Leo kept pacing around the lobby of the airport talking less, more like shouting orders while Martin and Ash sat there agitated and exchanged looks with each other. Things were not going well as the flight from London to Zagreb was delayed and Leo had to reach there before the exhibit started. Though he had ameliorated the suituation but him being a perfectionist, he needed to be in Zagreb as soon as possible.
He finally got off the call and looked at Ash and Martin, and just said, ' Let's go,' and heading towards the boarding gate but took another turn and started speaking to the person on the counter. A man in black suit came to the three of them and said, 'Good Morning, the plane is ready, we are good to go. Please follow me.'
Martin asked in surprise, 'What plane? Um our plane isn't due yet and ooooooh,' he flinched as Ash dug her long pointy nails into his arm and nudged him to just follow as she knew Leo was still mad at him and with his increasing anger he might loose it on them.
'Just follow what the bond man is telling you,' she whispered angrily to Martin and they started following the suits.
They finally settled in plane and Martin kept watching Leo and finally could not control his curiosity and asked, 'Hey Bro, how did you manage to get us into a private jet?'
Ash looked up as well to know, knowing Leo he was a person who didn't answer much when he was angry. But she did not need to ask and they both exchanged looks.
Nonetheless Leo exhaled once as he had settled and was finally feeling a little less mad. Sipping some wine he said, ' We should look into the business model Adam sent us, since we will be there. We might as well explore.'
Ash looked up at him in all seriousness and quietly spoke, ' I will get things moving as soon as we land.'
The flight wasn't very long and by the time they reached the city of Zagreb which was about half an hour away from the airport, Leo and Ash went directly to the the art gallery located in a section in the museum while sour faced Martin had to take their luggage and check in to the hotel. The city was nice and clean with very old buildings especially in the center where you could walk on foot everywhere.
The national museum wasn't far and so thankful they reached on time, checked all the details and spoke to the Director there, a very beautiful looking woman called Ivana Sudar who's age one could not guess.
Leo said to her, ' Thanks for receiving us on such a short notice, but we really need to get going with the painting.'
"Mr. Carlton, as you know we have agreed to giving back the painting as we understand it wasn't you fault but the firm. But the exhibition has already started and it's the first day and we have already put the painting under the exclusive ones we are showcasing. So if you could just let it be there for this week, we would be forever thankful. As you see we have been preparing for this exhibit since the start of this year and it took us four months of preparation.'
Also, ' Its nice seeing you.'
Leo just looked at her with annoyance but the way Ms. Sudra spoke there was something in her manner that Leo who was always very stubborn could not ignore. And just said
" I can only let you showcase it for 3 days and no more ,"
'Well, it's the start of summer and we have travellers coming from all over and imagine how much the recognition our firm will get if we are able to showcase Mr Hussain's work under us. '
'Especially, if you are still interested. '
'Else you wouldn't have come down here yourself.'
'and till then why not travel to the coast and see how beautiful the sea is at this time of the year!'said Ms. Sudar.
'Cold, the seas is cold during this time of the year.'
'And i am a busy man, but yes we shall look into it further,' he replied.
He looked away at Ash, singnaling her and walked away to the hallway.
'Ms. Sudar, I must say, you are quite challenging as always. Not many people can stand up to Leo,' Ash retorted and walked past her.
'Oh dear,' said Ms Ivana looking at Ash's retreating figure.
She was interrupted by a reporter, ' Miss, Sudar! Can you give us an insight into your world. You are not only the first female curator but the most celebrated in Balkan region.'
The last reference made her eyes sparkle and so she replied,
'I have been working as a curator myself for the past 20 years all over Croatia and the world. I have understood one thing , people who take their work seriously will only let you have their way when you reason with them for the right things.'
The exhibition had started at full swing and Leo was looking around at the art work and keeping an eye on the kind of people who were arriving. He was impressed at Miss. Sudar's way of working, she seemed quite fastidious and also the number of people she was able to gather for the opening. In his mind he thought, surely she is a good curator who knew how to deal with people as well. Else it was very hard to convince him.
Leo kept circling around in his fine suit, as he was always dressed according to the ocassion but because of the sudden change in temperature from 3 degrees to 16 degrees he was starting to sweat. So he decided to take off his coat and just sit on a bench infront of Mr Hussain's painting thinking of various manners in which he could exhibit it for the upcoming big art expose in London. He kept trying to think as he looked at the beautiful painting in which the artist had captured an Indian actress Madhuri Dixit.
He couldn't think much other than how he would theme it and he finally realised how tired he was to continue thinking. The exhaustion had finally caught up to him, so he loosened his tie and let his hand hand go over his black hair which started falling over his forehead and closed his eyes to give them some rest.
After a moment when he opened his eyes, he saw her; standing there silently looking at the painting. He hadn't forgotten her, her back profile he knew well after so many years. He never forgot how she looked like when she stood admiring a painting. The way she stood in her woollen dress reminded him the way she always stood but in a sundress and hair falling around her shoulder as she tilted her head and just stared and then after a while would smile . It was a distant memory and yet, he could see her in the same posture and do the same tilt but with longer hair at the moment and though he didn't know if she would be smiling now as he could not see her face. But he knew it was Zara, he could never forget this sight. He realised how much he had missed watching her from a distance, yes he always watched her from afar. And now too, as she watched the painting, he watched her silently.