out of the elevator.
As he approaches nearer, she can see the saddest expression on his face. Devastated she sobs louder and watches him walk up to her.
Without a word Adam sits next to her and shares the solemn moment. He wraps his arm tightly around her and extends the only source of comfort as he knows how.
Understanding his unspoken words, Karina rests her head on his shoulder,
“why didn’t you call me?” her words are faintly audible. Adam’s eyes turn red as he fights against his tears and leans his head against the door. Covering his eyes with his other hand,
“It was not pleasant and he did not want you to see him deteriorate and fade away like that.” Adam pauses and holds Karina firmer to extend his support, “This is important and are his last words.” Holding himself emotionally together,
“He is free now and in a peaceful place. You Karina must also free yourself and find peace.”
******** Pitch black. The lights of the hall are dimmed to bare minimum and everyone is quietly anticipating the next to come. Slowly building tension, a faint buzzing noise travels around the hall and graduals into the sound of a deafening thunder bolt strike. Thunder roars and the sounds of a hurricane sweeps across the hall as rain begins to pour on the stage.
Neyo descends onto the stage amidst fierce winds and delivers the opening act as ‘Turbulence.’
“Fifteen minutes to curtain” the production assistant pokes her head into Amber’s dressing room and sees her injecting herself with a pre-arranged syringe of Toradol, “break a leg!” she calls out with a smile.
“Shush! And go away!” Stressed beyond words Amber gestures her to leave and mumbles softly, “I do not need to hear that.”
She has begged her physician for the self-injectable pain medication for quick relief so she can perform. Had he refused it then the opening would have cancelled. This means a world to Amber and she is willing to take all the risks. The opening must go on.
She fixes the straps of her toe shoes and stretches to warm up. The swell has gone and her ankle looks fine. Pain is manageable and with the Toradol shot, she should feel fine for the rest of the evening.
Nervous as ever she stands next to the curtain and watches Lizzie deliver her performance as ‘The Voice,’
“Hit that high note Lizzie, hit that high note!” she mumbles nervously and anticipates the climb.
Lizzie’s performance is impeccable and is delivering more than Amber has ever expected from her,
“Brilliant!” she smiles as she applauses and leaps onto the stage in a triple jump.
Feeling alive and energized on stage, Amber leaves her world behind and immerses herself into her musical. She becomes the show and her aura of a megastar shines brightly and sublimes the gray skies on the stage.
With each move, she magically converts darkness into light and precisely at the moment she lands on her feet after a triple spin, the skies on the stage turns cheerfully bright as she hits her jovial high notes.
Conrad joins the standing ovation, stands up in the front row and applauses, “Welcome home Amber, welcome home!”
After the finale Amber steps out of the closed curtains and delivers her infamous curtsey and receives a shower of long stem red roses. Overwhelmed by gratitude she gazes at the sold out hall, places her right hand on her chest and breathlessly looks up towards the heaven.
She closes her eyes and listens to the roaring applause while the mental picture of Nathan flashes through her mind, “Thank you for setting me free.” She whispers and wipes away her tears of joy.
Amber blows heartfelt kisses to her audience and steps back through the closed curtains, she feels a prick of pain through her ankle and stumbles backward into the arms of Neyo.
“Oh hello” he smiles. Amber chuckles and narrows her eyes; a faint smile grows on her face and feeling his strong grip, she turns and faces him with a timid yet mischievous expression,
“I am ready to scream. I am ready for you.”
L
iving the moment, she decides to experiment what it is like to be in an emotionally unattached yet monogamous relationship. Companionship is all she desires at the moment and Neyo is exactly what she needs for now.
Chapter Twenty Eight. Karina walks down a winding path and reaches the side of a river. She places the urn of Alex’s ashes along with a tube of painting on a large wooden boat and sets it down the stream.
Watching the wooden boat sail down the tranquil waters, a tear drops from the corner of her eye. She smiles peacefully and watches the boat sail out of sight, blowing it a kiss she whispers,
“You love the ocean Alex, rest in peace and I love you forever.” She closes her eyes, lifts her face towards the Heaven and smiles under the soft warm rays of the sun.
Karina finally understands Alex’s perspective and is at peace. Respecting his wishes she will continue on with her journey and march forward bravely until her destiny is fulfilled.
She will never forget him and he will always be a part of her, for eternity and beyond.
******** Wrapping up her editorial, Taylor looks around the office and realizes that she is the last one left. Gathering her things and tucking them away neatly, she looks across the hallway and smiles at Ivan’s office.
Locking up, she decides to head over to the Italian bistro for a quick dinner before going home.
Walking along the side street leisurely, she approaches the bistro and sees Ivan sitting at a table next to the window. Ivan sees her walking up and is just about to wave when Samantha walks up and sits next to him at his table.
For a fraction of a moment, as if a sharp knife pierces through her heart, Taylor feels an outburst of emotion and swallows a gush of silent tears. Pressing her lips together she turns around abruptly so Ivan will not be able to see her cry.
Baffled by her abrupt move, Ivan stares at Taylor while she turns her back against him to walk towards the opposite direction. He feels sad to see her walking away, leans back in his chair and sighs.
Taylor wipes away the last of her tears and begins to pace down. Pondering and trying to understand her own emotions, she presses her lips together and tries to fight against the urge of screaming.
Startled by a tap on the shoulder, she turns around and is about to swing her bag at whomever standing behind her, but halts to the motion as she sees Ivan standing there and catching his breath.
Wordlessly as if a whirlwind swivels around them, she waits silently for him to justify his motivation,
He catches his breath and holds her gaze, “You look as if you saw a ghost, is everything alright?”
Unable to speak her mind, Taylor presses her lips together in silence while Ivan waits patiently for her reply.
Faced with the predicament of keeping her silence or taking the risk of an embarrassing rejection, she decides to release the burden of her true feelings. Gustily she scrapes up all the courage she can find and conveys from the depths of her heart. Slowly and concisely as he has taught her,
“I want you. Ivan I want you.” He feels a knot tightening around his heart. Avoiding the possibilities of misconceiving her words, he seeks nothing but her ultimate truth.
“In which way.” Taylor laughs away her fears and finds the simplest words possible to avoid misunderstanding. In the most flirtatious way she narrows her eyes and chuckles,
“Do you … want to be my boyfriend?” Ivan smiles and feels the giant iceberg that once stood between them quickly melting away. He feels happy and relieved. His passion is ignited and he at this moment he finally admits to himself that he wants her too. He pulls her into his arms and presses his lips against hers. Reciprocating his kiss, Taylor throws her arms around him and responds to the most delectable moment. Their heartbeats begin to rise and they can nearly feel each other pulsate. Entangled in each others arms, he gazes into her gorgeous eyes and smiles tenderly.
Kisses do not lie. Putting all his ego and insecurities aside, Ivan surrenders to his own vulnerability and accepts Taylor into his life,
“Taylor I want you to be my girlfriend.” Locked in each other’s gaze, Taylor smiles delightfully and feels a magnetized pull towards him. On tip toes she kisses him again and seals the fate of their beautiful new love.
********
Psyche the goddess smiles amorously at Cupid and attests“and love will blossom once the mortals surrender their egos and become conscious of their true desires.”
******** THE END ******** © Copyright 2013 Ovation Publications.
All Rights Reserved. Special thanks to Dr. Rene Perez for his invaluable insights on the medical profiling of characters Alex Valdez and
Amber Winters.
Has Cupid Gone Mad?: War Of Hearts Page 12