Chapter 42: The second painting

"Fiancée Dona Helena?" My mother whispers to me, looking at me as if she had gone crazy. "You said you were just dating".

"But we are dating, it's not as if we already have a wedding date". I say, sipping my coffee quietly.

"Are you already thinking about getting married?" I ask with my mouth open.

"Of course not, Mom". Answering, smiling at her expression of despair.

"Then why are you engaged?" Kelly asks. "As far as I know, people get engaged because they want to get married".

I glare at her, but she continues with an innocent smile on her face.

"If your father finds out about this he'll go crazy". My mother speaks somewhat exaggeratedly.

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" I ask, frightened, leaning in her direction, afraid of the answer I would get.

"Of course not". He answers with a frown. "Your father doesn't wax the road where you pass, if he finds out about something like this he'll get sick". Speaks like she's worried. "You've always had your head on straight Helena, what's happening to you, my child?"

She looked at me worried, her attitude was nothing but concern. Who could blame her? I had just gotten out of a complicated relationship and was engaged to a man I had only known for a short time, if she were my daughter I would have locked her in a room a long time ago.

"I'm going to get something". I say, getting up and leaving, leaving them confused.

I go to my car and get what I brought to show them. I go in and put the two paintings on the table.

"You started painting again?" My mother looks at me in surprise and I nod with a smile.

"That was the first painting I ever did". I say, pointing.

"It's a little..." Kelly looks for a word, as if she doesn't want to hurt me.

"It's a complete mess, I know". I speak smiling. "I started doing one thing and ended up doing another, in the end it fell to the floor, turning the picture into this complete mess". I laugh, remembering the exact moment I dropped it. "But Liam gave a name to the painting that I had named my complete failure". I speak and point.

Kelly is the first to read and looks at me a little confused. My mother reads it later and her reaction is the same as mine. She looked at me a bit excited, causing me to crack a smile.

"What was a failure turned out to be a self-portrait". I explain to Kelly, who begins to understand. "I was feeling exactly like that, confused. I no longer knew how I was and how things should be, I thought my life was over. I thought I wouldn't have the strength to get up and move on with my life. I was stuck for so long, I didn't think I could ever be alone again. But little by little, everything was working out". I said, taking the second picture. "And little by little, with the help of the people I love, I'm managing to heal myself".

My mother and sister stand up, hugging me from the side. We were still looking at the painting, my second self-portrait. In the painting I could already identify the silhouette, but the body was half finished. A watercolor of dark tones formed the head, with some dry branches. The surrounding area was lit up and bright colors were also coming out from a part of the body, the heart.

"It's still not the final painting, the idea is to heal completely and one day, it will be perfect". I speak with a hopeful smile.

"Of course it will, dear". My mother speaks tearfully, hugging me tightly as well as my sister.

One day I would have my three most important works ready and they would become one.

[***]

I grimaced as I saw the sketch I had made in my painting notebook, but a draft that would go to waste. I was trying to create something to give as a gift to Liam's parents, something that would have a good meaning.

I thought about doing a painting that would represent the unity of the family, something that I knew was of great value to Marta and all the Parkers. But nothing came close to representing it in the best way, something that he would really appreciate when they passed by the room.

I close the notebook and put it on the small table there. I was in the gourmet area of the house, which was simply beautiful. There was a huge pool and the green area was vast, there were several loungers around and I was in one of them.

The sun was nice today and I took the opportunity to leave the room. It was still strange not having anything to do and I spent almost every day bored and inside the room.

In the old days I used to have a house to look after and was always worried about pleasing Joy, but now there was nothing. Liam had Maria, who managed the house perfectly.

Liam was not the kind of person who needed much to be satisfied. We had all our meals together and he was satisfied with that alone.

Of course I tried to please him, but this was easy and not time-consuming enough. He sometimes asked for help with one or another important document, but never heavy work.

I had to find something to occupy my time quickly or I would go crazy. Before it's my usual time to leave, I get ready and pick up a few things to take to Liam.

We were having lunch together every day, we decided that we had to pretend that we were a couple who couldn't stay away from each other. We did most things together and I liked it.

I liked being with Liam, he was an amazing person. Nothing, or almost nothing, was hard to fake in our fake engagement. I was starting to get used to this new routine.

I see Liam in front of the company, as soon as I park the car. I smile and wait for the traffic light to close to cross the lane. He sees me and gives me a smile, and I wave to him.

The light closes and I start to cross, by some miracle there were no cars. When I am halfway across the road, I see a car coming at me at high speed. I see that he wouldn't stop, so I start to run. I feel someone grabbing me and pulling me, so I fall.