Chapter 25: A Day With Ethan

Sharon and Ethan went spent the entire day with each other. Ethan took her all over the city and showed her the wonders it held.

Sharon had such a great time, seeing these places and meeting all of the people that Ethan knew. He took her to a family-friendly bar where he knew the manager and the leader of the music band that was playing that evening.

He requested a special song and they played it. Everyone in the bar got up and danced to the rhythm together and so did Sharon.

After that, he took her to a museum in the city. It was filled with fine art and artefacts recovered from all over the world, showing that the city also had a culture and rich history.

They later went to a corner on the streets where a group of classical musicians played for the passing public. With Violins, Cellos and Bass, they hypnotized the crowd that had gathered.

Ethan put a dollar in their jar and asked Sharon to slow-dance with him. She accepted and they danced together and had so much fun.

Later, they walked up to the entrance of a building.

"And for our final destination of the evening, I present, my favourite place in all of Boulder; *The Hall of Paintings,"* Ethan said and dramatically gestured towards the door.

Sharon raised a brow and looked at him questionably.

"I know, I know. The name of the place needs work but I can assure you that what it holds is more enchanting."

Ethan took out a key from his pocket and proceeded to unlock the door.

"Is this your shop?" Sharon asked him.

"No. It belongs to a friend but he trusts me enough to leave his keys with me in case he loses his."

He opened the door and they went in. Sharon was a bit hesitant and Ethan noticed so he turned on the lights to make her feel safer.

Sharon was astounded by the beauty and glorious elegance of what was in the shop.

"Behold!" Ethan said and gestured her

forward.

The room was filled with beautiful paintings of all shapes, sizes, and qualities. There were paintings of landscapes and portraits of people, animals, and mythical creatures.

The art was incredible and Sharon was amazed by them. Ethan could see the impressed look on Sharon's face and believed he had won her over with the paintings.

"So, what do you think?" Ethan said with a grin.

"I think it's wonderful. Are these yours?" She asked.

"You mean, did I paint them?"

She nodded.

"No, I didn't. But I really appreciate great art when I see it and I love it completely. I just never had the skill or talent for it while growing up so I never really got fully into it."

Sharon moved across the room and kept on staring at more paintings. She walked up to one of them and stood still, staring at it.

It was a painting of a beautiful woman wearing a golden dress with little red dots all over the entire picture.

Sharon touched the painting and was impressed by the skill of the painter who she believed got every detail of the picture perfectly.

Ethan stood behind her and told her about the painting.

"This is an original piece that was painted by an English man who loved to paint anything he thought was beautiful. There's actually a story about the origin of this painting. Would you like to hear it?" Ethan asked.

"Tell me," Sharon responded.

*"It was said that the Englishman was obsessed with beautiful things, people, places, items, and even animals. He travelled far and wide to the farthest reaches of the globe, painting whatever he saw and felt was worthy of being immortalized by his brush.

*"He went to a foreign land ruled by a ruthless King who was married to a very whom he had stolen a beautiful queen from her home because he was obsessed with her and enchanted by her beauty.

*"He wanted nobody else to ever gaze upon his Queen's face so he kept her hidden in his castle. The English painter learned of this and was determined to see the queen so he could paint her like he painted everything he found beautiful.

*"So he sneaked into the Castle and broke into the Queen's private chambers. At first, she was frightened by him but he managed to convince her that he was sent by the King to make a painting of her so she posed for him. He painted her, never once tearing his gaze from her face.

*"He painted every curve, every contour, and every detail to perfection. As soon as he finished, the King entered the room and was overcome with rage when he saw someone who wasn't him staring at his Queen and he took his sword and slashed the painter's neck clean off.

*"His blood splattered on the painting. That's what all of those dots are..," Ethan said, pointing at the red specks on the piece.

**"The painter's blood!" He finished.

"Is that really blood?" Sharon wondered out loud.

"I think it is. The only way to truly know for sure would be to analyze the painting more closely but that would mean damaging it, which would destroy its value and beauty," Ethan explained.

"So, what happened after the King killed the painter?" Sharon asked out of sheer curiosity.

"He saw the painting and was mesmerized by it so he kept it. Many years later, the queen fell ill and died from her illness. The King was devastated and missed her so much that he stared at this painting every day till his death.

Many say he went crazy, just staring at it but I guess the painting was a perfect image of his queen so he just looked at it every day, relishing the immortal beauty forever imprinted upon the canvas," Ethan finished the story.

"Wow! That's an amazing story. It can't be real though," Sharon acknowledged.

"Well, I don't know if it's real or not. I'd like to believe that it is but who knows?" Ethan said and they both stared at the painting with even more curiosity.

"So, what about you? Do you paint?" Ethan suddenly asked.

Sharon stood still for a while, recollecting all of the times she painted. All of the joy and happiness she felt in those moments.

"Yes, I do. It's the only thing I know how to do."