Nothing But The Truth

24: Golden Seat

**A week later**

I woke up to a missed call from Derrek and I sat there, wondering what to do. He had called me last night but I had turned in early for the night and didn't even hear my phone ring.

It had been a busy week with my art classes, visiting art exhibitions and exploring more of the city. I had let Haneul drag me out to a house party of some French guy she met and I had barely gotten three hours of sleep before it was time for my morning class, so, I had crashed the moment I got back to my hotel room.

I dropped my phone and scratched my head in frustration. I didn't know what to do next. Should I have called Derrek back or maybe sent him a nonchalant 'sup' text? Why had he called me in the first place? Did he want to get back together?  Did I sound crazy just then? It wasn't crazy to think he wanted to get back together, was it? I mean, why else had he called me? It wasn't like we used to live together and he wanted to ask me to take the rest of my things from his apartment.

"What do I do?" I groaned. What if I called him back and he said he had called me by accident? It would have been too painful to bare. Anyway, if he really wanted to talk to me, he would have surely called more than once or sent me a text at least.

So many thoughts were racing through my mind, my heart was pounding in my chest and my palms had become clammy from sweating so much, although, it was so cold in here. The Fear of rejection had been torturing me all morning.

My phone suddenly started to ring out and I jumped in surprise, tilting off the bed and finally, falling down hard to the cold marble floor. I scrambled up to my knees and reached for my phone, hoping to see Derrek's name on my screen but sadly, it wasn't him.

"Please, don't tell me you're still in bed." Haneul's voice came through as I answered the call and I groaned.

"I don't feel so good this morning." I replied as I laid back down on my bed. I wanted nothing more than to pull my covers over myself and just sleep in.

"We've got class in an hour. One you wouldn't want to miss." Haneul reminded and I let out a loud groan.

"I don't care!" I whined and I heard Haneul sigh.

"Jacqueline Erling is coming in today, remember?"

I jumped up from my bed immediately. Jacqueline Erling had been one of my favorite artists and one of the greatest new artists in today's world. She was having an art exhibit in Paris later this week and it felt like a dream to have her here in the same city I was.

Jacqueline and Monsieur Pierre had attended the same art school earlier on in their life, so, he had been able to score us tickets to her private show, plus, he had gotten her to come in to class today to see his promising students.

"Shoot! I totally forgot!"

I had to put the finishing touches on my painting before Jacqueline came in. If she was impressed with my work, she could have opened doors for me.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes."

*

Watching Jacqueline speak sparked a fire in me. My passion to succeed and become one of the greats suddenly ignited in her presence.

Her grass to grace story had inspired me greatly. Growing up, she couldn't afford to buy art supplies to pursue her dream of becoming an artist, so, she had improvised with the things she could find around her; cans, newspapers, water bottles, whatever was laying around at home, she had used to create impressive works of art. She had once made a black and white portrait of a woman out of newspaper cut outs. She was a real inspiration to artists everywhere and most especially to me. She thought outside the box, out of the norm which was what I needed to do if I was going to succeed. I didn't want my art to be predictable anymore. I wanted to deliver the element of surprise to anyone who viewed my work. I wanted to show them something they hadn't seen before.