Sailing With Destiny

Can The Night End Already

If there was something that determined our fate, kismet, or destiny, it must've truly hated me. I stood immobile in my seat and stared at Liza, dressed in a fitted dress, who easily stole the room's attention. I couldn't deny how beautiful she was, she was the type of person to stand out in a crowd and that fact made me a little bitter.

I tried to remove my hand out of Mitchell's hold but he held on tighter and kept them interlocked. I glanced around the table and not much to my surprise, Owen's, Faith's, and Wang's eyes were locked on me. I looked back at Mitchell and told him to let go but he ignored my words and pulled my chair closer to his. 

"Did you know she'd be here?" I whispered and tried to keep my face nonchalant. 

"No. Did you?" Mitchell whispered in my ear. 

I shook my head in response and took in a breath. I told myself not to allow Liza's presence to bother me but the image of her and Mitchell in that bar flashed in my mind repeatedly. I tried to block it out with Mason's words from earlier but I couldn't be sure of my theory until I spoke to Mitchell. 

"Don't allow her to bother you." Mitchell's breath fanned against the side of my neck. He gently squeezed my hand. "I love you, Milo. Only you."

Mitchell's words were assuring but they didn't beat the bitterness and annoyance I felt as I watched Liza. There had to have been hundreds of art galleries in New York and even more art brokers, why did Liza have to be the one at my event?

"Mon Coeur," Liza began. "My Heart. This painting isn't just dear to me but holds a great significance. In any form, I am certain everyone here has loved and possibly even lost. When we lose someone we love, for whatever reason, we're left with memories and I allowed my memories and love to be expressed through this painting."

'Don't call me Mon Coer.'

I recalled how much Mitchell seemed to dislike the name and it was weird that he told me not to call him that when he never really stopped me from calling him the many other weird names I had for him. It all made sense now, Liza called him that, and the painting was made with him and their relationship in mind.

Liza gestured to the painting with hues of mainly black, grey, and white but the closer I looked, there were subtle undertones of pastel pink, blue, and a touch of yellow. She had a thing for abstract paintings and even though I knew nothing about art, she was a meaningful and talented artist. 

"Love can be colorful, radiant, and beautiful but to achieve an everlasting love, you need to peel away the trials and tribulations – the grey areas. Once you work through that, you can find... bliss and live happily ever after." Liza's eyes scanned the crowd and she paused for a second when she locked eyes with Mitchell. 

I swallowed and told myself not to look at his reaction but I couldn't stop myself. I held my breath and slowly turned to look his way. Mitchell wore no expression. His face was blank like when one would bypass a stranger on the street. I let out a breath of relief and the indifference in his stance comforted me to an extent. Mitchell looked my way and just like that, his gaze softened and he winked at me. I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I leaned into him and breathed at ease. 

Liza blinked and quickly composed herself. "If you look closer, beyond the grey tones, you'll find two hands linked to form the shape of a heart." 

I saw what she explained. A larger masculine hand was drawn on one side and a smaller, feminine one on the other. Each of their thumbs was curved in and joined, and their index fingers touched to form the shape of a heart. The shape of their hands was in subtle pastels while the chaos around them was painted in black and white.