Chapter 10 The host

*MILENA*

As we headed for the building,Arturo held my hand.

I didn’t stop him and I also didn’t mind his familiarity because it felt so nice to have my hand held by a man.

I can’t even remember the last time Dante held my hand.

I realized that the last time Dante had shown me true affection was when we newly got married.

I felt like punching myself for not noticing all the signs that he had fallen out of love with me.

Arturo’s warm hand distracted me from my thoughts.I stared at him wondering what he does for a living.

Maybe he was an office worker.But being in a condo as expensive as that,he might be a CEO or CFO.

I shook my head.It was none of my business.It wasn’t as if I wanted to have anything to do with him except that we were holding hands right now and I was suddenly thinking about how good it might be to be in his arms,how good he might be in bed.

Maybe we could be neighbors with benefits.No strings attached.I really missed having a man hold me, touch me in all of the places I liked to be touched.

Arturo was already awakening all the feelings in me that I thought I didn’t want to feel anymore.

I shook my head again trying to stop picturing him without his clothes on.

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*ARTURO*

I could tell that Lena was thinking about something,probably bothersome because she kept shaking her head from time to time.

It must be about the call earlier that had ruined her mood.I barely know this woman,yet I feel the need to know her,to hold her and to make all her problems go away.

We arrived at the art studio that my sister,Alma owned.

She is an artist and she has been doing quite well in this field.

I was super proud of her.

A waiter greeted us with a tray full of champagne and another waitress arrived with a tray of canapés.

It was all high-end caliber treatment.If you were buying a piece of art,you could expect to be paying a minimum of twenty-thousand dollars.

It can go up rather high in price.My sister was greeting people and explaining some of the work on display.

I guided Lena to the main attraction and worked out way from there.

The piece was stunning.

It was called ‘Day at the Races’

It was a horse with a jockey on its back,in full color,passing the winning post,with the nose of other horses at its near.

It was done in oils and some other materials,making the horse and jockey bold on the canvas.

It almost had a three-D effect.

The eye of the horse seemed to move with you as if it was staring at you.

It was a marvelous painting,and one I had looked at a few times now.

And each time it had frowned on me.But I was not a punter,so I had not purchase it and frankly,there was nowhere in my home that would accommodate such a lovely piece of art.

It should be in pride of place,not on a wall in my hallway or bedroom.

Milena stood staring at it for some time before she moved on to the next painting,not once commenting,and that left me wondering what she thought of it.

Was she having a good time here?

Did she enjoy staring at the paintings?

She moved from one painting to the next,before we arrived at a room full of carvings and sculptures.

There was one that she stopped at as moved around it and then came back to the front.

She read the name of the placard and gazed at it again.

It was as if she was studying it but her face was expressionless and I couldn’t tell what she thought of it.

I tried to see why she seemed so invested in it.

But I couldn’t see any reason.It was just a plain sculpture to me.

I wasn’t an art fanatic so I couldn’t really talk about its quality or significance.

“Arturo,I wasn’t expecting you to come.”And that was Alma.

My sister walked up to me and hugged me,happily.

“How could I not?I might find something I like.”I winked at her as she disengaged from me.

Before I could introduce her to Lena,she let out in a haste.

“Let’s try and catch up before you leave.I need to go negotiate a sale.”With that,she hurried off to a man and a woman who wanted to buy the main attraction.

I turned to face Lena but I saw that she had already wandered off.

I saw smiling at another sculpture.I felt so glad that she was smiling and I couldn’t help but smile too.

I felt so happy that she was having a good time.

My phone rang out.

It was my elder sister,Paula.

Have I mentioned that I had three sisters?

Being the only boy isn’t easy at all.

“Hello,Paula.”I motioned to Lena that I had to take this and she nodded.

Paula just wanted to remind me of the family’s dinner this weekend before I had somehow forgot about it last month and I was told my mom had been furious.

I promised to be there and hung up.

I walked back to Lena and she said to me.

“I think we should start leaving.And I’m feeling hungry.”

I didn’t realize it was lunch time already.The hours went by pretty fast.

“We could get lunch before going home.”

She nodded.”Okay.Do you need to say goodbye to the host?”

She must have seen me talking to Alma.

I shook my head.”No.We could catch up this weekend.Actually,the host is my…”

“It’s okay.You don’t need to explain who she is.”She cut in.