Secretly Mine
Chapter 182: Gallery Event (1)

Chapter 182: Gallery Event (1)

"Shall we make our way over to the gallery?" Lucas’s words snapped me out of my thoughts.

I quickly took one step back and nodded. "Yes! I’m ready."

Lucas smiled and put his arm out for me to grab on to. "Then let’s be on our way. I’m willing to bet that at least two people will want to buy your painting tonight."

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "Buy my painting? I highly doubt that. I’m just hoping to hear two people say something nice about it," I replied, shaking my free hand in front of me.

"Oh, please, you’re underestimating yourself too much. You’ll see, once we arrive, you will see some of the other paintings there that are nowhere near as nice as yours."

I flashed him a grateful smile. Lucas was always very good at cheering me on.

-

The venue for the gallery show was a modern building downtown, but on the opposite side of where Christian’s company was located. We arrived a little early, just in time for the gallery to finish setting everything up.

"Welcome. Feel free to look around, refreshments are on the table over there," a polite hostess greeted us at the entrance.

I walked inside with Lucas and glanced around. The interior was just as modern as the exterior; concrete floors and tall, pure white walls with various paintings hanging on them.

Lucas led me over to the side room where the refreshments were. "The theme of this event is scenery and animals, so your painting fits both perfectly," he said, handing me a flute of champagne.

"Thank you," I said, accepting the glass.

We entered the first area where the walls were covered mainly in animal portraits. Cats and dogs were the most common subjects, but there were also chickens, cows, horses, and other farm animals.

It was amazing to see how every artist had their own style. Some artists focused on realism, painting very lifelike animals, while others took more creative liberties, dressing their animals up in silly hats.

"There are so many styles. It’s interesting to see how many different ways a cat can be painted," I said with interest.

"Isn’t it?" Lucas chuckled. "I think that’s the beauty of being an artist. Ultimately, you’re the one in control."

I nodded, agreeing with him. We walked into the next section, where scenery paintings began showing up in between more animal portraits. One artist used a series of small canvases, no bigger than my hand, to paint an interesting picture of an elephant.

As we walked farther along, I began to scan the walls for our paintings. Lucas must have noticed this because the next moment he smiled at me. "Ours are going to be in the last room. This gallery has a ’save the best for last’ approach."

I laughed, thinking that he was just being nice, but as we continued to walk down the halls, I noticed that the paintings began to get larger and more detailed. They also seemed to have more artistic expression than the ones at the start.

"Oh, you weren’t kidding. I can tell that these paintings seem more professional, though I’m not exactly sure why I feel that," I said as I closely inspected a painting of a desert scene.

"Mm, good eye," said Lucas, "There are a number of factors that can affect this. First, the quality of the materials. Take this canvas, for instance, you can immediately tell that it’s of much higher quality than this other one right here. The paints are also more vibrant."

I leaned over to have a closer look, "Yes, I can see that!" These were things I never noticed before.

Other guests began trickling in, walking around and admiring the paintings. The silent gallery was now filled with the buzzing of quiet chatter.

Lucas and I continued to make our way down the hall, closely inspecting each painting. Just as we were about to enter the third room, a staff worker came up to Lucas. "Sir, I’d like to discuss a sale for one of your paintings. Do you have a moment to come with me?"

Lucas turned to me before nodding. "Excuse me, Leslie. This won’t take long. They just need me to fill out a certificate; feel free to continue without me."

I smiled back at him, excited to hear that he already had a buyer for his painting. "Yes, of course! Take your time, I’ll be here."

Lucas smiled back and followed the worker down the hall. I turned my attention back to the paintings, quietly making my way forward. From the corner of my eye, I noticed another person standing beside me and admiring the paintings.

Curiously, I turned to take a look at who it was, expecting some elegant and studious man, but instead it was a very familiar person.

"Eve? I never expected to run into you here!" I said with a slight surprise.

Eve turned her head abruptly, noticing me beside her. "Leslie? I could say the same thing. It’s my first time running into you at a gallery show."

"Do you come to these events often?" I asked curiously. Her words made it sound like she’s been attending them for a while now.

"Yes. I’ve been coming for a few years now. I’ve always loved art, unfortunately, my parents pushed me to explore other areas, so I can only come here to admire other artists," she said calmly.

This was my first time having a full-on conversation with her, and I was surprised at how calm she was. I’m not sure why, but I always assumed she had a similar personality to Morgan.

"What about you? What brings you here today? I don’t see your sister here, I’m sure I would have heard her by now," she asked, glancing around.

I wanted to laugh at her comment about Morgan, but I remained neutral. "I’ve recently taken up painting. I came here to gain some insight on professional artists."

"Is that so? I’m quite jealous. My mother always found painting boring, even though she’s the first one to flaunt it if she obtains a rare painting. She never supported my desire to learn. But it’s a lot of fun to come to these events and escape the world for a short while."

"Escape the world?" I asked.

She nodded and glanced at the painting in front of her. "Take this one, for example. If you look at it long enough, you can begin to hear the sounds of the flowing river, smell the large pine trees."