November 5, 20XX (Monday)
Galleria d'arte- Milan
Mei Li has a problem; A problem so big that she could not even think of other things than the said problem. The painter looked at nine pieces of bond paper each with three people's request to buy the same three paintings.
She sighs again, she had lost count how much she had been sighing when she heard this problem from her Agent named Elias. Tomorrow, Mother Zhao and she will be returning back to Beijing so she needed to decide on the people she is willing to sell her paintings to. It had always been like this, Elias told other people that it was first to come will be the first to be served but the truth was, Mother Zhao was always the first and everyone just follows. So whatever Mother Zhao likes first, she will get but to avoid her cover being blown, she only allows Mother Zhao to keep only one. Who would have known that Mother Zhao had insisted on buying three paintings?
At the same time, Ru Shi who had become a friend of hers as they spend time with each other in Milan had decided to buy the same three painting Mother Zhao wanted.
To add to her headache, a friend of Yang by the name of Hao Chen had someone request a painting for him and it turned out to be the same three paintings the other women wanted. Mei Li would normally prioritize Mother Zhao and Ru Shi if it was any other men that wanted the painting but Heir Hao Chen's family was one of the biggest donators to the orphanage she belonged before. She owed the Hao Family for their donations that made her be able to eat and live without worries.
Thus the problem of who will receive which painting was created. There were three paintings and three very interested buyers.
Mei Li, after an hour of futile deliberation, decided to call the person that could help her. She pressed the green button to call with shaking, nervous hand. When she positioned the phone on her ears, her hands still shook.
A voice cheerily spoke up, out from her phone's speakers, "Hey, you called?"
"I need your help." Mei Li sounded unsure of herself. Her nerves getting in the way of her usual gentleness, while her voice is the usual sultry but a bit slow and more unclear.
Zhao Yang stilled in his seat, like pausing a game mid-fight. His right hand, supposed to be signing his name on the bottom of a contract agreement, was paused abruptly. This was a first for Mei Li to ask for his help. His usually fake grin became bigger with excitement. He switched the phone to his other ear before asking, "What is it?"
"Mother Zhao, Ru Shi, and a friend of yours named Hao Chen had requested the same three paintings… I don't know which one to give to whom."
Of all the things she could ask his help in, it was something Yang had no absolute clue in. He could build a business and make it boom, he could make her his fiancé and make her a wife after, he could hack any computer, he could build a computer from scratch and make it one of the best selling units, he could finish a triathlon at first place, he could fight with martial arts, and he could even dance if needed but he could not draw to save his life. Art was something Yang had never touched. Heck, he didn't even know what the difference between scarlet, burgundy, maroon, and crimson. For him, it was all just Red; light red, lighter red, deep red, and another red.
Yang couldn't help but touch his nose helplessly before stating, "…you know I don't know a thing about art."
"… but you're the only one I know that can somewhat help," Mei Li pouted before continuing to plead, "please?"
Mei Li heard the person on the other side sigh before complying, "…alright, I'll try."
"That's all I ask of you, please do try…" Mei Li mumbled, her thoughts warping to another possible meaning of her sentence.
Yang's heart weakened at her words which had multiple and endless possibilities if only she meant it in another way. He coughed once to mask how dry his throat had become, "Can you show me the paintings they want?"
"Okay," Mei Li then clicked the video button so she could let Yang see from her camera. Her face was first shown as the camera on the front worked, she made a funny face before switching to the camera at the back to show the first painting. She briefly heard the man on the other side of the call chuckling and when the man's face also appeared, she had been taken in surprise. It was a relief that she had already switched on the back camera so her surprised face was not seen.
Zhao Yang is naturally perfect even through a pixelated video.
"This is the first painting," Yang saw the painting in a small cellphone screen but he could not deny how good it was made but for him, it was just three hands. He really can't appreciate art with symbolism. Why can't she just paint some event that took place so that he might understand?
"This is the second painting," Mei Li turned her camera another way, and Yang saw a woman with wings crouching on the floor. Yang immediately thought of Ru Shi's past with while seeing this painting and knew immediately that this should be hers.
"This is the last one." When Mei Li turned the camera to the next painting, Yang had to hide the small gasp that left his mouth while masking it with a cough. It was a lovely painting like the other two but there was something that made it more like a hopeful painting. It had a plain black background that contrasted the woman falling from a great height made in paints of white. With those elements alone, It would be too dark for Yang to like but two masculine hands on the most bottom part of the portrait length painting were opened to catch the falling woman.
He liked this painting, he didn't know why but he did… almost as of it made him think of a meaning to connect his life to this painting. Was this what is called connection to art?
Yang immediately spoke, "Let Chen have the first painting, he like things that could be a conversation starter piece. Ru Shi should have the second, she had also experienced a heartbreak and Alexandre once commented that in her heartbreak, she was like an broken angel but still beautiful. She would love you if you give that to her. Let Me have the last one. I like that one."
Yang grin widens like a Cheshire cat's when the painter's camera was switched and her pouting face with a cute harmless glare was shown. Mei Li's narrowed eyes were ineffective in front of the grinning CEO but she persisted to glare and like a mewling kitten said, "I'm giving it to Mother Zhao, not to you."
"I'll just take it off her hands then…" Yang proceeded to tease the fuming painter.
The agent, Elias Michael who was quietly sitting on the corner observing like an eagle-eyed assassin, was waiting for her decision. His chin placed into his open palms supporting his head while his other hand was gently tapping the side of the chair he was seated on. He shook his head watching the different faces the painter had shown unconsciously and thought to himself, '...there's no question; she fell hard for this guy.'
Elias also began to wonder when he can come to Beijing to attend a wedding ceremony… Their relationship was like how the sun always rises after the moon had set, like how the waves of the sea always wash away the sands on the shore, like how humans needed air to breathe… To him, as he observed Mei Li's reactions and hear Yang's replies, these two people's path was already inevitable; it was already preordained.
The problem is when stubborn Mei Li would stop being in denial.