76
The sculpture piece had been the piece she had been staring at, during her ex-boyfriend's exhibition, one rainy night. She had dolled up and had gone to congratulate her boyfriend on his exhibition, with roses which were the same colour as the girl in the drawing was holding, only to be greeted with a sculpture of a naked woman in a sex position, which had bore her name as the name of the piece.
And as if that hadn't been enough, her exboyfriend had called her name out publicly, which had called caused a lot of stares and gossips from people that day.
It couldn't be, she admonished herself, but a part of her kept admitting it was true. The roses in the drawing were the same as the ones she had been carrying that day, and so was the sculpture piece and the style of the gown she had been wearing that day.
A gasp escaped her lips and she slowly raised her hand over her mouth, shock written all over her face as her mind went back to the story he had told her at the gallery's cafe, the other day. She had been so blinded by her feelings that she hadn't been able to pick up the hints that it wasn't a story of him and Stella, rather it was a story of his first meeting with her, which had been proof that he had loved her all along, but had just been terrible at expressing his feelings.
She struggled to whip out her phone, from where she was seated to dial Demir, tears stinging her eyes as she wondered why it had taken her so long to realise his true feelings for her.
"The person you're trying to reach isn't available..." The network operator said, over the phone and a saddened expression loomed over her face.
"Demir..." She muttered, when the cab came to a halt.
"We've arrived, miss." She heard the driver say and she whipped out a note from her purse, to hand over to him before gathering her books as she alighted the cab
Josh, who had already arrived and was seated by the window side, turned to throw her a wave, which she partly reciprocated, before he gestured her to come in
In a brief instance, Tahti felt sorry for him. He had been hoping she would get over Demir, and fall in love with him, with time but she doubted it was ever going to happen, since she was now sure of Demir's feelings for her.
Exhaling, she turned to head into the cafe.
She could tell he was glad to see her, as the smile on his face alone gave that fact away.
"Hey." She said, plastering a smile as she neared his table.
"Have a seat." He replied and she helped herself to sit opposite him. "How was your paper? Was it difficult?" He asked and she shook her head.
"It was rather easy." She replied.
"I see." He answered falling silent for a minute, before he asked.
"Have you decided what you'll do during the vacations?"
Tahti's eyes slowly darted round. "I haven't given it much thought yet." She replied and a waiter walked towards them, to lower a cup of strawberry ice cream on their table.
"Your order." He replied with a smile which took Tahti by surprise, as she was yet to make an order.
"I ordered this for you." Josh answered as if he had read her mind and she smiled.
"Thanks." She replied and the waiter to leave.
"Have you thought of remaining in L.A?" He asked and she shook her head as she leaned forward to take a swig from her drink.
"No. I'll be going to my mum's place after the exhibition's over. She has been begging me to come." She replied. She had been surprised, when her mother had started calling and sending texts, to check up on her and to invite her to come spend the vacations with her, during her exams, which was something she rarely did. Tahti guessed hr aunt must have pulled some strings, behind the scenes to get mother and daughter together. "Will you be visiting your aunt too? Janine seems to have missed you a lot." He said, as she took a sip from her drink.
She suddenly flashed him a knowing smile as she pulled back, being able to see through the lie.
"Really?" She asked.
"Was it that obvious?" He asked, with a nervous chuckle.
"Of course. Even a fool would have noticed." She replied and he raised his hands to surrender.
"Okay, I admit. It was an excuse." He confessed, but she already knew. He was the one who wanted to have her around, not his sister.
"Well... I did talk to my aunt about it and I guess I'll be visiting her soon. I don't think I can stay with my mother until the vacation is over."
A smile crossed his lips as he raised his glass, to take a quick sip. "By the way..." He was saying as lowered his glass. "Your exhibition, this saturday. What time is it ending?"
"I guess around seven, in the evening. Do you want to come?"
"Mm." He agreed. "It's amazing how you could finish your piece, in such a short time after the accident."
She hadn't planned to tell him but April, her good-for-nothing best friend, who still had the habit of poke nosing into people's affairs, had broken the news to him, instead.
Unknown to him, he had been a little late as Demir, who had come to her rescue, had already started to help her out with her piece, by the time he had called to console her.
"Well..." She paused briefly. "My assistants were the ones who helped me out. That was why I was able to get it done quickly... It was tough, though but I learnt a couple of things."
Josh straightened himself in his seat, looking somewhat pleased to hear her talk.
"Really? Can you tell me some of the things you learnt?" He asked and Tathi sighed as she folded her arms, to lean back into her seat.
"I like working now..." She paused, to look out through the window. "To be honest, I wasn't enjoying working as a sculptor for a while, but someone told me I look the happiest and the prettiest while working." She told him, lowering her head to look down at her shoes .
"I was so happy to hear that."
Josh's expression slowly changed to a sad one and Tathi wondered if he knew she was hinting about Demir. She hadn't told him he had been one of her assistants, as she hadn't been sure of the way he was going to take the news, of hearing them work together. "Maybe you enjoyed working..." He finally said and she raised her head to look at him, the saddened expression on his face was still there.
"...but you probably realise that when that person told you that... I guess you feel thankful to him or her."
"I do." She replied, with a sad smile as she turned back to look at out through the window.
