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.”
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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.
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“Diana, there’s someone at the reception asking for you,” Daniel said.
“What? Why hasn’t anyone called me?”
“Jackie isn’t at her desk.”
I rushed to the reception thinking that it was one of my clients only to find Charles seated on a chair next to the reception desk.
“What are you doing here?”
“I think it’s my turn to apologize to you.”
“How did you know where I work?”
“Can we go somewhere and talk?” He asked, ignoring my question. I later found out that Sarah had given him my work and home address.
I went back to my desk, switched off my desktop, picked up my jacket and left with no plan of returning for the day. We didn’t say a word to each other as we walked to the coffee shop. When we got there, we made our order then I took out my phone and started checking my emails.
“Can we start over?” He said, trying to break the ice.
“This is the third time we’re trying this out. Maybe we’re just not meant to be friends.” I protested.
“I know but I happen to work with your best friend and you can’t avoid me forever.”
“I’ve avoided you for two months.”
“I want you to be a part of Sarah’s journey. She’s really talented and she’s going places. She needs her best friend to celebrate with her.”
Seeing how much Charles cared about Sarah warmed my heart. I got to see a different side of him from the guy I met at the art gallery. He was funny, charming and most importantly, nice.
From that day, a friendship was born. I talked to Charles almost every day. We mostly talked about Sarah and her art in the beginning but the more we talked, the more I found out that we had a lot in common.
“I told you. You guys are so alike. You better not replace me with him as your best friend though.” Sarah said after I told her that Charles and I kept in touch every day.
********************************************************
Though we talked every day, I still had reservations about Charles because of our first encounters. I didn’t think that we could be close friends, especially in such a short time but the inevitable happened just a few months after our coffee date.
Sarah and I took a trip to the coast where Charles was hosting an art event. He had booked a three-bedroom Airbnb and invited us to stay with him.
From the time we walked into the house, I noticed how he looked at me. It was the same look he gave me the first time we met. The stare made my blood boil. I just had to know what he was thinking when he stared at me like that.
“Sarah, he’s staring at me again,” I whispered to my friend and we both chuckled.
“Thank you both for coming. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” He said as we walked to the kitchen to pour ourselves a drink.
“You’re our best friend and we’ll always support you,” Sarah said.
“You need to start getting ready. The event is in two hours.”
“Relax, Charles. We can take care of ourselves. Focus on the event.”
“Okay. When you’re ready just let the driver know. He’ll bring you to the venue.”
Charles headed to the venue 30 minutes later and we started getting dressed and headed to the event. Even before we got in, the setup looked magical. Charles had outdone himself and we couldn’t wait to see the man of the hour. However, he was nowhere to be found. As we walked in, we noticed a familiar art hanging on the wall in front of us.
“Is that your art, Sarah?” I asked in surprise. She was equally surprised to see her art there.
“What’s going on?” She asked.
“Where’s Charles?”
“I’ll go and find him,” I said.
I walked through the crowded room trying to find him until I spotted him standing by himself. He almost looked unrecognizable in a black suit.
“I’ve never seen you in a suit. The event looks amazing.” I said as I approached him.
“Thanks. Where’s Sarah?”
“She’s on that side. Should we go to her? She has some questions.”
“About her art?”
“Yes.”
“Before we go, I have to ask you something I should have asked the first day I saw you.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“What? You’ve known me for three months. If I had a boyfriend you would have known by now.”
“I just needed to confirm. Will you be my girlfriend?” He finally asked.
“It’s good you didn’t ask me this the first day we met because I would have said no. I’ve had the worst love life and I wasn’t ready to get into another relationship.”
“I know. Can I tell you something?”
“Sure.”
“Sarah told me all about you including your relationship history. I was rude to you on purpose just so you wouldn’t think that I was another guy trying to get in your pants but to be honest, I liked you from the moment I saw you. So, will you be my girlfriend?”
I was hesitant. Even though Charles and I had become close friends, I still felt like I was bound to the same fate and I didn’t want to lose my best friend in case anything went wrong. On the other hand, Charles was the sweetest guy I had ever known. He was nice to me even when he had nothing to gain from it. So, I knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.
I agreed to be his girlfriend and he immediately grabbed me and kissed me as if he had been waiting to do it since we met three months ago. We even forgot that Sarah was at the event. She found us making out and had to clear her throat to get our attention.
“Finally.” She said.
“Sorry, babe. I forgot you were here.” I said.
“No, I mean, he finally made a move. I thought Charles would never tell you how he really felt.”
For the first time, everything felt right. My love life was thriving. Most importantly, I didn’t lose my best friend. Instead, I gained a partner who already knew my good and bad side.
Check out
The Burden Of The Past Unexpectedly Poses A Dilemma On A Budding Love
The Unexpected Love Of My Life
Love Happens When You Least Expect It & The Unlikely Prince Charming
How I Found Love In An Unexpected Place
Rescue Me!! When Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You At The Workplace & Other Scary Ex Stories
The Casanova That Met His Match
Time Apart Brought Them Back Together And They Got Their Happily Ever After
