Theron was already at the small cafe near the beach when we arrived. He was a thin man who looked to be in his mid-forties, dressed in a simple t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. He stood up to greet me in an ent every bit as thick as Margaret’s.
“Adam? Pleasure to meet you, sir. I am excited to work with you. Please, sit.” He gestured to the table.
“Thanks.” I sat down and found myself slightly taken aback by his pleasantness. A waiter brought a cup of coffee and took my order.
“I saw you once before at an art show at the university, but didn’t get a chance to speak with you. I didn’t know then that our paths would cross like this, or I would have been sure to introduce myself.” He continued.
“Oh really? I’m sorry, but I don’t remember seeing you there. No offense.” I was surprised.
“It’s quite all right, I was there early for only a few minutes and left soon after. But your work was a big part of why I was there.”
“Mine?” I replied in genuine surprise. I had been looking around at the architecture of the buildings that surrounded us, but now he had my full attention.
“Jeff has spoken highly of you, Adam. He insisted that I should see your work and I happened to be in town for business at the time of the show. I came by and saw the ones you had disyed. I was quite impressed. I even bought one of your pieces, you’ll see back at my studio.”
“Wow. Thank you so much.” I didn’t know what else to say. A famous, sessful artist had actually liked one of my paintings enough to buy it. I was blown away.
“Which painting, may I ask?” I was really curious now.
“I believe it was titled ‘Judgment’. A haunting ck and white piece. It resonated with me on a deep level, although I only recently came to figure out why that might be.” He gave me a careful look.
My initial excitement had faded visibly and he had seen it happen.
“You aren’t a fan of the piece, I take it?”
“I almost didn’t put it in the show. I don’t like that one at all.”
“Because you had a lot of emotion tied up in it, no doubt.” He wasn’t asking.
“Yeah, I was in a dark frame of mind when I painted that one. Bad memories.” I fought to stayposed. The guilt and uncertainty of that night didn’t hold a candle to the shit I felt now.
“Guilt. Shame. Fear. You can see it all in the design. It’s a powerful piece, once you have most of the puzzle pieces in ce to know what you are seeing.”
“You took all that from that painting?” I felt really raw and exposed.
“I didn’t at first. I just knew it resonated. Once Jeff told me about your rtionship with your sister, it all made sense. It made me even more d that I bought the piece. It will remain in my collection forever.” He said as he watched me pale in shock. Margaret gave us both a small smile and stared thoughtfully at her sd.
“Dr. Miller told you about that?”
“You can rx, Adam. Your secret is safe.”
I looked up at him, still in shock. Margaret reached over and took his hand on top of the table.
“Theron here is my brother.” Margaret spoke up, smiling as she kissed the back of his hand. “And I’ve loved him since I was a small child.”
“We have been together since we were in college ourselves. We fought it for a long time, but resisting our feelings for each other became too much to bear. Before finally epting the love we felt for each other, Margaret was nearly suicidal, and I was on a self destructive path of a different variety. So we know very well how you feel.”
“Holy shit.” I leaned back in my chair.
“Sorry!” I added hastily, realizing I had cursed in front of my new employer.
“Don’t be.” Heughed. Margaret started snickering as well. “But you can see why Jeff thought you would benefit from working with me. Both for your art and your life. And hopefully you can understand why I might be able to recognize the pain you felt when you painted ‘Judgment’.”
I nodded.
“Jeff told us what happened with you. I’m sorry you experienced such harsh rejection by your family. Our own situation was much different. We were orphaned when our parents died in a ne crash many years ago. They never knew about us. Our extended families were another matter entirely.” Margaret spoke up, giving my arm a sympathetic squeeze.
I fought to keep my tears in check. I had known these people less than an hour and already found myself with all of my cards on the table. I was a raw, broken, shell of a person with nothing more to hide.
“Hopefully, you can find somefort and happiness here with us. We want to help you however we can. And I meant it when I said I was a fan of your work. I really am looking forward to working with you.” Theron sounded sincere.
“I can’t believe this. This whole situation.” I looked out at the beach, taking in the beautiful blue water. It seemed impossibly blue.
“It’s a lot to take in.” Theron agreed. “When Jeff called me, I knew I had to try to help. It’s not often that you meet someone who’s gone through a situation as unusual as ours.”
“I imagine not.” I chuckled for the first time in weeks. “I can’t believe you are fan of my stuff.”This is the property of N?-velDrama.Org.
“Why not? You have talent, Adam. You aren’t well known to the art world yet, but that will change with time.” He sounded certain when he said it, as if it were a fact and not a pipe dream.
* * *
Theron led me through arge work space. The walls and ceiling were stone, making me ponder how old this ce was. Large windows allowed natural light to flow through the room. Huge canvases, some as much as fifteen feet long, leaned against the walls. I had never painted on a surface thatrge and couldn’t imagine how long it must take to paint something at that scale. He motioned to a short corridor the was set in one back wall. He hit a light switch and set one of my bags on by the doorway. I walked into the room and looked around. For a room made out of stone, the ce looked ratherfortable. The walls were stone, painted white, and the only wood in the ce was the furniture and door frames. There was a bed in a back corner, with an end table next to it. A work bench, book case, and closet made up the back wall. A small round table with two chairs was set in the center of the room. A simple and beautiful hand made vase was centered on the table.
“It’s not much, but I think you’ll find itfortable.” Theron said. “Feel free to repaint the ce if you don’t care for the color. This was the color that the house came with.”
“I don’t need a lot, really.” I replied.
“There is a small kitchen over through this doorway here. And a bathroom through that door over by the corner. I’m afraid there’s not a television out here, but we can take care of that soon.” He continued.
“I can watch plenty of stuff on myptop, there’s really not a need for a TV. I don’t really n on watching much television anyway.”
“Whatever you prefer is fine. If you decide you’d like a television out here eventually, we will be happy to help you with that. We would have set you up in the main house, but thought you might prefer the privacy that being out by the studio can provide.”
“This is great, Theron. This is much better than I was anticipating. The way Jeff talked,, I expected that it would just be a bed in a corner and maybe a closet.” I responded.
Theron nodded in response, but seemed pleased.
“I’ll leave you to get settled in for a while then. I’m sure you are worn out from the flight and all.” He turned and headed for the door, then paused. “Listen, I know you have been through a lottely. If you ever want to talk about it, I’ll be d to listen. I imagine given the peculiar circumstances you have dealt with, there haven’t been many people you can talk to about it.”
“Thanks.”
“Alright then. There’s not much in your fridge out here right now, but Margaret will take you into town tomorrow to get you stocked up. When you are ready for dinner,e up to the main house and we’ll go get something. I’m afraid neither of us are very good cooks. Especially whenpared to the local cuisine.”
With that, Theron left me in my new home. I sat at the small round table, pulled out myptop and connected to the inte using the WiFi password Theron had given me. I checked Amy’s facebook page and saw, as before, that nothing had been updated on it in weeks. I closed theptop and sighed. There really wasn’t much more I could do right now. Was it a mistake toe here? I couldn’t stay back in Austin, I was going crazy there. I folded my arms, and put my head down. Toote now, either way.