Burning Desire (Completed)

chapter 16

The taxi dropped Jasmine in front of the gallery. She paid the driver once she got out and walked towards the huge building. She was dressed in a sun flower gown and brown sandals.

The art gallery was a two- storey building with "Ray's Art gallery" designed boldly on the top wall.
Jasmine was greeted by the security guard with a smile as she climbed up and the glass door slided open.
The building had a security system and climate control to maintain optimum art preservation temperature and humidity levels.

Stepping inside, a soft instrumental filled the air as a female computer voice was talking in the background.
"Welcome to Ray's Art gallery. A place of beauty and wounder that eyes are yet to behold."

Jasmine was lost by the astonishing beauty before her eyes as she blocked out the computer's voice.
She had been to several art galleries but she had to admit that the place was really beautiful. She stood there with her jaw dropped and face in awe. The building was painted white, had high ceilings and it had floating walls and LED lighting filled the building. There was a lounge and reception area where people could relax and contemplate about the art works.

"Whoa!"She exhaled, "Who would have thought that such a place was even close to me." She chuckled steadily as she admired the whole place. Walking slowly, her eyes darted towards every corner. The linoleum floors were freshly waxed and she could see her distorted reflection as she walked.
Big vase of beautiful flowers, photographs, sculptures, and all kinds of paintings were seen everywhere. The place was glowing in beauty.

Holding unto her bag and taking small paces as few people passed her by, she savoured the magnificence of the place, looking at each art work she came across. Jasmine was a true lover of art and she always appreciated any beautiful art work she laid her eyes on.

She noticed a large painting of a naked mother and her baby on the wall and stopped in front of it, staring at it deeply with a mixed expression on her face.
Few seconds later, she felt the presence of someone by her side.

"What do you think?" A deep male voice suddenly asked, standing next to her.

"It's a beautiful piece of work," she said softly, still looking at the painting.

The man nodded. "What do you think you see when you look into the woman's eyes." He questioned.

She stared deeply at the mother's face in the painting. "I see pain in her eyes," she answered, eyes still on the painting.

"Why do you think so?" He asked, turning to her.

"She looks emotionless but her grey eyes expresses how she feels. And If you look very closely here," she said, pointing at the woman's hand which was covered slightly by the baby's blanket.
"You'll see she's holding a knife. But to me, i think she wants to kill herself rather than the child," she said.

The man looked at her, so surprised at her words about the painting. "How...how were you able to see that she's holding a knife? No one has ever noticed the knife ." He asked, staring down at her with a confused frown on his face.

"Well it was actually the first thing I noticed in the painting and that's what captivated my attention. This painting has a sad story behind it but not everyone will be able to see the pain in this woman's eyes," she said as she turned and looked at him for the first time.

Her blue eyes instantly locked with his brown eyes. He was tall and strikingly handsome. He was dressed in a navy blue tailored suit that hugged his body perfectly.

'Not again! Another handsome stranger!'

She thought as she gazed at him. In a week she had already been approached by two sexy and handsome strangers. The universe was really playing a trick on her.