"I got bored......"
"You got bored?"
I said, completely confused.
"Mrs. Young left to go sort out our tour and there I was standing all by myself. Then I saw you had managed to get rid of your chauffeur, so I decided to come get you myself".
He said with a proud smile on
"You got bored….."
I said as relief washed all over my face and I suddenly felt a lot lighter.
"Yes
I just said that
So is everything good?".
He asked
"Yes….."
I said, wondering what he was talking about.
"I mean at home."
He explained further, seeing my confusion.
"Oh yeah
Everything is good.
Xain was just checking in".
I said vaguely, adjusting my purse to avoid eye contact with him.
"Okay
Now that we have that sorted out on to the next thing on our agenda
Come on we have a lot of cover and little time to do so" .
He said with a huge smile on his face.
"I hear you, but I doubt Mrs. Young is done setting up, seeing as this is a last minute arrangement that you basically tricked her into doing."
I said
"You say tricked, I say slighted, nudged her into saying yes.
But they both have the same result and that is all that really matters.".
He said, staring at me with a mischievous smile on his face.
"You definitely chose the right profession and I didn't even know where the event was taking place until we walked in, and we didn't ride here together, so, sorry, but i don't recall asking you for a tour on our way here."
I said
"True
But that is only because I wanted to surprise you and I also wasn't totally sure you were going to come, but you walked into the hall and were completely captivated, and I felt bad we could not spend more time there, so I am just trying to make it up to you"
He said, and I immediately felt bad for thinking he was playing some sick game to mess with me.
"That is so thoughtful of you.
Thank you...."
"You even said something about wanting to give birth here.
What kind of monster would I be if I didn't try to convince you why that would be a terrible idea?
I mean, just imagine lying down on this cold floor with its chilly temperature.
No amount of blankets will make it warm.
And don't let me even get started on all the health issues it can cause...…"
He said, and any guilt I felt was completely washed off with frustration.
"I get it
No childbirth in the Museum
I am a little heartbroken, but with time I will be fine.
So can we get the show on the road, Mr.?".
I said, faking a hurt look to go with my terrible acting.
"The tour starts here, and we are starting off with this gorgeous painting on our left."
He pointed to a large painting of what I assumed was a painting of a boat in a heavy storm."
"Really?"
I asked, giving one look at the nameless painting, then turned my attention back to him.
"Yes darling
What better place to start from than this captivating piece, and then we walk our way up"
He said, still focused on the painting.
"Wow!!
I guess you are really serious."
I said, trying to keep up with him.
"Dead serious Miss Gomez"
He said, looking me straight in the eyes, and it almost felt like he was challenging me
Well, two can definitely play this game. I thought to myself still keeping eye contact with him.
Let's see how far you can go, Mr. De Luca
"What is the name of this gorgeous painting?"
"Echoes of the Storm"
He said not missing a beat.
"Echoes of the Storm
Hmmm...
It definitely has a nice ring to it.
So can you tell me more about Echoes of the Storm?
Like the artist behind it, what inspired them to draw this, the year it was painted and other things that are specific to it".
I said with a big smile on my face, still holding eye contact with him.
Round two Mr. De Luca
"The painting was found in the house of a Russian Mafia House during a raid
The painting with other valuables were confiscated by Interpol and then later taken to The State Tretyakov Museum.
They could not find the name of the artist, and it was hard to trace the previous owners of the painting because they were all purchased illegally, but it was checked by many Art Technicians, and they were able to tell the year and the country it was painted after thorough investigation."
He said not breaking a sweat at all and even though I didn't buy any of the things he said I had to give it to him. He was damn good
"The State Tre…tya......"
"The State Tretyakov Museum"
He said
"Is that even a real museum?"
I asked, wondering how he could keep a straight face.
"Yes Darling"
He said still holding on to his outrageous story.
"Where is it located?"
I asked, hoping to catch him in a lie.
"Moscow, Russia
It is one of the biggest Museums in Russia"
He said with a smirk on his face.
"Even if I am too believe The State Tretyakov Museum is actually a museum that exists somewhere in Russia
And that is a very, very small, even. That doesn't make any of what you said remotely true.
Don't even get me started on the Art Technician
I might not know what they are called, but I highly thought they are called Art Technician
Art Historian sounds a lot better and artsy than Art Technician and I just came up with that."
I said, still standing my ground.
"I don't know what you want me to say here.
I wasn't the one that came up with Art Technician and, trust me, I also thought it sounded phony the first time I heard it.
It sounds like Car technician or Machine Technician, but we are stuck with the name so we just make the best out it.
I really hate to do this, but there are rules and regulations you have to adhere to if you want me to continue being your tour guide and one of them is you can't go about accusing your tour guide, that's me of making up stories and just trust that I am telling the truth and believe I take the Tour Guide Truth and Honesty Oath very seriously"
He said, still keeping a straight face, and I couldn't hold it anymore. I burst out laughing.
"Tour Guide Truth and Honesty Oath?"
I barely said, still laughing.
"TGTHO
Tour Guide Truth and Honesty Oath
Every Tour Guide has to take the oath before we are given our Honor Badge"
He said with so much seriousness like that made any sense at all.
I bent my head for a minute composing myself, wiping any trace of laughter from my face, then looked up at him with my best poker face.
"Honor Badge sounds really fancy
Can I see yours?"
There was no way I was letting him win this round.
"I will have to show you another time.
It is not on me at the moment.
It is really special so we only wear it when necessary and this wasn't planned, but I promise to show you another time.
Maybe on Thursday".
He said suddenly, reminding me of his Nonna's birthday and how i am yet to get myself out of it
It was bad when I had no idea who he was and now that I know who he is.
It is a terrible idea, and I am going to have to figure a way out of it before the night ends.
"About Thursday....."
I stuttered about searching my brain for a believable lie, but I came up empty.
"We will talk about Thursday later, but let's put a pin on that for now and get back to our tour.
So are you going to trust me and adhere to the rules and regulations or is our tour over?"
He asked, clearly baiting me to see if I would give up.
"Can I still ask questions?"
I asked him
"Definitely
I would not expect anything less".
He said with a knowing smile and I knew he was telling me to bring it on.
"Then I am in
Lead the way Tour Guide Master"
I also said, with a smile on
"Okay…..
Where were we….yes…..
This gorgeous painting"
He said, pointing back to the painting.
"Echoes of the Storm
This piece is estimated to have been painted in the late 70s in Berlin from the aging and texture of the canvas.
From the stroke of the piece, the painter is estimated to have been in his early twenties, and he must have been brought up in a prestigious home."
He said so confidently I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of him.
"Do you have any questions before we move to the next piece?"
He asked
"Yes I do
Why do you think he was from a prestigious home?".
I asked him
"Well, like I said earlier, from the stroke of the piece you can see that he definitely had professional training and that luxury was only affordable to extremely rich and powerful families back then, and if you take a closer look at the canvas and the way it aged well, you can tell that it made of really good Hemp"
He said and even though I knew he was just making it up as he went, it somehow made sense to me and, I enjoyed hearing him talk.
"Okay"
"So the Echoes of Storm stayed in The State Tretyakov Museum for over 6 months, then went to a bunch of other museums before it came here".
He said, then we moved on, and he kept on coming up with slightly good names for the nameless paintings and even more ridiculous backstories for each of them, and it didn't help at all if they had a name or even the artist's name on them. He just kept going on with his stories and by the time he got to the beginning of the hallway I was both amazed and slightly scared of how good he was.
"And over here on to the last piece on this wing we have the Black Veil.
It was painted by........."
"Mr. De Luca
Miss Gomez....."