A smile started to grace my lips recently. A blinding light appeared from my eyes. My body kept moving like a baby mannequin decoration on the dashboard of a car. At that moment the driver played the Korean hit song belonging to the girl group TWICE entitled "What is Love".
While swaying agilely, I polished my face with an expensive YSL red lipstick.
Like imitating the woman in the basement, today I am classic and formal. A set of suit made of black cotton twill in Korean style and a high heel of the same color took me to the art gallery.
Too many works on display make me quite nervous. These rich strangers began to fill the silent room.
Most of them just gave a smile. I even have to explain other works I don't really understand every now and then.
A young woman of my age who was standing not far from my position, wearing a plain black suit set that looked clean and expensive, seemed much busier than me. The work of a graduate of the "Paris College of Art" seems to have attracted quite a few visitors. Several times she was heard mentioning her name, Allaire, before she finally explained about her work and the works around it. She seems very competent in his field.
How about my work? Is it invisible or unattractive. It is not comparable to the paintings of other young people who have more character. Being a part of this great gallery is enough to make me proud.
It's almost time to close the gallery in about an hour. Visitors have started to disappear one by one. Leaving only a few people who were still standing still seemed to be united in silence as part of an artistic gallery. They seem not to care about time or even forget the time. The eyes of the art connoisseurs seemed to be talking to each other.
My feet are sore enough to stand all day. When it started to get quiet I stole a seat and took off my heels for a while.
Suddenly I was surprised when an old man who was almost gray all his hair which was usually covered by a cap. And the beard that he deliberately maintains like the character Gandalf in the Harry Potter films.
" Koja je slika dovoljno dobra da je kupim ? "
( Which painting is good enough for me to buy ? )
" Excuse me, can you speak English ? "
" Ha ha ha.. "
He just walked away after smiling kindly at me, and that's when I started to realize that they had the same language. The Old Man and my Romeo.
Then I ran in these high heels after the Mr Gandalf who was about to leave.
" Excuse me, can you speak English ? I have something to ask "
" Hmm... Did you sell your necklace ? "
He answered me in English.
" Thank you. I'll sell it to you if I may ask you something "
" Do you want to sell me a painting ? "
" No. May I know Where are you from ? "
" I'm a European Muslim from a chaotic country called Bosnia "
" Ohhhh really? Do you know anyone ? "
" Of course, I know some people "
" Oh yes of course fine, thank you "
" Did you sell your necklace ? "
" Ah yes, please take this "
While I was trying to take off my necklace.
" Hahahaha… No, no. We don't ask for other people's stuff like that. It's forbidden by religion "
" Ahh really. Then would you like to see my painting ? "
" Hmm.. but I have to go "
" Yes of course. I'm sorry. It's almost night "
" Erm.. well I'll see it in a moment "
Half an hour was long enough, I held it in my poetic words interpreting the painting I made myself. I acted as professional as possible so he could get my point across as well as possible. I'm not that arrogant to force my work to be bought by someone immediately. I'm quite happy if someone wants to hear what the meaning behind my work is.
" Thank you for viewing my work. Do you live here ? "
" No, maybe I'll be back tomorrow morning, because I'm late for the train tonight "
" Oh, I'm really sorry sir "
" Hahaha.. no need. It's also good to stay here longer "
" Okay I will accompany you. Would you like to have dinner? I will treat you "
" Yes of course, come on "
I made my choice at Restaurant Seafood near MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), apart from being a seafood lover, I also have to respect the person I'm going to eat with. This Old Man doesn't seem to be able to carelessly eat food. Seafood is the best international food I think.
" Do you mind this restaurant ? "
" Of course not, I also like seafood there is a famous seafood restaurant near the Adriatic Sea in the Sarajevo area "
" Wow.. really ? Is your country a beautiful place too ? "
" Hahahaha... Are you interested in visiting them ? "
" I'm sure someday I'll visit them "
" No need, our country is quite chaotic "
" What exactly happened there ? "
" Although living in our country is not as sad as Palestine and Syria, but we are also still at war to defend Muslims and our region "
" Ahh really? I'm sorry to hear that "
" It's fine. Looks like there's something you want to look for ? "
" That's right, can I still visit your country ? "
" How much did you sell your painting for ? "
" Are you going to buy it sir ? "
" Take it to Sarajevo. I'll give you my address and contact phone. Drop it off whenever you can ? "
" Thank you sir. Thank you, thank you very much "
" Sit down kid.."
" Are you an artist ? "
" Hahahaha... No, I'm just a teacher of the Qur'an. But Allah SWT gave me a little interest in art, I bought your painting because it's an abstract picture that doesn't resemble a living creature "
" Ahhh yes of course thank you "
" I also have a daughter like you, maybe a little older, she lives with me with her husband and only son. She often gives me yang and tells me this.
( " Ne morate uvijek biti ovdje, idite gdje želite i radite stvari koje volite = Father does not always need to be here, go where you want to go and do the things you like " ). Actually she's just afraid to see old people like me being persecuted by the Serbs "
This gentleman seems to have been interested in my mother's necklace all along at MoMA and even when he talks about his daughter while staring at this necklace sadly. Could it be that he wanted to give something like this to his daughter. Or is it reminiscent of a memory.
"Your kindness declined to your daughter, your family really touched me" I replied.
Moments later we were standing at a crossroads. Mr. Semir will go to the station and spend the night there while waiting for his train. I'm going back to my apartment.
" Go home son, it's very late. I'm going to the station waiting for my train. You can come anytime, make sure you get news when there's no war there "
" Well sir, I will visit you soon. Thank you for your kindness. Be careful on the road and have a nice trip "
The old man who looked like Gandalf lowered his head and turned around followed by me.