Round N Around We Go (Has Cupid Gone Mad?) (11 page)

Karina sighs out loud and
gestures him in. “Can I offer
you anything? Coffee?”

Ivan politely thanks her and
sits down on the sofa, “No I’m
fine, thank you.” He pauses and
looks around, “What’s that
smell?”

“Oh,” Karina laughs, “that’s the
smell of anciently old canvas
mixed with the beautiful scent
of new oil paint.”

After a ten minutes casual
conversation, Karina’s migraine
is
becoming
unbearable.
Impatiently she inquires his
intension of the visit. “Ivan,
what do you want? You really
can’t wait for Taylor
here,
she’s not coming back for a
while.”

Blurting out the first thing
that comes to her mind, “She’s
taking a vacation.” Karina
stutters when she lies.

“Paris!” Karina tries to justify
Taylor’s
unavailability
to
answer his calls. Naturally,
vacationing in a foreign country
would explain the lack of
communication.

Ivan stands up and walks over to
Karina. Looking at her with an
intimidating
stare,
“You’re
lying! Her passport is home and
she couldn’t have travelled out
of the country.” Ivan repeats
firmly, “Where is she?”

Studying the frightened look
upon her face, “Is she ok?” he
inches closer, “Karina? Is she
ok?”

Caught red handed, Karina feels
stupid and intimidated. “I don’t
know!” she bursts out in tears,
“So many things have happened in
the past few weeks since you
sent her on a ninety hiatus, I
don’t even know where to begin.
Everyone is either dead or in
the hospital. I can’t take this
burden anymore.” She begins to
lose
control
and
sobs
hysterically.

Ivan feels weak in the knees,
turns pale and demands an
answer, “What Karina, you’re
frightening me. Who’s dead and
who’s in the hospital?” Ivan
puts his hands on Karina’s arms
and squeezes her firmly to
contain her emotional outburst,
“Stop crying Karina. Get a grip.
You can be in control, yes you
can.”

He pulls her into his arms and
hugs her firmly to comfort her.
“Take your time. It’s ok. Take
your time.” His heart is
pounding and worries about
Taylor. Impatiently he waits for
her to stop crying.

“I feel better now.” Karina
pulls away and tries to explain
the best she can. “Theodore is
dead. Neyo is in jail. Amber is
recovering
from
captivity.
Conrad is in critical condition
in the hospital. Taylor had an
accident and is hospitalized
too.” She presses her lips
together and looks at him with
teary eyes. “And Karina is all
alone.”

Feeling exceedingly sorry for
her loss, he pulls her into his
arms again and offers comfort.
“Oh Karina, I’m so sorry.”
Finally he understands her
erratic behavior and fears that
she is on the brink of emotional
collapse.

She takes a step back and
regains control. Wiping away the
teardrops
dangling
from the
corners of her mesmerizing blue
eyes, she adds, “Taylor has
asked me not to tell you
anything. She specifically asked
me not to tell you that she is
in the hospital. She doesn’t
want you to know that she feels
shattered, broken and defeated.”
She adds her own opinion, “I
think you murdered her pride.”

“What else did she say?”
Disheartened, Ivan presses for
more.

Karina sighs, “Listen, I really
don’t want to be stuck in
between. If you really care to
know how she feels, then it’s
best that you ask her yourself.”

Ivan appears disappointed. Not
understanding Taylor at all, he
becomes defensive and shrugs,
“Very well, if she wants to hide
the accident from me, then let
it remain a secret. I won’t put
you in an awkward situation,
I’ll pretend I that never came
here today and you never told me
anything. I’ll pretend that I
don’t know. Will that work for
you?”

“Wouldn’t that be lying?” Karina
blinks and is as confused as
ever.

“Yes.” Ivan answers without
hesitation. “But that’s what she
wants right?”

Karina pauses. “Oh my God. Both
of you are driving me insane!
This is way too complicated for
my simple mind.” She sighs
again. “I don’t know Ivan. Do
whatever you think is best. Just
remember this, she loves you. I
know Taylor, she has always been
this confidently self assured
happy spirit. I’m not sure what
has happened, she never told me
but I think she has lost herself
and is having a difficult time
finding her way back.”
“And you think I contributed to
all
that?”
Ivan
seeks
clarification and argues.
Karina looks baffled. In her
mind, Ivan is a top notch
publisher and editor, Taylor is
a writer and author. Both of
them, of all people she knows,
should be communication experts,
but in reality, she is feels
truly sorry to see their
inability to communicate with
each other. She sees so much
misunderstanding between the two
and does not know how to help
them. She can’t be anyone’s
therapist when she needs one
herself.

Quite lost herself, Karina is
unsure of what love means
anymore. The only thing that she
knows is that love should not be
a power struggle.

“Ivan.” She
stares at him
blankly and continues, “If you
want answers, don’t ask me. Ask
her.”

************
Karina’s growing migraine seems
to worsen by the minute since
Ivan’s surprise visit. Sitting
alone
on
her
sofa,
she
suffocates on the strong odor of
her newly finished painting and
decides to head to the office
for air.

Donning a pair of jeans and a
fitted tank top, she pulls her
hair into a pony tail and drags
herself out of her home. Passing
by the pharmacy, she picks up a
bottle of Tylenol and heads to
the gallery. Not in the mood for
visitors, she leaves the lights
off the main gallery and locks
the door behind her.

She grabs a bottle of water from
the mini fridge and sits behind
her
desk.
Diligently
she
swallows two tablets of the pain
killer and waits for her
migraine to cease.

Leaning back onto the backrest
of the leather chair, she tilts
her head and faces the ceiling.
She shuts her eyes to rest and
the words of the riddle floods
her mind. She chants the
perfectly memorized words:

“Way above my head.
Everyone is dead.
Inside 585-393-585
Are Treasures We Must Hide.”

As if inspired, she opens her
eyes abruptly and looks above
her head. Something is either
hidden in the ceiling or in the
wall space above his chair. She
stands up quickly, rolls the
leather chair to the side and
studies the painting that hangs
on the back wall ‘above his
head.’

Karina takes off her shoes,
rolls back the chair and stands
tip toes on it. Using her
fingers, she feels around the
corners of the frame and finds a
hidden button on the top of the
frame. She raises her eyebrows,
presses on the button and the
painting pops open from the
side, revealing a hidden vault.

Startled, she mumbles. “This is
interesting.” She chants out the
numbers in her mind and turns
the dial in the proper sequence.
Counter
clockwise
to
585,
clockwise to 393, then counter
clockwise again to 585.

As if a revelation is revealed,
she squeals in delight. “Oh my
God!” she laughs and props open
the door of the vault. She tip
toes some more and stares into
the long dark interior of the
vault and pulls out a few tubes
of paintings.

“Oh my God!” she repeats
blissfully and is relieved to
have solved the riddle that has
been baffling her for weeks. Her
eyes gleaming with excitement,
she opens the tubes and unrolls
the paintings.

One by one she spreads them out
on the floor and steps back to
study them. Something about
these paintings look incredibly
familiar, but being new in the
art world, she cannot tell what
they are. Squinting and trying
her best to read the signature
on the paintings, she grabs a
magnifying glass and inspects
the signature closely.
Trying to follow the phonetics,
she attempts to read it out
loud, “Randro Lottiselh? … no …
Ramdre Bottisett?” She pauses
and it strikes her that she has
seen paintings in very similar
styles before. “Think, Karina
think!” She focuses and tries to
back track on a lesson that
Theodore has taught her. “Sandro
Botticelli!” She exclaims and
repeats in laughter. “But of
course, a dead painter! It’s
Sandro Botticelli! ”

Quickly she turns on the
computer and searches for the
art guide and master listing of
all known pieces by Botticelli.
Comparing the images with the
paintings that lay spread on the
floor, she comes to a conclusion
that the paintings in her
possession are unlisted and are
unknown to the world.

Overwhelmed by the excitement,
she comes to a hasty conclusion
that these paintings hidden in
Theodore’s vault are original
pieces from Sandro Botticelli
that have never been discovered
or made known to the public.
However lacking authentication,
she doubts the assumptions but
acutely believes that she might
have invaluable world treasures
on her hands!

Furthering
her
imagination,
perhaps the anciently old canvas
can be traced back to the
Botticelli era as well? If there
are any connections between the
two, then the canvas that he has
left her with might possibly be
from the Italian Renaissance
period, which would mean that
she has just painted on a canvas
that is more than five hundred
years old.

Shocked by discoveries, Karina
has nobody to turn to. Being new
in the art world, she is not
well connected and is not
resourceful. She knows only one
person who may be able to help
her
put the pieces of the
bewildering puzzle together.

About to call on her client,
Renzo
Trovatelli,
for
his
expertise, she chants the rest
of riddle again in her mind and
whispers, “Inside 585-393-585,
are treasures we must hide.”

She sinks into the sofa, stares
at the paintings scattered on
the floor and begins to wonder
why Theodore would want her to
hide these treasures from the
world.

Baffled beyond imagination, she
carefully rolls the paintings
and inserts them back into the
tubes. Putting them back into
the vault and locking up, the
suspense of the unknown consumes
her. No matter how tempting it
is for her to call Renzo for
authentication, she must oblige
to Theodore’s wishes.

If Theodore wants the paintings
to forever remain a secret, then
she will have no choice but to
ensure that the secret is kept.

Coping with the stress and
pressure of their second season
opening night of ‘Life After
Death,’ Amanda, a tall husky
woman with short jet black hair,
production manager of Amber’s
Broadway musical, rushes through
the narrow passages of the back
stage dressing rooms and shouts
repeatedly and urges the cast to
stand by, “Everyone, fifteen to
curtains!” Flipping through the
pages of her clipboard and
reading her notes, she shouts
loudly to ensure that she’s
audible. “Troy, Savanna, Leroy,
Toby and Scott, you’re up first
so please get back stage now!”

She turns around, prances to
Amber’s private dressing room
and knocks on the door before
opening it. Peeking in, she
speaks excitedly, “Miss Winters,
fifteen to curtain.”

Amber stands gracefully tiptoed
and is warming up. Her infamous
black toe shoes are perfectly
laced up and she raises a leg,
gently resting the heel on the
dressing table and bends to
stretch. Amanda admires the way
that Amber moves, each motion is
artistic, soft yet powerful.
When the toe shoes are on, Amber
is pure magic, capable of
mesmerizing
and
captivating,
once she begins to sing and
dance, spirits are drawn into
her soul. When she performs on
stage,
it
is
virtually
impossible to disengage from the
admiration of the beauty and
artistic expressions that she
protrudes. With glamour such as
hers, brilliance never subsides
and
radiance
only
shines
brighter each day.

Noticing Amanda’s gaze, Amber
tilts her head and smiles, “See
you in five.” Standing up she
adds quickly, “Oh Amanda, can
you please answer my calls for
me?” Amber reaches for her phone
and hands it to Amanda. “I’m
expecting a call from Taylor.
Please let her know that two
front row tickets are waiting
for her and Karina at the box
office. Thank you Amanda.”

“Sure Miss Winters. Break a
leg.” Amanda takes the phone and
responds diligently, “I’ll take
care of everything else.”

Amber stands on tiptoes again
and stretches in front of the
mirror. She wishes that Conrad
is well enough to be there.
Blowing a kiss at their photo
frame on her dressing table, she
looks lovingly at his image and
smiles. “I love you Conrad.”

Truth in the matter is, she
loves him more than life itself
and can’t wait until he fully
recovers so she can convey how
she truly feels. She simply
can’t wait for the moment when
they will be together again and
she will gaze into his eyes and
answer him, “Yes Conrad I will
marry you. I will be your wife
and will spend the rest of my
life loving you.”

She hears Amanda screaming
behind her closed door, “Five
minutes to curtain!” Amber
smiles and murmurs at his photo,
“It’s time.”

Gracefully, she walks backstage
and waits. She blows a kiss to
the cast and sends them her
confidence while anticipating
the curtains to go up.

Amber sees Amanda answering her
phone from across the backstage.
She nods and gestures her
gratitude for taking care of her
personal calls then fixates her
focus on the curtain that is
about to go up anytime.

On the other side
of the
backstage, Amanda freezes and
turns pale while listening
carefully to the words of the
Chief Of Staff from Mount Sinai
Hospital. Something dreadful has
happened to Conrad.

“I’m so sorry. I understand that
it’s the hospital’s error and we
will take full responsibility.”
The Chief Of Staff continues,
“Please ask Miss Winters to
return my call as soon as
possible.”
Amanda looks across the stage
and searches visually for Amber,
who is about to step out onto
the stage. She is aware of the
seriousness of the hospital’s
error and is worried about
Conrad.
Debating
on
the
predicament, she is hesitant to
tell Amber right away, the news
will most certainly
affect
Amber’s performance and there is
virtually nothing that she or
anyone can do now. The damage of
the hospital’s error has been
done and cannot be reversed, so
she decides to wait until the
end of the finale before she
breaks the horrific news.

Feeling sorry
for what has
happened to Conrad, Amanda
watches the entire performance
feeling guilty while bearing the
burden of knowledge. She watches
Amber’s glorious performance and
her radiant smile as she
curtseys while the curtains
close.

The opening night of the second
season is a roaring success and
as the cast indulge themselves
with the overflowing flutes of
champagne,
Amanda
searches
desperately for Amber and finds
her in her dressing room taking
photos for the press.

Without
hesitation,
Amanda
interrupts the shoot and grabs
Amber by the arm.

Surprised by her abruptness,
Amber stares at Amanda and seeks
explanation, “What is it?”

“It’s Conrad.” Amanda speaks
rapidly all in one breath and
returns Amber’s phone to her.
“The hospital called and said
that there was a hospital error.
Conrad is back is surgery.”

“What are you talking about?”
Amber blunts out in bafflement.
“Conrad was alright when I was
there this afternoon. What the
hell happened?”

Feeling
horrible
over
the
incident, Amanda tries to speak
as concisely as possible to
avoid further confusion. “He was
trying to explain that an intern
miscalculated the dosage of his
pain medication and caused a
respiratory
failure,
which
triggered a heart attack.” she
tries to continue explaining but
is halted by Amber’s scream.

Amber’s world seems to implode.
Without undressing or bidding
goodbye to anyone, she wastes no
time, grabs her bag and dashes
to the parking garage to fetch
her car. Speeding over to the
hospital as if a lunatic on the
road, she cuts across lanes
erratically and hopes to get
there as quickly as possible.

Not knowing exactly what has
happened and unsure of how
Conrad is doing, she feels this
immense pressure inside her
chest and is about to have a
panic attack. Her heart is
pounding as she pulls into the
parking lot of the hospital and
at this particular moment, it
frightens her to realize how
much she truly loves him.

She marches through the quiet
corridors, walks straight past
the nurses’ station and ignores
the triage nurse who tries to
stop her from visiting in the
after hours. Blinded with fear,
she heads to Conrad’s room and
is calmed to find him sleeping
peacefully.

Sighing in relief and tearing
soundlessly in joy, she sits
next to him and cradles his face
with her hands. She leans over
and kisses him ever so gently
then delicately whispers into
his ear, “Conrad, I know you can
hear me. I honestly love you.”

Taylor stands motionlessly still
in front of the entrance of the
office. She stares through the
glass doors and fixates her
stare on the signage of Miami
Life Publications
that hangs
proudly on the wall.

Nervously she shudders. It has
been three whole months since
she last showed up at Ivan’s
office and unsure of his
reaction to see her today, she
hesitates.
She shrugs off the fear of
rejection and courageously pulls
open the heavy glass doors. She
understands that she must either
find a way to reconcile with him
or find closure in their
relationship and move on.

She takes a deep breath and
daringly walks into the office
as if nothing has ever happened.
Paying
no
attention
to
onlookers, she is prepared for
gossips behind her back. Taylor
walks past Samantha’s cubicle
and looks the other way to avoid
eye contact. Her heart is
pounding and she can feel cold
sweat on the palms of her hand.
Nervous as can be, she reaches
Ivan’s office and knocks on the
door.

Ivan looks through the glass
door and appears shocked to see
Taylor. For a few moments, the
world stands still for the pair
as their gaze interlock, both
unable to move a muscle. He is
unsure of how to react and she
is afraid of making another
move. Holding her breath, she
opens the door and enters.
Timidly she speaks ever so
softly and is barely audible,
“Hi.” She smiles nervously.

As if speech impaired, Ivan
isn’t able to mutter a word and
is only capable of gazing at the
woman that he loves. There
hasn’t been one single day that
she hasn’t crossed his mind and
no matter how much he misses
her, he has refrained from
calling her again and has waited
for her ever since they left
each other three months ago.

After a one month’s stay in the
hospital, Taylor has spent
another month recovering under
the care of Karina and has shut
down communication from the rest
of the world. For weeks and
months, her mind has been drawn
into a fictional world as she
pours her heart and soul into a
second book, “The Unending.”

Ivan clears his throat and
manages to speak calmly, “You
look beautiful today.”
Karina thanks him politely and
asks if she can sit down. From
across from his desk and facing
him, she has almost forgotten
how handsome he looks. Those
deep green eyes of his still
captivate her and she could not
help smiling. “I missed you. You
may not believe it but I really
missed
you.”
She
smiles
nervously.

“You’re right,” not shy to speak
his mind, Ivan complains, “I do
not believe it. If you missed me
then you would have returned one
of the two hundred messages that
I left on your voicemail.” Eager
to unleash his frustration, he
anticipates her to lie to him
some more.

“I am sorry, I truly am.” She
apologizes
for
her
own
shortcoming.

Ivan is surprised and impressed.
He has never heard Taylor
apologize for anything before
and wonders if she has changed
and has softened her ways.
Taylor appears more soft spoken
and a more feminine than before.
“Many things have happened in
the past three months and all I
can say right now, is that I was
not in a physical or emotional
state
to
communicate
with
anyone. I basically shut down
from the world and took the time
to
do
some
serious
soul
searching.” She pauses and gazes
at him intently, “I hope you
will accept my apology for the
lack of communication.”

Silence fills his office as he
finds it surreal to hear her
asking him to accept her
apology. The Taylor Gibbons he
knows would never apologize for
anything. He raises an eyebrow
and gazes into her deep blue
eyes
while
accepting
her
apology.

He is not quite sure what has
happened and what is going on in
her mind, but there is something
about her that has changed.

Inevitably, the softness of her
words contagiously spreads to
warm his heart and he feels this
uncontrollable urge of pulling
her into his embrace and
smothering her with his kisses.
He is tempted to confess how
love sick he feels without her
and how he misses her immensely,
but chooses to remain silent as
he watches her reach into her
bag.

Taylor brings out a manuscript
and puts it on his desk in front
of him. “I’ve basically spent
all of my time in the past three
months on this. ‘The Unending’
is a present for you. I’m
dedicating this book to you,
Ivan Solovich, my soul mate.”

Shocked
beyond
words
and
surprised beyond expectations,
Ivan is rendered speechless by
her act of love and begins to
feel flushed. If only she knew
how badly he feels about the way
that he has treated her, but at
this
particular
moment,
everything else has
become
irrelevant, he is overjoyed and
relieved that she has returned.
“So what now.” Ivan asks in
bewilderment. “Do we just pick
up from where we left off?”

Taylor bites her lips and asks
him timidly, “You tell me Ivan,
the ninety days break is your
idea. Certainly, you must have
in mind how it is going to play
out at the end, right?”

Feeling imprudent, Ivan admits
his
own
inadequacy.
“Not
really.” He laughs to cover his
own embarrassment. “I’ve never
really
thought
about
it.
Honestly Taylor, I think we both
have acted too impulsively and
irrationally
before. I have
regretted
my
action
and
inconsideration every day for
the past three months. I am the
one who needs to apologize and I
hope you will accept my apology
too.” He smiles warmly and hopes
to break the ice.

Ecstatic to learn of how he
truly feels, Taylor smiles and a
radiance of warmness protrudes
from within. Cleverly, she asks
timidly and softly, “Apology
accepted but someone has to
decide on whether the end of
‘the ninety days break’ implies
a closure
or a fresh new
beginning.”