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Twenty–Two
Isabella’s POV
We ended up going to some bar I had never been to that night and I ended up wondering why I hadn’t found this place ages ago and made it my spot.
The decor was beautiful, the music was superb and the barista must have studied wine in a school or something because he mixed one hell of a drink. Conversation had started slow and very awkward and I could not help but feel a pinch of jealousy as I watched Chloe and Ryder. I was still trying to program my mind to stop calling them my best friend and my ex cause it was kinda really delaying the process of loosening up.
They were obviously trying their best to not pay so much attention to each other out of courtesy for my presence but even at that they had more chemistry than Ryder and I ever had in all those years of going out. It was until the barista finally brought our drinks and we had some alcohol in our systems that we finally loosened up a bit and I even found myself smiling somewhere in the middle of the night.
I couldn’t say it was back to the way things were before and that may either never happen or take a while anyway, I mean before all this Ryder was my boyfriend and Chloe, my best friend who slept with him. I may be over Ryder now but it was still really hard to swallow.
I was just trying to tell myself that all this was inevitable. Soul mates are made for each other. Their hearts are connected by the goddess from conception. Ryder and Chloe were bound to happen
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and I guess…I guess having a mate that would never accept me was my fate. Maybe that was the cause of the tinge of jealousy I felt towards them, knowing that I could never have what they had found.
We said our goodbyes and Chloe went with Ryder while I got into my car and drove home. I didn’t have that much alcohol in my system that I couldn’t drive and that was the goal. I didn’t want to get shitfaced drunk for a long long time.
My last experience wasn’t the best and besides I had too much work on my hands to spend my entire night drinking and my mornings tired and hungover, recovering from my terrible decisions.
The next couple of days I buried myself with work. Managing the preparations for the exhibition as well as finishing up my painting.
The mind–blowing inspiration I had been seeking had finally come to me the day before the exhibition and I spent the entire day as well as the night before working on it while still attending to other matters that required my attention, fueled by the endless cups of coffee I filled my system with. I had gone back home that night tired but content and had a huge smile on my face as I walked into my apartment and went straight to bed.
Maybe it was the excitement but I managed to wake up early without even feeling groggy due to my lack of enough sleep. It was my first exhibition since managing the gallery so I think I deserve to be so excited and I couldn’t wait for people to set their eyes on my newest piece.
I did subtle makeup and spritzed some perfume on my neck and wrists before spraying some into the air in front of me and twirling into it.
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My outfit was as classy as classy could go and I decided it looked every bit my position in the gallery and then I donned a beret to give it an artistic touch. I was really in a good mood today and with my luck, I hoped nothing ruined it.
The gallery was bustling with activity even though I just got there and on noting my arrival, Olivia rushed up to me to give me a rundown of what had been done and what was left to do. I had long admitted to myself that she was good at her job and maybe it was a good thing Alexander got her back… if she wasn’t really working for him. The snack and wine bar were still being set up but I knew it would be done before the guests arrived.
“What is Mrs. Cole saying about the pastries?” I ask Olivia.
“Most of the food is ready while some still require a bit of time but she is positive all will be done minutes before the first guest arrives and then everything will be set all at once.” She replied and I nodded.
“And the drinks?”
“Someone should be coming in with that, right about…yes, there they are!” She pointed to the entrance where cartons of wine were being brought in to fill the temporary wine bar that had been set
- up.
“Good job,” I said and saw her beam. I wasn’t very generous with praise so I guess I understood her reaction.
Calling a couple of the men, I led them to my studio so my painting could finally be set up. Unlocking the door, I stepped in and switched on the lights and when my eyes landed on the painting, all color drained from my face immediately.
My painting stood there on the easel but since I had left the
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painting to dry overnight, it seemed like someone had used their finger to draw spirals all over the landscape, smudging the paint and destroying my work. I stepped back, feeling I might fall. I wanted to cry and I wanted to scream at the same time. Who would do this? Why would anyone do this? I spent so much time on this and…fell in love with it and know it was ruined.
“I want everyone gathered in the main room right now!” I growled, seething. The men that had followed me flew from their spots and went to take care of that.
I was pacing, my wolf fighting to take over at any second which I’m sure showed by the way my eyes had most likely turned black. Everyone who worked in the gallery had gathered and some of them looked confused, some looked at me with pity while some looked frightened like Olivia who was basically shaking at her knees.
Well to be fair, she had received most of the brunt of my anger ever since I found my ruined painting. I had been asking what happened to my painting for the last couple of minutes and I hadn‘ t heard anything helpful since.
“Well, where’s the CCTV footage y’all went to get me?!” I demanded.
“Ma’am.” A security man spoke up, faltering when my completely black eyes whipped up to him, “Um, the footage for the studio for last night is missing.”
I was quiet for a long second and I heard everybody’s breath seize for the duration of my silence and when I found my tongue once more, I laughed. That seemed to have thrown them off because even the ones who had had looks of confusion or indifference now looked frightened.
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Twenty–Two
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“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE FOOTAGE IS MISSING?” I yelled, my voice amplified by my wolf’s presence at the surface. The room fell into deathly silence and I realized it was not nearly as quiet a moment ago. “Show me.” I seethed and he immediately got to it, leading me to the controls room where a couple of other guys sat in front of screens.
At my arrival, one of them abruptly got up and gestured for me to take a seat instead. I glared at him before sitting down. “I can’t explain it ma’am other than something has been tampered with. The footage is missing.”
“I left the studio and the gallery at past 11 pm. Where is that footage?”
“Footage has been cleared from 10:30 pm to 5 am this morning ma’am.”
“How could the footage have been cleared, huh? Which means one of you assholes did it! The gallery is never without security! Who was on night duty?” I demanded.
“How could someone outside any of you have come in here and ruined my painting without you knowing and still found a way to clear the footage without your knowledge? Do I look like a kindergartner to you men? Either one of you did the whole thing or one of you is covering up for someone else who came in and ruined it. Either way, I’ll find out and you’ll pay.”
I chuckled bitterly, “And wouldn’t you like to know exactly how you‘ Il pay?”
With that, I sprang up from the chair, registering their anxious faces before leaving the room and going back to where the rest of the staff still stood.
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I bit my lip as I watched them wondering who amongst them would do such a thing and who outside this place would want to
do this to me all while trying to keep my emotions at bay.
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