Love in the bloom

Chapter 1 EMILY... " This is lovely!!!" I muttered as I entered the gallery adorned with ornamental lights, The room was so beautiful and the art pieces on display were so epic. " I hope he agrees."muttering to myself, I walked to where Mr Leonard was, he was talking to some of the workers as they prepared for the gallery opening. As I stood by waiting for him, I feed my eyes with the art pieces in the room and spotted a nice area in the room where i figured would be a nice spot for my work. " Hello Mr Leonard"I walked towards him beaming with smiles as soon as he was alone, " Hi Emily, how have you been?" He responded as he scrolled through his phone barely paying attention to me. Mr Leonard was one of my client while I worked at my last job before I was laid off. Since I needed money urgently for my mother's treatments, I figured it would be just right to sell some of the art pieces I created to make some money before I got another job. "I have been good. I was wondering if you could display this art piece here in your gallery. I see you are having a gallery opening." I said motioning for him to have a look at the art piece I brought, he turned away from his phone and collected the piece. As he gazed at it, excitement washed over me. The long-awaited opportunity to showcase my work has finally arrived. Needing to make a good impression at the gallery, I had dressed nicely, applied flawless cosmetics and hair, and chose an attractive attire. I could not wait for him to say yes as I was hoping to make some money from the sale of my artwork. I had a lot of expenses to pay off, and my mother was in the hospital fighting for her life. " It is lovely isn't it?" I asked as he looked at the piece smiling, i figured he liked the piece. " Why would he be smiling if he didn't?" I thought to myself. " Well, he said finally after a while. " I do not think so, the artwork lacks charm, the artist could have done better." His response belied his displeasure about the art piece and the exhilaration and euphoria I had felt before disappeared. I stayed still, barely able to speak since I did not know how to reply to what he had just said. "But this is a beautiful artwork."I uttered after I was able to regain my voice. Though I attempted to maintain a straight expression, I was completely devoid of delight when he made comments about my artwork. He turned and looked at me and stared at the art work again, he maintained the piece was trash and could have been better if the artist was good. " No, the disarray in this piece is awful. I marvel how an artist could go so wrong with colours." He replied expressing his disdain with the artwork. I did not seem to understand what he did not like about the art piece, I stared at it again as I took.the piece back while he went off to talk down on the art work. Enraged by the circumstances, I replied immediately in an attempt to defend myself as I could not watch him talk so lowly of my creation. "Instead of trivialising the artwork, you ought to acknowledge your ignorance of its significance." I said irritated by his critism. Mr Leonard chuckled, attempting to diffuse the situation by imitating a grin, but I refused to stop ranting about my displeasure. " You are a terrible artist!!! Take your piece, and get out of here swiftly." He said as he motioned for me to leave the gallery, and while I tried to protest, he called security to send me out. I quickly packed up my stuffs but not fast enough, because I was thrown out eventually. " Let me go!!" I continued to scream as they carried me out of the premises, myself and the art piece. " How could he do this to me?" I thought to myself as I was thrown out. " This piece was beautiful." I sighed as the sudden realization hit me. " What was I supposed to do now?" I thought to myself, this was my chance of getting some money and now it was ruined, thanks to my impatience. My phone beeped and when I checked who it was, it was a message from the hospital requesting my presence, " Hope everything was fine? Did they need more money?" I thought, I knew that I did not have any more money for hospital bills and I figured I would plead with them to give me some time to source for it. " I should go see mum." I muttered as I walked away and left for the hospital. I booked a ride and when I arrived and headed to her room but no one was there. "Was she moved to another room?" I wondered as I went to ask one of the nurses about my mother. " Where is Susan? Was she moved to another room? I cannot seem to find her." I asked rather impatiently. " Ohh, we have been trying to call you. You should see the doctor for answers." She said gesturing for me to go to the doctors office, I gazed at her confused about why she was asking me to go see the doctor when she could tell me where my mum was. I hurried to see the doctor,my nervousness palpable." What could have possibly gone wrong?" I wondered, as I opened his office after knocking, he motioned for me to have a seat, I was anxious and refused to sit down. " Just tell me where my mum is." I muttered as I waited for him to talk to me. " We tried all we could." He said calmly, "But, we lost her." His words hit me like a bomb, and I felt my heart pounding so hard that it was about to burst out of my chest. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I looked at him, "What was I supposed to do? I just lost the only relative I had." I cried uncontrollably as I turned to leave office, " so sorry for the loss." He said but I just walked out the door, I did not want to cause a scene and just wanted to go home. I could not believe what had happened; everything I had ever worked for had gone into my mother's treatment, and now she had died. My world came crashing down before my eyes. As I walked out of the hospital, my heart filled with sorrow as tears rolled down my cheeks, but I was quickly jolted out of my reverie when a car nearly hit me, ruining my dress. "What the f*ck is wrong with everyone in this city?" I yelled, furious about what had happened. I had tried to bottle up my feelings but I already had enough, first Mr Leonard, then my mum and now this. I sighed as I took a look at my clothes again trying to clean off the stains but they were as thick as thieves with the dress and would not come off. I expected an apology at the very least as the driver stopped. But to my amazement I got the opposite for my expectations. The driver looked out the window and winked at me, he was chewing a gum so briskly and uncultured. I stared at him in awe wondering if it was a joke or something. " How dare you? What makes you think you can do this and wink after. Are you insane?" I yelled furiously. I really cant believe this!!!" "Hey beautiful, you should look at where you are headed." He smiled, waggling his tongue, "Was he trying to flirt with me after ruining my dress?" I wondered. "You should apologise i***t, not try to flirt with me." I yelled again, and his friends in his car laughed heartily. They said something but I was too furious to listen. The driver stared at me for a moment, this time without a smile, and as I stood there waiting for her apology, the unexpected happened: the driver turned on the ignition and nearly drove me off the road, causing minor leg injuries. " Ouch, I groaned in pain as I leaped off the road. " I will definitely sue you for intentionally running me off the road." As soon as he realized what he had done, he stopped the car and looked out the window again staring angrily at me. " You should not have spoken to me that way. I really don't have time for this." He said, and quickly sped off in his car. " You fool!!!" I yelled and cursed again as he drove off. I could not believe what had just happened. "How could he treat me in that manner?" I muttered as I continued to walk down the street, my leg aching from the impact. I needed to unwind and the only thing that came to mind was a bottle of whiskey. "I should get something to drink." I mumbled, it had been a long day, and I needed to clear my mind of everything that had happened.