AX Gallery

Camille POV

The day of the exhibition finally arrived and I couldn't be happier. I was finally going to showcase my talents to the world. Alina helped me pick my outfit which was a blue jumpsuit and black heels that match the jumpsuit. I am no fan of dresses so I felt comfortable when I wore the jumpsuit. My hair was trimmed and stretched down to my shoulder length and my face was done by Alina herself. 

"You look amazing Camille," Alina commented and pointed to the mirror for me to look at. "You are a spec," she winked at me. 

"You could have been a painter," I told her as I stared at myself in the mirror. It's was not the first time I wore makeup but due to the different hairstyle, my face looked different and more feminine free from wrinkles like Alina would always say. The makeup made my obsidian eyes charming and my face rounded. The red lipstick on my lips made them smaller and plump.

 "Thank you girl," I appreciated. 

"No problem. Have fun and make sure you meet another artist. It's the only way to....."

"To make me learn new things." I finished it for her because I knew every word. Alina had said it to me like a thousand times so I was used to it.

"Okay, " Alina placed a hand on her hips and stared at me for a while. "You are missing something important " Alina walked out of my room and when she returned, she handed over me a silver necklace. "Hart got this for me before he left for Greece. I want you to wear it since you are going for an important occasion."

"You are the best Alina," I hugged her and let get wear the necklace around my neck. "It's lovely," I touched the necklace and turn my face to the other side as I admired the necklace. It's was a plain silver necklace with the shape of the moon but it was still beautiful. "Thank you." I stood up from my tiny bed and hugged her. 

"You should start going. I already called an uber."

Another surprise from my very own Alina. "What could I have ever done without you?"

"Nothing!" Alina yawned. "You need to be on your way girl."

"Right," I grabbed my black purse and headed out of my room with Alina trailing behind me. "Before I go. Let's a picture together."

"What?" Alina shouted. "Have you seen my face?" She pointed to her oval-shaped face that was free from makeup. "I have freckles on my face and you want to take a picture with me!" She shouted yet again and from her countenance, I knew Alina was going to explode if I didn't go. 

"I apologize girl. I am sorry," I told and rushed towards the door. " The uber is probably waiting for me outside," I chuckled but it's didn't worked. Alina still had an annoying frown on her face. 

Remind me never to get Alina angry ever again.   I waved at her and walked out of the house. The uber was already parked outside of our building. I entered and took a deep breath. "Hmmmmm."

"You okay?" The driver, a black man asked. 

", yeah, I'm just nervous "

That's right, I was nervous about the exhibition. It was my first and I wondered if my painting were good enough to be exhibited in front of people. My hand shivered and strange cold bites into my skin. The weather was perfectly fine and there was no cold as it was middle July. Everyone I saw wears a summer dress but I seemed to be the only one with Cold. 

"You have a job interview?" The driver asked and I shook my head. 

"I have an exhibition at AX gallery."

"You are an artist?" The driver asked and I nodded in response. "I love art but it's way too expensive for someone like me" he stated. "You are going to be fine but," he paused and stared at me through the rearview mirror. "I heard a Gallerist is a strange man. He rarely smiles."

The gallerist was a popular man in the country. Rumors had it that he used to be a painter but stopped because he wanted to focus on the gallery. Axel Banks, owner of AX gallery and he is what I called the Money bank. 

"How do you know that he rarely smiles? Have you seen him in flesh?" I questioned the driver because I detected a lie in his tone. 

"Yes, I have seen him in flesh back in erm....."The driver paused and cleared his throat. "I don't remember when I saw him but all I can say is that he is a strange man. Avoid him when you see him."

"Yeah, Mr driver." I rolled my eyes in annoyance and stared outside the window. "This is your first exhibition Camille but you can do it," I muttered. 

The rest of the drive was in silence and when the driver announced that we'd reached, I rushed out of the car. "Bye driver" I waved at him. 

"Remember to avoid him, " The driver reminded me before he drove away. 

"This is it, Camille," I took a deep breath and raised my head to look at the building. It's was a building of about Fifty floors based on my assumption but it could be way taller than that. The name AX Gallery was engraved at the center of the building. Releasing my breath, I took a step towards the entrance there, two hefty men were waiting at the entrance with a woman who had glasses on. Her eyes were fixed on the tablet's smartphone in her hand. 

"Hello, I am Camille," I walked towards her and introduced myself. 

The woman eyes me from my head down to my tiny toes. ", Your invitation?" She asked rather rudely. 

"Right," I opened my purse and handed over to her my invitation. "Great, you may enter." She pointed inside the building. 

How can someone be that rude? Ignoring her attitude, I walked in between a glass door and made my way into the gallery. From the entrance, there was a long red carpet that's was spread from the entrance to the lobby. On the walls were paintings that I couldn't stop staring at. I figured it's was the same artist due to the pattern of the painting. It's was a painting of a flower that's was yet to bloom. The flowers of each painting had the same color. They were all brown but each flower had a different background. 

 When I got to the lobby, I was surprised to see that a lot of people had come to see the exhibition. At the entrance of the lobby was another set of hefty men with another girl who might sound annoying as the first one. This girl was three inches shorter than I was based on my assumption. Her black dress was short and also decent and her big dark brown eyes made her oval-shaped face beautiful. Her brown hair was curly and rolled down her shoulder length. She looked perfect on the outside but who knows what she could be on the inside. 

"Hi, I am Isabella" she sounded nice, unlike the first girl. 

"Isabella?" I found myself thinking about the name and when I remembered when I heard it from them, I smiled at her. "You are the Isabella who called me. I am Camille Jameson," I introduced myself. 

"Nice to see you. Here is your tag Camille," she gave me an ID with a black lead that had my picture and name. 

"Go to the fifth floor, it's where the exhibition is taking place. Ask for Remi, he'll show you where your paintings are." She smiled yet again showing her perfect dentition. 

How could someone be that perfect? 

"Thank you, Isabella." I smiled back at her and left her sight as somebody else had arrived. I walked towards the elevator filled with two other people. One was a female who was taking selfies while the other was a male who was on call. I folded my arms together and sighed briefly. 

"You got this Camille, "I whispered to myself. 

When the lift got to the fifth floor, the doors opened and we all came outside. I guess everyone was here for the exhibition. I had no idea where I was heading to and decided to follow the people I was in the elevator with. We walked down a hallway and arrived at the front of a black door, there another two hefty men and a man stood at the entrance. A tall black man who seemed to be the same height as me. The man had a deadlock hairstyle and a piercing on his lips that made him look like a hip hop artist

"Name," The man asked in a stern tone. 

I guessed everyone can't be like Isabella 

"I am Camille and I am looking for Remi," I told him. 

He frowned and nodded in response. "I am Remi. You are one of the artists?" His tone sounded like he didn't believe it. 

Wait, he thought I was lying? I never lie except if I had to escape from someone or something. "Yes, I am," I answered and show him my ID. 

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "You are the wolf painter," his face suddenly turned into a smile. "I thought you were one of those popular artists who are snobs. I am Remi and it's nice to meet you." he stretched forth his hand. 

My eyes widened at the sudden change in his tone and voice. That's was weird. "Nice to meet you too." I forced a smile and shook his hand. 

"I'll lead you to your painting. Although you ain't popular yet I'm already a huge fan of yours." Remi walked into a large hall that could accommodate hundreds, scratch that. The hall could accommodate thousands. 

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "Who would have thought that a large hall is here?"

"Yeah. The gallerist planned this building himself."

"He used to be an architect?" I asked and Remi nodded in response. 

The hall was beautifully decorated with a theme of white and gold. There were at least hundreds of people inside the hall that came for the event. There were different paintings on the wall and sculptures on the ground. "Your painting is unique," Remi commented. 

"Thank you."

It's was the first comment I ever received from someone I don't know. "You know something about wolves?" He questioned. "Or you like wolves?"

"No," I responded. "I haven't seen any wolf in my entire life." 

Remi turned and looked at me. His obsidian eyes widened and he blinked repeatedly at me. "That's insane. Your painting is superb. I thought you painted it because you were obsessed with it."

"Trust me, I am obsessed." I didn't realize that I had said that aloud. Remi stared at me like a weirdo and coughed out. "You okay?" I asked him. 

"Yeah ." he nodded. 

Remi led me to where my paintings were painted on the wall. There were six of them and although each painting was of the same Black wolf, I painted them differently. The first painting was beside a Riverside. The wolf sat beside the river staring at its beauty. The second painting explained the wolf's loneliness. His red eyes bare no emotions and he stood on top of a mountain staring blankly at nothing explaining its loneliness. The third painting shows how the wolf bared his fangs and his red eyes glowed. It's showed the wolf's anger. The fourth painting showed the wolf running. His limbs I painted in a blurry form which showed Wolf's strength. The fifth painting showed the wolf laying on the ground with cuts around his left eye and more cuts on its fur. It showed the wolf's pain. The final painting showed the wolf staring at something with hope and trust in his eyes. 

"You have an amazing painting Camille," Remi commented. 

"Thank you." I looked to my left side and exclaimed when I saw my favorite artist. It's was Katherine, a great painter. "Is that Katherine?" I asked Remi. 

"Yes, " he answered back. 

I can't believe I was eligible to exhibit with Katherine who was more popular than I am. Thank you AX gallery.