Renaissance of the Heart - Part 2 - Sex Stories

Renaissance of the Heart - Part 2

Any hopes of an Indian summer had been dashed. October bumped into November, handing the autumn over clumsily, with sultry weather one day and drizzle the next. I hoped the weather wasn’t a metaphor for my life, which had suddenly been shaken by a girl and her painting. Elizabeth had crashed into my life like a whirlwind. One minute everything was predictable or as predictable as it could be, the next minute I was having amazing sex and planning a life-changing trip to Europe. I was making plans, not knowing where it might lead with people I had never met. All over a fourteen inch piece of canvas and a load of old paint. Yet in that painting I saw something - something ineffable, yet tangible. Suddenly I had a lot to do. I had all manner of arrangements to make, not to mention an appointment with the bank. By my reckoning, I was ten thousand pounds short of where I needed to be, to put my plans into action. I wasn’t worried about securing the loan, but paying it back would be tricky. I had any number of questions and concerns that hung over the project - any one of these going wrong I knew might be fatal. One obvious question was, ‘What if the painting went for a lot over the estimate?’ It occurred to me that any dealer with a bit of savvy, might see something in the painting, even without an attribution. That could put the painting out of reach. If I was suddenly faced with finding twenty thousand, I wasn’t so sure about raising that kind of money. I tried not to think ...

... about this, but contacted my cousin Paul, explaining the situation. He was happy to be my surrogate bidder. Fortunately we were close from childhood, so I had no problem securing his help and for nothing more than a bottle of his favourite drink at Christmas. The next task was to contact the various agencies and laboratories in Italy. I wanted to get my foot in the door and book a slot. Once I started bandying about the name Michelangelo, I began to generate interest and I was pleasantly surprised by the response. Where was the painting from? Why do you think it is a Michelangelo? Can I send a photo? I was wary of sending a photograph, as this would possibly leak back to Craig, via the trade. I would wait for the sale, which was just four days away. After that, I would be free to do as I wished. I went to work that morning and placed a white envelope on Craig’s desk. “What’s this?” “I’m giving notice.” Craig was genuinely surprised. “Really? I thought you were happy here!” “No, I am. I just need a change of direction.” “If it’s about your salary, I could have a look. We might be able to do something.” “I’m grateful for that. But it’s not the salary. Sorry, I’ve made up my mind.” My boss stared into his coffee and shook his head. “Well I’ll be sorry to lose you. Can I ask who poached you?” “No! it’s nothing like that,” I said, shocked that he would even think that. “No?” “I’m going to see the world. I always wanted to travel.” “Oh.” “If someone had approached me, I would have seen ...