A had been in London for a week: an extended stay after 4 exhausting days stuck in contract negotiation. It had taken it out of her. So it hadn't been a major decision to postpone the return flight and have a look round one of her favourite cities.
She'd bought Time Out like a good tourist and consulted on the best shows, concerts and exhibitions to visit...she'd ticked a fair number off and had saved potentially the best till last...a small gallery just off the canals at Little Venice. She'd enjoyed lunch in a bijou waterside cafe watching the boats bob past and the collective mass of Londoners wander, head down in the hazy afternoon sun (she'd been lucky!).
Dressed in a simple Paul Smith dress she'd picked up yesterday in Covent Garden (knee length cream cotton, with a turquoise hem and slim brown leather belt) she strolled her way to the exhibition entrance. A square white building, not much bigger than a terrace house didn't bode particularly well...but books, covers etc...
She rang the small silver bell to the side of the sturdy looking ash door. After a worryingly long wait, it eased back. A man, about her age, looked out, eyes wincing in the afternoon sunlight. Like all gallery folk he was dressed a little eccentrically; a plum cotton blazer, white tshirt, jeans and some trainers straight from a running track...but he wasn't bad looking. A smiled her best tourist smile "Er, hi...is this the place where The Woman is?"
"Um...yeah...(a little shy and awkward)...we closed 5 minutes ago though...I'm just locking up". Silence. "Oh shit" she thinks. She was assuming it was 4 and it was 5; she always ended up having a late lunch on vacation.
"Oh no (turning on the *charm* smile) I'm heading back to? tomorrow. I really REALLY wanted to see it (head to one side, cute, employing those piercing eyes). Please...I'll be quick?"
He checks his watch. A thoughtful pause. "Yeah...no problems. I'll have to close up behind you. I'll let you out the back in 5, yeah?" A steps into the cool dark room and he locks the door behind her with a thud. He points to the painting ahead of her. "Please..." and with a slight blush returns to his open plan desk.
I think he likes you...a little twinge of pleasure turns in her tummy. Her flat white sandals (Burberry) slap on the grey concrete floor. She self-consciously treads a little lighter as the echoes in the deserted room are deafening.
The room is indeed impressive; better than she would have assumed from outside. Square, white, high walls topped by narrow oblong windows (that only let in a modicum of light) surround a single painting, 10ft by 8 ft., hanging from the ceiling.
The lack of light was mandated by the artist, Emmaline Parry, a young British artist who wanted the audience to get up close. It's quite breathtaking. A reworking of Picasso's masterpiece. The pain had gone, replacing it was pleasure; a head thrown back in unadulterated ecstasy. The teeth bared...the hair flowing...the eyes unfocussed...not looking...only feeling.
A looked at it and lost herself in it. The colours. The lines. All made her think about the last time she'd felt that. Between a job that required travel and a broken down marriage, well, it had been a long time ago. But somehow the memory stirred something deep in her; starting in her tummy...working down the front of her thighs and back up her again. It felt wonderful. She became aware of the warmth hovering around her groin. Instinct told her to touch herself but she refrained...maybe later...
It was only then she became aware if him next to her again. About 6 feet away, close but not close enough to invade her space. She glanced over: he seemed to be lost in the woman's face as well. Out of the corner of her eye she took him in...over 6 foot...brown scruffed-ip hair...blue eyes...nice lips...and an obvious reaction to the painting in his tight jeans. She looked away, embarrassed for him and herself. But that abated and was in turn replaced by curiosity and something else: a desire to see all of him.