Who knew a visit to an art gallery would lead me to meet the love of my life? I had once considered myself the unluckiest person when it came to love. I always came so close to finding love but it never happened. My last relationship was the final straw. The love burned hot for a couple of months then all of a sudden, he decided to end things. After we broke up, I vowed never to waste my time or energy on a relationship again. I focused more on my friendships and making new friends rather than getting into a relationship. That was how I met my best friend who later turned into the love of my life.
One of my best friends, Sarah, was a talented artist and she had finally got her big break. One of the top art galleries in the city was displaying some of her artwork and she invited me to the opening night. However, I almost didn’t make it because one of the partners at the law firm I worked at decided to give me an assignment that afternoon.
“Diana, I need you to work on this case by the end of the day.” He said.
“Come on, Daniel. Why would you give me a case on a Friday afternoon?”
“You might need to come to work tomorrow as well. This is one of our top-paying clients and we need to handle the case promptly.”
I worked on the case that entire afternoon but I hardly scratched the surface by the time the day was over. It was pretty apparent that I would need to stay at the office till late so I could make some progress. So, I had to tell my friend that I couldn’t make it to her opening night.
“Hey babe,” I said over the phone.
“Hi, are you on your way?”
“About that. I might need to take a rain check. Work is chaotic.”
“Oh no, I was looking forward to seeing you.”
“Me too. But I’ll try my best to come even if it’s for a few minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll appreciate it.”
As soon as the call ended, I went back to my desk and stayed there till around 9 pm. By this time, I was too exhausted to continue working. I packed up my bag and headed to the parking lot. I wanted to head straight home but something kept telling me to go to the art gallery. The event was ending at 10 pm so I had a few minutes to make an appearance.
When I got there, the place was almost empty and the staff was cleaning up so they could close for the night.
“You made it,” Sarah said as I walked in.
“Barely.” We embraced and then went to the display area.
“Let me get you a glass of wine.”
“Thank you. I definitely need it.”
While she was gone, I walked around admiring the beautiful art on the wall. Then when I turned around, I noticed a guy standing at a far corner looking at me. I tried to ignore him but every time I turned, he was still staring at me. So, I decided to confront him.
“Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?” I asked.
“What?”
“You’ve been staring at me the whole time I’ve been here.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just looking at the art.”
Before I could say anything, Sarah came back with two glasses of wine and handed me one.
“I see you’ve met my best friend.” She said to the guy.
“Your best friend is rude.” He said then walked away.
“What happened?” Sarah asked me.
“I simply called him out for staring at me.”
“Diana! That’s the Creative Director of this gallery. You need to be nice to him.”
“Whatever. He was staring at me and it made me uncomfortable. I need to go anyway. I have to be at work tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thanks for coming.”
***********************************************************
I felt bad for the way I acted the previous night especially since it could affect Sarah’s career so I decided to go back to the art gallery and apologize to the guy.
“What should I say to him?” I asked Sarah over the phone as I drove to the gallery.
“Just be nice, Diana. I know you hate men or whatever but you guys could end up being really good friends.”
“Okay. I’ll be nice.”
He wasn’t at the art gallery by the time I got there and I had to wait for almost an hour for him to come back. It gave me a chance to familiarize myself with the art to try and make a good impression.
“Not you again.” He said as soon as he walked in.
“I came to apologize. I know I was rude to you last night.”
“To be fair, I was staring at you a little bit.” He said which made me blush.
“I knew it. I’m Diana, by the way.”
“Charles.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
We walked around as we talked about the art. I tried to impress him with my little knowledge and things were going well until I asked the forbidden question.
“Why are art pieces so expensive? This one costs Ksh 2 million.”
“Can you make such a painting?”
“Of course not.”
“Then don’t ask why it’s expensive.”
I held back on saying something to him for my best friend’s sake but I was dying to clap back at him.
“I’d love to know how to draw though.”
“Really? I could teach you.” He perked up.
“That sounds good.”
To be honest, I didn’t want to see him ever again after that day. I had done what I went there to do and I wasn’t planning on going back. However, our worlds would collide again and this time we would be inseparable.
It had been a couple of months since the first time I met Charles. Sarah constantly brought his name up but I didn’t think much of it. After our disastrous encounters, there was no way we could be friends.
See what happens next I Intensely Disliked Him The First Time We Met & I Never Thought I Would End Up Falling In Love Part 2
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