The hidden painting chapter 11

As Cindy quietly dances on the stool, celebrating to herself that she finally has the hatch to the attic open. As she dances, she begins to get nervous. ‘What if the painting isn’t there?’ she asks herself. She feels a pang of guilt wash over her for keeping this enormous secret from Jasper, who has done everything in his power to make her feel welcome. She reminds herself the promise she made to her dying mother, making her dance even more.

She pulls at the opening of the hatch towards her, paint stuck in the hinges, making a creaking and cracking sound giving her reason to be hyper vigilantly listening out for movement from the other two. Thankfully, they didn’t appear.

To her delight as the white washed, wooden hatch was open as wide as it would go, she notices a shiny metal set of folded steps that open like an accordion, giving her even more reason to celebrate. She begins pulling the ladder down, its silence as it finally touches the ground allowing her to exhale a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She kept expecting either Jasper or Melina to appear, the noise waking them up, but to her relief, she is alone as she continues to dance on the hard wood floorboards.

She had toyed with the idea of having to pull herself up into the opening, cursing as she did so because her upper body strength is non-existent. The ladder voids all of those thoughts and she ascends up them with ease, her choice of only wearing socks boding in her favour.

Once she reaches the top step, her head able to peek around the busy attic, she sees a switch that she pushes and light emits from four light bulbs that hang from the eves in a relatively even manner. She sees box after box on top of one another at the sides of the spacious room, the furniture sitting in the middle.

As she frantically looks for the dresser her mother described, she does her best not to knock any of the boxes, certain, what she predicts to be a crashing sound, will wake Melina and Jasper. She is aware of the chance of them poking their heads up as she looks for the illusive dresser to be strong, and, almost obsessively checks every few seconds. To her relief, she has been up there for five minutes and there is no sign of them…yet.

She checks each piece of furniture, her mind predicting what she thinks the dresser might look like, but she has to manoeuvre around boxes to get from piece to piece. Finally, as she checks the last item that isn’t in a box…there it is! When she sees the elusive dresser, a white halo surrounding it, she moves closer to inspect it further. She feels her hopes soar, convincing herself that the painting is still where her mother described, when a box begins to fall. Luckily she catches the heavy cardboard cube before it hits the ground and struggling to lift it back up from where it came, she gently places it on a rare, empty spot beside the dresser.

As she goes over every inch of the piece, no painting or hidden compartment in sight, her enthusiasm dips. She wipes the sweat from her brow and sits on it, hearing a thud as she does so. Her attention quickly leads her towards the hatch opening, and as she watches it for a couple of minutes, predicting how long it would take the others to reach her, her mind begins plotting and planning a viable reason for her being up there, but no one comes. ‘Phew!’ she says quietly and looks to the side the thud came from. It was the panel her mother described, but there is no painting inside!

With a heavy heart, she replaces the panel and begins to move back to the opening of the busy attic, deflated that the painting is nowhere to be found. After another few close calls of boxes crashing to the ground, Cindy catching them and placing them on any bit of free floor space, she descends down the metal ladder and locks the hatch after her, disappointment filling her heart.

She picks up the stool, noticing flecks of paint on the hardwood floor. Making sure to pick up each and conceal every speck of paint that fell so as not to leave a trail of her journey into the attic. Once she is sure she has picked them up as best she can, she brushes the rest with her hand, backwards and forwards until she is satisfied she isn’t going to be asked where the ‘white dust’ came from in the morning over breakfast. Cindy carries the stool back to ‘her room’ and brushes the paint flecks off it quickly before returning to bed.

 

As she tries to sleep, feeling she has let her mother down, she tosses and turns in the freshly laundered sheets all night. Before long, her trustee alarm clock buzzes, Cindy hitting it harder than usual out of frustration, all the while wondering whether Jasper had found the painting when he was placing his heavy boxes up in the attic when he moved in. It is a plausible thought, one which she finds herself struggling to work through, rather than actually working that day.

She realises another trip to the attic mightn’t be fruitful and in her frustration, Cindy decides to hide the keys she had taken, all those days ago, on the radiator between the kitchen table and the wall for Jasper to find later that day.

Cindy knew Jasper would enquire as to whether she slept well or not, and because she is unable to stop yawning, she drinks four cups of Nespresso as if they are water, one after another, until she begins to feel jittery.

Jasper greets her in the kitchen as she downs the forth cup, asking the illusive question, ‘did you sleep well?’

Cindy deflects his query by simply pointing towards the corridor leading towards her office and nods.

Once she plants her ass in the black swivel chair, Arthur Waldron far from her thoughts, she moves in the direction left, then right and then left again, continuing in this manner, her mind racing. She knows that Jasper has expensive paintings littering the walls and wonders if one of them is the one she is looking for, but doesn’t know what it looks like, so she continues to wonder.

Eventually, google pops into her head, and Cindy looks up the words, Marie Antoinette, 18^th century! Several pictures appear on the laptop, one in particular repeating itself alongside the word ‘missing!’

‘That has to be it!’ Cindy says to herself, aware she needs yet another Nespresso, which gives her a chance to glance at the winding hallways walls as she makes her way to the kitchen. She feels deflated when none of the hanging paintings even come close to that of the famous, missing painting, and as she loads herself with even more caffein, she wonders should she just come out and ask Jasper?

 

Days pass, Cindy having inspected each and every painting that hangs on the walls of the mansion, and even though she took the liberty of looking in Jaspers room when he and Melina were out shopping, she is certain the one she is looking for simply isn’t there.

As Jasper and Melina return from their shopping spree, Cindy innocently laying on her bed, trying to find a way she can broach the question, Melina asks, ‘do you want to see what I bought?’ from the threshold of the open door.

Cindy turns her body towards Melina, noticing a Chanel bag and nods. As Melina enters Cindy’s bedroom, Cindy rises from her stupor, suddenly aware she hasn’t washed since the night she went up to the attic, and sits on the edge of the mattress self-conscious of feeling dirty.

Melina approaches her, sporting her wide, perfect smile, and takes out a bag Cindy believes cost thousands. ‘Jasper bought it for me!’ Melina offers.

Cindy’s mind thinks back over the days and realises Melina has slept over just as many nights as Cindy has. She thinks further and it suddenly hits her that Jasper and Melina have gone on a lot of shopping sprees, Melina always boasting about what Jasper bought her upon their arrival home. The bags he bought her something from are all from high-end stores, the items value exorbitant compared to Cindy’s discount store purchases.

‘Is she a gold digger?’ Cindy found herself wondering, remembering quickly that she had been staying there, rent free.

Cindy parks that thought, thinking she’s being paranoid because Melina is in the way of her winning over Jasper, another thought that she tries to quickly squash. She has no idea as to how long they have been seeing each other, or how serious he really is about her. She reminds herself that she has only known Jasper three weeks and that, whilst loaded, he is generous to a fault! He isn’t the type of guy she can imagine to ever say no and thinks that Melina is taking advantage of that fact.

 

The next day, Jasper not having spent any time on the biography since Melina turned up, Cindy overhears them on her way to the kitchen.

‘But I have a deadline baby! You know that!’ Jasper declares.

‘Can I have your credit card then?’ Melina asks to Cindy’s horror. ‘If I don’t buy the bag today, they will be all gone, and they have only made a small number of them!’

‘How much do they cost?’ Jasper asks enquiringly.

‘Only $8,500!’ Melina states nonchalantly.

‘What?’ Jasper asks with panic in his tone. ‘Baby, that’s a lot of money!’

‘Its not like you don’t have it!’ Melina whines. ‘Don’t I deserve nice things?’

‘Yes,’ Jasper sighs, ‘yes you do! But baby, $8,500 for a bag seems excessive!’

‘They are an exclusive range, but if you feel I am not worth it…then…!’

Cindy decides to save Jasper and enters the kitchen pretending she hasn’t heard anything. She sees Jasper reach into his pocket and take out his wallet handing her the credit card. Cindy can see him shake his head as he does so.

‘Just the bag though, right?’ he asks looking like an abandoned puppy.

‘Well…’ Melina continues, ‘there is a coat as well!’

‘And how much will the coat cost?’ Jasper whispers, desperately trying for Cindy not to hear.

‘$11,850?’ Melina answers.

‘What?’ Jasper says with panic in his tone.

‘Its real fur baby!’ Melina says as she grabs the credit card and kisses Jasper on the cheek. ‘It will look amazing at dinner tonight! You’ll see!’ and she high tails it out of the mansion.

Cindy notices Jasper shaking his head. She knows him not to be a flashy guy as he wears the same five superhero t shirts everyday with an open shirt over them and jeans which all have holes in them in different places.

‘Women!’ he says as he notices Cindy waiting for the Nespresso to brew her a coffee and smiles.

She takes advantage of the rare opportunity of having Jasper to herself to ask about Melina.

‘How long have you two…well…you know?’ Cindy asks innocently.

‘Four months!’ Jasper looks at her like a deer in headlights, not meaning her to see his trepidation.

‘Wow!’ Cindy says unbeknownst to herself.

‘She’s high maintenance!’ Jasper says, knowing full well that Cindy thinks the same, ‘but she’s right, she does deserve nice things, and I do have the money!’ Cindy notices his bottom jaw protruding, his hand reaching for the two-day old stubble on his chin, a sure sign he is thinking!

‘Do you love her?’ Cindy asks before thinking.

‘Absolutely,’ Jasper answers a little faster than Cindy expects, ‘well…’ he continues, ‘…I think I do!’ he winces as he verbally admits it for what Cindy believes to be the first time!

‘So, you see marriage, and kids and all?’ Cindy probes further, knowing she is overstepping.

Jasper takes a seat opposite Cindy at the breakfast bar. ‘When we met, it was hot and heavy!’ he explains, ‘I liked that, it made me happy! But lately…’ he bows his head, ‘…she always seems tired from shopping, and I honestly don’t know what to think!’

Cindy notices his discomfort as he talks, but knows he sees her as a friend and she feels obliged to give him advice.

‘I have to admit,’ Cindy begins, ‘$11,850 is a lot for just a coat, never mind it being fur!’ she watches Jasper open his eyes as wide as saucers, nodding his head!

‘Its her birthday next month!’ Jasper shares.

‘Yeah?’ Cindy forces a smile. ‘What are you getting her?’ she asks, immediately regretting the question!

‘She has her eye on a Bentley!’ Jasper sighs.

‘Wow!’ is all Cindy can say! ‘Expensive!’

‘We’re going out to dinner tonight, and I know she’s going to ask if I ordered the right one, but in fact I haven’t ordered it at all because I don’t even own a car as expensive as its going to be!’ Jasper blurts out in one breath.

‘So don’t get it then!’ Cindy advises.

Jaspers fingers move to his chin again and Cindy can see he is deep in thought. ‘I’m sorry!’ he shakes his head and closes his eyes tightly, ‘you’re not here to be my sounding board!’

‘That’s ok!’ Cindy hands him a freshly brewed coffee and puts another pod into the Nespresso machine.

‘Thank you!’ he says. Cindy feels like his thanks aren’t for the coffee, but for the ear of a friend which he sounds as though he needs right now.

‘No problem!’ she answers. ‘Have you had time to think anything more about the biography?’ she tries to direct Jaspers thoughts off Melina and towards the reason he employed her!

‘No!’ he answers bluntly. ‘I have been shopping too much!’ he looks at Cindy and sighs, almost as if he’s looking for her advice.

Cindy turns, facing the other way, closing her eyes tightly, trying to bite her tongue. She takes a sup out of her freshly brewed coffee, and swallows it hard, not noticing its temperature as it makes its way down her oesophagus. When she regains her composure, she faces Jasper again, desperately trying to not tell him that there would be no expensive furs if he went out with her instead!

Her mind brings her back to the old English pub they shared a meal in, and the chemistry that hit her like a lightning bolt down her spine when they touched as they both reached for the vinegar. She was under the impression he felt it too, but then Melina arrived and they had no room to explore the feeling further. She closes her eyes again for a second longer than should have, and feels Jaspers hand on hers.

‘Are you ok?’ he asks.

‘Yea!’ she answers, ‘why?’

‘You’re crying!’ he informs her.

Cindy puts her hand to her face, and she does indeed have tears streaming down her face. She quickly wipes them away, ‘the pollen count must be high!’ she says trying to give Jasper a reason, any reason, why she is crying other than the truth, the fact she was falling for him!

She makes her excuses, ‘I must go and take a Claritin!’ and leaves for her bedroom where she lies on the bed sobbing for what feels like hours.

 

Cindy ends up crying herself to sleep, the next noise she hears being Jasper gently knocking on her door. She wipes her eyes awake and says, ‘come in.’

‘We’re going to dinner now!’ Jasper informs her.

Cindy looks at the clock, astonishment crossing her face when she sees it to be almost 8pm! She is half expecting Jasper to invite her along, but instead says, ‘have a nice time!’ her voice sounding raspy from her nap.

She hears the bedroom door close, then the front door a couple of minutes later. She knew they weren’t going to be home for hours and runs downstairs to see if the keys she left on the radiator the other day are still there. To her surprise, they are, so she takes them and lets herself into the attic again to search for the painting with gusto. She is determined to find it and contemplates asking Jasper has he come across it, but knew that if she does, that would be the end of their relationship! She would be homeless and jobless once again, and the painting will still be out there for her to find!